Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Orientador: Celso Kazuyuki Morooka / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica e Instituto de Geociências / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-27T23:45:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Pereira_LeandroAugustoGrandin_M.pdf: 2825767 bytes, checksum: 5cbfd5a04926d5bf83c780db67ca3a60 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / Resumo: O desenvolvimento de campos marítimos de petróleo e gás natural tem se deslocado para águas cada vez mais profundas, ambientes cada vez mais hostis e áreas cada vez mais remotas. A utilização de soluções convencionais para desenvolver tais campos, especialmente o uso exclusivo de processamento primário em superfície e equipamentos elevação artificial instalados dentro de poços pode não justificar os investimentos. O processamento submarino tem aumentado a atratividade ou até viabilizando a produção de campos marítimos. Visto o aumento em sua utilização, os autores propuseram uma metodologia para selecionar conceitos de plantas submarinas para campos de petróleo e gás natural, utilizando informações disponíveis na literatura e suporte de especialistas em tecnologia submarina e modelagem de produção integrada. Uma menor contrapressão no poço produtor é uma potencial consequência do uso de processamento submarino, podendo tornar o perfil de produção mais atrativo. Como consequência, uma abordagem integrada considerando os estudos necessários para avaliar o escoamento dos fluidos de suas fontes iniciais até os destinos finais é necessária para se propor uma metodologia de seleção. Como alternativa à falta de estudos integrados comparando diferentes soluções de desenvolvimento em campos marítimos, informações de quatro desenvolvimentos comerciais que empregaram processamento submarino foram utilizadas para buscar a validação da metodologia. Os resultados destes estudos de caso sugerem que a metodologia é válida, entretanto não é claro que tais desenvolvimentos de produção utilizariam todas as fases propostas / Abstract: The development of offshore oil and natural gas fields has been moving to deeper waters, harsher environments and more remote areas. The use of conventional solutions to develop such fields, especially sole use of surface processing or downhole artificial lift methods, may not justify the investments. Subsea processing has been increasing the attractiveness or even enabling offshore field developments. Given the increase in its use, the authors proposed a methodology to select concepts of subsea processing plants for oil and natural gas fields, using information available in the literature as well as support from specialists in subsea technology and integrated production modelling. Higher drawdown in producer wells is a potential consequence of the use of subsea processing, therefore it may positively impact the production profile. As a consequence, an integrated approach comprising all the studies necessary to assess the flow between the initial sources and the final destinations is necessary to propose a selection methodology. As an alternative to overcome the lack of integrated studies comparing different development solutions in offshore fields, information from four commercial developments that employed subsea processing was used to seek methodology validation. The results of these four case studies suggest that the methodology is valid, although it is not clear if such production developments would utilize all phases proposed / Mestrado / Explotação / Mestra em Ciências e Engenharia de Petróleo

This study examines the relationship between oil development and social change in Iran. The research focused on the years since 1953 examining the economic structure through the five development plans which were the major vehicles of social transformation. Within this framework the importance of oil, industrialization, land reform,, the labor force, education and health are discussed. Demographic and stratification changes are covered such as changingpopulation patterns, migration, minorities, social classes, and the distribution of wealth. Cultural and social values are then treated with emphasis on the Shah and arms, social control and social behavior. The paper concludes: oil revenues were frequently squandered without real socio-economic benefit to the masses. Economic's mismanagement and rigid social control increases pressures in society causing the 1978 revolution.

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"The object of writing this thesis was to present a brief though fairly detailed history of the oil industry in Texas. The material and facts contained herein were gathered from various sources including books, newspapers, magazines, bulletins, radio programs, letters, and authorized conversations. The main body of this thesis is composed of seven chapters, each of which deals with a certain phase of the oil industry of its effects."--leaf iii

"September 2002" Includes bibliographical references (leaves 200-209) Outlines an evaluation procedure for stratigraphic trap exploration by employing sequence stratigraphy, 3D seismic data visualisation and quantitative risk analysis with case studies in an actual exploration basin.

Alkaline/surfactant/polymer (ASP) flooding is of increasing interest and importance because of high oil prices and the need to increase oil production. The benefits of combining alkali with surfactant are well established. The alkali has very important benefits such as lowering interfacial tension and reducing adsorption of anionic surfactants that decrease costs and make ASP a very attractive enhanced oil recovery method provided the consumption is not too large and the alkali can be propagated at the same rate as a synthetic surfactant and polymer. However, the process is complex so it is important that new candidates for ASP be selected taking into account the numerous chemical reactions that occur in the reservoir. The reaction of acid and alkali to generate soap and its subsequent effect on phase behavior is the most crucial for crude oils containing naphthenic acids. Using numerical models, the process can be designed and optimized to ensure the proper propagation of alkali and effective soap and surfactant concentrations to promote low interfacial tension and a favorable salinity gradient. The first step in this investigation was to determine what geochemical reactions have the most impact on ASP flooding under different reservoir conditions and to quantify the consumption of alkali by different mechanisms. We describe the ASP module of UTCHEM simulator with particular attention to phase behavior and the effect of soap on optimum salinity and solubilization ratio. Several phase behavior measurements for a variety of surfactant formulations and crude oils were successfully modeled. The phase behavior results for sodium carbonate, blends of surfactants with an acidic crude oil followed the conventional Winsor phase transition with significant three-phase regions even at low surfactant concentrations. The solubilization data at different oil concentrations were successfully modeled using Hand's rule. Optimum salinity and solubilization ratio were correlated with soap mole fractions using mixing rules. New ASP corefloods were successfully modeled taking into account the aqueous reactions, alkali/rock interactions, and the phase behavior of soap and surfactant. These corefloods were performed in different sandstone cores with several chemical formulations, crude oils with a wide range of acid numbers, brine with a wide range of salinities, and a wide range of temperatures. 2D and 3D sector model ASP simulations were performed based on field data and design parameters obtained from coreflood history matches. The phenomena modeled included aqueous phase chemical reactions of the alkaline agent and consequent consumption of alkali, the in-situ generation of surfactant by reaction with the acid in the crude, surfactant/soap phase behavior, reduction of surfactant adsorption at high pH, cation exchange with clay, and the effect of co-solvent on phase behavior. Sensitivity simulations on chemical design parameters such as mass of surfactant and uncertain reservoir parameters such as kv/kh ratio were performed to provide insight as the importance of each of these variables in chemical oil recovery. Simulations with different permeability realizations provided the range for chemical oil recoveries. This study showed that it is very important to model both surface active components and their effect on phase behavior when doing mechanistic ASP simulations. The reactions between the alkali and the minerals in the formation depend very much on which alkali is used, the minerals in the formation, and the temperature. This research helped us increase our understanding on the process of ASP flooding. In general, these mechanistic simulations gave insights into the propagation of alkali, soap, and surfactant in the core and aid in future coreflood and field scale ASP designs. / text

On July 31,1981 the federal cabinet approved the Norman Wells Pipeline and Expansion Project (NW Project). The project consisted of a tenfold expansion to the existing oilfield at Norman Wells, N.W.T., and the construction of an 870 km pipeline to Zama, Alberta. The approval was subject to a formal delay to allow "time for effective and meaningful planning" for the implementation of special management measures and benefit packages. Construction commenced January 1983 and the project became operational in April 1985. Although the project did not represent a major undertaking by industry standards, it was significant for the north because it was the first major hydrocarbon production and transportation project to be completed in the Northwest Territories. In addition, the project involved a number of unique impact management structures in order to coordinate government and industry's activities and incorporate native concerns. The approach, if successfully implemented, would represent an important step towards recognizing native concerns in project management. As a result of the new impact management structures, the NW Project has been referred to by the federal government and industry as a "model" for future northern development projects. On the other hand, native organizations viewed the project as a 'test case' that failed since all the conditions to their approval were not fully met. This inconsistency highlights the importance of clarifying which structures were successful for future northern megaprojects. This thesis focuses on one of the management structures unique to the NW Project, the Project Coordinating Committee (PCC). The PCC was established "to provide a forum for formal project update, reporting, communication and coordination of activities". The Committee had representatives from the federal government, the two proponents, the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Dene Nation, and the Metis Association. The specific purpose of this thesis is to assess the performance of the PCC using criteria derived from the literature on Planning Process and Citizen Participation, Group Dynamics, and Environmental Dispute Resolution. The results of this evaluation showed that the committee failed to satisfy all the performance criteria. However, at the root of the problem were the politics associated with the approval of the project, and in particular, the fact that the native land claims issue had not been resolved. Even in the absence of negotiated powers, the Dene and Metis had expected to actively participate in the regulation and management of the NW Project. When these powers were divorced from the processes the Dene and Metis were to be involved in, the Dene and Metis boycotted them. In addition to politics, there were also fundamental structural and operational deficiencies with the PCC which were detrimental to its performance. On the basis of this analysis, an improved committee framework for future projects is proposed.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:52:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MariaAD.pdf: 1151403 bytes, checksum: ec2a5410864dfc28e3a9b2591ef3f6f8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-04-28 / This master?s thesis presents a reliability study conducted among onshore oil fields in the Potiguar Basin (RN/CE) of Petrobras company, Brazil. The main study objective was to build a regression model to predict the risk of failures that impede production wells to function properly using the information of explanatory variables related to wells such as the elevation method, the amount of water produced in the well (BSW), the ratio gas-oil (RGO), the depth of the production bomb, the operational unit of the oil field, among others. The study was based on a retrospective sample of 603 oil columns from all that were functioning between 2000 and 2006. Statistical hypothesis tests under a Weibull regression model fitted to the failure data allowed the selection of some significant predictors in the set considered to explain the first failure time in the wells / Esta disserta??o apresenta uma aplica??o do estudo da confiabilidade em dados de tempo de vida de po?os petrol?feros terrestres produtores de ?leo da Bacia Potiguar (RN/CE). A vari?vel resposta do nosso estudo ? o tempo de funcionamento do po?o dentro de sua normalidade at? apresentar a primeira falha relacionada a equipamentos de subsuperficie, que cause uma parada total no funcionamento do po?o. O principal objetivo do estudo foi, com base em um conjunto de dados reais fornecidos pela PETROBRAS, verificar a exist?ncia do relacionamento do tempo de vida com diversas caracter?sticas dos po?os como, m?todo de eleva??o utilizado, quantidade de ?gua produzida (BSW Basic Sediments and Water), Raz?o G?s ?leo (RGO), profundidade de instala??o da bomba, unidade operacional de origem, entre outras. Neste trabalho foi feito um estudo retrospectivo com uma amostra composta por 603 po?os-colunas que estavam em funcionamento no per?odo de 2000 a 2006. A modelagem probabil?stica dos dados foi feita atrav?s do ajuste do modelo de regress?o Weibull. O ajuste deste modelo se mostrou apropriado aos dados e permitiu avaliar, atrav?s de testes estat?sticos de hip?teses, os fatores significativamente relacionados com o tempo at? a falha dos po?os