"September 2002" / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 200-209) / xi, 209, [51] leaves : ill. (chiefly col.), maps, plates (chiefly col.) ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / 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. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, National Centre for Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, 2002

<p>Since the 1950s, oil has been the dominant source of energy in the world. The cheap supply of oil has been the engine for economic growth in the western world. Since future oil demand is expected to increase, the question to what extent future production will be available is important. </p><p>The belief in a soon peak production of oil is fueled by increasing oil prices. However, the reliability of the oil price as a single parameter can be questioned, as earlier times of high prices have occurred without having anything to do with a lack of oil. Instead, giant oil fields, the largest oil fields in the world, can be used as a parameter.</p><p>A giant oil field contains at least 500 million barrels of recoverable oil. Only 507, or 1 % of the total number of fields, are giants. Their contribution is striking: over 60 % of the 2005 production and about 65 % of the global ultimate recoverable reserve (URR). </p><p>However, giant fields are something of the past since a majority of the largest giant fields are over 50 years old and the discovery trend of less giant fields with smaller volumes is clear. A large number of the largest giant fields are found in the countries surrounding the Persian Gulf. </p><p>The domination of giant fields in global oil production confirms a concept where they govern future production. A model, based on past annual production and URR, has been developed to forecast future production from giant fields. The results, in combination with forecasts on new field developments, heavy oil and oil sand, are used to predict future oil production.</p><p>In all scenarios, peak oil occurs at about the same time as the giant fields peak. The worst-case scenario sees a peak in 2008 and the best-case scenario, following a 1.4 % demand growth, peaks in 2018.</p>

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Montana, 2006. / Mode of access: Internet. Title from title screen. Description based on contents viewed Feb. 8, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 50-52).

Since the 1950s, oil has been the dominant source of energy in the world. The cheap supply of oil has been the engine for economic growth in the western world. Since future oil demand is expected to increase, the question to what extent future production will be available is important. The belief in a soon peak production of oil is fueled by increasing oil prices. However, the reliability of the oil price as a single parameter can be questioned, as earlier times of high prices have occurred without having anything to do with a lack of oil. Instead, giant oil fields, the largest oil fields in the world, can be used as a parameter. A giant oil field contains at least 500 million barrels of recoverable oil. Only 507, or 1 % of the total number of fields, are giants. Their contribution is striking: over 60 % of the 2005 production and about 65 % of the global ultimate recoverable reserve (URR). However, giant fields are something of the past since a majority of the largest giant fields are over 50 years old and the discovery trend of less giant fields with smaller volumes is clear. A large number of the largest giant fields are found in the countries surrounding the Persian Gulf. The domination of giant fields in global oil production confirms a concept where they govern future production. A model, based on past annual production and URR, has been developed to forecast future production from giant fields. The results, in combination with forecasts on new field developments, heavy oil and oil sand, are used to predict future oil production. In all scenarios, peak oil occurs at about the same time as the giant fields peak. The worst-case scenario sees a peak in 2008 and the best-case scenario, following a 1.4 % demand growth, peaks in 2018.

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The history and archaeology of the oil and gas industry has received little attention in cultural resource management. The sites of early exploration activity are being destroyed rapidly due, in part, to the fact that field archaeologists and historians have not been educated on the scientific and historical importance of this industry to the American culture. This thesis is an attempt to begin the education process. The document begins with an overview of the historical developments on a national level and in the State of Wyoming. Attention is then focused on the physical remains that can be found in the field with guidance on the identification, interpretation, and evaluation of the remains. The thesis concludes with the development of research, designs and avenues of future inquiry.

This work addresses the poroelastic effect on the processes involved in hydraulic fracturing and post-fracture production using a finite element based fully coupled poroelastic model which includes a triple system of wellbore-fracture-reservoir. A novel numerical procedure for modeling hydraulic fracture propagation in a poroelastic medium is introduced. The model directly takes into account the interaction of wellbore, hydraulic fracture and reservoir in a fully coupled manner. This allows realistic simulation of near fracture phenomena such as back stress and leak-off. In addition, fluid leak-off is numerically modeled based on the concept of fluid flow in porous media using a new technique for evaluating local pressure gradient. Besides, the model is capable of accommodating the zone of reduced pressure (including intermediate and fluid lag zones) at the fracture front so as to capture the behavior of fracture tip region more realistically. A fully coupled poroelastic model for gas reservoirs has been also developed using an innovative numerical technique. From the results of this study it has been found that fracture propagation pressure is higher in poroelastic media compared to that of elastic media. Also high formation permeability (in the direction normal to the hydraulic fracture) and large difference between minimum horizontal stress (in case of it being the smallest principal stress) and reservoir pressure reduce the rate of fracture growth. Besides, high pumping rate is more beneficial in elongating a hydraulic fracture whereas high viscous fracturing fluid is advantageous in widening a hydraulic fracture. It has been also shown that rock deformation, permeability anisotropy and modulus of elasticity can have a significant effect on fluid flow in a hydraulically fractured reservoir. Furthermore, it has been shown that long stress reversal time window and large size of stress reversal region can be caused by high initial pressure differential (i.e. the difference between flowing bottomhole pressure and reservoir pressure), low initial differential stress (i.e. the difference between maximum and minimum horizontal stresses) and low formation permeability in tight gas reservoirs. By taking advantage of production induced change in stress state of a reservoir, this study has also shown that a refracture treatment, if carried out in an optimal time window, can lead to higher economic gain. Besides, analysis of stress reversal region has depicted that a small region with high stress concentration in the vicinity of the wellbore could impede refracture from initiating at the desired place. Moreover, re-pressurization of the wellbore can result in further propagation of the initial fracture before initiation or during propagation of the secondary fracture.

Thesis (M.A.)--Baylor University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 239-248).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, National Centre for Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, 2002. / "September 2002" Includes bibliographical references (leaves 200-209).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2000. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Dec. 12, 2000). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 58-83).