Seismic Reflection Method and industry, Lecture notes of Geophysics

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F W Schroeder Courtesy of ExxonMobil L 1 - Focus of Industry

Lecture 1 Lecture 1

Exploration Production Refining Marketing

F W Schroeder Courtesy of ExxonMobil L 1 - Focus of Industry

A Fully-Integrated Oil Company A Fully-Integrated Oil Company

Getting Refined Products to the Consumers Getting Raw Oil & Gas to the Refinery Refinery http://www.npl.co.uk/upload/img_400/oilrig.gif

F W Schroeder Courtesy of ExxonMobil L 1 - Focus of Industry

Oil Company Targets Oil Company Targets

To maintain a healthy petroleum company,

one would want to:

• (^) Replace production (what you take out of the

ground) with new reserves

Exploration Finds  Volumes Produced

• (^) Keep finding costs below $1 per barrel

 Exploration Costs

 New Barrels

< $1/barrel

F W Schroeder Courtesy of ExxonMobil L 1 - Focus of Industry

We Need to Drill Wisely

• (^) Wells can be very expensive, some > $200 million, a lot even for a major oil company
• (^) Well placement and well path can be critical to success
• (^) So ….. How can we determine where to drill and predict what we will find BEFORE we start drilling? This leads to the need for geologists,This leads to the need for geologists, geophysicists, and other specialists geophysicists, and other specialists focused on imaging and interpreting the focused on imaging and interpreting the subsurface subsurface This leads to the need for geologists, This leads to the need for geologists, geophysicists, and other specialists geophysicists, and other specialists focused on imaging and interpreting the focused on imaging and interpreting the subsurface subsurface

F W Schroeder Courtesy of ExxonMobil L 1 - Focus of Industry

Exploration’s Task

Uneconomic Success Drill Wildcats Assess Prospects Drop Prospec t Confirmation Well Failure Success Interpret Seismic Data Process Seismic Data Acquire Seismic Data Capture Prime Areas Identify Opportunities To Development Or Production

F W Schroeder Courtesy of ExxonMobil L 1 - Focus of Industry

An Exploration Success

The Bonanza Basin, offshore Somewhereia, was deemed to have high potential. Block 1 Block 5 Block 4 Block 3 Block 2 Block 8 Block 7 Block 6 Somewhereia Bonanza Basin

F W Schroeder Courtesy of ExxonMobil L 1 - Focus of Industry

An Exploration Success

The Bonanza Basin, offshore Somewhereia, was deemed to have high potential. We leased the two highest- ranked blocks in the last licensing round. 8 leads were identified, 3 passed economic screening and were matured into prospects. Bonanza Basin Block 8 Block 7 Lead A Lead B Lead C Block 8 Block 7 Alpha Prospect

F W Schroeder Courtesy of ExxonMobil L 1 - Focus of Industry

An Exploration Success

The Bonanza Basin, offshore Somewhereia, was deemed to have high potential. We leased the two highest- ranked blocks in the last licensing round. 8 leads were identified, 3 passed economic screening and were matured into prospects. We drilled a wildcat at the Alpha Prospect & found oil. Alpha Prospect Block 7 Bonanza Basin Discovery Well Block 8 Salt Diapir

F W Schroeder Courtesy of ExxonMobil L 1 - Focus of Industry

G&G in Development

• (^) Can we refine our picture of the distribution of oil at Alpha?
• (^) Is the reservoir a single unit, or is it segmented (separate regions to drain)?
• (^) How many wells/where should they be drilled?
• (^) What sort of facilities (platform?) will we need?
• (^) How can we speed-up time to first oil?
• What uncertainties remain?
• (^) Exploration has drilled a discovery and a confirmation well.
• (^) The ultimate recover for Alpha is estimated to be 200 MBO, which greatly exceeds the economic threshold of 100 MBO Questions:

F W Schroeder Courtesy of ExxonMobil L 1 - Focus of Industry

We Need More Detail

Reservoir Map at the end of Exploration Reservoir Map at the end of Development

F W Schroeder Courtesy of ExxonMobil L 1 - Focus of Industry

G&G in Production

• How should we manage the field so as to maximize our investments?
• Can we monitor how oil is being swept out of the reservoir?
• (^) What about injection wells and enhanced recovery?
• (^) Is there more oil in the vicinity – either at deeper depths or in nearby traps?
• (^) Can we build a computer model of the field that matches existing production data? If so, we can test future recovery with different drilling scenarios.
• (^) Production has begun at Alpha.
• (^) The initial production rates are as expected. Questions:

F W Schroeder Courtesy of ExxonMobil L 1 - Focus of Industry

Reservoir Simulation

Geologic Model Reservoir Simulation Oil Production Time HISTORY MATCH