DEVELOPMENT

Basic Concepts and Processes of a Deposit

A site is the place where rocks, minerals, gases or fossils are found
naturally (geological site), or the site where archaeological remains are found
(archaeological site). Geological sites are formations that present an
unusually high concentration of geological materials in comparison to the rest
of the earth's crust. Given the quantity and quality of the materials, a site can
justify its analysis to determine the possibility of its commercial exploitation. It
also refers to the natural concentration of mineral substances in the Earth's
crust that can be extracted or exploited for use when conditions are favorable.
In mineral deposits, the mineral that is exploited is called ore; Gangue is,
in turn, the associated mineral(s) that are of no interest or are not exploited.
Before starting to talk about hydrocarbon deposits and everything related to
this, we must be clear about a series of basic concepts necessary for those
who have little knowledge about hydrocarbon deposits. Among these
definitions are:

Hydrocarbons:

These are organic compounds that only contain carbon and hydrogen in
their molecules. Oil and natural gas are almost entirely made up of a mixture
of numerous hydrocarbon compounds. From now on when we refer to
hydrocarbons, we will be referring to oil and natural gas.
- Hydrocarbon Reservoir:
Generally speaking, it is a rocky body with a series of peculiar
characteristics (porosity, permeability, etc.), where a significant volume
of hydrocarbon is accumulated.

1
 - Petroleum System :
It comprises a mature source rock and all generically related
hydrocarbon accumulations. It includes all the geological elements and
processes that participated in the accumulation of hydrocarbon (oil
and/or gas). Systems describe the interdependent elements and
processes that form the functional unit that create hydrocarbon
accumulations. These elements are made up of: Mother rock,
Reservoir rock, Seal rock and Overload rock.

Porosity (Ø):

It is one of the most important characteristics of a reservoir, since this is

the fluid storage capacity of the rock. This is defined as the total volume of
the rock that corresponds to the pore volume, that is, the space that is not
occupied by the mineral skeleton of the rock. Porosity is classified according
to the connection between its pores (total, effective, ineffective) and
according to its origin (primary and secondary).

Figure No. 1. Porosity.

Permeability (K)

It is the ability of the rock to allow the flow of

fluids through them, that is, through their
interconnected pores. This is classified into:

2
 - Absolute Permeability:
This is independent of the nature of the fluid. And it is characterized
by the fact that the saturation of the medium consists of 100% of a
single fluid.
- Effective Permeability:
In this case the medium is saturated by more than one fluid (water,
oil and/or gas).
- Relative Permeability:
It is not more than a relationship between effective permeability
and absolute permeability.

Figure No. 2. Permeability.

Saturation:

It is the fraction of the pore volume of the reservoir that is occupied by a

certain fluid or, in other words, the percentage of the pore space of a rock that
is occupied by a fluid.
Bookings

3
 It is defined as the volume of hydrocarbon present in the reservoir which
can be recovered. These are classified into:
- Possible Reservations:
It is the estimate of hydrocarbon reserves based on geological data,
from undrilled or untested areas.
- Probable Reserves:
In this case, the reserves are estimated based on penetrated
structures, but more data are required to be obtained to be able to
classify them as proven reserves.
- Proved reserves:
The amount of hydrocarbon that is estimated to be recoverable
from known fields, under existing economic and operational conditions.

Reservoir Life Process

The life of any deposit begins with exploration, prior to discovery, followed
by delimitation that seeks to know its dimension, to later develop it as a field
and produce it. Traditionally, during the productive life of an Oil Field, only two
periods of exploitation were distinguished:

Figure No. 3. Life process of a deposit.

Exploitation by Primary Behavior

4
 During this period the oil is drained towards the wells naturally due to the
effect of the pressure gradient that exists between the bottom of the well and
the pressure existing in the reservoir. As the reservoir is exploited, the fluids
contained in the rock begin to expand and the pressure tends to drop
proportionally to the production rate and the mechanisms involved, in which
case the energy of the Reservoir begins to be insufficient to carry the fluids
from the bottom of the well to the surface, which is why the use of Systems
becomes necessary. Artificial Production (SAP).
In this way, these provide additional energy to the well to bring the fluids
to the surface, thus increasing production.
Primary recovery ends when the reservoir pressure has dropped too low or
when significant quantities of other fluids (gas and water) are produced. The
recovery percentage in this stage is of the order of 10-15% but can be higher
or lower depending on the amount of gas in the fluid and the thrust
mechanisms of the reservoir.

Exploitation by Secondary Recovery

When the primary exploitation stage ends and the reservoir pressure
begins to decline, secondary recovery methods are applied, these consist of
injecting fluids into the reservoir in order to maintain a pressure gradient
within it (Pressure Maintenance). These fluids are injected by selected wells
which are known as injection wells and their main function is to displace or
drag the hydrocarbons towards the producing wells. Over time, the oil
industry has been a hotbed of technology development. Since its origin, the
application of man's specialized knowledge was required to explore, to
discover deposits and from that moment to the present day, a period of time
of more or less a century, the advances in technologies in the different fields
of oil knowledge are incredible. .

5
 Geosciences, in particular, have had an extraordinary evolution and have
given the industry cutting-edge technological development that has allowed
us to more accurately specify the existence of hydrocarbons, the location,
their size and, in some cases, even allow us to know. physical parameters of
the reservoir rock and the type of hydrocarbons that we are going to find and
produce.

Production Mechanism

The production mechanisms are those that provide the energy necessary
for the fluids found in the reservoir to flow or move to where there is a
pressure lower than the pressure of the reservoir, in this case the production
mechanisms cause the fluids to flow. move towards the well, through which
they will travel to the surface. These mechanisms are influenced by the well
pressure, depending on whether it is above or below the bubble pressure.
These production mechanisms are:

Rock Compressibility

In this type of mechanism it does not matter whether the reservoir

pressure is above or below the bubble pressure. It is influenced by forces
such as: capillary forces due to capillary pressure, gravitational forces due to
gravity, and viscous forces due to pressure differentials and flow potentials.

Figure No. 4. Rock understandability.

6
 Release of gas in solution

It is a push mechanism when we have a pressure in the reservoir lower

than the bubbling pressure, that is, when the reservoir has already begun to
release gas, causing this gas that is being released to expand as the
pressure decreases and in this way it pushes the fluids towards the producing
well.

Figure No. 5. Release of gas in solution.

Gravitational segregation

For this type of thrust to occur, the gas must be able to move towards the
top of the structure and as it rises and accumulates, it moves the oil towards
the area of lower pressure, which is the well. The reservoir must have a high
dip and the permeability towards the top of the structure in the direction of
that dip must be large.

Figure No. 6. Gravitational segregation.

Gas Layer Thrust

7
 When there is a pressure drop in the reservoir, the gas layer expands in
such a way that it pushes the hydrocarbon into the producing well. It is worth
mentioning that this mechanism occurs only when the reservoir pressure is
below the bubble pressure.

Figure No. 7. thrust per gas layer.

Hydraulic Push

This case is associated with an aquifer. When the pressure decreases, the
water expands and invades the reservoir, causing the oil to move to the well.
If there is a constant supply of water to the aquifer, it means that there is no
pressure drop in the system or very little pressure drop and the displacement
is produced by the constant entry of water into the system, which displaces
the oil.

Figure No. 8. Hydraulic push.

Hydrocarbon Production Stages

8
 Flow in the reservoir.

This phase refers to the difficult and complicated path that the oil follows
within the reservoir thousands of meters deep through the microchannels of
porous and permeable rock until it reaches the bottom of the well. The oil
makes this journey thanks to the pressure or natural energy that exists in the
reservoir.

Figure No. 9. flow in the reservoir

Production in the well.

Once the oil reaches the bottom of the well, it continues its journey
through the vertical production pipe until it reaches the surface. As the oil
rises (either by natural means or by artificial lift methods) the pressure
decreases and the release of the gas originally dissolved in the crude oil
occurs.

Figure No. 10. Production in the well.

9
 Crude oil collection.

After oil from each of the reservoir's wells has reached the surface, it is
collected by a system of flow lines that run from the wellhead to the flow
stations.

Figure No. 11. Crude oil collection.

Gas separation.

At the flow stations, the oil and gas produced by the wells enter the
separators where the separation of the gas that was still mixed with the oil is
completed. When leaving through the separators, the oil and gas follow
different routes to meet the different established uses and applications.

Figure No. 12. Gas separation.

Crude oil storage.

10
 The different types of oil that arrive at the flow stations are pumped
through pipelines to the tank farms, where all the oil production from a given
area is finally collected and stored, to be treated, eliminating water and
contamination. salt, placing it under commercial specifications.

Figure No. 13. Crude oil storage.

Pipeline transportation

The clean crude oil (waterless and desalted) stored in the tank farms is sent
through pipelines to the country's refineries and shipping terminals for export
to overseas markets.

Figure No. 14. Pipeline transportation

Shipment to Export.

The oil that arrives at the shipping terminals is loaded onto the tanker fleet
for shipment to different markets around the world.

11
Figure No. 15 shipment for export

Production Methods

Artificial lift method (conventional)

They are those that have a common application in the oil industry , since
they are the most used in crude oil production currently. Within this group we
find:

Conventional mechanical pumping

Mechanical pumping is the most used artificial lift method in the world. It
basically consists of a reciprocating action subsoil pump, supplied with
energy through a rod string. The energy comes from an electric motor , or
internal combustion , which moves a surface unit through a system of gears
and belts. Conventional mechanical pumping has its main application
worldwide in the production of heavy and extra-heavy crude oil, although it is
also used in the production of medium and light crude oil.
For the pumping action to occur, the piston makes a reciprocating
movement inside the barrel, the pipe confines the suction rod string that in
turn drives the pump in the subsoil; It has fixed and traveling valves , they are
non-return, ball and seat valves so that they only allow flow in a single
direction towards the head .

12
Figure No. 16. Mechanical pumping.

Artificial gas lift :

Gas Injection Artificial Lift is a production method that uses high-pressure
compressed gas as an external energy source. The gas is injected at a point
in the fluid column in the production tubing. The purpose of the injected gas is
to lighten or displace the column of fluids, reducing its weight. In this way, the
energy of the reservoir will be sufficient to transport the fluids from the bottom
to the surface.

Figure No. 17. Artificial Gas Lift

Artificial Lifting Method (non-conventional)

They are all those technologies developed and/or improved in recent

years. Among these are:

13
Electrosubmersible Pumping
It is considered an artificial lift method, which uses a centrifugal pump
located underground to lift fluids contributed by the reservoir from the bottom
of the well to the flow station. It is based on the principle of fluid
centrifugation, a rotor rotates at high speed and expels the fluid towards the
periphery of the rotor where it is entered into a discharge pipe. This type of
pumps have different centrifugation states, that is, it is not a single rotor, if not
several that are placed in successive ways one on top of the other and
feeding each other to gain greater pressure.

Figure No. 18. Electrosubmersible Pumping.

Progressive Cavity Pumping
This method consists of the positive displacement of a volume, caused by
a pressure difference resulting from the transformation of kinetic energy into
potential when longitudinal movement along it is combined. The progressive
cavity or screw pump is equipment used for the artificial lifting of crude oil
from the subsoil to the surface.

Figure No. 19. progressive cavity

14
Fluid Injection
This process consists of injecting water or gas into the reservoir. If water is
injected, a mechanism such as hydraulic thrust would occur and if the
injection is gas it would function as a thrust through a layer of gas. What
makes the difference with natural production thrusts is that in both cases
water or gas must be injected from time to time. Finally, it is worth highlighting
that the production of a deposit can have one or more production
mechanisms.

Figure No. 20. fluid injection

15