Listado de la etiqueta: hydrocarbons

Environmental engineers develop method to ID cause of sour hydrocarbons in wells

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Rice University researchers have developed a technique to model oil and gas formations to determine the cause of souring. Credit: Jason Gaspar/Alvarez Lab

In at least one—and probably many—oil and gas drilling operations, the use of biocides to prevent the souring of hydrocarbons wastes money and creates an unnecessary environmental burden, according to researchers at Rice University.

The Rice lab of environmental engineer Pedro Alvarez reported that soured hydrocarbons found in the Bakken Formation underneath the Northwest United States and Canada are caused by primarily geochemical reactions rather than microbial ones; the researchers questioned the need to pump costly biocides into the well to kill sulfide-producing microbes.

The team’s finding offers a way to cut costs at wellheads where biocides may be unnecessary while keeping them out of the environment, where they may promote the development of biocide-resistant bacteria, Alvarez said.

The research appears in the American Chemical Society journal Environment Science and Technology Letters.

Soured hydrocarbons are those with high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide gas. The hydrogen sulfide gives oil and natural gas the smell of rotten eggs, can be toxic to breathe and is highly corrosive. For this reason, the gas has to be removed from crude oil before it can be transported or refined.

Curtailing the use of biocides when the source of souring is not from microbes would reduce operation costs and mitigate potential impacts to microbial ecosystems, Alvarez said.

The Rice-led team set out to solve a long-standing puzzle over what in an individual formation makes hydrocarbons go sour. Either microbial life or the geochemical environment can catalyze the reaction, but engineers are rarely able to determine which is happening.

Alvarez and his co-authors developed an improved map of temperatures to about 2 miles below the surface in eight representative Bakken Formation fracture wells. They showed that downhole temperatures in the formation are equal to or exceed the upper known temperature limit—252 degrees Fahrenheit—for microorganisms’ survival.

The team also analyzed isotopes of sulfur isolated from hydrogen sulfide taken from the wells. They found all of the isotopes tested suggested geochemical origins. Water samples from the same wells failed to yield DNA concentrations that would indicate the presence of microorganisms.

«The combination of temperature, sulfur isotope and microbial analyses makes scientific, environmental and financial sense,» said Jason Gaspar, a Rice graduate student and lead author of the paper. «Using our method, we could characterize hydrogen sulfide for dozens of wells in a given shale play for less than the cost of adding biocide to one well alone.»

More information: Jason Gaspar et al. Biogenic versus Thermogenic H S Source Determination in Bakken Wells: Considerations for Biocide Application , Environmental Science & Technology Letters (2016). DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.6b00075

Copyrigth: Phys  Org.

Over 20 Oil Companies Register for Auction Mexican Gulf Blocks

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For the auction of 10 blocks in waters of the Gulf of Mexico 21 oil companies have registered to participate, among them Spanish Repsol, Norwegian Statoil and French Total, together with Mexican Pemex, it was known today.

British BP, Anglo-Dutch Shell, Chevron and Exxon Mobil, both of the United States have also registered.

These four international megacorporations, which in the past made up the influential group known as The Seven Sisters, and for decades were owners of the Mexican crude, attempt to recover the exploitation of oil fields, says daily La Jornada.

Through the license contract, the National Commission of Hydrocarbons (CNH) allows winner companies to exploit oil deposits.

Up to 1938, before nationalization of the oil industry, decreed by president Lazaro Cardenas, seven foreign companies -five of the U.S. and two British- were owners of Mexican oil.

As it transcended, the seven transnationals were baptized by Enrico Mattei, considered father of the Italian energy industry, as the Seven Sisters.

The opening date for presentation of proposals for handing concessions on exploitation of a máximum period of 50 years of the 10 auctioned blocks, located in deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, will be set on December 5, 2016.

Copyright: Prensa Latina

Complications during well control.

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Decontrol wells is generated by an outbreak, which cannot be operated at will, and is classified as:

  • Differential.- happens when formation pressure is greater than the hydrostatic pressure, invading the formation fluids down hole, lifting the column of fluid so that the ejected surface and surface equipment control is not closed .

  • Induced.- is caused by the movement of the pipe, which can probe or lighten the hydrostatic column or fracture the formation to enter complicated the problem by having broken pipes.

Given the lack of control proceeds to apply a specific method of control as the problem that generates it, but the reality is that few actions in the Well Control that occur as they are planned, so it is important to be familiar with complications that can occur during execution of the control.

Below you can find a list of the most common complications:

  • Capping / collapsed the ring

  • covered string

  • Failure of the BOP

  • Failure or damage coating

  • cement plug

  • Misconceptions

  • Complications during circulation of a Kick

  • Excessive pressure casing

  • Unreliable or unavailable reduced pressure

  • Drilling hot

  • Control Considerations Horizontal Wells

  • Hollow or weakness in Tubing

  • Freezing

  • Detection of free point

  • Float valve backpressure in the drill string

  • Fishing

  • Lost Circulation

  • Partial and severe circulation losses

  • Well´s mechanical problems

  • Milling

  • Pipe off the bottom and out of the well

  • Very weak or much corroded pipe

  • Changes in Tanks

  • Bit or clogged funnel

  • Pressure between the strings of coaters

  • Failure pressure gauges

  • Problems beyond the choke

  • Failure or change of pump

  • Reciprocated pipe during Well Control

  • Considerations closure pressures

  • Snubbing in the string or tumbing

  • Paste pipe

  • Telescoping string

Therefore, it is vitally important to always be alert to indicators of pressure, flow and equipment involved to recognize the emergence of outbreaks promptly and react seeking to avoid incidents and be protected with Insurance Well Control we support for any inconvenience.

In NRGI Broker we have an expert in Insurance Well Control and risk analysis that will provide comprehensive solutions, with proven products, which are tailored to suit your needs equipment.

 

Contact us, we are here to help:

[email protected]
(55) 9177.2100

Los peores accidentes con hidrocarburos en México: Primera Parte

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En México, la actividad petrolera es una de las más importantes por su contribución al desarrollo económico, sin embargo también está considerada una industria altamente riesgosa, por su potencial para causar daños a personas, bienes y al medio ambiente. En ocasiones, a pesar de contar con diversas medidas de seguridad, los accidentes ocurren y pueden llegar a tener consecuencias catastróficas.

A continuación, se presentan dos de los peores accidentes con hidrocarburos y/o petrolíferos sucedidos en México:

19 de noviembre de 1984. Se registraron diversas explosiones en las plantas de almacenamiento y distribución de Gas de Pemex en San Juan Ixhuatepec, Tlalnepantla, Estado de México. La planta de almacenamiento contaba con 4 tanques con un volumen de 1600 m3 y 2 con un volumen de 2400 m3, equivalente a 11,000,000 de litros aproximadamente[1].

El accidente provocó la muerte de entre 500 y 600 personas y un aproximado de 4,500 heridos, 200 mil damnificados.

El 22 de abril de 1992.  Una fuga de gasolina de un ducto de Pemex en Guadalajara vertió al subsuelo y al sistema de drenaje de la ciudad, lo que causó una gran explosión que dejó unos 210 muertos además de cuantiosos daños.

Estos dos siniestros significaron un importante precedente para la regulación de actividades altamente riesgosas, consideradas todas aquellas que manejan alguna de las sustancias contenidas en el Primer Listado (Manejo de Sustancias Tóxicas), de fecha 28 de marzo de 1990 y el Segundo Listado (Sustancias Inflamables y Explosivas) de fecha 04 de mayo de 1992.

Los listados fueron publicados posteriormente a cada uno de los siniestros antes mencionados, como una forma de incrementar las medidas de seguridad y evitar que volvieran a suceder.

En esos listados, se encuentran los hidrocarburos y petrolíferos, por lo que todos aquellos manejan estas sustancias están obligados a cumplir con la regulación aplicable a las actividades altamente riesgosas.

Una de esas obligaciones es contar con seguros de responsabilidad civil y responsabilidad ambiental para responder por los daños que puedan causar a terceros.

En NRGI Broker somos expertos en seguros para el Sector Hidrocarburos. Acércate a nosotros, con gusto te atenderemos.

 

 

[1] Ver “The tragedy of San Juanico- the most severe LPG disaster in history”, disponible en:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/358094

Mexico oil production to reach 2.6 mil b/d by 2025: Lopez Obrador

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S&P Globals Platts / Wendy Wells / Daniel Rodríguez / September 11

 

Mexico City — Mexico’s President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Sunday he plans to focus on developing and exploring onshore and shallow water areas under the control of state oil company Pemex to boost the country’s oil production.

«We have a projection, and our plan is to have production of at least 2.6 million b/d by the end of the presidential term; additional production of 800,000 b/d,» Lopez Obrador said in webcast press conference.

Lopez Obrador was speaking to journalists after a meeting with Mexican drilling and oil service companies at Villahermosa in Tabasco.

Mexico’s production averaged 1.8 million b/d in July, down from an historical high of 3.4 million b/d in 2004, latest data from Mexico’s National Hydrocarbon Commission showed.

Lopez Obrador said the incoming administration plans to tender drilling contracts in December when his six-year term begins to develop Pemex’s shallow water and inland areas to boost oil production. «We are inviting all companies to participate in these tenders. However, we will have a preference over domestic contractors,» he added.

He said he planned to add Peso 75 billion ($3.9 billion) to Pemex’s exploration and production budget to boost drilling and thus raise output. The tenders will help Mexico reverse its production downtrend by the end of 2019, he added.

Mexico’s oil industry is at a crisis as a result of low public investment in the sector. Pemex in 2017 had an E&P capital expenditure budget of Peso 81.5 billion, down from Peso 222 billion in 2014, the company’s annual financial statements show. The cut in Pemex’s budget resulted in a significant decrease in drilling activity; it drilled 83 wells in 2017, compared with 705 in 2013.

Lopez Obrador blamed the previous administration for Pemex’s lower capital expenditure, claiming it was done on purpose amid expectations the private sector would offset lower activity from the state company. «It has been a complete failure, this wrongly named energy reform,» Lopez Obrador said

The president-elect has historically been an opponent of private participation in Mexico’s energy sector. His critics note Pemex’s spending cuts reflect lower global oil prices after 2014.

The president-elect neither mentioned the long-term nature of the energy sector nor the advances made by Eni at Amoca, PanAmerica with Hotchi and Talos with Zama, where peak production across the three fields could be above 250,000 b/d.

Analysts also point out that Lopez Obrador does not acknowledge that it has been a challenge for Mexico to replace production from the aging Cantarell super field, which produced 2.1 million b/d in 2003 and but 160,000 b/d in July.

Mexico won’t call for new hydrocarbon auction rounds until all 107 contracts awarded to date under the energy reform are reviewed for corruption, Lopez Obrador said.

«The majority aren’t working, there is no investment, but those 107 contracts don’t include all the oil regions in the country, just a fraction of Mexico’s hydrocarbon potential,» he added.

The president-elect did not indicate when this contract review process could conclude. Currently, Mexico’s National Hydrocarbon Commission is organizing two gas-rich auction rounds, which are expected to be awarded in February.

The commission postponed both auctions as well as a Pemex’s auction to farm out seven onshore clusters in southern Mexico from this summer until the coming year, citing a request from the industry for more time to analyze the areas as well as the opportunity to involve the incoming administration in the process.

Lopez Obrador said the state owns all of Mexico’s oil resources, and has greater control over areas that have not yet been assigned. «The greater majority of our oil potential is still under the control of Pemex,» he added.

 

S&P Globals / Wendy Wells / Daniel Rodríguez / September 11

 

Spanish oil company Repsol enters the Mexican market

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FROM: El Sol de México / The Yucatán Times / 20 April 2018

Seven gas stations in Baja California Sur will start operating soon under the brand name of the Spanish company “Repsol”. These openings are added to others in Mexico City, State of Mexico, Veracruz and Puebla.

In total, Repsol will be opening more than 60 stations, in addition to those already operating in the CDMX.

The company has proposed to invest 8 billion pesos in the opening of 250 service stations per year until 2022. The objective, according to the company, is to reach a market share of 8 to 10% in five years, which includes the opening of gas stations and invest in the development of new oil industry infrastructure.

Of the 11, 925 service stations operating in the country, 22% (2,651) are already working under 39 new brands, as announced by the commissioner president of the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), Guillermo García Alcocer

At the beginning of March, Repsol opened its first 10 service stations in Mexico City and already has agreements for the opening of 25 additional stations, in the CDMX metropolitan area.

Im alliance with OctanFuel group, formed by more than 300 local entrepreneurs, Repsol will open their first gas stations in Veracruz and Puebla.

As other companies have done, Repsol will offer Neotech fuels in its stations, a formula that, according to the company itself, will bring the accumulated experience in the most demanding motor competitions, such as the World Motorcycle World, the Dakar or the Formula 1 Championships.

Repsol assures that they have installed new own manufactured pumps in their gas stations, where they have installed the Repsol Safe Station System for volumetric control, to reinforce billing and remote monitoring of the pumps.

In addition to distributing its lubricants, in the area of ​​exploration and production of hydrocarbons six exploration blocks were awarded to Repsol in the oil bidding rounds, in partnership with local companies.

FROM: El Sol de México / The Yucatán Times / 20 April 2018