Oilfield Production: What Happens At The Surface
Tuesday December 1, 2015
Previously, we’ve talked about the depositional environments in major basins; we’ve discussed geological and geophysical analysis of the subsurface; we’ve discussed drilling, casing, perforating and completing; and we’ve examined how to lift hydrocarbons to the surface.
But what are we actually lifting to the surface?Previous to Edwin Drake, hydrocarbons were considered an unfortunate byproduct of drilling for water. In areas with shallow hydrocarbons, like Pennsylvania, there are many historical stories of water wells being flammable. But Drake had a whim there might be a market, and innovated a method to extract oil and exclude surrounding ground water. Within a decade Kerosene was the king of lighting, the whales were saved, and crude oil went on to become the most important component in the global economy.
What we bring to the surface when drilling for oil and gas, however, continues to be a mixture of fluids and gases, and the stabilization, separation, storage, dispensation, transportation, taxation, and in some cases disposal of those portions of the production could use some observation. Since that’s a lot of territory to cover, this post marks the beginning of a series that will cover a number of these angles.
To begin, we will look at the technology used in the oilfield to separate the hydrocarbons and make them ready for delivery into the midstream.
Oil Wells and Gas Wells – Is There a Difference?
To a certain extent, yes.
- Due to the nature of gas vs. liquid as a phase of matter, gas wells often lift under their own pressure, and are thus outfitted with a “Christmas tree” wellhead at the surface, as opposed to the common “beam pump” associated with oil wells.
- Gas is typically diverted into some sort of pi...