petroleum production

petroleum production

Introduction

      recovery of crude oil and, often, associated natural gas from the Earth.

       petroleum is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon material that is believed to have formed in deep sedimentary (sedimentary rock) beds from animal and vegetable debris. The petroleum, being less dense than the surrounding water, was expelled from the source beds and migrated upward through porous rock such as sandstone and some limestone until it was finally blocked by nonporous rock such as shale or dense limestone. In this way, petroleum deposits came to be trapped by geologic features caused by the folding, faulting, and erosion of the Earth's crust.

      Petroleum may exist in gaseous, liquid, or near-solid phases either alone or in combination. The liquid phase is commonly called crude oil, while the more solid phase may be called bitumen, tar, pitch, or asphalt. When these phases occur together, gas usually overlies the liquid, and the liquid overlies the more solid phase. Occasionally, petroleum deposits elevated during the formation of mountain ranges have been exposed by erosion to form tar deposits. Some of these deposits have been known and exploited throughout recorded history. Other near-surface deposits of liquid petroleum seep slowly to the surface through natural fissures in the overlying rock. Accumulations from these seeps, called rock oil, were used commercially in the 19th century to make lamp oil by simple distillation. The vast majority of petroleum deposits, however, lie trapped in the pores of natural rock at depths from 150 to 7,600 metres (500 to 25,000 feet) below the surface of the ground. As a general rule, the deeper deposits have higher internal pressures and contain greater quantities of gaseous hydrocarbons.

      When it was discovered in the 19th century that rock oil would yield a distilled product (kerosene) suitable for lanterns, new sources of this mineral were eagerly sought. It is now generally agreed that the first well drilled specifically to find oil was that of Edwin Laurentine Drake in Titusville, Pa., U.S., in 1859. The success of this well, drilled close to an oil seep, prompted further drilling in the same vicinity and soon led to similar exploration elsewhere. By the end of the century, the growing demand for petroleum products resulted in the drilling of oil wells in other states and countries. In 1900, crude oil production worldwide was nearly 150 million barrels. Half of this total was produced in Russia, and most (80 percent) of the rest was produced in the United States.

      The advent and the growth of automobile usage in the second decade of the 20th century created a great demand for petroleum products. Annual production surpassed one billion barrels in 1925 and two billion barrels in 1940. By the last decade of the 20th century, there were almost one million wells in more than 100 countries producing more than 20 billion barrels per year. Petroleum is produced in every continent except Antarctica.

prospecting and exploration (Earth exploration)
      Drake's original well was drilled close to a known surface seepage of crude oil. For years such seepages were the only reliable indicators of the presence of underground oil and gas. As demand grew, however, new methods were devised for evaluating the potential of underground rock formations. There are now three major types of exploration methods: (1) surface methods such as geologic feature mapping and detection of seepages, (2) area surveys of gravity and magnetic fields, and (3) seismographic methods. These methods can only indicate the presence or absence of underground formations that are favourable for petroleum accumulations. There is still no way to predict the actual presence of productive underground deposits of petroleum.

Surface methods
      Crude oil seeps sometimes appear as a tarlike deposit in a low area such as the oil springs at Baku, Azerbaijan, on the Caspian Sea, described by Marco Polo. More often they occur as a thin skim of oil on small creeks that pass through the area. This latter phenomenon was responsible for the naming of Oil Creek in Pennsylvania, where Drake's well was drilled. Seeps of natural gas usually cannot be seen, although instruments can detect natural gas concentrations in air as low as 1 part in 100,000. Similar instruments have been used to test for traces of gas in seawater. These geochemical surface prospecting methods are not applicable to the large majority of petroleum reservoirs, which do not have leakage to the surface.

      Another method is based on surface indications of likely underground rock formations. In some cases, subsurface folds and faults in rock formations are repeated in the surface features. The presence of underground salt domes, for example, may be indicated by a low bulge in an otherwise flat ground surface. Uplifting and faulting in the rock formations surrounding these domes often result in oil and gas accumulations.

Gravity and magnetic surveys
      Although gravity at the Earth's surface is very nearly constant, it is slightly greater where dense rock formations lie close to the surface. Gravitational force, therefore, increases over the tops of anticlinal (arch-shaped) folds and decreases over the tops of salt domes. Very small differences in gravitational force can be measured by a sensitive instrument known as the gravimeter. Measurements are made on a precise grid over a large area, and the results are mapped and interpreted to reflect the presence of potential oil- or gas-bearing formations.

      Magnetic surveys (magnetic survey) make use of the magnetic properties of certain types of rock that, when close to the surface, affect the Earth's normal magnetic field. Again, sensitive instruments are used to map anomalies over large areas. Surveys are often carried out from aircraft over land areas and from oceangoing vessels over continental shelves. A similar method, called magnetotellurics, measures the natural electromagnetic field at the Earth's surface. The different electrical resistivities of rock formations cause anomalies that, when mapped, are interpreted to reflect underground geologic features.

Seismographic methods
      The survey methods described above can show the presence of large geologic anomalies such as anticlines (arch-shaped folds in subterranean layers of rock), fault blocks (sections of rock layers separated by a fracture or break), and salt domes, even though there may not be surface indications of their presence. However, they cannot be relied upon to find smaller and less obvious traps and unconformities in the stratigraphic arrangement of rock layers that may harbour petroleum reservoirs. These can be detected and located by seismic surveying (seismic survey), which makes use of the sound-transmitting (sound) and sound-reflecting properties of underground rock formations. Sound waves travel at different velocities through different types of rock formation and are reflected by the interfaces between different types of rock. The sound-wave source is usually a small explosion in a shallow drilled hole. Microphones are placed at various distances and directions from the explosive point to pick up and record the transmitted and reflected sound-wave arrivals. The procedure is repeated at intervals over a wide area. An experienced seismologist can then interpret the collected records to map the underground formation contours. Since the mid-1970s, digital computers have been used for this analysis with greatly improved results.

The oil well

Drilling
Cable tooling
      Early oil wells were drilled with impact-type tools in a method called cable-tool drilling. A weighted, chisel-shaped bit was suspended from a cable to a lever at the surface, where an up-and-down motion of the lever caused the bit to chip away the rock at the bottom of the hole. The drilling had to be halted periodically to allow loose rock chips and liquids to be removed with a collecting device attached to the cable. At these times the chipping tip of the bit was sharpened, or “dressed” by the tool dresser. The borehole had to be free of liquids during the drilling so that the bit could remove rock effectively. This dry condition of the hole allowed oil and gas to flow to the surface when the bit penetrated a producing formation, thus creating the image of a “gusher” as a successful oil well. Often a large amount of oil was wasted before the well could be capped and brought under control.

The rotary drill
 During the middle and late 20th century, rotary drilling became the preferred penetration method for oil and gas wells. In this method a special tool, the drill bit, rotates while bearing down on the bottom of the well, thus gouging and chipping its way downward. Probably the greatest advantage of rotary drilling over cable tooling is that the well bore is kept full of liquid during drilling. A weighted fluid ( drilling mud) is circulated through the well bore to serve two important purposes. By its hydrostatic pressure, it prevents the entry of the formation fluids into the well, thereby preventing “blowouts” and gushers. In addition, the drilling mud carries the crushed rock to the surface, so that drilling is continuous until the bit wears out.

      Rotary drilling techniques have enabled wells to be drilled to depths of more than 9,000 metres. Formations having fluid pressures greater than 1,400 kilograms per square centimetre (20,000 pounds per square inch) and temperatures greater than 250° C (480° F) have been successfully penetrated.

The drill pipe
      The drill bit is connected to the surface equipment through the drill pipe, a heavy-walled tube through which the drilling mud is fed to the bottom of the borehole. In most cases, the drill pipe also transmits the rotary motion to the bit from a turntable at the surface. The top piece of the drill pipe is a tube of square (or occasionally six- or eight-sided) cross section called the kelly. The kelly passes through a similarly shaped hole in the turntable. At the bottom end of the drill pipe are extra-heavy sections called drill collars, which serve to concentrate the weight on the rotating bit. In order to help maintain a vertical well bore, the drill pipe above the collars is usually kept in tension. The drilling mud leaves the drill pipe through the bit in such a way that it scours the loose rock from the bottom and carries it to the surface. Drilling mud is carefully formulated to assure the correct weight and viscosity properties for the required tasks. After screening to remove the rock chips, the mud is held in open pits or metal tanks to be recirculated through the well. The mud is picked up by piston pumps and forced through a swivel joint at the top of the kelly.

The derrick
      The hoisting equipment that is used to raise and lower the drill pipe, along with the machinery for rotating the pipe, are contained in the tall derrick that is characteristic of rotary drilling rigs. While early derricks were constructed at the drilling site, modern rigs can be moved from one site to the next. The drill bit wears out quickly and requires frequent replacement, often once a day. This makes it necessary to pull the entire drill string from the well and stand all the joints of drill pipe vertically at one side of the derrick. Joints are usually nine metres long. While the bit is being changed, sections of two or three joints are separated and stacked. Drilling mud is left in the hole during this time to prevent excessive flow of fluids into the well.

      Modern wells are not drilled to their total depth in a continuous process. Drilling may be stopped for logging and testing (discussed below; see Well logging and drill-stem testing), and it also may be stopped to insert casing and cement it to the outer circumference of the borehole. Casing is steel pipe that is intended to prevent any transfer of fluids between the borehole and the surrounding formations. Since the drill bit must pass through any installed casing in order to continue drilling, the borehole below each string of casing is smaller than the borehole above. In very deep wells, as many as five intermediate strings of progressively smaller-diameter casing may be used during the drilling process.

The turbodrill
      One variation in rotary drilling employs a fluid-powered turbine at the bottom of the borehole to produce the rotary motion of the bit. Known as the turbodrill, this instrument is about nine metres long and is made up of four major parts: the upper bearing, the turbine, the lower bearing, and the drill bit. The upper bearing is attached to the drill pipe, which either does not rotate or rotates at a slow rate (6 to 8 revolutions per minute). The drill bit, meanwhile, rotates at a much faster rate (500 to 1,000 revolutions per minute) than in conventional rotary drilling. The power source for the turbodrill is the mud pump, which forces mud through the drill pipe to the turbine. The mud is diverted onto the rotors of the turbine, turning the lower bearing and the drill bit. The mud then passes through the drill bit to scour the hole and carry chips to the surface. The turbodrill is capable of very fast drilling, but the bit and bearings wear quickly in the harsh environment. Turbodrills were widely used in the former Soviet republics of Russia and Central Asia, but they are rare elsewhere.

Directional drilling
      Frequently, the drilling platform and derrick cannot be located directly above the spot where the well should penetrate the formation (if, for example, petroleum reservoirs lie under lakes, towns, or harbours). In these cases, the surface equipment must be offset and the well bore drilled at an angle that will intersect the underground formation at the desired place. This is done by drilling the wells vertically to start and then angling them at depths that depend on the relative position of the target. Since the nearly inflexible drill pipe must be able to move and rotate through the entire depth, the angle of the borehole can be changed only a few degrees at any one time. In order to achieve a large deviation angle, therefore, a number of small deviations must be made. The borehole, in effect, ends up making a large arc to reach its objective. The traditional tool for “kicking off” such a well is the whipstock. This consists of an inclined plane on the bottom of the drill pipe that is oriented in the direction the well is intended to take. The drill bit is thereby forced to move off in the proper direction. A more recent technique makes use of a “bent sub” at the bottom of the drill pipe that is pointed in the desired direction. A mud-powered turbine at the bottom of the sub drills the first few metres of the angled hole. Directional drilling techniques have advanced to the point where well bores can end in horizontal sections with lengths greater than 300 metres.

Offshore platforms
Shallow water
      Many petroleum reservoirs are found in places where normal land-based drilling rigs cannot be used. In shallow inland waters or wetland areas, a drilling platform and other normal equipment may be mounted on a barge, which can be floated into position and then made to rest on the bottom. The actual drilling platform can be raised above the water on masts if necessary. Drilling and other operations on the well make use of an opening through the barge hull. This type of rig is generally restricted to water depths of 15 metres or less.

      In shallow Arctic waters where drifting ice is a hazard for fixed platforms, artificial islands are constructed. Onshore in Arctic areas, permafrost makes drilling difficult because melting around and under the drill site makes the ground unstable. Here, too, artificial islands are built up with rock or gravel.

Deep water
 In deeper, more open waters over continental shelves, drilling is done from free-floating platforms or from platforms made to rest on the bottom. Floating rigs are most often used for exploratory drilling, while bottom-resting platforms are usually associated with the drilling of wells in an established field. One type of floating rig is the drill ship. This is an oceangoing vessel with a derrick mounted in the middle, over an opening for the drilling operation. The ship is usually held in position by six or more anchors, although some vessels are capable of precise maneuvering with directional thrust propellers. Even so, drill ships will roll and pitch from wave action, making the drilling difficult. A more stable platform is obtained with semisubmersible vessels. In these vessels, buoyancy is afforded by a hull that is entirely underwater, while the operational platform is held well above the surface on slender supports. Normal wave action affects the platforms very little. These vessels are also kept in place during drilling by either anchors or precise maneuvering.

      Fixed platforms, which rest on the seafloor, are very stable, although they cannot drill in water as deep as floating platforms can. The most popular type is called a jack-up rig. This is a floating (but not self-propelled) platform with legs that can be lifted high off the seafloor while the platform is towed to the drilling site. There the legs are cranked downward by a rack-and-pinion gearing system until they encounter the seafloor and actually raise the platform 10 to 20 metres above the surface. The bottoms of the legs are usually fastened to the seafloor with pilings. Other types of bottom-setting platforms may rest on rigid steel or concrete bases that are constructed onshore to the correct height. After being towed to the drilling site, flotation tanks built into the base are flooded, and the base sinks to the ocean floor. Storage tanks for produced oil may be built into the underwater base section.

      In some platforms the legs have been replaced by cables fastened to the seafloor. The platform is pulled down on the cables so that its buoyancy creates a tension in the cables that holds it firmly in place. These platforms typically operate in water up to 100 metres deep.

      For both fixed and floating rigs, the drill pipe must still transmit both rotary power and drilling mud to the bit; in addition, the mud must be returned to the platform for recirculation. In order to accomplish these functions through seawater, an outer casing, called a riser, must extend from the seafloor to the platform. Also, a guidance system (usually consisting of cables fastened to the seafloor) must be in place to allow equipment and tools from the surface to enter the well bore. In the case of floating platforms, there will always be some motion of the platform relative to the seafloor, so this equipment must be both flexible and extensible. A guidance system will be especially necessary if the well is to be put into production after the drilling platform is moved away.

well logging and drill-stem testing
      After the borehole has penetrated a potential productive zone, the formations must be tested to determine if expensive completion procedures should be used. The first evaluation is usually made using well-logging methods. The logging tool is lowered into the well by a steel cable and is pulled past the formations while response signals are relayed to the surface for observation and recording. Often these tools make use of the difference in electrical conductivities of rock, water, and petroleum to detect possible oil or gas accumulations. Other logging tools use differences in radioactivity, neutron absorption, and acoustic wave absorption. Well-log analysts can use the recorded signals to determine potential producing formations and their exact depth. Only a production test, however, can establish the potential productivity of a formation.

      The production test normally employed is the drill-stem test, in which a testing tool is attached to the bottom of the drill pipe and is lowered to a point opposite the formation to be tested. The tool is equipped with expandable seals for isolating the formation from the rest of the borehole, and the drill pipe is emptied of mud so that formation fluid can enter. When enough time has passed, the openings into the tool are closed and the drill pipe is brought to the surface so that its contents may be measured. The amounts of oil and gas that flow into the drill pipe during the test and the recorded pressures are used to judge the production potential of the formation. (If there is gas present in the formation, the gas may flow from the top of the drill pipe during the test.) Similar tools are available that can seal off and test a formation in a cased well bore or that can bring a small sample of produced reservoir fluid to the surface at reservoir pressures.

Well completion
Production tubing
      If preliminary tests show that one or more of the formations penetrated by a borehole will be commercially productive, the well must be prepared for the continuous production of oil or gas. First, the casing is completed to the bottom of the well. Cement is then forced into the annulus between the casing and the borehole wall to prevent fluid movement between formations. As mentioned earlier, this casing may be made up of progressively smaller-diameter tubing, so that the casing diameter at the bottom of the well may range from 10 to 30 centimetres (4 to 12 inches). After the casing is in place, a string of production tubing (5 to 10 centimetres in diameter) is extended from the surface to the productive formation. Expandable packing devices are placed on the tubing to seal the annulus between the casing and the production tubing within the producing formation from the annulus within the remainder of the well. If several producing formations are penetrated by a single well, as many as four production strings may be hung. If a lifting device is needed to bring the oil to the surface, it is generally placed at the bottom of the production tubing.

Perforating and fracturing
      Since the casing is sealed with cement against the productive formation, openings must be made in the casing wall and cement to allow formation fluid to enter the well. A perforator tool is lowered through the tubing on a wire line. When it is in the correct position, bullets are fired or explosive charges are set off to create an open path between the formation and the production string. If the formation is quite productive, these perforations (usually about 30 centimetres apart) will be sufficient to create a flow of fluid into the well. If not, an inert fluid may be injected into the formation at pressure high enough to cause fracturing of the rock around the well and thus open more flow passages for the petroleum. In early wells, nitroglycerin was exploded in the uncased well bore for the same purpose. An acid that can dissolve portions of the rock is sometimes used in a similar manner.

Surface valves
      When the subsurface equipment is in place, a network of valves, referred to as a Christmas tree, is installed at the top of the well. The valves regulate flow from the well and allow tools for subsurface work to be lowered through the tubing on a wire line. Christmas trees may be very simple, as in those found on low-pressure wells that must be pumped, or they may be very complex, as on high-pressure flowing wells with multiple producing strings.

Recovery of oil and gas

Primary recovery: natural drive and artificial lift
 Petroleum reservoirs usually start with a formation pressure high enough to force crude oil into the well and sometimes to the surface through the tubing. However, since production is invariably accompanied by a decline in reservoir pressure, “primary recovery” through natural drive soon comes to an end. In addition, many oil reservoirs enter production with a formation pressure high enough to push the oil into the well but not up to the surface through the tubing. In these cases, some means of “artificial lift” must be installed. The most common installation uses a pump at the bottom of the production tubing that is operated by a motor and a “walking beam” (an arm that rises and falls like a seesaw) on the surface. A string of solid metal “sucker rods” connects the walking beam to the piston of the pump. Another method, called gas lift, uses gas bubbles to lower the density of the oil, allowing the reservoir pressure to push it to the surface. Usually, the gas is injected down the annulus between the casing and production tubing and through a special valve at the bottom of the tubing. In a third type of artificial lift, produced oil is forced down the well at high pressure to operate a pump at the bottom of the well.

      With the artificial lift methods described above, oil may be produced as long as there is enough nearby reservoir pressure to create flow into the well bore. Inevitably, however, a point is reached at which commercial quantities no longer flow into the well. In most cases, less than one-third of the oil originally present can be produced by naturally occurring reservoir pressure alone, and in some cases (e.g., where the oil is quite viscous and at shallow depths) primary production is not economically possible at all.

Secondary recovery: injection of gas or water
      When a large part of the crude oil in a reservoir cannot be recovered by primary means, a method for supplying extra energy must be found. Most often, “secondary recovery” is accomplished by injecting gas or water into the reservoir to replace produced fluids and thus maintain or increase the reservoir pressure. When gas alone is injected, it is usually put into the top of the reservoir, where petroleum gases normally collect to form a gas cap. Gas injection can be a very effective recovery method in reservoirs where the oil is able to flow freely to the bottom by gravity. When this gravity segregation does not occur, however, other means must be sought.

 An even more widely practiced secondary recovery method is waterflooding. After being treated to remove any material that might interfere with its movement in the reservoir, water is injected through some of the wells in an oil field. It then moves through the formation, pushing oil toward the remaining production wells. The wells to be used for injecting water are usually located in a pattern that will best push oil toward the production wells. Water injection often increases oil recovery to twice that expected from primary means alone. Some oil reservoirs (the East Texas Field, for example) are connected to large, active water reservoirs, or aquifers, in the same formation. In such cases it is necessary only to reinject water into the aquifer in order to help maintain reservoir pressure.

Enhanced recovery
      Although waterflooding greatly increases recovery from a particular reservoir, it still leaves up to one-third of the oil in place. Also, shallow reservoirs containing viscous oil do not respond well to waterflooding. Such difficulties have prompted the industry to seek enhanced methods of recovering crude oil supplies. Since many of these methods are directed toward oil that is left behind by water injection, they are often referred to as “tertiary recovery.”

Miscible methods
      One method of enhanced recovery is based on the injection of natural gas either at high enough pressure or containing enough petroleum gases in the vapour phase to make the gas and oil miscible. This method leaves little or no oil behind the driving gas, but the relatively low viscosity of the gas can lead to the bypassing of large areas of oil, especially in reservoirs that are not homogeneous. Another enhanced method is intended to recover oil that is left behind by a waterflood by putting a band of soaplike surfactant (surface-active agent) material ahead of the water. The surfactant creates a very low surface tension between the injected material and the reservoir oil, thus allowing the rock to be “scrubbed” clean. Often the water behind the surfactant is made viscous by addition of a polymer in order to prevent the water from breaking through and bypassing the surfactant. Surfactant flooding generally works well in noncarbonate rock, but the surfactant material is expensive and large quantities are required. One method that does seem to work in carbonate rock is the injection of carbon dioxide, either alone or in conjunction with natural gas. The carbon dioxide can greatly improve recovery, but very large quantities at a reasonable price are necessary. Most of the successful projects of this type depend on tapping and transporting (by pipeline) carbon dioxide from underground reservoirs.

Thermal methods
      As mentioned above, there are many reservoirs, usually shallow, that contain oil which is too viscous to produce well. Nevertheless, through the application of heat, economical recovery from these reservoirs is possible. Heavy (heavy oil and tar sand) crude oils, which may have a viscosity up to one million times that of water, will show a reduction in viscosity by a factor of 10 for each temperature increase of 50° C (90° F). The most successful way to raise the temperature of a reservoir is by the injection of steam. In the most widespread method, called steam cycling, a quantity of steam is injected through a well into a formation and allowed time to condense. Condensation in the reservoir releases the heat of vaporization that was required to create the steam. Then the same well is put on production. After some water production, heated oil flows into the well bore and is lifted to the surface. Often the cycle can be repeated several times on the same well. A less common method involves the injection of steam from one group of wells while oil is continuously produced from other wells.

      An alternate method for heating a reservoir involves the combustion of a part of the reservoir oil and is called in situ combustion. Large quantities of compressed air must be injected into the oil zone to support the combustion. The optimal combustion temperature is 500° C (930° F). The hot combustion products move through the reservoir to promote oil production. In situ combustion has not seen widespread use.

Gas cycling
       natural gas reservoirs often contain appreciable quantities of heavier hydrocarbons held in the gaseous state. If reservoir pressure is allowed to decline during gas production, these hydrocarbons will condense in the reservoir to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and become unrecoverable. To prevent a decline in pressure, the liquids are removed from the produced gas, and the “dry gas” is put back into the reservoir. This process, called gas cycling, is continued until the optimal quantity of liquids has been recovered. The reservoir pressure is then allowed to decline while the dry gas is produced for sale. In effect, gas cycling defers the use of the natural gas until after the liquids have been produced.

Surface equipment
      Water often flows into a well along with oil and gas. All these fluids are collected by surface equipment for separation into gas, oil, and water fractions for storage and distribution. The water, which contains salt and other minerals, is usually reinjected into formations that are well separated from freshwater aquifers close to the surface. In many cases it is put back into the formation from which it came. At times, produced water forms an emulsion with the oil or a solid hydrate compound with the gas. In those cases, specially designed treaters are used to separate the three components. The clean crude oil is sent to storage at near atmospheric pressure. Natural gas is usually piped directly to a central processing plant (called a gasoline plant), where the remaining liquids (LPGs) are removed before it is fed to the consumer pipeline. LPG is the major feedstock for making plastics and synthetic fibres and is the source of butane and propane fuel.

storage and transport
      Almost all storage of petroleum is of relatively short duration, lasting only while the oil or gas is awaiting transport or processing. Crude oil, which is stored at or near atmospheric pressure, is usually stored aboveground in cylindrical steel tanks, which may be as large as 30 metres in diameter and 10 metres tall. (Smaller-diameter tanks are used at well sites.) Natural gas and the highly volatile LPGs are stored at higher pressure in steel tanks that are spherical or nearly spherical in shape. Gas is seldom stored, even temporarily, at well sites.

      In order to provide supplies when production is lower than demand, longer-term storage of oil and gas is sometimes desirable. This is most often done underground in caverns created inside salt domes or in porous rock formations. Underground reservoirs must be surrounded by nonporous rock so that the oil or gas will stay in place to be recovered later.

 Both crude oil and gas must be transported from widely distributed production sites to treatment plants and refineries. Overland movement is largely through pipelines. Crude oil from more isolated wells is collected in tank trucks and taken to pipeline terminals; there is also some transport in specially constructed railroad cars. Pipe used in “gathering lines” to carry oil and gas from wells to a central terminal may be less than five centimetres in diameter. Trunk lines, which carry petroleum over long distances, are as large as 120 centimetres. Where practical, pipelines have been found to be the safest and most economical method to transport petroleum.

      Although barges are used to transport petroleum in sheltered inland and coastal waters, overseas transport is conducted in specially designed tanker ships. Tanker capacities vary from less than 100,000 barrels to more than 2,000,000 barrels. Tankers that have pressurized and refrigerated compartments also transport liquefied natural gas and LPG.

Ben H. Caudle

Additional Reading
Mildred Gerding (ed.), Fundamentals of Petroleum, 3rd ed. (1986), covers the technical aspects of the petroleum industry in nontechnical style. Howard B. Bradley (ed.), Petroleum Engineering Handbook (1987), provides comprehensive coverage of petroleum-production technology with diagrams, charts, and tables. Francis A. Giuliano (ed.), Introduction to Oil and Gas Technology, 3rd ed. (1989), discusses exploration, drilling, production, recovery, and transportation of oil and gas. Preston L. Moore, Drilling Practices Manual, 2nd ed. (1986), covers useful techniques for the entire drilling process. Interstate Oil Compact Commission, Improved Oil Recovery (1983), provides detailed coverage of secondary and enhanced oil recovery. R.V. Smith, Practical Natural Gas Engineering (1983), discusses technical aspects of gas production.Ben H. Caudle

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Universalium. 2010.

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