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73-473: The McKenzie Well (also known as McKenzie #1 ) is an oil well site in Boulder, Colorado . The Boulder Oil Field was discovered on this site in 1901, making it the oldest oil-producing site in the entire Denver Basin , and one of the oldest in the western United States . The first producing well on the site was drilled in 1902. Peak production at 85,000 barrels was reached in 1909. A modern well (built in

146-412: A drilling rig , which contains all necessary equipment to circulate the drilling fluid, hoist and rotate the pipe, remove cuttings from the drilling fluid, and generate on-site power for these operations. After drilling and casing the well, it must be 'completed'. Completion is the process in which the well is prepared to produce oil or gas. In a cased-hole completion, small perforations are made in

219-480: A "sweep" effect to push hydrocarbons out of the reservoir. Such methods require the use of injection wells (often chosen from old production wells in a carefully determined pattern), and are used when facing problems with reservoir pressure depletion or high oil viscosity, sometimes being employed early in a field's life. In certain cases – depending on the reservoir's geomechanics – reservoir engineers may determine that ultimate recoverable oil may be increased by applying

292-503: A critical concern for many nations. Oil accounts for a large percentage of the world's energy consumption , ranging from a low of 32% for Europe and Asia, to a high of 53% for the Middle East. Other geographic regions' consumption patterns are as follows: South and Central America (44%), Africa (41%), and North America (40%). The world consumes 36 billion barrels (5.8 km ) of oil per year, with developed nations being

365-401: A disposal problem at wells that are developed to produce oil. If there are no pipelines for natural gas near the wellhead it may be of no value to the oil well owner since it cannot reach the consumer markets. Such unwanted gas may then be burned off at the well site in a practice known as production flaring , but due to the energy resource waste and environmental damage concerns this practice

438-548: A drilling/production oil-platform in 20 ft (6.1 m) of water some 18 miles off Vermilion Parish, Louisiana . Kerr-McGee Oil Industries, as operator for partners Phillips Petroleum ( ConocoPhillips ) and Stanolind Oil & Gas ( BP ), completed its historic Ship Shoal Block 32 well in November 1947, months before Superior actually drilled a discovery from their Vermilion platform farther offshore. In any case, that made Kerr-McGee's Gulf of Mexico well, Kermac No. 16,

511-422: A high pressure, high-temperature well of duration 100 days can cost about US$ 30 million. Onshore wells can be considerably cheaper, particularly if the field is at a shallow depth, where costs range from less than $ 4.9 million to $ 8.3 million, and the average completion costing $ 2.9 million to $ 5.6 million per well. Completion makes up a larger portion of onshore well costs than offshore wells, which generally have

584-473: A large number of neglected or poorly maintained wellheads is a large environmental issue: they may leak methane or other toxic substances into local air, water and soil systems. This pollution often becomes worse when wells are abandoned or orphaned – i.e., where wells no longer economically viable are no longer maintained by their (former) owners. A 2020 estimate by Reuters suggested that there were at least 29 million abandoned wells internationally, creating

657-515: A lighting and heating fuel, the demand for petroleum increased greatly, and by the early twentieth century had become the most valuable commodity traded on world markets. Imperial Russia produced 3,500 tons of oil in 1825 and doubled its output by mid-century. After oil drilling began in the region of present-day Azerbaijan in 1846, in Baku , the Russian Empire built two large pipelines:

730-516: A marked avoidance of areas near oil wells and seismic lines due to disturbances. Drilling often destroys wildlife habitat, causing wildlife stress, and breaks up large areas into smaller isolated ones, changing the environment, and forcing animals to migrate elsewhere. It can also bring in new species that compete with or prey on existing animals. Even though the actual area taken up by oil and gas equipment might be small, negative effects can spread. Animals like mule deer and elk try to stay away from

803-557: A market share. For example: Midstream operations are sometimes classified within the downstream sector, but these operations compose a separate and discrete sector of the petroleum industry. Midstream operations and processes include the following: While some upstream companies carry out certain midstream operations, the midstream sector is dominated by a number of companies that specialize in these services. Midstream companies include: The oil and gas industry spends only 0.4% of its net sales on research & development (R&D) which

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876-424: A mud motor while drilling to achieve a depth of over 12,000 metres (12 km; 39,000 ft; 7.5 mi). Until the 1970s, most oil wells were essentially vertical, although lithological variations cause most wells to deviate at least slightly from true vertical (see deviation survey ). However, modern directional drilling technologies allow for highly deviated wells that can, given sufficient depth and with

949-450: A raw form known as associated petroleum gas , is almost always a by-product of producing oil. The short, light-gas carbon chains come out of solution when undergoing pressure reduction from the reservoir to the surface, similar to uncapping a bottle of soda where the carbon dioxide effervesces . If it escapes into the atmosphere intentionally it is known as vented gas , or if unintentionally as fugitive gas . Unwanted natural gas can be

1022-409: A roughly 2.5 percent annual population decline in males, correlating with the density of oil and gas wells. Factors such as sagebrush cover and precipitation seemed to have little effect on count changes. These results align with other studies highlighting the detrimental impact of oil and gas development on sage-grouse populations. Petroleum industry The petroleum industry , also known as

1095-463: A shallow land well to millions of dollars for an offshore one. Thus the burden may fall on government agencies or surface landowners when a business entity can no longer be held responsible. Orphan wells are a potent contributor of greenhouse gas emissions , such as methane emissions , contributing to climate change . Much of this leakage can be attributed to failure to have them plugged properly or leaking plugs. A 2020 estimate of abandoned wells in

1168-523: A shallower reservoir. Such remedial work can be performed using workover rigs – also known as pulling units , completion rigs or "service rigs" – to pull and replace tubing, or by the use of well intervention techniques utilizing coiled tubing . Depending on the type of lift system and wellhead a rod rig or flushby can be used to change a pump without pulling the tubing. Enhanced recovery methods such as water flooding, steam flooding, or CO 2 flooding may be used to increase reservoir pressure and provide

1241-543: A significant source of greenhouse gas emissions worsening climate change. The earliest known oil wells were drilled in China in 347 CE. These wells had depths of up to about 240 metres (790 ft) and were drilled using bits attached to bamboo poles. The oil was burned to evaporate brine producing salt . By the 10th century, extensive bamboo pipelines connected oil wells with salt springs. The ancient records of China and Japan are said to contain many allusions to

1314-603: A waterflooding strategy early in the field's development rather than later. Such enhanced recovery techniques are often called Secondary or " tertiary recovery ". Orphan , orphaned, or abandoned wells are oil or gas wells that have been abandoned by fossil fuel extraction industries . These wells may have been deactivated because had become uneconomic, failure to transfer ownerships (especially at bankruptcy of companies ), or neglect, and thus no longer have legal owners responsible for their care. Decommissioning wells effectively can be expensive, costing several thousands of dollars for

1387-399: A well depends mainly on the daily rate of the drilling rig, the extra services required to drill the well, the duration of the well program (including downtime and weather time), and the remoteness of the location (logistic supply costs). The daily rates of offshore drilling rigs vary by their depth capability, and the market availability. Rig rates reported by industry web service show that

1460-641: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Oil well Wells are frequently sold or exchanged between different oil and gas companies as an asset – in large part because during falls in the price of oil and gas, a well may be unproductive, but if prices rise, even low-production wells may be economically valuable. Moreover, new methods, such as hydraulic fracturing (a process of injecting gas or liquid to force more oil or natural gas production) have made some wells viable. However, peak oil and climate policy surrounding fossil fuels have made fewer of these wells and costly techniques viable. However,

1533-410: Is becoming less common. Often, unwanted (or 'stranded' gas without a market) gas is returned back into the reservoir with an 'injection' well for storage or for re-pressurizing the producing formation. Another solution is to convert the natural gas to a liquid fuel. Gas to liquid (GTL) is a developing technology that converts stranded natural gas into synthetic gasoline, diesel or jet fuel through

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1606-499: Is far more costly than a comparable onshore well. These wells dot the Southern and Central Great Plains, Southwestern United States, and are the most common wells in the Middle East. Another way to classify oil wells is by their purpose in contributing to the development of a resource. They can be characterized as: At a producing well site, active wells may be further categorized as: Lahee classification [1] The cost to drill

1679-652: Is generally accepted that oil is formed mostly from the carbon rich remains of ancient plankton after exposure to heat and pressure in Earth 's crust over hundreds of millions of years. Over time, the decayed residue was covered by layers of mud and silt, sinking further down into Earth's crust and preserved there between hot and pressured layers, gradually transforming into oil reservoirs . Petroleum in an unrefined state has been utilized by humans for over 5000 years. Oil in general has been used since early human history to keep fires ablaze and in warfare . Its importance to

1752-521: Is in comparison with a range of other industries the lowest share. Governments such as the United States government provide a heavy public subsidy to petroleum companies , with major tax breaks at various stages of oil exploration and extraction, including the costs of oil field leases and drilling equipment. In recent years, enhanced oil recovery techniques – most notably multi-stage drilling and hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") – have moved to

1825-597: Is often employed by means of aerobic degradation. More recently, other bioremediative methods have been explored such as phytoremediation and thermal remediation. The industry is the largest industrial source of emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), a group of chemicals that contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone ( smog ). The combustion of fossil fuels produces greenhouse gases and other air pollutants as by-products. Pollutants include nitrogen oxides , sulphur dioxide , volatile organic compounds and heavy metals . Researchers have discovered that

1898-430: Is usually divided into three major components: upstream , midstream , and downstream . Upstream regards exploration and extraction of crude oil , midstream encompasses transportation and storage of crude, and downstream concerns refining crude oil into various end products . Petroleum is vital to many industries, and is necessary for the maintenance of industrial civilization in its current configuration, making it

1971-447: Is usually outfitted with a collection of valves called a Christmas tree or production tree. These valves regulate pressures, control flows, and allow access to the wellbore in case further completion work is needed. From the outlet valve of the production tree, the flow can be connected to a distribution network of pipelines and tanks to supply the product to refineries, natural gas compressor stations, or oil export terminals. As long as

2044-658: The Fischer–Tropsch process developed in World War II Germany. Like oil, such dense liquid fuels can be transported using conventional tankers for trucking to refineries or users. Proponents claim GTL fuels burn cleaner than comparable petroleum fuels. Most major international oil companies are in advanced development stages of GTL production, e.g. the 140,000 bbl/d (22,000 m /d) Pearl GTL plant in Qatar, scheduled to come online in 2011. In locations such as

2117-468: The oil industry , includes the global processes of exploration , extraction , refining , transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines ), and marketing of petroleum products . The largest volume products of the industry are fuel oil and gasoline (petrol). Petroleum is also the raw material for many chemical products , including pharmaceuticals , solvents , fertilizers , pesticides , synthetic fragrances , and plastics . The industry

2190-582: The petrochemical industry can produce ground-level ozone pollution at higher amounts in winter than in summer. Greenhouse gases caused by burning fossil fuels drive climate change . In 1959, at a symposium organised by the American Petroleum Institute for the centennial of the American oil industry , the physicist Edward Teller warned of the danger of global climate change . Edward Teller explained that carbon dioxide "in

2263-512: The world economy however, evolved slowly, with whale oil being used for lighting in the 19th century and wood and coal used for heating and cooking well into the 20th century. Even though the Industrial Revolution generated an increasing need for energy, this was initially met mainly by coal, and from other sources including whale oil. However, when it was discovered that kerosene could be extracted from crude oil and used as

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2336-518: The 12th century. Some sources claim that from the 9th century, oil fields were exploited in the area around modern Baku , Azerbaijan , to produce naphtha for the petroleum industry . These places were described by Marco Polo in the 13th century, who described the output of those oil wells as hundreds of shiploads. When Marco Polo in 1264 visited Baku, on the shores of the Caspian Sea , he saw oil being collected from seeps. He wrote that "on

2409-590: The 1880s. In the early 1930s the Texas Company developed the first mobile steel barges for drilling in the brackish coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico . In 1937 Pure Oil Company (now part of Chevron Corporation ) and its partner Superior Oil Company (now part of ExxonMobil Corporation ) used a fixed platform to develop a field in 14 feet (4.3 m) of water, one mile (1.6 km) offshore of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana . In early 1947 Superior Oil erected

2482-701: The 1960s) sits on the site of the original discovery; nothing remains of the original machinery. The well was plugged in 2007. The McKenzie Well site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties . [REDACTED] Media related to McKenzie Well at Wikimedia Commons This article about a property in Colorado on the National Register of Historic Places

2555-625: The 833 km long pipeline to transport oil from the Caspian to the Black Sea port of Batum (Baku-Batum pipeline), completed in 1906, and the 162 km long pipeline to carry oil from Chechnya to the Caspian. The first drilled oil wells in Baku were built in 1871–1872 by Ivan Mirzoev , an Armenian businessman who is referred to as one of the 'founding fathers' of Baku's oil industry. At

2628-586: The East Indies oil-supply (especially via submarine campaigns ) considerably weakened Japan in the latter part of the war. After World War II ended in 1945, the countries of the Middle East took the lead in oil production from the United States. Important developments since World War II include deep-water drilling, the introduction of the drillship , and the growth of a global shipping network for petroleum – relying upon oil tankers and pipelines. In 1949

2701-779: The Middle East. The expansion of Imperial Japan to the south aimed largely at accessing the oil-fields of the Dutch East Indies. Germany, cut off from sea-borne oil supplies by Allied blockade , failed in Operation Edelweiss to secure the Caucasus oil-fields for the Axis military in 1942, while Romania deprived the Wehrmacht of access to Ploesti oilfields – the largest in Europe – from August 1944. Cutting off

2774-576: The United States was that methane emissions released from abandoned wells produced greenhouse gas impacts equivalent to three weeks of US oil consumption each year. The scale of leaking abandoned wells is well understood in the US and Canada because of public data and regulation; however, a Reuters investigation in 2020 could not find good estimates for Russia, Saudi Arabia and China—the next biggest oil and gas producers. However, they estimate there are 29 million abandoned wells internationally. Natural gas, in

2847-527: The United States with a high natural gas demand, pipelines are usually favored to take the gas from the well site to the end consumer . Wells can be located: Offshore wells can further be subdivided into While the location of the well will be a large factor in the type of equipment used to drill it, there is actually little downhole difference in the well itself. An offshore well targets a reservoir that happens to be underneath an ocean. Due to logistics and specialized equipment needed, drilling an offshore well

2920-520: The added cost burden of a surface platform. The total costs mentioned do not include the those associated with the risk of explosion and leakage of oil. Those costs include the cost of protecting against such disasters, the cost of the cleanup effort, and the hard-to-calculate cost of damage to the company's image. The impacts of oil exploration and drilling are often irreversible, particularly for wildlife. Research indicates that caribou in Alaska show

2993-764: The advent of hydraulic fracturing and other horizontal drilling techniques, shale play has seen an enormous uptick in production. Areas of shale such as the Permian Basin and Eagle-Ford have become huge hotbeds of production for the largest oil corporations in the United States. The American Petroleum Institute divides the petroleum industry into five sectors: Oil companies used to be classified by sales as " supermajors " ( BP , Chevron , ExxonMobil , ConocoPhillips , Shell , Eni and TotalEnergies ), "majors", and "independents" or "jobbers". In recent years however, National Oil Companies (NOC, as opposed to IOC, International Oil Companies) have come to control

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3066-527: The area. Canada's first gusher (flowing well) erupted on January 16, 1862, when local oil-man John Shaw struck oil at 158 feet (48 m). For a week the oil gushed unchecked at levels reported as high as 3,000 barrels per day. The first modern oil-drilling in the United States began in West Virginia and Pennsylvania in the 1850s. Edwin Drake 's 1859 well near Titusville, Pennsylvania , typically considered

3139-628: The atmosphere causes a greenhouse effect " and that burning more fossil fuels could "melt the icecaps and submerge New York". The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , founded by the United Nations in 1988, concludes that human-sourced greenhouse gases are responsible for most of the observed temperature increase since the middle of the twentieth century. As a result of climate change concerns, many people have begun using other methods of energy such as solar and wind. This recent shift has some petroleum enthusiasts skeptical about

3212-400: The borehole. Screens also control the migration of formation sands into production tubulars, which can lead to washouts and other problems, particularly from unconsolidated sand formations. After a flow path is made, acids and fracturing fluids may be pumped into the well to fracture , clean, or otherwise prepare and stimulate the reservoir rock to allow optimal production of hydrocarbons into

3285-404: The case of horizontal wells. These new systems allow casing to run into the lateral zone equipped with proper packer/frac-port placement for optimal hydrocarbon recovery. The production stage is the most important stage of a well's life: when the oil and gas are produced. By this time, the oil rigs and workover rigs used to drill and complete the well will have moved off the wellbore, and the top

3358-775: The casing from corrosive well fluids. In many wells, the natural pressure of the subsurface reservoir is high enough for the oil or gas to flow to the surface. However, this is not always the case, especially in depleted fields where the pressures have been lowered by other producing wells, or in low-permeability oil reservoirs. Installing a smaller diameter tubing may be enough to help the production, but artificial lift methods may also be needed. Common solutions include surface pump jacks , downhole hydraulic pumps or gas lift assistance. Many new systems in recent years have been introduced for well completion. Multiple packer systems with frac ports or port collars in an all-in-one system have cut completion costs and improved production, especially in

3431-535: The confines toward Geirgine there is a fountain from which oil springs in great abundance, in as much as a hundred shiploads might be taken from it at one time." In 1846, Baku (settlement Bibi-Heybat ) the first ever well was drilled with percussion tools to a depth of 21 metres (69 ft) for oil exploration . In 1846–1848, the first modern oil wells were drilled on the Absheron Peninsula north-east of Baku, by Russian engineer Vasily Semyonov applying

3504-458: The deepwater water floating drilling rigs are over twice the daily cost of the shallow water fleet, and rates for jack-up fleet can vary by factor of 3 depending upon capability. With deepwater drilling rig rates in 2015 of around $ 520,000/day, and similar additional spread costs, a deepwater well of a duration of 100 days can cost around US$ 100 million. With high-performance jackup rig rates in 2015 of around $ 177,000, and similar service costs,

3577-437: The drilling location (extended reach drilling), allowing for the production of hydrocarbons located below locations that are difficult to place a drilling rig on, environmentally sensitive, or populated. The target (the endpoint of the well) will be matched with a surface location (the starting point of the well), and a trajectory between the two will be designed. There are many considerations to take into account when designing

3650-464: The first ever well drilled with percussion tools to a depth of 21 meters for oil exploration. In 1878 Ludvig Nobel and his Branobel company "revolutionized oil transport" by commissioning the first oil tanker and launching it on the Caspian Sea . Samuel Kier established America's first oil refinery in Pittsburgh on Seventh avenue near Grant Street in 1853. Ignacy Łukasiewicz built one of

3723-555: The first modern oil-refineries near Jasło (then in the Austrian dependent Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria in Central European Galicia ), present-day Poland, in 1854–56. Galician refineries were initially small, as demand for refined fuel was limited. The refined products were used in artificial asphalt, machine oil and lubricants, in addition to Łukasiewicz's kerosene lamp . As kerosene lamps gained popularity,

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3796-617: The first offshore oil-drilling at Oil Rocks (Neft Dashlari) in the Caspian Sea off Azerbaijan eventually resulted in a city built on pylons. In the 1960s and 1970s, multi-governmental organizations of oil–producing nations – OPEC and OAPEC – played a major role in setting petroleum prices and policy. Oil spills and their cleanup have become an issue of increasing political, environmental, and economic importance. New fields of hydrocarbon production developed in places such as Siberia, Sakhalin , Venezuela and North and West Africa. With

3869-578: The first oil discovery drilled out of sight of land. Forty-four Gulf of Mexico exploratory wells discovered 11 oil and natural gas fields by the end of 1949. During World War II (1939–1945) control of oil supply from Romania, Baku, the Middle East and the Dutch East Indies played a huge role in the events of the war and the ultimate victory of the Allies . The Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran (1941) secured Allied control of oil-production in

3942-631: The first true modern oil well , touched off a major boom. In the first quarter of the 20th century, the United States overtook Russia as the world's largest oil producer. By the 1920s, oil fields had been established in many countries including Canada, Poland, Sweden, Ukraine, the United States, Peru and Venezuela. The first successful oil tanker , the Zoroaster , was built in 1878 in Sweden, designed by Ludvig Nobel . It operated from Baku to Astrakhan . A number of new tanker designs developed in

4015-812: The forefront of the industry as this new technology plays a crucial and controversial role in new methods of oil extraction. Some petroleum industry operations have been responsible for water pollution through by-products of refining and oil spills . Though hydraulic fracturing has significantly increased natural gas extraction, there is some belief and evidence to support that consumable water has seen increased in methane contamination due to this gas extraction. Leaks from underground tanks and abandoned refineries may also contaminate groundwater in surrounding areas. Hydrocarbons that comprise refined petroleum are resistant to biodegradation and have been found to remain present in contaminated soils for years. To hasten this process, bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbon pollutants

4088-532: The ideas of Nikolay Voskoboynikov. Ignacy Łukasiewicz , a Polish pharmacist and petroleum industry pioneer drilled one of the world's first modern oil wells in 1854 in Polish village Bóbrka, Krosno County who in 1856 built one of the world's first oil refineries . In North America, the first commercial oil well entered operation in Oil Springs, Ontario in 1858, while the first offshore oil well

4161-417: The largest consumers. The United States consumed 18% of the oil produced in 2015. The production, distribution, refining, and retailing of petroleum taken as a whole represents the world's largest industry in terms of dollar value. Petroleum is a naturally occurring liquid found in rock formations. It consists of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds. It

4234-503: The noise and activity of drilling sites, sometimes moving miles away to find peace. This movement and avoidance can lead to less space for these animals affecting their numbers and health. The Sage-grouse is another example of an animal that tries to avoid areas with drilling, which can lead to fewer of them surviving and reproducing. Different studies show that drilling in their habitats negatively impacts sage-grouse populations. In Wyoming , sage grouse studied between 1984 and 2008 show

4307-403: The portion of the casing across the production zone, to provide a path for the oil to flow from the surrounding rock into the production tubing. In open hole completion, often a 'sand screen' or 'gravel pack' is installed in the last-drilled but uncased reservoir section. These maintain structural integrity of the wellbore in the absence of casing, while still allowing flow from the reservoir into

4380-439: The pressure in the reservoir remains high enough, the production tree is all that is required to produce the well. If the pressure depletes and it is considered economically viable, an artificial lift method mentioned in the completions section can be employed. Workovers are often necessary in older wells, which may need smaller diameter tubing, scale or paraffin removal, acid matrix jobs, or completion in new zones of interest in

4453-443: The process, sections of steel pipe ( casing ), slightly smaller in diameter than the borehole at that point, are placed in the hole. Cement slurry will be pumped down the inside to rise in the annulus between the borehole and the outside of the casing. The casing provides structural integrity to that portion of the newly drilled wellbore, in addition to isolating potentially dangerous high pressure zones from lower-pressure ones, and from

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4526-448: The proper tools, actually become horizontal. This is of great value as the reservoir rocks that contain hydrocarbons are usually horizontal or nearly horizontal; a horizontal wellbore placed in a production zone has more surface area in the production zone than a vertical well, resulting in a higher production rate. The use of deviated and horizontal drilling has also made it possible to reach reservoirs several kilometers or miles away from

4599-590: The refining industry grew in the area. The first commercial oil-well in Canada became operational in 1858 at Oil Springs, Ontario (then Canada West ). Businessman James Miller Williams dug several wells between 1855 and 1858 before discovering a rich reserve of oil four metres below ground. Williams extracted 1.5 million litres of crude oil by 1860, refining much of it into kerosene-lamp oil. Some historians challenge Canada's claim to North America's first oil field , arguing that Pennsylvania 's famous Drake Well

4672-558: The rights over the largest oil reserves; by this measure the top ten companies all are NOC. The following table shows the ten largest national oil companies ranked by reserves and by production in 2012. Most upstream work in the oil field or on an oil well is contracted out to drilling contractors and oil field service companies. Aside from the NOCs which dominate the Upstream sector, there are many international companies that have

4745-401: The surface. With these zones safely isolated and the formation protected by the casing, the well can be drilled deeper (into potentially higher-pressure or more-unstable formations) with a smaller bit, and then cased with a smaller size pipe. Modern wells generally have two to as many as five sets of subsequently smaller hole sizes, each cemented with casing. This process is all facilitated by

4818-450: The target. These properties may include lithology pore pressure , fracture gradient, wellbore stability, porosity and permeability . These assumptions are used by a well engineering team designing the casing and completion programs for the well. Also considered in the detailed planning are selection of the drill bits, Bottom hole assembly , and the drilling fluid Step-by-step procedures are written to provide guidelines for executing

4891-406: The trajectory such as the clearance from any nearby wells (anti-collision) or future wellpaths. Before a well is drilled, a geologic target is identified by a geologist or geophysicist to meet the objectives of the well. When the well path is identified, a team of geoscientists and engineers will develop a set of presumed characteristics of the subsurface path that will be drilled through to reach

4964-602: The turn of the 20th century, Imperial Russia's output of oil, almost entirely from the Apsheron Peninsula , accounted for half of the world's production and dominated international markets. Nearly 200 small refineries operated in the suburbs of Baku by 1884. As a side effect of these early developments, the Apsheron Peninsula emerged as the world's "oldest legacy of oil pollution and environmental negligence". In 1846 Baku (Bibi-Heybat settlement) featured

5037-742: The use of natural gas for lighting and heating. Petroleum was known as burning water in Japan in the 7th century. According to Kasem Ajram, petroleum was distilled by the Persian alchemist Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi (Rhazes) in the 9th century, producing chemicals such as kerosene in the alembic ( al-ambiq ), and which was mainly used for kerosene lamps . Arab and Persian chemists also distilled crude oil in order to produce flammable products for military purposes. Through Islamic Spain , distillation became available in Western Europe by

5110-410: The well in a safe and cost-efficient manner. With the interplay with many of the elements in a well's design, trajectories and designs often go through several iterations before the plan is finalized. The well is created by drilling a hole 12 cm to 1 meter (5 in to 40 in) in diameter into the earth with a drilling rig that rotates a drill string with a bit attached. At depths during

5183-481: The wellbore. Usually the area above the producing section of the well is packed off inside the casing, and connected to the surface via a smaller diameter pipe called tubing. This arrangement provides a redundant barrier to leaks of hydrocarbons as well as allowing damaged sections to be replaced. Also, the smaller cross-sectional area of the tubing gives reservoir fluids an increased velocity to minimize liquid fallback that would create additional back pressure, and shields

5256-555: Was drilled in 1896 in the Summerland Oil Field on the California Coast. The earliest oil wells in modern times were drilled percussively, by repeatedly raising and dropping a bit on the bottom of a cable into the borehole. In the 20th century, cable tools were largely replaced with rotary drilling , which could drill boreholes to much greater depths and in less time. The record-depth Kola Borehole used

5329-411: Was the continent's first. But there is evidence to support Williams, not least of which is that the Drake well did not come into production until August 28, 1859. The controversial point might be that Williams found oil above bedrock while Edwin Drake 's well located oil within a bedrock reservoir . The discovery at Oil Springs touched off an oil boom which brought hundreds of speculators and workers to

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