"Check That Oil" Problems with Oil Recovery Rate in Saudi Arabia

[Kolesar]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38531-2003Nov13.html

...from the middle of the article...

Simmons bases his analysis on a review of about 150 technical papers that have been written since 1962 by geologists and engineers at Saudi Aramco and its predecessor, Aramco. The papers, published by the Society of Petroleum Engineers, examine sensitive production issues that are rarely discussed outside the kingdom.

It turns out that Saudi oil structures aren't the cavernous reservoirs the world imagines. Rather than having the smooth underground topography that geologists call "homogeneity," which provides strong wellhead pressure and easy recovery, some of the biggest Saudi fields, such as Ghawar and Abqaiq, are instead "heterogeneous," with complex underground fractures that can impede recovery.

To maintain its high production level, Saudi Arabia since the 1970s has used a recovery technique known as "water injection" -- in which heavy, salty water is pumped into the reservoirs to push oil toward the surface. According to Simmons, the Saudis are now injecting about 7 million barrels a day of seawater through three big pipelines.

"Water injection gives the appearance of eternal youth," Simmons says. "That's why the Saudi fields look so robust." But he argues that injection can damage wells and create unpredictable flows underground, sometimes known as "rogue water," that prevent full recovery of reserves.
...snip...

[blu_dog]

1. A favorite quote of mine

I’m not sure which Saudi Price said this,

“The stone age did not end because we ran out of stones, and the oil age will not end because we ran out of oil.”

But I think their days as rulers of Arabia are numbered!

[Kolesar]

2. I think it was their oil minister

That was in Utne reader about 2 years ago. Welcome to the underground :hi: