oil, gas, and all that stuff morgan p. brown, ph.d. amerada hess corporation houston, tx

Oil, Gas, and all that stuffOil, Gas, and all that stuff

Morgan P. Brown, Ph.D.Morgan P. Brown, Ph.D.

Amerada Hess CorporationAmerada Hess Corporation

Houston, TXHouston, TX

About the speaker…About the speaker…

• Born 1974, Salt Lake City, Utah

• Places lived: California(4), Louisiana, Texas(4), Colorado

• Graduated from 24th grade in 2004

• Married, two kids (3rd,4th grade)

• Geophysicist for Amerada Hess

What’s a Geophysicist do?What’s a Geophysicist do?

• Study volcanoes

• Study earthquakes

• Explore for oil and gas using reflection seismology?!?

Reflection Reflection SeismologySeismology

• Seismos = Greek for “earthquake”• Logo = Greek for “word”• Seismology = The word of earthquakes?!

• Seismology = The study of how waves travel within the earth

• But what exactly is a “wave”?


Quiz #1: If you squeeze a rock equally from all sides, then let go, what happens?

a) Nothing

b) Rock squishes, but returns to normal size

c) Rock squishes, then oscillates between small and big

• This oscillation produces a (compressional) P-wave!

• Why does the oscillation die out?

• What if you set off an explosion underwater?

• Waves move circularly away from source

• Also have (shear) S-waves


ReflectionReflection Seismology Seismology

• What about the reflections?

• When properties of rocks change, waves are reflected

• Record the reflections with microphones

• Look for oil & gas traps on the seismic image

What is oil?What is oil?

• Sometimes it’s really light, with a lot of dissolved natural gas

• Sometimes it’s gooey, like asphalt

• Usually it is somewhere in between: a black, stinky liquid

Spindletop gusher, 1901

How much oil do we use?How much oil do we use?• The world

consumes 82 million barrels of oil per year.

• That’s 3.4 billion barrels per year!

• At that rate, you could fill Crater Lake Oregon in 4 years!

1148 feet deep

6 miles across

How much oil do we use?How much oil do we use?

• Or, you’d fill the 610 loop to a depth of 400 feet!

400 feet

10 miles

What is natural gas?What is natural gas?

• Methane: CH4

• The lightest component of oil

• The world consumes 100 trillion cubic feet per year!

• Imagine a balloon 20 miles in diameter!

Quiz #2: Where do oil & natural gas occur in nature?

a) Between the grains in rocks

b) In large underground pools

c) Close to hot magma in volcanoes

How we get oil & gasHow we get oil & gas

How we get oil & gasHow we get oil & gas

Shale—full of carbon-rich goo

Lots of heatLots of pressure

Oil forms in the shaleOil rises upward—why?

sand

wateroilgastop seal

salt

Deepwater Gulf of Mexico

Getting oil out of the groundGetting oil out of the ground

Quiz #3: Which is better for oil extraction?

= sand = oil

doesn’t

matter

(a) (b) (c)

Unconventional ResourcesUnconventional Resources

• “Tight gas” – Barnett Shale, TX

Shale looks like this.Bad for oil & gas extraction!

Make cracks in the rock.Fill cracks with sand!

Oil flows out!


• “Tight gas” – Barnett Shale, TX

shale


• Coal Bed Methane– Methane (CH4) adsorbs onto coal

But Carbon Dioxide (CO2) adsorbs even better than CH4!


• Coal Bed Methane

coal

CO2

CH4

We can use a greenhouse gas (CO2) to produce electricity!

The CO2 is sequestered underground!


• Coal Bed Methane

US Coal Distribution


• Methane Hydrates– Solid form of CH4

bonded to water (H2O)– About 20 molecules of

CH4 per molecule H2O– Forms under high

pressures and low tempteratures

– Deep water, near the seabed


• Methane Hydrates– Energy density of methane hydrate =

168 m3 free gas/1 m3 hydrate


• Methane Hydrates– How much natural gas is present in

hydrates?

Could supply the world’senergy needs for

hundreds of years!

Alternative EnergyAlternative Energy

• Alternatives that don’t require fossil fuels:– Wind power (NIMBY, bird killers)– Nuclear (NIMBY, disposal)– Water power (NIMBY, dams kill fish)– Biofuels (still emit greenhouse gas)– Solar (expensive, how to store?)– Geothermal (limited availability)– Tides (limited availability, like a dam)– Fuel cells (how to get hydrogen?)

An Alternative Energy HouseAn Alternative Energy House

windmill

solar power

geothermalheating and

cooling

fuel cell

Thanks for your attention!Thanks for your attention!

Any questions?

oil, gas, and all that stuff morgan p. brown, ph.d. amerada hess corporation houston, tx

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