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Conventional vs Unconventional Oil and Gas

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oil and gas typically begins with a
00:00:03.860 00:00:03.870 muddy mix of fine sediments such as silt
00:00:07.130 00:00:07.140 and clay combined with the organic
00:00:09.590 00:00:09.600 remains of aquatic microorganisms called
00:00:12.770 00:00:12.780 plankton this organic mud can accumulate
00:00:16.490 00:00:16.500 across wide areas off shore or on Lake
00:00:20.210 00:00:20.220 bottoms in locations where plankton is
00:00:22.400 00:00:22.410 abundant if the organic mud becomes
00:00:25.370 00:00:25.380 covered by other sediments it will
00:00:27.710 00:00:27.720 compact into a type of rock called
00:00:29.750 00:00:29.760 organic shale if the organic shale
00:00:33.440 00:00:33.450 becomes deeply buried over millions of
00:00:36.139 00:00:36.149 years it will become exposed to
00:00:38.329 00:00:38.339 increasing levels of the Earth's heat in
00:00:40.489 00:00:40.499 the organic matter will begin to convert
00:00:43.160 00:00:43.170 into oil and gas
00:00:47.550 00:00:47.560 shell that has formed oil and gas is
00:00:49.770 00:00:49.780 called source Rock the silt and clay
00:00:52.860 00:00:52.870 grains in shale are tiny and stacked in
00:00:55.830 00:00:55.840 a tight pattern which makes the rock
00:00:57.750 00:00:57.760 nearly impermeable as a result if a well
00:01:01.710 00:01:01.720 were grilled into source rock very
00:01:03.840 00:01:03.850 little oil and gas would make its way
00:01:05.550 00:01:05.560 through the rock to the well bore for
00:01:08.430 00:01:08.440 that reason it was long thought that it
00:01:10.320 00:01:10.330 would be forever impossible to produce
00:01:12.600 00:01:12.610 from source rock
00:01:15.859 00:01:15.869 however a portion of the oil and gas
00:01:18.109 00:01:18.119 industry escapes over time and can
00:01:21.289 00:01:21.299 accumulate in areas where it's easier to
00:01:23.749 00:01:23.759 produce here's how that happens deeply
00:01:28.039 00:01:28.049 buried rock layers that were deposited
00:01:29.630 00:01:29.640 in an aquatic environment typically
00:01:31.880 00:01:31.890 still have water rather than air between
00:01:34.819 00:01:34.829 the rock pores oil and gas is lighter
00:01:37.940 00:01:37.950 than water accordingly if the oil and
00:01:40.609 00:01:40.619 gas that escapes the source rock
00:01:42.080 00:01:42.090 encounters porous and permeable rock
00:01:44.300 00:01:44.310 such as some sand stones or lime stones
00:01:47.559 00:01:47.569 buoyancy will force the oil and gas
00:01:49.789 00:01:49.799 upward through the pore spaces
00:01:54.280 00:01:54.290 if the oil and gas encounters an
00:01:56.380 00:01:56.390 impermeable layer that blocks its upward
00:01:58.990 00:01:59.000 migration it may begin a lateral
00:02:01.360 00:02:01.370 migration along the layer boundary
00:02:06.230 00:02:06.240 if the migrating oil and gas encounter
00:02:08.479 00:02:08.489 is a trap like structure that it can
00:02:10.370 00:02:10.380 escape then oil and gas will begin to
00:02:12.860 00:02:12.870 accumulate in the trap in the pore
00:02:14.990 00:02:15.000 spaces between the rut grains traps are
00:02:18.680 00:02:18.690 often created by false or folds and rock
00:02:21.620 00:02:21.630 layers the structures shown is an upward
00:02:24.350 00:02:24.360 rut fold called an anticline
00:02:29.309 00:02:29.319 this is called a conventional oil and
00:02:31.800 00:02:31.810 gas trap a conventional trap can usually
00:02:34.470 00:02:34.480 be developed with vertical wells because
00:02:36.780 00:02:36.790 it contains a concentrated accumulation
00:02:39.030 00:02:39.040 of oil and gas a much higher
00:02:40.830 00:02:40.840 concentration than in the source rock
00:02:42.979 00:02:42.989 the rock is porous meaning that it can
00:02:46.140 00:02:46.150 hold a lot of oil and gas and the rock
00:02:48.629 00:02:48.639 is permeable meaning that oil and gas
00:02:50.640 00:02:50.650 can flow through the rock into wellbores
00:02:55.960 00:02:55.970 isolated traps can be spread over a wide
00:02:58.580 00:02:58.590 area or source rock is present but not
00:03:01.460 00:03:01.470 all structures that look like traps on
00:03:03.470 00:03:03.480 seismic will contain the oil and gas as
00:03:05.630 00:03:05.640 a result conventional oil and gas
00:03:08.420 00:03:08.430 drilling results in isolated areas of
00:03:10.790 00:03:10.800 productivity and a lot of risk is
00:03:13.190 00:03:13.200 involved in finding those areas
00:03:15.160 00:03:15.170 nonetheless most of the conventional oil
00:03:18.230 00:03:18.240 and gas areas in the United States have
00:03:20.420 00:03:20.430 been extensively explored over time in
00:03:22.550 00:03:22.560 the most attractive trap like structures
00:03:24.950 00:03:24.960 have been drilled and largely depleted
00:03:29.809 00:03:29.819 around the year 2000 a combination of
00:03:33.229 00:03:33.239 strong oil and gas prices and advances
00:03:35.869 00:03:35.879 in horizontal drilling and hydraulic
00:03:37.160 00:03:37.170 fracturing technology began to make it
00:03:39.800 00:03:39.810 economically feasible to produce from
00:03:41.839 00:03:41.849 source rock layers or other poor quality
00:03:44.449 00:03:44.459 rock layers that contain migrated oil
00:03:46.490 00:03:46.500 and gas commonly called tight rock for
00:03:50.000 00:03:50.010 example most of the drilling in the
00:03:51.679 00:03:51.689 Eagle Ford and Marcellus areas is shale
00:03:54.530 00:03:54.540 source rock whereas most of the drilling
00:03:56.780 00:03:56.790 in the DJ basin and the Bakken is in too
00:03:59.750 00:03:59.760 tight rock
00:04:01.270 00:04:01.280 shale and tight rock layers easily
00:04:03.280 00:04:03.290 accommodate horizontal drilling because
00:04:05.200 00:04:05.210 they span wide areas with few
00:04:07.300 00:04:07.310 interruptions allowing large working
00:04:09.790 00:04:09.800 areas without dry hole risk however
00:04:12.460 00:04:12.470 layer thickness and characteristics are
00:04:14.890 00:04:14.900 not always uniform causing some areas to
00:04:18.160 00:04:18.170 be better than others
00:04:21.450 00:04:21.460 horizontal wells are drilled down
00:04:23.560 00:04:23.570 vertically or mostly vertical until they
00:04:26.800 00:04:26.810 get near the targeted formation and are
00:04:28.780 00:04:28.790 then curved into a horizontal direction
00:04:30.820 00:04:30.830 and run long distances laterally to give
00:04:34.210 00:04:34.220 the wellbores extended exposure to the
00:04:36.430 00:04:36.440 formation for example a vertical well
00:04:39.490 00:04:39.500 piercing a hundred foot thick shell
00:04:41.770 00:04:41.780 layer would only have a hundred feet of
00:04:43.900 00:04:43.910 exposure to the oil and gas interval
00:04:45.610 00:04:45.620 whereas a horizontal well would have
00:04:47.530 00:04:47.540 several thousand feet of exposure
00:04:49.830 00:04:49.840 hydraulic fracturing further extends the
00:04:52.450 00:04:52.460 drainage pattern around horizontal well
00:04:54.310 00:04:54.320 bores by creating fracture patterns that
00:04:56.890 00:04:56.900 facilitate flow
00:05:05.220 00:05:05.230 you

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