<Understanding the oil patch The Oil Drum Open Thread>

36 comments on Gas fields also deplete, but faster

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BioDiesel on November 19, 2005 - 4:11am Permalink | Subthread | Comments top
A big part of the N. gas depletion rates is the amount of gas needed to extrct that harder and harder to reach oil.  Do you know if worldwide gas production numbers include gas used to get oil out of the ground?  I have a feeling our gas shortage is partly caused by tar sands production in Canada.  If it takes 1 unit of energy to get 3 units, from tar sand production, I can just image how much N. Gas is being used on a daily basis.
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Fire Temple on November 19, 2005 - 10:17am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
My understanding is that the gas used to pressurize the oil-bearing sands (or any low pressure reservoir) is not lost. It can be re-injected back as part of the recovery process and is there after all liquids have been produced.  

So using natural gas this way is not a bad idea since it is used twice: once for extracting liquid hydrocarbons and finally as a fuel after all liquids are gone.  

Is this correct?

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tommy on November 19, 2005 - 11:22am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
why use NG for this? it would be more economical to use any other gas.
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sampo on November 19, 2005 - 4:06pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
no you are incorrect.

To get oil from tar sands requires steam and heat to melt the tar and loosen it fron the source rock. The natural gas is used to create this steam.

You are thinking of other types of oil fields where gas (usually CO2 if i'm not mistaken) is injected in much the same way water is to push the flowing oil toward a recovery well. But this doesn't work for oil sand because the oil trapped in the sand is too thick to flow at all.

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jkissing on November 19, 2005 - 1:56pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
The report I read is that it takes 2 boe of gas to produce 3 boe of oil from the tar sands. Because they are running out of the stranded gas, and because Canada is in violation of their Kyoto agreement, there is serious talk of building nukes to provide the heat and electric power to extract oil.
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Davidh on November 19, 2005 - 4:36pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
It seems like a lot of people are in violation of their Kyoto treaties, UK included. Perhaps sustainable/ecologically conscious growth will prove to be the oxymoron many have long professed it to be.
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karlof1 on November 19, 2005 - 2:30pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Quite a lot of potential NG was forcefully shut-in by the Alberta gov't, which I learned about as it greatly affected a CanRoy, Paramount Energy, I own. The discussion of this is long and is best viewed at the company's website, http://cnrp.ccnmatthews.com/client/paramount_energy_trust/release.jsp?actionFor=470784&releaseSe q=11&year=2003, or by googling "EUB shut-in" without the quotations
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astronomer1 on November 19, 2005 - 5:44pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
karloff1, the web address you give for paramount energy does not work
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adamdschneider on November 19, 2005 - 10:27pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Just remove the comma from the end. Stupid auto format.
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Heading Out on November 19, 2005 - 3:27pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
At present the Canadians have enough gas for their own use and are exporting it to us.  We use around 22 TCF, and import around 4 TCf, 80% of which comes from Canada. (Source EIA) Gas provides just under a quarter of our primary energy supply.
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BioDiesel on November 19, 2005 - 6:16pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Ok, but the question still remains

Say Canada used x amount of Nat gas.  Does this take into account the gas that is extracted out of the ground with oil, separated, and then used to power the equipment to get the next batch of gas/oil?

Or is this only the amount that is bought and sold on the market?

This might be a huge problem in countries that have both large amounts of gas and oil.  They must decide how much gas they need to extract oil.  And it would be a big problem if a country underestimated how much gas they need for their population and their oil production.  For this I see many countries holding out their Nat gas reserves just is case.

It seems the only countries that can be relied on for large amount of LNG exports, are countries that have smaller amounts of oil, Qatar, Algeria, Austrailia....

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PhilRelig on November 20, 2005 - 3:05pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
These basic numbers are very helpful for those, such as myself, who are well acquainted with the basic numbers for oil, but not for natural gas; thanks.  Here are some other basic-numbers questions, with a view to getting up to speed on the overall US and world situation in regard to gas:

  1. What is world-annual usage of natural gas?
  2. What is world proven-reserves of natural gas?
  3. How many cf of gas in a barrel of oil, in terms of energy equivalent?
  4. What are reasonable expectations regarding gas yet to be discovered, both in the US and the world?
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Rick on November 21, 2005 - 4:29pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
The BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2005 is a great starting point for statistics on any energy source. Free downloads available at:

http://www.bp.com/genericsection.do?categoryId=92&contentId=7005893

The NG situation doesn't lend itself to quick analysis. There is lots of gas, but much of it is "stranded," located far away from major consumers. According to BP, the Reserve/Production ratio (R/P) in 2004 was 66.7 years for NG, versus 40.5 years. There may be, in theory, 66 years' supply, but there is also a possibility of cold homes in North America and UK this winter due to localized shortages.

Consumption trends are not encouraging. Per BP:

"World natural gas consumption grew by 3.3% in 2004, compared with a 10-year average of 2.3%. Consumption in the USA, the world's largest market, stagnated in the face of high prices and industrial restructuring Outside the USA, gas consumption rose by 4%, with the largest gains in Russia, China and the Middle East.

Gas production rose in every region except North America, where US output continued to decline. In Europe, growth in the Netherlands, Russia and Norway more than offset the ongoing decline of UK output."


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36 comments on Gas fields also deplete, but faster

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