Stories tagged with "haradh"

Saudi Arabia's Ghawar Isn't Sinking (but has apparently moved)

Analysts Neil McMahon and Ben Dell from Bernstein Research are back with more analysis. When we last heard from them, they were looking for Haradh in all the wrong places and reporting on the widespread dismantling and bulldozing of oil wells in Ghawar, the super giant oil field in Saudi Arabia. As promised, they have returned with a study purporting to show that Ghawar is not rapidly depleting because it is not sinking. Using the the technique of Synthetic Aperature Radar (SAR) Interferometry, which is capable of measuring millimeter vertical movements via satellite, they found not subsidence but actually a slight rise in one area. Despite the rather dubious premise behind this, given that Ghawar is being pressurized by injecting water, it warranted another look. However, before getting to that question, my analysis of their analysis rapidly became one of forensic pathology. Alas, they have misplaced Ghawar by a few miles, rendering their interpretations misplaced as well. Also, their technique for quantifying changes in oil field infrastructure was found to be rather inaccurate. This can't end well.

World events roundup

So, what's going on out there? Let's see.
  • Oil prices are falling again, and the US just reported a big jump in stocks of crude. Why? It appears that refineries are in maintenance season. This doesn't seem to be affecting the price at the pumps, though. Hmmm. Is demand down these days? Not all news is rosy, though. This article also reports: "Iran made a statement to the International Atomic Energy Agency earlier Wednesday in which it threatened the United States with 'harm and pain.'"

  • In Nigeria, the head of the military has been removed from his post on suspicion that he's involved with theft of crude oil. You may be wondering what happens to that oil: "The crude oil is siphoned from pipelines and wellheads in the mangrove-lined creeks of the delta, loaded on to ocean-going tankers and exported to refineries." What I want to know is, who's buying it?

And Saudi Arabia had an answer . . .

Part of the problem with news out of Saudi Arabia is that it is often a little nuanced, and every word needs to be noted.  So just after writing yesterday that it would be interesting to see what SA would do, following the drop in production for OPEC in January, Schlumberger is carrying the news that the Haradh development will come on stream soon.  The development, down at the bottom end of the Ghawar field, was included in several of Matt Simmon's presentations, and, some time ago, I stole a descriptive slide from him to show the technology that they are using there.  You will note that in addition to Maximum Reservoir Contact (the multiple laterals off from the main horizontal well) they are also using interspersed valving to create Smart Wells.  The reason for this is
The company didn't say what the current output level is, but has said output is expected to be 300,000 b/d of crude oil and 140 million cubic feet per day of natural gas in the second quarter.

Saudi Aramco said oil began flowing Wednesday through a gas/oil separation plant at the southern end of Ghawar, the world's biggest oil field, just 21 months after approval of funding and ahead of schedule.

In the statement, Saudi Aramco said 520,000 b/d of treated seawater will be injected into the field each day to maintain reservoir pressure.