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| Source: ChevronTexaco
Corporation |
Over the past thirty years, the oil and natural gas industry
has transformed into one of the most technologically advanced
industries in the United States. New innovations have
reshaped the industry into a technology leader, in all
segments of the industry. This section will discuss the
role of technology in the evolution of the natural gas
industry, focusing on technologies in the exploration
and production sector, as well as a few select innovations
that have had a profound effect on the potential for natural
gas. Scroll down, or click on the links below to jump
ahead:
In recent years, demand for natural gas has grown substantially.
However, as the natural gas industry in the United States
becomes more mature, domestically available resources
become harder to find and produce. As large, conventional
natural gas deposits are extracted, the natural gas
left in the ground is commonly found in less conventional
deposits, which are harder to discover and produce than
has historically been the case. However, the natural
gas industry has been able to keep pace with demand,
and produce greater amounts of natural gas despite the
increasingly unconventional and elusive nature. The
ability of the industry to increase production in this
manner has been a direct result of technological innovations.
Below is a brief list of some of the major technological
advancements that have been made recently:
Advances in the Exploration
and Production Sector
Technological innovation in the exploration and production
sector has equipped the industry with the equipment
and practices necessary to continually increase the
production of natural gas to meet rising demand. These
technologies serve to make the exploration and production
of natural gas more efficient, safe, and environmentally
friendly. Despite the fact that natural gas deposits
are continually being found deeper in the ground, in
remote, inhospitable areas that provide a challenging
environment in which to produce natural gas, the exploration
and production industry has not only kept up its production
pace, but in fact has improved the general nature of
its operations. Some highlights of technological development
in the exploration and production sector include:
- 22,000 fewer wells are needed on an annual basis
to develop the same amount of oil and gas reserves
as were developed in 1985.
- Had technology remained constant since 1985, it
would take two wells to produce the same amount of
oil and natural gas as one 1985 well. However, advances
in technology mean that one well today can produce
two times as much as a single 1985 well.
- Drilling wastes have decreased by as much as 148
million barrels due to increased well productivity
and fewer wells.
- The drilling footprint of well pads has decreased
by as much as 70 percent due to advanced drilling
technology, which is extremely useful for drilling
in sensitive areas.
- By using modular drilling rigs and slimhole drilling,
the size and weight of drilling rigs can be reduced
by up to 75 percent over traditional drilling rigs,
reducing their surface impact.
- Had technology, and thus drilling footprints, remained
at 1985 levels, today's drilling footprints would
take up an additional 17,000 acres of land.
- New exploration techniques and vibrational sources
mean less reliance on explosives, reducing the impact
of exploration on the environment.
Some of the major recent technological innovations
in the exploration and production sector include:
-
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| Advanced 3-D Seismic Imaging |
| Source: NGSA |
3-D and 4-D Seismic Imaging - The development
of seismic imaging in three dimensions greatly changed
the nature of natural gas exploration. This technology
uses traditional seismic imaging techniques, combined
with powerful computers and processors, to create
a three-dimensional model of the subsurface layers.
4-D seismology expands on this, by adding time as
a dimension, allowing exploration teams to observe
how subsurface characteristics change over time. Exploration
teams can now identify natural gas prospects more
easily, place wells more effectively, reduce the number
of dry holes drilled, reduce drilling costs, and cut
exploration time. This leads to both economic and
environmental benefits.
- CO2-Sand Fracturing - Fracturing techniques
have been used since the 1970s to help increase the
flow rate of natural gas and oil from underground
formations. CO2-Sand fracturing involves using a mixture
of sand propants and liquid CO2 to fracture formations,
creating and enlarging cracks through which oil and
natural gas may flow more freely. The CO2 then vaporizes,
leaving only sand in the formation, holding the newly
enlarged cracks open. Because there are no other substances
used in this type of fracturing, there are no 'leftovers'
from the fracturing process that must be removed.
This means that, while this type of fracturing effectively
opens the formation and allows for increased recovery
of oil and natural gas, it does not damage the deposit,
generates no below ground wastes, and protects groundwater
resources.
- Coiled Tubing - Coiled tubing technologies
replace the traditional rigid, jointed drill pipe
with a long, flexible coiled pipe string. This greatly
reduces the cost of drilling, as well as providing
a smaller drilling footprint, requiring less drilling
mud, faster rig set up, and reducing the time normally
needed to make drill pipe connections. Coiled tubing
can also be used in combination with slimhole drilling
to provide very economic drilling conditions, and
less impact on the environment.
- Measurement While Drilling - Measurement-While-Drilling
(MWD) systems allow for the collection of data from
the bottom of a well as it is being drilled. This
allows engineers and drilling teams access to up to
the second information on the exact nature of the
rock formations being encountered by the drill bit.
This improves drilling efficiency and accuracy in
the drilling process, allows better formation evaluation
as the drill bit encounters the underground formation,
and reduces the chance of formation damage and blowouts.
- Slimhole Drilling - Slimhole drilling is
exactly as it sounds; drilling a slimmer hole in the
ground to get to natural gas and oil deposits. In
order to be considered slimhole drilling, at least
90 percent of a well must be drilled with a drill
bit less than six inches in diameter (whereas conventional
wells typically use drill bits as large as 12.25 inches
in diameter). Slimhole drilling can significantly
improve the efficiency of drilling operations, as
well as decrease its environmental impact. In fact,
shorter drilling times and smaller drilling crews
can translate into a 50 percent reduction in drilling
costs, while reducing the drilling footprint by as
much as 75 percent. Because of its low cost profile
and reduced environmental impact, slimhole drilling
provides a method of economically drilling exploratory
wells in new areas, drilling deeper wells in existing
fields, and providing an efficient means for extracting
more natural gas and oil from undepleted fields.
-
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| Offshore Production - NASA
of the Sea |
| Source: Anadarko
Petroleum Corporation |
Offshore Drilling Technology - The offshore
oil and gas production sector is sometimes referred
to as 'NASA of the Sea', due to the monumental achievements
in deepwater drilling that have been facilitated by
state of the art technology. Natural gas and oil deposits
are being found at locations that are deeper and deeper
underwater. Whereas offshore drilling operations used
to be some of the most risky and dangerous undertakings,
new technology, including improved offshore drilling
rigs, dynamic positioning devices and sophisticated
navigation systems are allowing safe, efficient offshore
drilling in waters more than 10,000 feet deep. To
learn more about offshore drilling, click here.
The above technological advancements provide only a
snapshot of the increasingly sophisticated technology
being developed and put into practice in the exploration
and production of natural gas and oil. New technologies
and applications are being developed constantly, and
serve to improve the economics of producing natural
gas, allow for the production of deposits formerly considered
too unconventional or uneconomic to develop, and ensure
that the supply of natural gas keeps up with steadily
increasing demand. Sufficient domestic natural gas resources
exist to help fuel the U.S. for a significant period
of time, and technology is playing a huge role in providing
low-cost, environmentally sound methods of extracting
these resources.
Two other technologies that are revolutionizing the
natural gas industry include the increased use of liquefied
natural gas, and natural gas fuel cells. These technologies
are discussed below.
Liquefied Natural Gas
Cooling natural gas to about -260°F at normal pressure
results in the condensation of the gas into liquid form,
known as Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). LNG can be very
useful, particularly for the transportation of natural
gas, since LNG takes up about one six hundredth the
volume of gaseous natural gas. While LNG is reasonably
costly to produce, advances in technology are reducing
the costs associated with the liquification and regasification
of LNG. Because it is easy to transport, LNG can serve
to make economical those stranded natural gas deposits
for which the construction of pipelines is uneconomical.
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| LNG Delivery Facility with Tanker |
| Source: NGSA |
LNG, when vaporized to gaseous form, will only burn
in concentrations of between 5 and 15 percent mixed
with air. In addition, LNG, or any vapor associated
with LNG, will not explode in an unconfined environment.
Thus, in the unlikely event of an LNG spill, the natural
gas has little chance of igniting an explosion. Liquification
also has the advantage of removing oxygen, carbon dioxide,
sulfur, and water from the natural gas, resulting in
LNG that is almost pure methane.
LNG is typically transported by specialized tanker
with insulated walls, and is kept in liquid form by
autorefrigeration, a process in which the LNG is kept
at its boiling point, so that any heat additions are
countered by the energy lost from LNG vapor that is
vented out of storage and used to power the vessel.
The increased use of LNG is allowing for the production
and marketing of natural gas deposits that were previously
economically unrecoverable. Although it currently accounts
for only about 1 percent of natural gas used in the
United States, it is expected that LNG imports will
provide a steady, dependable source of natural gas for
U.S. consumption. To learn more about how LNG factors
into the supply of natural gas in the United States,
click here.
Natural Gas Fuel Cells
Fuel cells powered by natural gas are an extremely
exciting and promising new technology for the clean
and efficient generation of electricity. Fuel cells
have the ability to generate electricity using electrochemical
reactions as opposed to combustion of fossil fuels to
generate electricity. Essentially, a fuel cell works
by passing streams of fuel (usually hydrogen) and oxidants
over electrodes that are separated by an electrolyte.
This produces a chemical reaction that generates electricity
without requiring the combustion of fuel, or the addition
of heat as is common in the traditional generation of
electricity. When pure hydrogen is used as fuel, and
pure oxygen is used as the oxidant, the reaction that
takes place within a fuel cell produces only water,
heat, and electricity. In practice, fuel cells result
in very low emission of harmful pollutants, and the
generation of high-quality, reliable electricity. The
use of natural gas powered fuel cells has a number of
benefits, including:
-
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| How a Fuel Cell Works |
| Source: DOE
- Office of Fossil Energy |
Clean Electricity - Fuel cells provide the
cleanest method of producing electricity from fossil
fuels. While a pure hydrogen, pure oxygen fuel cell
produces only water, electricity, and heat, fuel cells
in practice emit only trace amounts of sulfur compounds,
and very low levels of carbon dioxide. However, the
carbon dioxide produced by fuel cell use is concentrated
and can be readily recaptured, as opposed to being
emitted into the atmosphere.
- Distributed Generation - Fuel cells can come
in extremely compact sizes, allowing for their placement
wherever electricity is needed. This includes residential,
commercial, industrial, and even transportation settings.
- Dependability - Fuel cells are completely
enclosed units, with no moving parts or complicated
machinery. This translates into a dependable source
of electricity, capable of operating for thousands
of hours. In addition, they are very quiet and safe
sources of electricity. Fuel cells also do not have
electricity surges, meaning they can be used where
a constant, dependably source of electricity is needed.
- Efficiency - Fuel cells convert the energy
stored within fossil fuels into electricity much more
efficiently than traditional generation of electricity
using combustion. This means that less fuel is required
to produce the same amount of electricity. The National
Energy Technology Laboratory estimates that, used
in combination with natural gas turbines, fuel cell
generation facilities can be produced that will operate
in the 1 to 20 Megawatt range at 70 percent efficiency,
which is much higher than the efficiencies that can
be reached by traditional generation methods within
that output range.
The generation of electricity has traditionally been
a very polluting, inefficient process. However, with
new fuel cell technology, the future of electricity
generation is expected to change dramatically in the
next ten to twenty years. Research and development into
fuel cell technology is ongoing, to ensure that the
technology is refined to a level where it is cost effective
for all varieties of electric generation requirements.
To learn more about fuel cell development, visit the
Fuel Cells 2000 website here.
Natural Gas Technology
Resources
The natural gas industry is joined by government agencies
and laboratories, private research and development firms,
and environmental technology groups in coming up with
new technologies that may improve the efficiency, cost-effectiveness,
and environmental soundness of the natural gas industry.
Below are links to a number of resources that provide
information on new technological developments in the
oil and natural gas industry:
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