Oil: when there are more, there are still

[moinsdewatt]

Old oil wells are worth gold

October 12 2012

SAINT-JUSTE-SAUVAGE (Marne). An old Saint-Just-Sauvage well could be exploited again. Abandoned twenty years ago for its low production, the oil it would still contain, is now very expensive.

Given the current price of a barrel, it could become profitable to reopen old wells. This is what the company SPPE (oil production and exploration company), a small oil company based in Loiret, is about to do. This company plans to reopen an old oil well located on the territory of the municipality of Saint-Just-Sauvage.


Ten years of mining

These works are part of a hydrocarbon exploration license held by SPPE since 2008. The oil company will therefore drill an exploration well at the very place where oil was extracted from 1983 until the beginning of the nineties. The company that operated the well at the time abandoned mining due to insufficient production and the lowest price per barrel.
But twenty years later, the facts of the problem have radically changed. The price of oil has increased fivefold. Therefore, even a well producing little can be profitable. But SPPE does not only intend to draw the bottoms of the old oil wells. The company plans to drill further and otherwise.
She wants to drill straight into the ground, then horizontally. This is to collect as much oil as possible. "We can now get rid of the properties of a relatively small reservoir thanks to the use of horizontal drains," she wrote in a file declaring the opening of mining work which was filed with the services of the 'State.

2 km deep

However, it will initially be an exploration drilling. This has the significant advantage of not being carried out in a vacuum, because it is certain that oil is in the basement of Saint-Just-Sauvage. It remains to be seen how much.
Note that the possible oil deposit has nothing to do with shale gas. And the drilling technique that the company intends to use has nothing to do with hydraulic fracturing, a technique which is moreover prohibited by law in France. She plans to search for oil about 2 km deep.
The reopening of the well, followed by vertical drilling and a test is expected to take several weeks. Horizontal drilling is expected to follow and last for several months. It is only at the end of these operations that the company intends to test the well in production for several months.
SPPE already operates several oil wells in Saint-Martin-de-Bossenay, near Romilly-sur-Seine (Aube). And the town of Saint-Just-Sauvage has two other old abandoned wells. With a price per barrel at the highest, it is also possible that these will come back to life soon.

http://www.lunion.presse.fr/article/mar ... ent-de-lor

[dedeleco]

Yes, the earth is stuffed with fossil fuels, accumulated since 600 millions of years of carbon burial of living beings, who have provided oxygen (19% and more sometimes) that allowed breathing, oxygen renewed every 200 thousand years approximately, which makes life 600 / 0,2 = 3000 times more carbon, than it takes to burn all the oxygen in our atmosphere, maintained by life, during these 600millions of years !!

So, it's still in the ground quite a lot, and we have with certainty underground much more than it takes to burn all this oxygen and suffocate us, after having multiplied the CO2 by 10 (very easy since it happened spontaneously 56 million years ago by releasing part of CH4 at the bottom of the sea), after having raised the seas by 70m in a millennium, that is to say, having drowned all of our major cities, except rare ones like Mexico !!
It is also a reality that occurred between 18000 years and 8000 years, raising the seas of 120m and it still remains in reserve 70m to return to the level of 10 million years ago !!

Also to continue to shamelessly exploit these fossil fuels, like crazy, obsessed, is pure madness in the long term, of negators of reality, for our children, with the irremediable pollution of our earth, in depth and on the surface.

You have a real solution to multiply, operating at www.dlsc.ca which knots avoids this madness and it is not repellent to insist on this effective solution without CO2, without pollution, free in perpetuity, with good performance, etc.

[moinsdewatt]

Yes, the earth is stuffed with fossil fuels, ..... etc ...

Don't worry Dedé peakoil even counting the non-conventional, it is for soon.

[dedeleco]

Don't worry Dedé peakoil even counting the non-conventional, it is for soon.

Certainly not, with fossil fuel gases, CH4, coal, too, capable of multiplying CO2 by 10, to bring us back to 56 million years ago, by the same mechanism of release of CH4 underground, enormous, much more now in reserve at the bottom of the oceans, considering our past millions of years of glaciations !!

The solar system is full of abiotic methane (on Titan) and therefore why not the earth, still hidden in it ????

Otherwise, where has the carbon released by life gone over 600 million years, with nothing left, buried, out of the total of around 300000 times more than the CO2 content in our atmosphere !!!

Buried in the ground, there remains, even a tenth of C, 1/30000, is enough to multiply CO2 by 10 in our atmosphere !!

These figures from the real past are stubborn !!

[moinsdewatt]

......... Otherwise, where has the carbon released by life gone over 600 million years, with nothing left, buried, out of the total of around 300000 times more than the CO2 content in our atmosphere! !!

You say silly dedication.

Most of the carbon is converted into CO2 and then into CaCO3 limestone which is the limestone massifs and a bunch of buried layers which are hundreds of meters thick.

The only Vercors mass contains more Carbon in CaCO3 than all of the C in proven oil reserves.

Buried in the ground, there remains, even a tenth of C, 1/30000, is enough to multiply CO2 by 10 in our atmosphere !!

These figures from the real past are stubborn !!

for the moment the IPCC scenarios speak of 500 ppm CO2 by the end of the century.
Talking about it is science fiction.
At the moment we are at 380 ppm. (we come from 280 ppm 150 years before)

[moinsdewatt]

China will overtake the US in oil imports in October this year.
This will make an import level of 6.45 million b / d.

China to Become Biggest Net Oil Importer by October, EIA Says

Bloomberg Aug 9, 2013

China will surpass the US by October to become the world's biggest net oil importer on a monthly basis, the Energy Information Administration said.

Imports by the second-biggest oil-consuming country will reach 6.45 million barrels a day, surpassing the US's 6.23 million, the EIA, the Energy Department's statistical arm, said in this week's Short-Term Energy Outlook. On a yearly basis, China's overseas purchases will surpass the US's next year.

“The imminent emergence of China as the world's largest net oil importer has been driven by steady growth in Chinese demand, increased oil production in the United States and a flat level of demand for oil in the US market,” the agency said today in a report on its website.

China will use 11 million barrels a day of oil in October, the outlook showed. The US will use 18.6 million.
Oil production, including crude and other liquids, will rise to 12.4 million barrels a day in the US by October. China's production will be 4.57 million.
Net Chinese imports will be 6.57 million barrels a day next year, higher than the US's 5.71 million, EIA data showed.
US oil production will rise by 28 percent between 2011 and 2014 to nearly 13 million barrels a day, primarily from shale oil, tight oil and Gulf of Mexico deepwater fields, the EIA said. China's production will grow 6 percent over the period to be a third of US levels in 2014.
China's liquid-fuels use will grow by 13 percent between 2011 and 2014 to more than 11 million barrels a day. US demand is forecast to stay around 18.7 million barrels during the period, below the peak consumption level of 20.8 million in 2005, the EIA said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-0 ... -says.html

from my archives I can see this graph (published at the end of 2012), the crossing point becomes clearer.



The USA is reducing its imports (for one reason) given the increase in shale oil production.

[moinsdewatt]

Oil: IEA downgrades its forecasts

By Les Echos 09/08

The International Energy Agency has modified its oil demand scenario for 2013 and 2014 to take into account the recent revision of the FM forecastsI.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has taken note of the recent change in the IMF's international economic forecast. And has decided to slightly reduce its own forecast for growth in global oil demand for 2013 and 2014.
For the current year, the IEA now expects an increase in demand equivalent to 895.000 barrels, for a total of 90,8 million passed each day. Until now, the international organization has forecast a demand of around 930.000 barrels. For 2014, the IEA continues to anticipate an acceleration in demand which should reach a new peak. But the increase will simply be less than expected. A total of 92 million barrels should be sold each day based on an additional daily demand of 1,1 million barrels (compared to 1,2 million in the previous scenario)
Overall, these changes do not upset the major forces at work on the oil market, where emerging countries continue to give the thumbs up, faced with developed countries whose demand has tended to decrease for years, under the combined effects of the crisis and policies to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels.

Slower growth in emerging countries

Thus, “signs seem to point to a reduction in the divergence in the trend for demand between the OECD and non-OECD countries, as growth in emerging and developing countries and the contraction of the economy in developed countries is increasing. are each moderate, ”comments the agency.
"Nonetheless, non-OECD countries will remain the engine of world oil demand, while consumption in OECD countries continues to decline", and "non-OECD demand is expected to exceed that of the OECD in Q3 2013", she emphasizes.
In addition, if the IEA raised its estimate for short-term US oil consumption, due to the economic recovery in the United States, it lowered its forecast for Japanese demand to reflect the intention posted by the government to use nuclear power again.
The Agency justified this slight reduction by the downward revision of the outlook for the International Monetary Fund, which took place in July. The IMF is currently forecasting only 3,1% growth in the world economy this year, compared to 3,3% in April, and 3,8% in 2014, instead of 4%.

http://www.lesechos.fr/entreprises-sect ... 594235.php

[moinsdewatt]

It's really sad :

Ecuador: Rafael Correa authorizes oil exploitation in Yasuni park

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, re-elected last spring, has just authorized oil exploitation in the Yasuni natural park, one of the most exceptional biodiversity reserves in the world and listed as a UNESCO heritage site. He thus puts an end to the Yasuni ITT project which he had launched in 2007 at the tribune of the UN and which proposed to exchange the non-exploitation of the more than 900 million barrels of oil contained in the basement of this region against an international contribution intended to finance half of the shortfall for the country, or $ 3,6 billion. The fund for international contributions managed by the UN has raised only $ 13 million today, and 116 million promises. "The fundamental element (which explains) the failure of the project is that the world is of great hypocrisy," explained the Ecuadorian president. With deep sadness… I had to take one of the most difficult decisions of my government by signing the decree which liquidates the Yasuni ITT fund and thus puts an end to this initiative. ”

One hectare brings together more plant species than all of North America

The Yasuni initiative has constituted since 2007 one of the major axes of Rafael Correa's policy. This area, which covers more than 950.000 hectares, shelters two groups of Indians living in complete isolation. There are 2274 species of trees, 100.000 species of insects, 150 amphibians. A single hectare brings together more plant species than all of North America. This wealth is inherited from the last ice age, the area having served as a refuge for many species fleeing the drop in temperatures. According to David Romo, co-director of the Tiputini scientific station at the University of San Francisco "with the highest biodiversity per square kilometer in the whole of the Amazon, a single piece of forest destroyed involves immeasurable damage". For several months, the president has evoked more and more often a plan B consisting in abandoning the Yasuni project to allow a "rational exploitation" of the oil of the region. Some believed it was a bluff. The announcement made Thursday, August 15 shows that it was not.


Aerial view of Yasuni park.

35,4% of Ecuadorians live below the poverty line. The Ecuadorian president, trained in economics at American universities, has long wondered about the interest for the country to be a leader in the protection of biodiversity and thus to give up resources allowing the development of infrastructures including country has the greatest need to enable an improvement in the living conditions of Ecuadorians. The 500.000 barrels of oil exported daily represent 40% of the state's resources. But since 2011, production of black gold has stagnated. The government has already authorized oil exploration in part of the Amazon south of Yasuni, despite protest from indigenous organizations. There is no doubt that the announcement of the exploitation of Yasuni's oil will revive the indigenous protests. Indigenous peoples are very sensitive to threats to their environment, having already suffered in particular the disaster caused by Texaco's activities in the Sucumbo region, which in 2011 resulted in the American company being ordered by Ecuadorian justice to pay $ 18 billion to victims. Conviction still awaiting application.

http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/20 ... yasuni.php

[moinsdewatt]

Congo: ENI discovers around 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent at Minsala Marine

Ecofin Agency 06 Nov 2014

The Italian oil and gas group ENI has made a new important discovery on the Minsala Marine prospect, on the Marine XII block, about 35 km offshore and 12 km from the recent Néné Marine discovery in Congo.

ENI reported on October 30 the interception of a large accumulation of light oil in a 420 m hydrocarbon reservoir in a pre-saliferous sequence of the Lower Cretaceous.

This is the group's third discovery in the continental waters of the Congo, after Litchjendily and Nene Marine, whose development is under way.

The Minsala Marine 1 discovery well reached a total depth of 3700m in an area where the water depth is estimated at 75m.

In its first estimates, Eni Congo SA, operator with 65% share in the block, assesses the potential of Minsala Marine at around 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent on site containing 80% of the oil.

"It has been four years since Eni began exploring shallow water in the pre-salt system in West Africa and this campaign continues to show great results," commented Claudio Descalzi, Chief Executive of Eni .

Descalzi estimates the discovery of the ENI group between Congo and Gabon at around 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent there.

The Italian group announces that it has already started the evaluation plan for the new discovery off the Congo as well as the studies for its commercial development.

http://www.agenceecofin.com/petrole/061 ... ala-marine

[Ahmed]

Obviously, the Ecuadorian president had misjudged the problem by postulating that hypothetical international funds would be able to solve local poverty: by remaining in a logic of value, there was nothing to hope, that this step succeeds or fails (as it does).

The oil rent will permanently harm Ecuadorian society as surely as the ecological rent would have done ...