Stories tagged with "oil rig"

UPDATED: Cantarell and Questions Regarding Mexico's Oil Infrastructure

Posted by Khebab on August 21, 2007 - 7:00am
Topic: Supply/Production
Tags: cantarell, google earth, hurricane dean, kmz, mexico, oil, oil prices, oil rig, peak oil, pipelines, refining, rig, shipping [list all tags]

Scroll down for the 5:00p and 11:50p EDT updates.

Hurricane Dean became a Category 5 storm last night with winds reaching 165 mph and reaching a low pressure of 909 mb (as of 2:15a EDT; Katrina was 920 mb and Camille 909 mb). Landfall occurred early yesterday morning with a second landfall occurring some time today. This is an historic hurricane by any standard.

Why this matters: If there were Cat2 winds in that area, we could have been talking about around 2.5 million barrels per day of Mexico's supply capacity being shut in for a while, and some of that shut in for an extended amount of time. Around 1.5 mbpd of that capacity is exported to the US (of the 20.5 mbpd the US uses, and the 85mbpd the world uses, each day). There are also some questions about the resilience of refineries and flow lines in the area of the second landfall.

Update (Khebab, 11:50 EDT):

HURRICANE DEAN ADVISORY NUMBER 35A
...DEAN IS MOVING BETWEEN THE WEST AND WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 20 MPH...32KM/HR...AND THIS GENERAL MOTION IS EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS. ON THE FORECAST TRACK...DEAN IS EXPECTED TO BE VERY NEAR THE COAST OF CENTRAL MEXICO DURING THE DAY WEDNESDAY. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS REMAIN NEAR 80 MPH...130 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. DEAN IS A CATEGORY ONE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. AN AIR FORCE PLANE IS CURRENTLY APPROACHING DEAN. SOME RE-STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

 HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 35 MILES...55 KM...FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 140 MILES...220 KM. ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE IS 970 MB...


Cantarell and KMZ oil complex, 50-knots wind speed probabilities (NHC, forecast #35). Click to Enlarge.


Refinery position, 50-knots wind speed probabilities (NHC, forecast #35). Click to Enlarge.

More under the fold.

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Remember Where the Offshore Rigs Are and What They Can Take?

Posted by Prof. Goose on August 26, 2006 - 10:42am
Topic: Supply/Production
Tags: gulf of mexico, hurricane katrina, hurricane rita, oil prices, oil rig, peak oil, rig, tropical storm ernesto [list all tags]



This is the GSF High Island III, damaged last year.

Under the fold is a discussion we had last year with our friends at KAC/UCF (a site we'll probably be seeing a lot of if trends continue--and here is a link to their "Hurricane Impacts on Gulf of Mexico Oil Production" (.pdf warning)). The discussion was regarding the structural standards to which offshore rigs are built and their wind tolerances...interesting stuff.

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From an Insider: Rig Prices, Rig Depth, and How to Get a Job

Posted by Prof. Goose on March 31, 2006 - 12:54am
Topic: Supply/Production
Tags: deepwater, gulf of mexico, mexico, oil, oil prices, oil rig, oil services, peak oil, pemex, rig, rig count, texas [list all tags]

One of our oil industry insiders has sent us some interesting data on rig rates, well type/depth changes, and more on the oil situation in the GOM, as well as how the industry in Texas and the GOM is staffing its rigs.  Lots of interesting stuff under the fold.
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Revisiting the barrels per rig issue

Posted by Heading Out on November 4, 2005 - 12:43am
Topic: Supply/Production
Tags: oil rig, peak oil, saudi arabia [list all tags]

The discussion about the rising costs of rigs, and the support equipment that goes with them has caused me to go back to an earlier source which pointed out, about a month ago, that Saudi Arabia was planning on doubling its drilling rig fleet from the current 55 to around 110.  As part of this effort some deep wells will be drilled into the Arabian Gulf.
"We will be using very specialized equipment for this operation," said Tom Emmons, Ensco 76 drilling engineer. "That's because the target wells will be some of the most challenging that Saudi Aramco has ever drilled due to the high temperature and high pressure of these wells.

"The Karan-6 location is actually one of the shallower prospects," said Mulaik. "Several of the locations will require more than 6,000 m of drilling. However, the Ensco 76 can drill up to 9,000 m."

A second exploration rig will join the Ensco 76 during 2006 in drilling deep exploration prospects in the Gulf. The two rigs will drill 11 prospects scattered through Saudi territorial waters. The entire project will last from five to six years. This reflects a substantial investment by Saudi Aramco to discover new gas fields.

 At one time I had tried to calculate how many wells it would take to meet the new goals for Saudi increased production.  Some of my assumptions were a little off, but by going back over the past few years, using the OPEC Annual Statistical Bulletins, the number of wells that a rig can drill appears to average around 10.  So that if we consider that Aramco need to produce around a million bd a year to match current well declines, and that they are promising to add about 400,000 bd per year to world supply, then an initial simple calculation would suggest that this would give an average required yield per well of around 1,270 bd.  
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