Petroleum water injection - Essay Example

For the formation of this petroleum reservoir worth producing various geological elements are required. These elements include; porous reservoir rock which stores the petroleum, organic rocks which are the source of generating the gas or oil and lastly some kind of traps to prevent leaking away of the oil and gas (Souza at el). Usually these traps are found in predictable areas like next to faults, top of anticlines and under sandstone beds. The traps are of three types; structural, hydrodynamic and stratigraphic traps.

Hydrodynamic traps are not common types of trap. They usually caused by water pressure differences that are as a result of water flow which creates a tilt of hydrocarbon water contact. Structural traps are bents and deformed areas beneath the surface that hold oil and gas. Mostly the traps are simple domes or more complicated faults. A fluid, which is water, oil or gas, fills the pores. Gas move to the top as it is the lightest, followed by oil then water stays down. Stratigraphic traps are depositional in nature as they are formed frequently by porous sandstone body or limestone getting enclosed in shale.

The oil and gas are kept from getting away by the shale. Petroleum reservoirs are generally located beneath the surface at 1000 to 30000 feet. They vary in size, type and age. They often extend over hundreds of kilometers, plus include a number of oil wells spread out across a big area. Petroleum reservoir formation can be divided into; planktons, algae and protein rich life buried beneath sand layers and mud at source rock this involves sand accumulation, lastly buried reside transfer into liquid hydrocarbons.

Topographical characteristics play an important role in the petroleum reservoirs formation. Petroleum reservoirs were discovered in the 19th century when Edwin Laurentine discovered that rock oil produces a distilled product for lanterns he then did the first well drill in 1859.The success of this drill which was close to an oil seep motivated further drilling in the same area, which soon led to same explorations in other places. The growing need for petroleum products led to petroleum reservoirs drilling in several states and countries.

Petroleum reservoirs can be accidentally discovered, this mostly happens when oil seeps to the surface or it seeps into water supply thereby exposing its presence in that area. In some instances, it is necessary to deliberately explore different regions by the application f geographical and scientific knowledge with the intention of discovering locations A petroleum reservoir may be discovered by accident, as has happened when the oil seeps to the surface or when the oil seeps into water supply, consequently revealing its presence in that location.

Other times, it is often necessary to intentionally explore different regions through the application of scientific and geographic knowledge with the view of discovering other places that may contain petroleum reservoir. Petroleum exploration and production which is the way to get gas and oil is performed by geologists, engineers and geophysicists. Geologists examine areas of the earth where sediments gather together. They then analyze the areas of interest closely to find out whether or not reservoir rocks and source rocks are present in the area.

Examination of the rocks is done at the earth surface and drilled wells in the area. Geologists also use satellite images