Oil On My Shoes - The Science of Petroleum Geology

*Oil On My Shoes - The Science of Petroleum Geology* *On the Web Since 1996!* pe·tro·le·um - A thick, flammable, yellow-to-black mixture of gaseous, liquid, and solid hydrocarbons that occurs naturally beneath the earth's surface. ge-ol-o-gy - A science that deals with the history of the earth and its life, especially as recorded in rocks. Oil On My Shoes will help you understand the science of Petroleum Geology (Using geology to find oil and gas in the earth).	What's New! Shale Gas Salaries Scout Ticket Links Fixed !
Starter Topics
Five Steps to Drilling and Producing a Well The Five Main Steps the Petroleum Geologist goes through in order to locate, drill, and produce a well.
Sedimentary Rocks As sediments pile up, the oldest ones are buried deeper and deeper. When they are buried deep enough, heat and pressure and other workings of the earth make the soft sediments hard, and turn them into rock.
Sandstones and Similar Rocks Sandstones hold the most oil and gas. Sandstones are composed of fine to coarse sand grains which are cemented together. Learn about different types of sandstones and how to identify them.
The Geologic Time Scale By modern scientific calculations, the earth is many hundreds of millions years old. Decay rates of certain radioactive materials are established and measured, and used as "clocks" to calculate the ages of various rocks.
Drill Bits and Rock Samples While a well is drilling, the drill bit cuts off tiny "chips" of rock, which are then pumped to the surface in the drilling mud, keeping the hole clear of debris. These "chips" are analyzed by the Petroleum Geologist.
Coring a Well Sometimes, the geologist will want to get a better look at the rocks deep in a well than they can get by looking at the small chips called well samples. In this case, the geologist will order that a "core" be taken from the well. A core is a solid cylinder of rock about 3-4 inches in diameter, and it can be anywhere from a few feet to over a hundred feet long.
Oil and Gas Under Great Pressure Oil and gas exist in underground traps under great pressure. When the formation containing the oil or gas is penetrated by the drill bit, the oil and gas can blast out of the well with tremendous force.
Sedimentary Rock Chart This will help you identify the various types of sedimentary rocks.
How Much Does a Petroleum Geologist Make? This question comes up a lot. There is a lot of misleading information out there. Petroleum Geologists are well-paid professionals with a high degree of job satisfaction.
Intermediate Topics
Porosity and Permeability in Sedimentary Rocks Rocks must be "porous" in order to contain oil and gas. Porosity of a rock is the ability of a rock to hold a fluid. Permeability is a measure of the amount of flow of a fluid through a rock. A rock may be very porous, but if the pores are not connected, it will not have any permeability.
The Mud Log While a well is drilling, the rock "chips" cut off by the drill bit are pumped to the surface in the drilling mud. This section explains what data is gathered from drill cuttings, and shows the construction of a "mud log."
Oil and Gas Traps You may have heard that oil is found underground in "pools", or "lakes", or "rivers". Maybe someone told you there was a "sea" or "ocean" of oil underground. This is all completely wrong! Check out the right stuff here.
Shale Gas More and more natural gas in the United States is being produced from shale. New fracturing technologies have made this possible. The tremendous implications for our National Energy Policy are clear.
Correlating Rocks With Microfossils Sometimes, in certain areas, the well samples from a drilling well do not indicate well-defined beds of shale, limestone and sandstone. In this case, the Petroleum Geologist may use microfossils to figure things out.
Completing a Well To complete a well so that oil and gas can be recovered, steel pipe is run all the way to the bottom of the hole. Then an explosive device called a "perforating gun" is used to blast holes right through the heavy steel pipe.
Advanced Topics
The Interactive Scout Ticket (Links now repaired, sorry!) The "scout ticket" is a paper or computer file that summarizes all the information available on a single well. Basic information like the well name, location, depth, and date completed will be found here, as well as a record of the major formation tops encountered in the well, what "treatments", if any were used, and how much oil or gas the well produced initially.
Structural Cross-Sections Once the petroleum geologist has electric logs from two or more wells, he usually will make a "Cross-Section". With a "structural" cross-section, he will show the various positions of the rock formations in several wells.
Geologic Maps Geologists draw dozens of types of geologic maps. They try to show the earth as it is deep underground. Petroleum Geologists spend most of their time making making maps to find the next drilling location.
How To Contour A Map Learn how a petroleum geologist goes about making a very simple geologic contour map.
Electric Logs After a well is drilled, "electric logging tools" are run into the hole. These highly-complex devices produce a long piece of paper called an "electric log". PG's get much valuable information from electric logs, including rock type, porosity, relative permeability, and the presence of oil, water, or gas. Electric logs are the most useful tool available to the Petroleum Geologist.
Seismic, 2D and 3D There are ways to see into the earth without actually having to drill wells! Seismic can show some amazing things from deep down there!
Using Computers To Keep Track of Stuff The Petroleum Geologist must keep track of lots of information. Computers are used extensively to help out.
Locating a Well Using the Township and Range System The Township and Range system is a neat way of locating oil and gas wells in much of the western United States. Learn to use the Public Land Survey to locate a well.

Other Topics
Oil On My Shoes GeoShop Cool Geology Stuff !
Music All work and no play....
Becoming A Geologist The path to geology often begins very early. Here's how I got there, with the help of my parents, and Mr. J. Howard Berry, principal of Oak Terrace Elementary School, North Charleston, South Carolina. Questions? Email geologist1 "AT" geomore.com

12/18/2011