Rapid advances in technology are revolutionizing the oil industry and providing the world with “cheap” energy. Examples are numerous: crude oil reserves, previously inaccessible because they were located deep in the earth, are now gushing out relentlessly; shale oil or shale oil which years ago was not profitable, is today one of the most important sources of energy in the United States or Argentina; Crude oil that was found in ultra-deep waters and that a few years ago was considered impossible to extract is today exploited safely and profitably in Brazil, Guyana or Africa with increasingly deep wells. The story does not end there. A few weeks ago, two of the largest oil companies in the world announced a new advance or a new achievement: the extraction of crude oil from an ultra-high pressure field, something that was impossible to do with guarantees.
The companies that have reached this milestone are American companies. Chevron and the French company TotalEnergieswho joined forces to “break” the seabed and release billions of barrels of oil in the Gulf of Mexico, using a technology known as 20k (referring to the 20,000 PSI it is capable of handling, which will be explained below), extracting oil and natural gas from one of the world’s first ultra-high pressure and temperature projects.
There is some consensus when it comes to considering ultra high pressure in any oil or gas field where the crude oil reserve is at a pressure greater than 12,500 pounds per square inch or PSI. These classifications come from technological standards, that is, the ability of the components involved in the drilling and extraction process to handle well conditions. APAT (High Pressure High Temperature) or HPHT (High Pressure High Temperature) wells are those whose downhole temperature and static pressure values are considered to be outside the most common ranges, which generally do not exceed the 12,500 pounds per square inch noted above. These types of high pressure and high temperature wells are dangerous.
Well, the oil being extracted belongs to a field that has pressures of 20,000 pounds per square inch (PSI) and extremely high temperatures. These pressure levels are about a third higher than those of any other well previously exploited. Thus, in the Anchor project, with an investment of 5.7 billion dollars, specially designed equipment from the oil services companies NOV and Dril-Quip, as well as Transocean drilling ships, is used. With all this equipment, it was possible to extract oil where it previously seemed impossible.
Thus, the second largest oil company in the United States began pumping the first Anchor well in late Augustwhile the second is already drilled and about to be ready to enter service, said Bruce Niemeyer, director of oil exploration and production for the Americas.
The risk of oil in high pressure fields
It should be remembered that this type of operation is extremely dangerous and therefore requires very sophisticated and expensive equipment. In 2010, an explosion at the Macondo project in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 workers, contaminated fisheries and covered the beaches in the region with oil. Transocean was the operator of the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon and BP was the owner of the Macondo project. Both are currently involved in the development of new high-pressure wells.
Oil industry sources reveal elEconomista.es that “the problem with high pressure reservoirs is how to manage them. You have to counteract the high pressure during drilling and then during production, which generally makes the project more expensive“, they emphasize.
Today, the industry is using new vessels and drilling equipment designed to handle the extreme pressures, which in the case of this new project are a third greater than those found on the Macondo fault. “The industry has done its part to deliver the barrels safely, thanks to new technology,” said Mfon Usoro, a senior analyst specializing in Gulf of Mexico operations at research firm Wood Mackenzie.
The new team promises that Anchor and similar projects operated by Beacon Offshore Energy and BP add a combined total of 300,000 barrels of new oil and that would put 2 billion barrels of U.S. oil that were previously inaccessible to producers, at least in theory. When something seems impossible, technology makes it happen. This is a new boost for those who believe that oil will never run out. Although the amount of crude oil in the world is limited, there are more and more techniques and methods to extract it in unexpected ways. This means that oil that was previously ignored (not counted as proven reserves) is now available to the “world”.
The Gulf of Mexico is reborn
“These ultra-high pressure fields are going to be a major driver of production growth in the Gulf of Mexico,” Usoro assured in statements to ReutersThe Gulf of Mexico has been producing less than 2019’s record level of 2 million barrels per day, and the extra oil could help the region return to full production.
In addition, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) itself released a report this month revealing that production in the Gulf of Mexico will be maintained by new fields and new oil deposits. “We project that 1.8 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil will be produced in the Gulf of Mexico in 2024 and 1.9 million b/d in 2025, compared to 1.9 million b/d in 2023… With these volumes, the Gulf of Mexico would contribute about 14% of US oil production and 2% of US traded natural gas production. EIA experts expect 12 new fields to begin production in the Gulf of Mexico in 2024 and 2025, “otherwise we would expect”. Gulf of Mexico production to decline.
Beyond Chevron, BP’s projects are also remarkable. The oil company has its own technology to operate in high-pressure fields with which it hopes to exploit around 10 billion barrels. The first project in which it had to face strong pressure was Kaskida, discovered in 2006. This field, although juicy, was shelved by BP due to the lack of technology to safely extract crude oil from a field of this type.
High-pressure, high-temperature oil fields similar to the one above and the one Chevron is working on would benefit from improved 20k technology. Improvements to this technology open the door to recovering more oil off the coast of Brazil, Angola and Nigeria“The Gulf of Mexico will serve as a testing ground, but the potential is huge,” says Aditya Ravi, an analyst at Rystad Energy.
Brazil has significant offshore developments that “are prime candidates for future application of 20k technology due to their complex high-pressure, high-temperature environments,” the expert said.
