Oil Exploration and Energy Storage

Flashcards for reviewing oil exploration, energy storage, and related concepts.

Seismic Imaging

Mapping underground rock layers and identifying oil traps using sound waves.

Primary Oil Recovery

Natural flow or pumping

Secondary Oil Recovery

Injecting water

Enhanced Oil Recovery

Using chemicals or CO₂

High Porosity

Space to hold fluids.

Permeability

Ability for fluids to flow.

Conventional Petroleum Plays

Oil/gas flows easily.

Unconventional Petroleum Plays

Needs tech like fracking due to low permeability or high viscosity.

Fracking (Hydraulic Fracture Stimulation)

Pumping high-pressure fluid to crack rock, then adding sand to hold it open so oil/gas flows better.

Anticline Trap

Trap formed by an arch-shaped rock fold.

Impact of the Spindletop Oil Discovery

Launched the U.S. oil boom, created major oil companies, and marked the start of the modern petroleum era.

Methane Hydrate Formation

Forms under high pressure and low temperature, in deep oceans or beneath permafrost.

Methane Hydrate Stability Zone

The specific range of temperature and pressure where hydrate remains stable.

Steam-Methane Reforming

Natural gas + steam → H₂ + CO + CO₂.

Green Hydrogen

Hydrogen made by splitting water with electricity from renewable energy (electrolysis).

Pink Hydrogen

Hydrogen made by electrolysis powered by nuclear energy.

Energy Density of Hydrogen

142 MJ/kg

Energy Density of Gasoline

~47 MJ/kg

Challenges of Hydrogen Storage

Must be compressed (>350x pressure) or liquefied (-253°C), which is costly and complex.

Geothermal Energy

Heat from inside Earth used for heating or electricity; deeper = hotter.

Geothermal 'Play'

A geological setting with heat, permeability, fluid, and economic potential for geothermal power.

Pumped Hydroelectric Storage

Stores energy as gravitational potential by pumping water uphill.

Flywheel

Stores energy as kinetic energy by spinning a mass, which can be converted back into electricity quickly.

'Dispatch Time'

How quickly a power plant can increase or decrease output.

CHOPS

Cold Heavy Oil Production with Sand

Bitumen

Very heavy oil found in oil sands that must be heated or diluted to flow.

Role of Proppant in Fracking

To hold the fractures open so oil/gas can continue to flow.

Black Hydrogen

Made from coal gasification.

Turquoise Hydrogen

Made by heating methane without oxygen (no CO₂ produced).

Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS)

Capturing CO₂ from emissions and storing it underground to prevent it from entering the atmosphere.

Supercritical Fluid

A state where CO₂ acts like both gas and liquid, ideal for deep underground injection.

SAGD

Steam-Assisted Gravity Drainage – injects steam into oil sands to melt thick oil so it flows into a well.

Cyclothems

Repeating layers of coal and other rocks formed from changing sea levels.

Anthracite

86–97% carbon.

Kerogen

Solid organic material in oil shale that turns into oil/gas when heated.

Ex Situ Oil Shale Extraction

Mine and heat above ground.

In Situ Oil Shale Extraction

Heat underground.

GOR (Gas-Oil Ratio)

Tells how much gas vs. oil a fluid has; higher GOR = better flow, lower viscosity.

Main Concern with Old/Poorly Sealed Wells

They can leak gas into drinking water aquifers.

U.S. Shale Boom

A major increase in shale gas production; led by the Marcellus Shale in PA.