Oil, Gas and Natural Resource News

The market value of a barrel of oil has been decreasing since the catastrophic Gulf oil spill. Today, the price per barrel of oil is $77. It was only two years ago that oil was worth approximately $150 per barrel. This significant fluctuation is about to happen once more. Current projections are at a 185% [...]

Within the oil and gas industry, there is a classification of drilling wells which includes exploration wells, confirmation wells, and development wells. An exploration well is also referred to as a wildcat for its unpredictability. These wells are drilled blindly to test if hydrocarbons exist within the underground rock layers. Technology today has limited the amount [...]

Pipelines are generally the most economical way to transport quantities of natural gas and refined oil across land.  They can be built under water, underground, or aboveground.  Pipelines can also be characterized as interstate or intrastate.  Interstate carries materials across state boundaries or even across the country where intrastate pipelines transport the materials within a [...]

Natural resources such as oil, gas and minerals occur within layers of the earth. The subterranean housing of these resources are known as traps. Traps are classified based on their characteristics. Examples of these variances are Structural Traps, Anticlinal Traps, Stratigraphic Traps, as well as others. This blog entry will discuss the specified traps listed. [...]

A technology that is heavily relied upon when looking to drill for natural gas and oil is 3D seismic imaging.  This process significantly decreases the chance of drilling non-producing wells and allows geologists to determine the locations of gas and oil reservoirs by understanding the subsurface environment. This method works by measuring the time it [...]

Energy producing natural resources, such as oil and gas, are molecularly formed with hydrogen and carbon. These hydrocarbons are the commonality among all the energy producing natural resources.  Crude Oil is a beneficial natural resource which is used to make fuels, plastics, rubbers and nylons. Hydrocarbons are trapped in pockets between rock layers, and also [...]

To prepare a site for drilling legal steps must be taken first.  After all of the proper paperwork is completed the crew can then go about preparing the land.  Some of the first steps include clearing a space and making sure it is leveled.  Also, access roads may be built if the site is more [...]

There are many people that take on numerous jobs in order to make the task of drilling oil successful.  It begins with operating companies, drilling contractors, service and supply companies, and drilling crews. An operating company, or an operator, is an oil company whose business is working primarily with petroleum.  The company has to lease [...]

There are two techniques for drilling holes into the earth. The cable-tool and the rotary are these two techniques. The rotary has evolved and become the choice rig for the majority of all drilling jobs. The cable-tool is still used today and dates back over 1.600 years. The ancient Egyptians utilized the cable-tool technique to [...]

Natural gas is comprised of a majority of methane. Methane is the most simple of the various natural gasses with one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms. The methane extracted from naturally occurring traps between rock layers is processed to remove impurities. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is created by cooling the natural gas to –260°F. [...]