The Ourhoud Oil Fields in Algeria

PROJECT REPORT

ON

THE OURHOUD OIL FIELDS IN ALGERIA

LIST OF CONTENTS

Title Page……………………………………………………………………………………1

List of Contents……………………………………………………………………………..2

List of Figures………………………………………………………………………………3

List of Tables………………………………………………………………………………..4

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………5

History and Discovery of Ourhoud Oil Fields…………………………………………….6

Description of Reservoir and Reservoir Fluids in Ourhoud Oil Fields…………..…9

Types of Wells and Completion Methods Used in Ourhoud Oil Fields……………12

Surface Installation in Ourhoud Oil Fields……………………………………….…13

Future Economy of Ourhoud Oil Fields…………………………………………..…14

References…………………………………………………………………………………..16

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1……………………………………………………………………………………5

Figure 1.2……………………………………………………………………………………7

Figure 1.3……………………………………………………………………………………9

Figure 1.4……………………………………………………………………………………12

Figure 1.5……………………………………………………………………………………15

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1……………………………………………………………………………………13

INTRODUCTION

Figure 1.1

(Image source : Ourhoud organisation,2013, Retrieved from www.ourhoud.com/en/node/25)

 Ourhoud being the biggest oil field in Algeria is situated 200km south of Hassi Messaoud city, in the Berkine basin. The Algerian national company named Sonatrach is the major partner in running the oil field in alliance with several other multinational companies. The initialisations and creation of this huge project was brought forward by Sonatrach and Cepsa which is a Spain based international firm. The Ourhoud Unit is the group of shareholders and partners of the field which includes Sonatrach and Cepsa as the major shareholders. Sonatrach is involved in the project with a 36% share while Cepsa is in with 39%. The other companies are Anadarko with 9% share, Burlington with 4%, and Talisman with 2%. The companies named Eni and Maersk are both investing in this project with 5% share. (Ourhoud Organisation,2013)

 It was in the month of May in the year 1992, that both Sonatrach and Cepsa signed an contract regarding the operation of the bloc 406 A located in the Berkine basin. In 1995, the discovery of the oil field of Ourhoud took place, which was extending over two blocs 404 and 405. The partners of  Sonatrach for the bloc 404 are Anadarko, Eni and Maersk. At the same time the field over bloc 405 is operated under the alliance of Sonatrach with Burlington and Talisman. The formation of the Ourhoud Unit was in 1997 which is a group of the Ourhoud oilfield Shareholders and was formed with an objective of the cooperated functioning of each company to run the firm targeting on its most advantageous progress. (Organisation Ourhoud,2013)

 The Ourhoud oil field is the source of the production of the crude variety titled Saharan Blend which is a light crude with an API value of 42 degrees and has a sulphur content less than 0.2%. The average production per day from Ourhoud field in 2012 was above 22000 barrels, which contributes a 17% to the gross national oil production of  Algeria. The Ourhoud site consists of  a total of 95 wells of which 58 are oil wells, 30 are water injection wells, 6 are double injection wells of water and gas and the remaining one is a gas injection well. (Ourhoud Organisation,2013)

HISTORY AND DISCOVERY OF OURHOUD OIL FIELDS

 Ourhoud Oil field is the oil field located in Ouagla Province, Algeria and it was discovered in 1994 and developed by Sonatrach. It has over a billion of 40 degree gravity oil recovery. The reservoir is in a 180 square kilometre area with 930-ft oil column in Triassic Argilo-Greseux Inferieur at 9800 ft. The Ourhoud field is one of the world’s biggest onshore discoveries. This oil field’s operation is under the control of Compania Espanola de Petroleos, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and Sonatrach. (Petzet, 2015). As per the information it is clear that the total proven reserves of the Ourhoud oil field are around one billion barrels and production is centered on 250000 barrels per day

Figure 1.2 – Ourhoud Oil Field Algeria (“Ourhoud oil field”n.d.)

 If we go through the history of Ourhoud oil field the Algerian minister of Energy and mines presided the inaugural ceremony of the Ourhoud field located in Berkine Basin of the Algerian Sahara. Ourhoud is the biggest oil field in Algeria which is situated at a distance of 200km south to the Hassi Messaoud city in the berkine Basin. Sonatrach, which is an Algerian national company is the major partner in running the oil field and a joint venture with several other multinational companies. (Petzet, 2015). This huge project was born and brought forward by Sonatrach, Cepsa which is a Spain based international firm. These two firms played a major role in the building up of the Ourhoud Unit which are the major share holders and partners jointly with other firms operating in the same field. (Petzet, 2015) . The joint venture of Anardako Petroleum Corporation, Houstana has established over 530000 b/d of production capacity with an investment of about 3 billion dollars since 1980s. (Petzet, 2015) . The Ourhoud unit was formed in 1997 by the Ourhoud oil field share holders and was formed by the objective of the cooperated functioning of these companies to run the firm targeting on its most advantageous process. The joint production of Hassi Berkine South and Ourhoud has reached 450 million bbl. since 1998. An average of around 230,000 b/d of oil from Ourhoud and about 500,000 b/d or 300,000 b/d from Hassi Berkine is being produced.

 The ORD field came on stream in the year 2002 December and it produced an output of 20 million barrels. The field is currently producing an average of 230000 million barrels. As a result it became the second oil field on stream and the business profile of companies involved in this has developed a lot with an enormous earning and profit in different business divisions. The fields’ development required a total investment of more than 1700 million dollars to which CEPSA contributed 700 million dollars. Nearly 5000 people were involved in bringing stands at around 400.Production was started based on the schedule at the giant Ourhoud field, south of Hassi Berkine. After the first work 75000 barrel a day (b/d) oil treatment trains was completed by the Japanese or Spanish consortium of Japan Gas Corporation and Initec. The other two trains are commissioned by the second quarter of 2003, bringing capacity to 225000 b/d. The field is operated by the Ourhoud Organisation which includes the state energy company Sonatrach, Burlington Resources and Anaclarko Petroleum corporation.(“Production has started upon schedule at the giant Ourhoud field, south of Hassi Berkine. (News in Brief,” 2002)

DESCRIPTION OF RESERVOIR AND RESERVOIR FLUIDS IN THE OURHOUD OIL FIELDS

 According to Needham (2008), the Ourhoud field located in Berkine basin, Algeria and this second largest field in Algeria was discovered in 1994 June. This field covers around 150 square kilometres also it has a TAGI reservoir around the depth of approximately 3000m. The TAGI range is around 80 m to 120m in thickness and the porosity and permeability average 16% 200 mD, respectively. In the top seal, Triassic Jurassic shales and evaporites. And it is believed that the Silurian shales are principal source rock. (Needham,T.., Li,A., Carr,C., Schorr,G., Benmahiddi, S., & Pena, J. L. (2008))

Figure 1.3 – Map of location of the ourhoud field in Algeria.
(Needham, T., Li, A., Carr, C., Schorr, G., Benmahiddi, S., & Pena, J. L. (2008))

 According to Rossi, C., Kalin, O., Arribas, J., & Tortosa, A. (2002), The Trias Argilo Greseux Inferieur which is known as TAGI this fluvial sandstones are one of the main reservoirs in the Berkine basin, algeria. But still their provenance and diagenesis, and the impact on reservoir quality are unknown. Those samples got from the Ourhoud field represent the lower, middle and upper TAGI subunits were researched a minor combination of mineralogical, petrographic and geochemical techniques. It is noticed that the lower TAGI sandstones have an average framework composition of  Q_98.3F_0.6R_1.1 and the quartz grains almost 95% of them are macro crystalline. If we look at the middle upper TAGI sandstones, they have an average framework composition of Q_88.3F_9.8R_1.9 and around 79.7 % of  the quartz grains are mono crystalline. And the middle upper sub arkoses originated mainly from metamorphic terrains. It is potential criterion the change in provenance for correlation within the TAGI. And the change has contributed to different diagenetic paths followed by the middle upper TAGI sub arkoses and the lower TAGI quartz arenites.

 It is filled with lots of grain coating illicit clays in the lower TAGI this is where they use a critical control on reservoir quality. Those clays are classified as infiltrated and pedogenic in origin or in part of smectite precursors. It is contributed to the poor reservoir quality when shallow burial Fe Dolomite cementation was favoured in more located than in field bounding fault in the downtown block. In the lower TAGI quartz cement is more located than in the middle upper TAGI so it will increase the correlates with a decrease in porosity. It is strategically variable the abundance of quartz cement within the lower TAGI. It is related to facies-controlled variations can be seen in grain coating clay. It results a vertical variation in reservoir quality. Barite and anhydrite cements postdate quartz overgrowth. Deep subsurface dissolution of late Triassic Liassic evaporates because of the sulphate necessary for their formation.

 Reservoir quality is influenced by provenance especially by conditioning the distribution of detrital feldspars; it causes significant variation in the diagenetic path which is followed by the middle upper TAGI sub arkoses and the lower TAGI quartz arenites. Dissolution of feldspar creates secondary porosity is significant only in the middle upper TAGI where it contributes notably to total porosity. However, the secondary generation of porosity was balanced in part by the precipitation of by-products of the dissolution of feldspar. It includes kaolin and antigenic feldspar. And the sulphate cement precipitates largely restricted to middle upper TAGI sandstones. Because dissolution of feldspar provides the required cations.

 The Ourhoud field structure is dominated by long NNE SSW trending normal faults relatively low throw which develops during deposition of the Triassic carbonate followed to lias s3 and also to the lias anhydrite with stable during lias s1 and s2 sedimentation. It is observed that elsewhere in the Berkine basin are poorly absent or represented in Ourhoud field in late tectonics events. All faults rock’s capillary threshold pressure except for disaggregation is sufficient to seal the observed oil column height variations studied between fault bonded in Ourhoud compartments. And the data of permeability can be used to generate transmissibility multipliers to incorporate in simulation models of reservoir. The relationship between fault permeability and clay content that is vary from public relationship leads these transmissibility multipliers. The importance of use of specific analysis which reflects the Berkine basin geological history highlighted by this observation.

DEVELOPMENT OF PETROLEUM OIL FIELD IN ALGERIA

During years 1955 and 1956, French discoveries paved the way for the discovery of huge oil reserves in Sahara desert of Algeria. According to American Geographical Society, there are mainly three physiographic provinces in Algeria (Kamen-Kaye, 1958). Two of them includes highlands, one in southeast and other in northwest.Physiographically considering; Southern province is higher than Northern Province.(Kamen-Kaye, 1958).

The highland of Southern highlands behaves like identical mass cut by Saharian lowlands in the west. The oil exploration in Algeria had been there for so many years from North. Due to limited amount of oil found, initial drilling operations were ceased before 1950.By midst of 1954 ,Berga anticline  shown large quantities of gas. During late 1955, drilling started, and first Edjele well flowed from Carboniferous sandstones at mere shallow depth of less than 1500 feet in early1956(Kamen-Kaye, 1958).Since the end of 1956 many oil exploration and development had undergone steady rise. According Intelligence memorandum from Central Intelligence Agency of United States, due to French invasions, Algeria received less revenue per one barrel of oil produced than any other leading oil producers in the world, until 1969(“CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030147-6.pdf,” n.d.) .Now, Algeria stands out in leading position as the possessor of greater amounts of recoverable oil, gas and condensate. It is reasonable to expect another decade of oil exploration due to several reserve of billion barrels of petroleum products in Algeria.(Kamen-Kaye, 1958)

Figure 1.4 – General physiography of oil fields in Algeria(Kamen-Kaye, 1958)

Well completion involves process to transform a drilled well into a producing well. These involves steps like casing, cementing, perforation, gravel packing and installation of production zone.(“How Does Well Completion Work?,” n.d.). In brief  , well completion means turning oil well to commercially viable operation and preparing the same for oil production.(“Oil 101 – Well Completion – Upstream Oil and Gas,” n.d.)

TYPES OF WELLS AND COMPLETION METHODS USED IN THE OURHOUD OIL FIELDS

 The field produces from Tagi Argilo-Gresseux Inferieur (TAGI) formation, deep into an average depth of 3200m from surface. (Addoun, Chrisholm, Ottolia, Dozoul, & Annibaldi, 2010)

Horizontal wells

 The well can be completed in several ways, one with casing less producing from over entire open hole, or by slotted liner which allows production from entire horizontal section. In most of the time, these methods do not require perforating the wells with shaped charges. This is because the communication between the wellbore and the formation is created naturally. (Addoun et al., 2010)

 The third method involves cementing and casing of the horizontal wells. In this type of completion, we can selectively perforate the most optimal formation avoiding high water saturation and increasing production. (Addoun et al., 2010)

Table: 1.1 – Horizontal Completion Methods (Addoun et al., 2010)

Based on the above table, it is evident that a cased and cemented horizontal section of the well has many applications and advantages.

SURFACE INSTALLATIONS IN THE OURHOUD OIL FIELDS

Figure 1.5 – Installation of surface equipment in Algeria (“Oil fields in Algeria,” n.d.)

There are some criteria before installing a surface installation

• We need to install 2 to 3 face separators
• We required both oil and water treatment system for the installation
• Needs to replace 20deg gas header on the slug catcher via new 32deg gas header which is 15meters long in a piece of a single prefabricated piece

• In phase 2, One centrifugal compressor is required and has to be driven by an electric motor which is close to that we installed earlier and that includes auxiliary system suction discharge scrubbers, process aftercooler etc……

• A gas turbine driven centrifugal pump is required to the one which exist now and some necessary auxiliary system suction/discharge scrubbers ,process aftercooler control system, air filtration and outlet ,fuel gas treatment etc….
• The final phase of this project includes 20deg trunk line which we need from a satellite 2 to the power plant.

FUTURE ECONOMY OF THE OURHOUD OIL FIELDS

 While talking about the future economics in the field of the ourhoud there are different types of experiments which is going through different phases. The main goal is to run through different phases on which time period they have done. First I go through the field experiment test which is conducted by both Neymer and Fisher in the years between 1920’s and 1930’s with the help of the machine conceptualizing randomization an instrument used to achieve the identification via experiments done on the agricultural plots . Government agencies done some large experiments in the mid twenty  centuries it paved the way to change the experiments from the land to the individual group. The phase of the experiments changed as of now paving the way to move the experiments from the field to the laboratories helping it more economical and scientifically .So after discussing these method’s we can see the trend of the experiments changes form  the government agencies to more private agencies who are into the oil exploration business, these companies spent a good amount of the revenue for the research purpose to find the future availability of the oil in the land and how to take out these oil more economically.

REFERENCES

• CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030147-6.pdf. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP85T00875R001600030147-6.pdf
• How Does Well Completion Work? (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2018, from https://www.rigzone.com/training/insight.asp?insight_id=326&c_id=
• Kamen-Kaye, M. (1958). Petroleum Development in Algeria. Geographical Review, 48(4), 463–473. https://doi.org/10.2307/211669
• Oil 101 – Well Completion – Upstream Oil and Gas. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2018, from https://www.ektinteractive.com/production/well-completion/
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• Rossi, C., Kälin, O., Arribas, J., & Tortosa, A. (2002). Diagenesis, provenance and reservoir quality of Triassic TAGI sandstones from Ourhoud field, Berkine (Ghadames) Basin, Algeria. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 19(2), 117-142. doi:10.1016/s0264-8172(02)00004-1
• Needham, T., Li, A., Carr, C., Schorr, G., Benmahiddi, S., & Pena, J. L. (2008). Faulting and fault sealing in the TAGI Formation of the Ourhoud Field, Algeria. Petroleum Geoscience, 14(4), 379-388. doi:10.1144/1354-079308-761
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• Addoun, M., Chisholm, K., Ottolia, D., Dozoul, D., & Annibaldi, A. (2010). Combining and  Customizing Technologies for Perforating Horizontal Wells in Algeria, 11.
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• Needham, T., Li, A., Carr, C., Schorr, G., Benmahiddi, S., & Pena, J.-L. (2008). Faulting and fault sealing in the TAGI Formation of the Ourhoud Field, Algeria. Petroleum Geoscience, 14(4), 379–388. https://doi.org/10.1144/1354-079308-761
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• Ourhoud Organisation (2013).Orhoud operating one of the largest oil fields in the Algerian Sahara. Aldaway Retrieved from https://www.ourhoud.com/en/ourhoudorganisation
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