Smart field technologies offer outstanding capabilities that increase the efficiency of the oil and gas fields by means of saving time and energy as far as the technologies employed and workforce concerned given that the technology applied is economic for the field of concern. Despite significant acceptance of smart field concept in the industry, there is still ambiguity not only on the incremental benefits but also the criteria and conditions of applicability technical and economic-wise. This study outlines the past, present and the dynamics of the smart oilfield concept, the techniques and methods it bears and employs, technical challenges in the application while addressing the concerns of the oil and gas industry professionals on the use of such technologies in a comprehensive way. History of smart/intelligent oilfield development, types of technologies used currently in it and those imbibed from other industries are comprehensively reviewed in this paper. In addition, this review takes into account the robustness, applicability and incremental benefits these technologie bring to different types of oilfields under current economic conditions. Real field applications are illustrated with applications in different parts of the world with challenges, advantages and drawbacks discussed and summarized that lead to conclusions on the criteria of application of smart field technologies in an individual field. Intelligent or Smart field concept has proven itself as a promising area and found vast amount of application in oil and gas fields throughout the world. The key in smart oilfield applications is the suitability of an individual case for such technology in terms of technical and economic aspects. This study outlines the key criteria in the success of smart oilfield applications in a given field that will serve for the future decisions as a comprehensive and collective review of all the aspects of the employed techniques and their usability in specific cases. Even though there are publications on certain examples of smart oilfield technologies, a comprehensive review that not only outlines all the key elements in one study but also deducts lessons from the real field applications that will shed light on the utilization of the methods in the future applications has been missing, this study will fill this gap.
As major oil and gas companies have been investing in shale oil and gas resources, even though has been part of the oil and gas industry for long time, shale oil and gas has gained its popularity back with increasing oil prices. Oil and gas industry has adapted to the low-cost operations and has started investing in and utilizing the shale oil sources significantly. In this perspective, this study investigates and outlines the latest advances, technologies, potential of shale oil and gas reservoirs as a significant source of energy in the current supply and demand dynamics of oil and gas resources. A comprehensive literature review focusing on the recent developments and findings in the shale oil and gas resources along with the availability and locations are outlined and discussed under the current dynamics of the oil and gas market and resources. Literature review includes a broad spectrum that spans from technical petroleum literature with very comprehensive research using SCOPUS database to other renowned resources including journals and other publications. All gathered information and data are summarized. Not only the facts and information are outlined for the individual type of energy resource but also the relationship between shale oil/gas and other unconventional resources are discussed from a perspective of their roles either as a competing or a complementary source in the industry. In this sense, this study goes beyond only providing raw data or facts about the energy resources but also a thorough publication that provides the oil and gas industry professional with a clear image of the past, present and the expected near future of the shale oil/gas as it stands with respect to other energy resources. Among the few existing studies that shed light on the current status of the oil and gas industry facing the rise of the shale oil are up-to-date and the existing studies within SPE domain focus on facts only lacking the interrelationship between heavy and light oil as a complementary and a competitor but harder-to-recover form of hydrocarbon energy within the era of rise of renewables and other unconventionals. This study closes the gap and serves as an up-to-date reference for industry professionals.
As major oil and gas companies have been investing in renewable energy, solar energy has been part of the oil and gas industry in the last decade. Originally, solar energy was seen as a competing form of energy source as a threat that may replace or decrease the share of fossil fuels as an alternative energy resource in the world. However, oil and gas industry has adapted to the wind of change and has started investing and utilizing the solar energy significantly. In this perspective, this study investigates and outlines the latest advances, technologies, potential of solar both as an alternative and a complementary source of energy in the Middle East in the current supply and demand dynamics of oil and gas resources. A comprehensive literature review focusing on the recent developments and findings in the solar technology along with the availability and locations are outlined and discussed under the current dynamics of the oil and gas market and resources. Literature review includes a broad spectrum that spans from technical petroleum literature with very comprehensive research to non-technical but renowned resources including journals and other publications including raw data as well as forecasts and opinions of respected experts. The raw data and expert opinions are organized, summarized and outlined in a temporal way within its category for the respective energy source. Solar energy is discussed from a perspective of their roles either as a competing or a complementary source to oil and gas. In this sense, this study goes beyond only providing raw data or facts about the energy resources but also a thorough publication that provides the oil and gas industry professional with a clear image of the past, present and the expected near future of the oil and gas industry as it stands with respect to renewable energy resources. Among the few existing studies that shed light on the current status of the oil and gas industry facing the development of the renewable energy are up-to-date and the existing studies within SPE domain focus on facts only lacking the interrelationship between solar energy and oil and gas such as solar energy used in oil and gas fields as a complementary green energy.
Hydraulic fracturing is a widely accepted and applied stimulation method in the unconventional oil and gas industry. With the increasing attention to unconventional reservoirs, hydraulic fracturing technologies have developed and improved more in the last few years. This study explores all applications of hydraulic fracturing methods to a great extent. It can be used as a guideline study, covering all the procedures and collected data for conventional reservoirs by considering the limited parameters of unconventional reservoirs. This paper intends to be a reference article containing all the aspects of the hydraulic fracturing method. A comprehensive study has been created by having a wide scope of examinations from the applied mechanisms to the technological materials conveyed from the different industries to utilize this technique efficiently. Furthermore, this study analyses the method, worldwide applications, advantages and disadvantages, and comparisons in different unconventional reservoirs. Various case studies that examine the challenges and pros & cons of hydraulic fracturing are included. Hydraulic fracturing is a promising stimulation technique that has been widely applied worldwide. It is challenging due to the tight and nanoporous nature, low permeability, complex geological structure, and in-situ stress field in unconventional reservoirs. Consequently, economic conditions and various parameters should be analyzed individually in each case for efficient applications. Therefore, this study provides the primary parameters and elaborate analysis of the techniques applied for a successful stimulation under SPECIFIC circumstances and provides a full spectrum of information needed for unconventional field developments. All the results are evaluated and detailed for each field case by providing the principles of applying hydraulic fracturing technologies. Many literature reviews provide different examples of hydraulic fraction methods; however, no study covers and links up both the main parameters and learnings from real cases worldwide. This study will fill this gap and illuminate the application of the hydraulic fracturing method.
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