Repressuring
Encyclopedia
Repressuring is the method by which the pressure inside a crude
oil well
is increased so as to increase the output of the well. Pumping crude oil from an reservoir
causes its pressure to drop, which further reduces pumpability. Returning the natural gas or other inert gases to the oil well increases the pumpability of the crude present inside the well by decreasing its viscosity
and density
. In one instance, slower rate of oil production and recycling of natural gas at 9.6 MPa
enabled a net recovery of 70% of the oil originally present.
Although recovery can be increased even by repressuring with air, air is seldom used because it causes an inferior quality of product. Instead carbon dioxide or natural gas itself is used so as to not only increase the recovery from the oil well but also to maintain the high quality of the product.
Crude
Crude can refer to:* Petroleum in its unprocessed form , including:** Brent crude oil** Heavy crude oil** Light crude oil** Sweet crude oil*** Pennsylvania Grade Crude Oil, a type of sweet crude** Synthetic crude oil**Crude jokes...
oil well
Oil well
An oil well is a general term for any boring through the earth's surface that is designed to find and acquire petroleum oil hydrocarbons. Usually some natural gas is produced along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce mainly or only gas may be termed a gas well.-History:The earliest...
is increased so as to increase the output of the well. Pumping crude oil from an reservoir
Oil reservoir
A petroleum reservoir, or oil and gas reservoir, is a subsurface pool of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. The naturally occurring hydrocarbons, such as crude oil or natural gas, are trapped by overlying rock formations with lower permeability...
causes its pressure to drop, which further reduces pumpability. Returning the natural gas or other inert gases to the oil well increases the pumpability of the crude present inside the well by decreasing its viscosity
Viscosity
Viscosity is a measure of the resistance of a fluid which is being deformed by either shear or tensile stress. In everyday terms , viscosity is "thickness" or "internal friction". Thus, water is "thin", having a lower viscosity, while honey is "thick", having a higher viscosity...
and density
Density
The mass density or density of a material is defined as its mass per unit volume. The symbol most often used for density is ρ . In some cases , density is also defined as its weight per unit volume; although, this quantity is more properly called specific weight...
. In one instance, slower rate of oil production and recycling of natural gas at 9.6 MPa
MPA
-Academic degrees:* Master of Professional Accountancy* Master of Public Administration* Master of Public Affairs* Master of Physician's Assistant-Chemicals:* Medroxyprogesterone acetate, also known by the brand name Depo-Provera* Morpholide of pelargonic acid...
enabled a net recovery of 70% of the oil originally present.
Although recovery can be increased even by repressuring with air, air is seldom used because it causes an inferior quality of product. Instead carbon dioxide or natural gas itself is used so as to not only increase the recovery from the oil well but also to maintain the high quality of the product.