Giant oil and gas fields
The world's 932 giant
Recent work in tracking giant oil and gas fields follows the earlier efforts of the late exploration geologist Michel T. Halbouty, who tracked trends in giant discoveries from the 1960s to 2004.
Tectonic settings
A majority of the world's giant oil and gas fields exist in two characteristic
Four other common tectonic settings, including collisional margins, strike-slip margins, and subduction margins, are associated with the formation of giant oil and gas fields, though not to the dominant extent of passive margin and rift settings.[7]
Recent and future giants
Based on the locations of past giants, Mann et al. predicted new discoveries of giant oil and gas fields would mainly be made in passive margin and rift environments, especially in deepwater basins. They also predicted that existing areas that have produced giant fields would be likely targets for new discoveries of "elephants", as the fields are sometimes known in the oil and gas industry.
Data from 2000–07 reflect the accuracy of their predictions. The 79 new giant oil and gas fields discovered from 2000–07 tended to be located in similar tectonic settings as the previously documented giants from 1868–2000, with 36 percent along passive margins, 30 percent in rift zones or overlying sags (structures associated with rifts), and 20 percent in collisional zones.[8]
Despite a recent uptick in the number of giant oil and gas fields, discovery of giants appears to have peaked in the 1960s and 1970s. Looking to the future, geoscientists foresee a continuation of the recent trend of discovering more giant gas fields than oil fields. Two major continental regions—Antarctica and the Arctic—remain largely unexplored. Beyond them, however, trends suggest that remaining giant fields will be discovered in "in-fill" areas where past giants have been clustered and in frontier, or new, areas that correspond to the predominant tectonic settings of past giants.[9]
Giant field production properties and behaviour
Comprehensive analysis of the production from the majority of the world's giant oil fields has shown their enormous importance for global oil production.[10] For instance, the 20 largest oil fields in the world alone account for roughly 25% of the total oil production.
Further analysis shows that giant oil fields typically reach their maximum production before 50% of the ultimate recoverable volume has been extracted.[11] A strong correlation between depletion and the rate of decline was also found in that study, indicating that much new technology has only been able to temporarily decrease depletion at the expense of rapid future decline. This is exactly the case in the Cantarell Field.[citation needed]
See also
- Hydrocarbon exploration
- List of countries by proven oil reserves
- List of natural gas fields
- List of oil fields
- Oil megaprojects
- Peak oil
Notes and references
- ^ Halbouty, M (2001). "Giant Oil and Gas Fields of the Decade 1990–2000: An Introduction." Retrieved December 13, 2007.
- ^ Airhart, M. and P. Mann (2007). "Location, Location, Location: Mapping the World’s Oil & Gas Giants." Retrieved January 12, 2015. IHS Energy Group provided pre-1980 data for the map, which is an ongoing collaborative effort between Mann, M.K. Horn, and IHS Vice President Ian Cross.
- ^ Mann, P., M. Horn, I. Cross. "Emerging Trends from 69 Giant Oil and Gas Fields Discovered from 2000–2006 Archived February 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine." Presentation on April 2, 2007, at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists in Long Beach, California. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
- ^ Brown, David. "World Fields Study Shows Trends: Giants Like Stable Environments." AAPG Explorer (March 2007): 36–38, 51.
- ^ Mann, P., Gahagan, L., and Gordon, M. "Tectonic Setting of the World's Giant Oil Fields." World Oil 222.10 (October 2001): 78–79.
- ^ Brown: 38.
- ^ Mann, P. Tectonic Setting of the World's Giant Oil & Gas Fields Archived July 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
- ^ Mann, P., M. Horn, I. Cross. "Emerging Trends from 69 Giant Oil and Gas Fields Discovered from 2000–2006 Archived February 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine." Presentation on April 2, 2007, at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists in Long Beach, California. Retrieved December 13, 2007.
- ^ Mann, P., M. Horn, I. Cross. "Emerging Trends Archived February 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine." See slides 84 and 85.
- ^ Höök, M., Hirsch, R., Aleklett, K., Giant oil field decline rates and their influence on world oil production, Energy Policy, 2009 [1] Archived July 26, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Höök, M., Söderbergh, B., Jakobsson, K., Aleklett, K., The evolution of giant oil field production behaviour, Natural Resources Research, Volume 18, Number 1, March 2009, Pages 39–56 [2]
External links
- Giant Oil and Gas Fields of the Decade 1990–2000: An Introduction, online version of Michel Halbouty presentation on Giant Oil and Gas Fields of the Decade 1990–2000, at the 2001 AAPG Convention in Denver, Colorado.