Years ago, the petroleum industry relied on rig counts to drive energy prices forward to see rewards in pure crude oil and natural gas trading. Today they remain key drivers of industry growth despite a slowing economy, a need for greener technology and the market becoming more complex in general. Thus said, there is still a high number of wells drilled and enough oil in the mature oilfields to see through the next 40 years. Corporations have to change their methods to include technological advances through research to help find new opportunities in the market.
Research in the oil and gas industry
Within the last ten years, new technologies have brought about revolutionary changes in oil and gas market. The US has managed to exploit new method of extracting shale gas and crude oil reserves. As a result, horizontal drilling, zipper farces and multi-well pads are just some technological advances that has become the new trend.
In the same way that drilling technology has shaped the industry, it is evident that every dollar spent on effective research to initiate important decision-making is crucial. New adaptations in technology help oil and gas professionals to spot current or new upcoming trends and relevant information about new reserves. Research is vital to the industries success as it improves execution and drives forward new innovations for a more productive environment; thus reducing costs. Within certain oil and gas companies, they collaborate between each other to build strategies to help improve efficiency and promote working relationships among oilfield workers that are located in remote regions worldwide. Key areas of research is integral for oil and gas industry success, many petroleum corporations are using these current technologies:
- Employing Chemistry to Transform Crude oil
- Vaporizing Crude oil
- Cleaning oil sludge
- Bio-fuels into Bio-mass
- LoSal Process
- 3-D and 4-D Seismic Imaging
- Carbon dioxide-Sand Fracturing (Co2-Sand)
- New Offshore Drilling Technology
With high end technologies and different drilling methods, oil reserves in Norway is just one example of one of the worlds leading exporters of oil. Global oil reserves have been greatly boosted. The future now holds much more prospects and has a positive outlook as technology further advances.
Petroleum Growth and Development
Oil is one the world’s top energy resource that is a vital ingredient in many innovative products. The world consumes approximately 30 billion barrels of oil, growing year to year. The number of wells to be drilled worldwide is expected to grow nearly two percent per year to almost 100,000 wells.
The US and China remain top of the list for the most oil consumption whereas other geographic regions’ apporximate consumption patterns are as follows: South and Central America (40%), Africa (40%), and North America (40%) 30% for Europe and Asia, to a high of 50% for the Middle East. The production, distribution, refining, retails in the American Dollar but as countries are changing the way they “do business” and this changes the value of the USD.
Oil and Gas Sectors
The petroleum industry is split up into 3 main sectors:
- Upstream – Exploration and production
- Midstream – (Midstream operations are usually included in the downstream category)
- Downstream -Crude oil transferred to processing plants where it’s refined and eventually turned into various products which will then be sold and distributed.
Upstream Sector Funding
Upstream sector refers particularly to the drilling of exploratory wells to belch crude oil and/or natural gas to the surface. Today there is a higher demand for oil and gas particularly through the emerging economies so there is a greater demand to find new reservoirs. Much of the upstream work done in oilfields are contracted out to smaller oilfield service companies.
Midstream Sector and Downstream Funding
Midstream sector refers to the gathering process of crude oil or natural gas which then becomes refined. Other fractions of this sector includes:
- Transportation – Pipelines, barge, truck, rail
- Storage – Petroleum storage tanks, natural gas underground facilities (such as salt dome caverns and depleted reservoirs)
- Technical Applications – To detect leaks in pipelines and automate communications for better pipeline and equipment monitoring
Going Green New Business Models
Are you thinking about managing product wastes and lowering carbon emissions? Transporting oil can be one area to address current problems. Prestige can provide a solution to clean oil sludge to maximmise oil extraction and making the business model more efficient.
Oil and Gas Funding
Prestige Capital Partners are aligned with funders knowledgeable in the oil and gas sector. Whatever your oil and gas funding needs are whether it’s for the production of new innovative technology, research, extracting, refining and transportation of oil and gas energy products, we can find a suitable finance option for your business.
One thing that will hold you in good stead with the funders is if you have PUD (Proven Underground Deposits /Reserves). Entrepreneurs can find PUDs near locations of an existing wells in the same area. These PUD’s should have action to drill them within the next 5 years or so.