Developing Arctic Hydrocarbon Resources: Delineating and Delimiting Boundaries for Field Development in the Arctic

Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Jianfeng Xu ◽  
Basel Abdalla ◽  
Ayman Eltaher ◽  
Paul Jukes

The increasing energy demand has promoted the interest in exploration and field development in the Arctic waters, which holds one quarter of the world’s petroleum reserves. The harsh conditions and fragile environment in the arctic region introduce many challenges to a sustainable development of these resources. One of the key challenges is the engineering consideration of warm pipelines installed in permafrost areas; found mainly in shallow waters and shore crossings. Evaluations have to be made during the pipeline design to avoid significant thaw settlement and large-scale permafrost degrading. In this paper, a three-dimensional (3D) finite element (FE) model was developed to study the interaction between buried pipelines transporting warm hydrocarbons and the surrounding permafrost. This interaction is a combination of several mechanisms: heat transfer from the pipeline, results in permafrost thawing and formation of thaw bulb around the pipeline. Consequently, the thaw settlement of soil beneath the pipeline base results in bending strains in the pipe wall. For safe operations, the pipe should be designed so that the induced strains do not exceed the ultimate limit state conditions. The developed model helps in accurate prediction of pipe strains by using finite element continuum modeling method as opposed to the more commonly used discrete (springs) modeling and hand calculations. It also assesses the real size of the thaw bulb and the corresponding settlement at any time, thus preventing an over-conservative design.


Resources ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexey Cherepovitsyn ◽  
Dmitry Metkin ◽  
Alexander Gladilin

Currently, under the conditions of increasing depletion of hydrocarbon reserves in Russia, it is necessary to consider the resource potential of poorly-researched oil and gas objects as a factor for ensuring the sustainable development of the oil and gas complex, in the context of the concept formation of rational subsoil utilization and a circular economy. The methodology of this study is based on a clear sequence of geological and economic studies of poorly-researched oil and gas objects, including four stages, such as analysis of the raw material base, assessment of the raw material potential, determination of technological development parameters, and economic evaluation. The methods of the probabilistic estimation of oil resources of the forecasted objects with regard to geological risk are outlined. Software packages “EVA—Risk Analysis” and “EVA—Economic Evaluation of Oil and Gas Field Development Projects” were used for estimation. The result of the study is the determination of the geological and economic efficiency of the development of nine hydrocarbon objects with the determination of the order of their further geological exploration, and introduction into industrial development on the example of the poorly-researched region of the Timan-Pechora oil and gas province located in the Arctic zone.


ARCTIC ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond D. Cameron ◽  
Daniel J. Reed ◽  
James R. Dau ◽  
Walter T. Smith

Author(s):  
V. A. Kryukov ◽  
Yu. V. Kryukov

The article deals with modern features of the Arctic economy. It is shown that in those spheres and directions of economic activity, which are associated with the development of natural resources (primarily mineral resources) and focused on obtaining returns on investment, there is a strengthening of the role not only of new knowledge and new technologies, but also significantly increase the role and importance of forms of cooperation of the parties involved in the implementation of projects. This approach allows, on the one hand, to solve the problem of attracting investment in high-risk and, at the same time, high-yield projects, but it also will not allow to fully realize the opportunities associated with the development and use of domestic research and production potential in the implementation of projects in the framework of such “hybrid forms”. One of the direct and immediate consequences of this approach in the practice of field development in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation (AZRF) is a significant increase in the knowledge-intensive service sector, which meets the needs for equipment and labor by borrowing foreign advanced technologies and the widespread use of interregional watch. These processes lead, in particular, to the fragmentation of the economic space of the country (reducing the degree of connectivity of the economies of different regions), as well as to the stagnation and extinction of urbanized settlements in the Russian Federation.


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