石油工程公司Skoltech的一項最新研究結果發現，使用納米顆粒和表面活性劑的水溶液實際上可能會將石油困在地下，而不是幫助石油開采

研究人員還發現，在提高原油采收率作業中，鹽水與更昂貴的表面活性劑一樣有效

在疫情后的通貨膨脹中，美國頁巖油的生產成本多年來一直在上升，在成本軌跡達到轉折點后，美國頁巖行業終于可以松一口氣了

據油價網2023年8月7日報道，美國頁巖革命極大地重塑了世界能源市場。頁巖繁榮是最令人印象深刻的增長故事之一：從2008年的騰飛到二疊紀盆地在十多年的時間里從沙特加瓦爾油田手中奪走了原油產量最高油田的寶座。

近幾年來，由于常規石油儲量的不斷減少以及全球能源需求的加速增長，各種化學提高原油采收率(EOR)的方法得到了發展。表面活性劑驅油是最常用的化學提高原油采收率方法之一，因為它能夠通過多種機制提高原油采收率，包括降低界面張力(IFT)、改變可濕性、產生泡沫和乳化。

然而，Skoltech的一項最新研究發現，使用納米顆粒和表面活性劑的水溶液實際上可能會將石油困在地下，而不是幫助石油開采。

更有趣的是：研究人員還發現，在EOR作業中，鹽水與更昂貴的表面活性劑一樣有效。

研究人員對油頁巖樣品進行了數值模擬和兩個復雜的實驗室實驗，以確定將含有二氧化硅納米顆粒或表面活性劑的水溶液注入頁巖油藏以提高原油采收率的有效性。所使用的表面活性劑為脂肪酸甲酯磺酸鈉。

Skoltech說，“我們的研究考慮了13種流體，其中兩種流體被選擇用于西西伯利亞Bazhenov地層油飽和巖石的圓柱形樣本的測試。首先，我們注入鹽水(含鹽量非常高的水)，測得原油采收率約為53%。這大致相當于能夠提取儲油層中大約一半的石油。研究人員說，這個數字作為評估實驗中兩種藥劑效率的基線值，盡管實際油藏條件下的值會更低。”

雖然表面活性劑確實提高了原油采收率，但53%的提高幅度與注入鹽水完全相同，這意味著頁巖生產商可能會浪費寶貴的資金。表面活性劑還被發現堵塞了巖石中的一些孔隙，從而降低了巖石的滲透率。

埃克森美孚公司首席執行官達倫·伍茲最近透露，通過采用新式的水力壓裂技術，頁巖生產商能夠將他們現有井的原油產量提高一倍。

伍茲8月3日在伯恩斯坦戰略決策會議上說，“有很多石油被留在地下。水力壓裂法已經存在了很長時間，但水力壓裂法的科學并沒有得到很好的理解”。伍茲透露，埃克森美孚公司目前正在兩個特定領域改進水力壓裂技術。首先，該公司正試圖沿著油井進行更精確的壓裂作業，以便釋放出更多被巖石浸透的石油。埃克森美孚公司還在尋找方法，讓進行壓裂作業的裂縫保持更長時間開放，以促進石油的流動。

頁巖成本下降

在疫情暴發后的通貨膨脹中，美國頁巖行業的生產成本多年來一直在上升，在成本軌跡達到一個轉折點后，美國頁巖行業終于可以松一口氣了。第二季度生產成本同比下降1%，這是三年來首次出現收縮。鉆桿價格今年已經下降了一半，鉆機日費率下降了10%以上，鋼鐵和柴油的成本也趨于下降。據高盛銀行通過彭博社表示，鉆桿價格今年下跌了50%；鉆機日費率下降了10%以上，而柴油和鋼材的成本也在逐漸下降。由于工資持續上漲，只有勞動力價格頂住了這一下跌趨勢。

雖然一個百分點的下降可能不會對利潤產生太大影響，但高盛銀行表示，到2024年，該行業成本將下降10%，足以顯著提高利潤和現金流。價格壓力的緩解是最受歡迎的：在經歷了兩年的慘淡收益和充裕的現金流之后，美國油氣行業今年的這兩項指標都將出現下滑。

石油巨頭產量增長

最近幾家大型石油公司公布了第二季度業績，幾乎所有公司都有一個共同的主題：產量大幅增長，但收入和利潤的收縮幅度更大。

埃克森美孚公司公布第二季度利潤為78.8億美元，同比下降55.9%，而第二季度收入為829.1億美元，同比下降28.3%。另一方面，埃克森美孚公司表示，到今年年底，相對于2019年，它仍有望實現90億美元的結構性成本節約，迄今為止已累計實現83億美元的結構性成本節約。埃克森美孚公司報告稱，第二季度油氣日總產量同比下降3.3%，至361萬桶油當量；然而，不包括撤資、股權分配、政府授權和征收薩哈林-1項目，日凈產量實際上增加了超過16萬桶。二疊紀盆地油氣的日產量達到歷史新高的62.2萬桶油當量，今年有望增長10%，而圭亞那的油氣日產量有望在年底前增長5%，達到40萬桶油當量。

雪佛龍公司報告稱，其第二季度收益同比下降48.3%，至60.1億美元，而調整后的收益收縮49.2%，至57.8億美元。與此同時，第二季度營收為489億美元，同比增長-28.9%。 雪佛龍公司報告稱，二疊紀盆地的油氣日產量達到歷史新高的77.2萬桶油當量，同比增長11%。

李峻 譯自 油價網

原文如下：

New Research Could Make Shale Oil Production Cheaper

·     A fresh study by petroleum engineering firm Skoltech has found that using water solutions of nanoparticles and surfactants may actually trap the oil underground instead of helping it to be recovered.

·     The researchers have also discovered that brine is just as effective in EOR operations as more expensive surfactants.

·     After years of rising production costs amid post-pandemic inflation, the U.S. shale patch can finally breathe a sigh of relief after the cost trajectory hit a turning point.

The U.S. shale revolution has dramatically reshaped the world energy markets. The shale boom was one of the most impressive growth stories, from take off in 2008 to the Permian stealing the mantle from Saudi Arabia’s Ghawar as the world’s highest-producing oilfield in a little over a decade. 

Different methods of chemical enhanced oil recovery (EOR) have been developed over the years thanks to the continuous decline in conventional oil reserves as well as the accelerated increase in the global energy demand. Surfactant flooding is one of the most commonly used chemical EOR methods due to its ability to enhance recovery using multiple mechanisms including interfacial tension (IFT) reduction, wettability alteration, foam generation and emulsification. 

However, a fresh study by Russian petroleum engineering firm Skoltech has found that using water solutions of nanoparticles and surfactants may actually trap the oil underground instead of helping it to be recovered. 

Even more intriguing: the researchers have also discovered that brine is just as effective in EOR operations as more expensive surfactants.   

The researchers ran a numerical simulation and two complex lab experiments on oil shale samples to determine the effectiveness of injecting water solutions containing silicon dioxide nanoparticles or a surfactant into shale oil reservoirs to enhance recovery. The surfactant used was sodium fatty acid methyl ester sulfonate. 

"Our study considered 13 fluids and two were selected for tests on cylinder-shaped samples of oil-saturated rock from the Bazhenov Formation of Western Siberia. First we injected brine——water with a very high salt content——and measured an oil recovery factor of about 53%. This is roughly analogous to being able to extract about half of the oil in the reservoir. That figure served as the baseline value for assessing the efficiency of the two agents in the experiment, although the value under actual reservoir conditions would be lower," the researchers have said.

While the surfactant did boost the oil recovery factor, the 53% boost was exactly the same as with brine injection, meaning shale producers might be wasting precious money. The surfactant was also found to block some of the pores in the rock thus reducing its permeability.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods recently revealed that shale producers can double crude output from their existing wells by employing novel fracking technologies.

“There’s just a lot of oil being left in the ground. Fracking’s been around for a really long time, but the science of fracking is not well understood,” Exxon Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods said Thursday at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions conference. Woods has revealed that Exxon is currently working on two specific areas to improve hydraulic fracturing. First off, the company is trying to frac more precisely along the well so that more oil-soaked rock gets drained. It’s also looking for ways to keep the fracked cracks open longer so as to boost the flow of oil. 

Declining Shale Costs

After years of rising production costs amid post-pandemic inflation, the U.S. shale patch can finally breathe a sigh of relief after the cost trajectory hit a turning point. Production costs fell 1% year-on-year in the second quarter, marking the first time they have shrunk in three years. Drill pipe prices have halved this year, daily rig rates are down by more than 10% and the costs of steel and diesel are also trending lower. According to Goldman Sachs via Bloomberg, Drill pipe prices have fallen by 50% this year; daily rig rates are down by more than 10% while the costs of diesel and steel have been gradually declining. only labor has been defying this trend as wages continue rising.

Whereas a decline of a single percentage point might not make much of a difference on the bottomline, Goldman says costs will be 10% lower in 2024, enough to boost profits and cash flows significantly. Easing price pressures are most welcome: after two years of bummer earnings and copious cash flows, the U.S. oil and gas sector is set to record a decline on both metrics in the current year.

Big Oil Production Growth

Several Big Oil companies have returned their Q2 scorecards, and nearly all have a common theme: considerable production growth but even bigger top-and bottom-line contraction.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) has reported Q2 earnings of $7.88B, good for 55.9% Y/Y decrease while Q2 revenue of $82.91B is good for -28.3% Y/Y growth. On a brighter note, Exxon says it remains on track to deliver $9 billion of structural cost savings by the end of 2023 relative to 2019, having achieved cumulative structural cost savings of $8.3 billion to date. Exxon reported that Q2 total production fell 3.3% Y/Y to 3.61M boe/day; however, excluding divestments, entitlements, government mandates and the Sakhalin-1 expropriation, net production actually rose by more than 160K boe/day. The Permian basin delivered a quarterly record 622K boe/day and is on track to increase 10% this year while Guyana is on track to grow production 5% to 400K boe/day by year-end.

Chevron Corp.(NYSE:CVX) reported that its Q2 earnings decreased 48.3% Y/Y to $6.01B while adjusted earnings contracted 49.2% to $5.78B. Meanwhile, Q2 revenue clocked in at $48.9B, good for -28.9% Y/Y growth. Chevron reported record Permian Basin production of 772,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up 11% Y/Y.