The first period of technological revolution in petroleum exploration and development was in the 1920s-1930s. At this time, the high-power drilling rig appeared, and the new roller bit and chemical treatment agent improved the properties of drilling fluid and cementing cement, and the cementing quality was improved. In the aspect of oil and gas exploitation, we no longer continue the intensive drilling and blind exploitation in the early stage, but begin to realize that underground reservoir is a unified hydrodynamic system, and put forward the concept of maximum effective production as an index to measure the quality of production.
The second period of technological revolution in petroleum exploration and development was after World War II, especially in the 1960s and 1970s. The continuous emergence of new technologies has made this period a golden age of oil reserves discovery. In terms of exploration technology, a large number of digital seismographs, multi-channel and multi-coverage technologies and high-capacity and high-speed computers are used for data processing, which makes oil and gas exploration technology step up to a new level and the reserves of old exploration areas with high exploration degree continue to expand; In terms of drilling technology, the implementation of "scientific drilling" has developed jet drilling, balanced drilling, directional drilling and parameter optimization drilling technologies; In oil field exploitation, water injection to improve reservoir pressure and large-scale hydraulic fracturing technology have been widely used, tertiary oil recovery (EOR) technology has changed from indoor to field test, thermal method has been industrialized, and offshore oil production has also made great progress.
The third technological revolution in petroleum exploration and development continued from the 1980s, and this technological revolution was characterized by information technology [37]. In terms of exploration technology, the seismic resolution is constantly improving, and non-seismic methods reappear; In terms of drilling technology, horizontal well and multilateral well technology are developing continuously; In oilfield development, tertiary oil recovery technology has been developing continuously.
2.3.2. 1 seismic technology and American oil and gas exploration
From 65438 to 0923, experimental torsion scales and refraction seismographs began to appear in the United States, and were successfully applied to the Gulf of Mexico where oil accumulation was related to rock salt. The time difference of elastic wave propagation between salt body and surrounding rock leads to different propagation characteristics of seismic wave, and the density difference between salt body, overlying rock and surrounding rock is the characteristic of torsion balance measurement. The application of these two geophysical methods has led to the discovery of many salt dome oil fields.
Since 1925, the above two exploration methods have been rapidly popularized in American oil exploration. The geophysical research company established by E.L.DeGolyer and Karcher improved the mechanical seismograph, replaced it with electromagnetic method, and determined the explosion time and distance with accurate radio signal measurement method instead of acoustic wave method, which improved the exploration speed of refraction earthquake and reduced the exploration cost. After the application of refraction seismographs in Texas Bay and Louisiana, nearly 40 salt domes were discovered within four years. During the period of 1924 ~ 1929, refraction seismic exploration technology played a leading role in Gulf of Mexico exploration.
From the late 1920s to 1930s, seismic reflection method was successfully applied in Oklahoma, Gulf of Mexico, Texas and California. 1928 The Sai Minor Oilfield discovered in Oklahoma is the first oilfield discovered completely by seismic technology. 1934, paleo-marine oil fields were discovered by geophysical methods on the north shore of the Gulf of Mexico, and a series of oil fields were discovered by geophysical methods in this area. Salem oilfield was discovered by geophysical methods in Illinois on 1937. -1938 The first offshore oil field, Creole Oil Field, was discovered in the Gulf of Mexico. These important discoveries have established the application value of reflection seismic technology in oil and gas exploration.
After 1940, the innovation of seismic technology has caused many changes in seismic instruments and interpretation technology, such as the adoption of multi-channel instruments with automatic gain control, the application of mixed wave technology and continuous profiling method, and the combination of magnetoresistive piezoelectric detectors and a large number of detectors, until the analog tape recording system was put into use in the early 1950s. The development of seismic instruments and exploration technology is helpful to explore deeper oil and gas reservoirs and more complex oil and gas traps.
With the continuous improvement of seismic technology, the exploration ability in complex areas and deep layers has been improved. After the 1940s, many small and medium-sized oil and gas fields were discovered in the United States, while the number of large oil and gas fields decreased sharply. During the period of 1950 ~ 1953, nearly1800,000 tons of small and medium-sized oil and gas fields were discovered throughout the year.
In the early 1960s, the digital transformation of seismic technology made a major breakthrough in the development of exploration technology, and began a new era of seismic digital recording and digital processing. The application of some new technologies (including vibroseis and * * * depth point coverage) has increased the density of underground coverage and improved the accuracy of seismic exploration.
The superiority and potential of seismic digital recording and processing technology are incomparable to analog tape technology, and the seismic data operation it can accomplish is difficult for analog instruments to achieve. In the mid-1960s, digital seismic technology gradually replaced conventional seismic exploration methods, which significantly improved the efficiency and exploration ability of seismic exploration, thus expanding the exploration field and depth and improving the exploration success rate.
Since 1970s, the new progress of seismic technology has brought American oil and gas exploration into a new era. With the development of electronic and computer technology, exploration geophysics has benefited continuously and become an important basis for the progress of geophysical exploration technology. The development and application of multi-channel seismic acquisition system, various longitudinal-wave vibroseis and the improvement of other non-explosive sources have greatly improved the seismic exploration ability. Three-dimensional seismic technology improves the imaging of underground complex structures and strata, thus improving the success rate of exploration. Three-dimensional seismic technology has been applied to all stages of oil and gas exploration and development, especially to provide detailed underground structure and stratigraphic images before oil field development, as well as reservoir evaluation and reservoir dynamic monitoring after oil field development. At present, three-dimensional seismic exploration has become an important technical means for exploration in mature areas of the United States.
From the perspective of seismic data processing technology, the most important progress in seismic data processing should belong to the development and application of imaging and inversion technology based on wave equation, including pre-stack and post-stack migration, multiple wave suppression, datum and displacement static correction, velocity estimation and so on. The application of man-machine interactive interpretation system further improves the efficiency and accuracy of seismic data interpretation and the interpretation level of complex structures and stratigraphic traps.
Since the publication of Seismostratigraphy by American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) 1977, seismic geological interpretation has expanded from structural seismology to seismic stratigraphic interpretation, which has promoted the development of seismic interpretation technology.
In the 1990s, enhancing oil recovery has become an important field of geophysical activities in the United States. Three-dimensional seismic technology has been further developed and applied. High-resolution seismic and cross-well tomography have become the key technologies in research and development (Table 2.3).
Table 2.3 Seismic Exploration Techniques in the United States from 1960s to 1990s [36]
2.3.2.2 logging technology and American oil and gas exploration
American logging technology is in the leading position in the world. Logging technology has played a very important role in discovering new oil and gas reserves and improving exploration and development benefits in the United States. Since the 1920s, logging technology can be roughly divided into the following four stages [38]:
(1) Simulated logging stage. At this stage, due to the limited logging means, few physical parameters of underground rocks are obtained, so logging data are mainly used for stratigraphic correlation, permeability layer division and oil-water layer qualitative judgment. In the early 1940s, Archie, a petroleum engineer, obtained the water saturation formula suitable for pure formation based on the laboratory data of the Gulf Coast sandstone, which marked the development and formation of modern logging technology, and could quantitatively evaluate the parameters such as porosity, fluid saturation and shale content of reservoirs with relatively simple lithology.
(2) Since 1960s, logging technology has entered the second development stage, logging methods and logging series have been improved, electronic technology and computer technology have been widely used, and computer-controlled logging technology has been widely popularized, which greatly improves the accuracy of logging interpretation. Logging data combined with other data can be used to describe the reservoir in detail. Logging data can be used to evaluate porosity, permeability, oil and gas saturation, oil and gas mobility, oil and gas type, lithology, formation dip angle and structure, sedimentary environment, formation rock elastic constant, etc.
(3) Since 1970s, computer technology and microelectronics technology have been fully integrated into logging data acquisition and data processing technology, which is the third stage of logging technology. The combination ability of various measuring instruments and the matching of measuring project series are becoming more and more mature, which is helpful to improve drilling efficiency and effectively evaluate strata.
(4) Since 1990s, the United States began to apply imaging logging technology to improve the benefits of oil and gas exploration and oil and gas field development, and became the representative of modern logging technology, and logging technology entered the fourth stage. Modern logging technology has been fully developed in the fields of geological structure, sedimentary research, rapid testing of oil and gas reservoirs, reservoir fracturing reconstruction, rock mechanics, productivity prediction and new evaluation of cementing quality. It has played an important role in expanding oil and gas exploration to deep, subtle oil and gas reservoirs, heterogeneous oil and gas reservoirs and maintaining sustained growth of reserves.
Table 2.4 Logging Technology in the United States from 1950s to 1990s [36]
Development course of drilling technology in 2.3.2.3 and the United States
1859, E.Drake drilled the first oil well of American oil industry with percussion drill in Pennsylvania. During the following 140 years, the drilling technology was continuously developed and improved. Generally speaking, the development of drilling technology in the 20th century can be divided into four periods [39]:
(1) concept period (1901~1919). Combining drilling with well washing, roller bit and cementing technology began to be used.
(2) development period (1920 ~ 1948). With the further development of roller bit, cementing technology and drilling fluid technology, high-power drilling equipment has appeared.
(3) scientific drilling period (1949 ~ 1969). Drill string mechanics and well deviation control technology; Jet drilling; Toothed sliding seal bearing bit; Low solid, solid-free, non-dispersive drilling fluid and solid control technology; Optimization of drilling parameters; Formation pressure detection, well control technology and balanced pressure drilling, etc.
(4) Automatic drilling period (1970 till now). PDC bit; Computer applications; Special process drilling technology; Comprehensive logging while drilling and downhole measurement; Automatic development of drilling tools and equipment, etc. In 1970s, the introduction of computer technology and the research and development of wireless measurement while drilling technology were a new milestone in the development of drilling technology, which accelerated the development of scientific drilling. The 1980s was the peak of deep well drilling. The United States has completed deep wells and ultra-deep wells (more than 4,500m) 1982. By 1990s, the research and development of special technology and efficient drilling attracted much attention, and a series of high and new technologies, such as extended reach wells, multi-branch wells, slim hole drilling and underbalanced drilling, gradually matured at this stage.
In the early 1980s, the United States began to study horizontal well technology and made initial progress. This technology itself can be traced back to 189 1 year, when the first patented technology was to drill a horizontal hole from a vertical well; 1929, the first real horizontal well was drilled in Texas, USA. In 1970s and 1980s, with the need of low oil price, reducing exploration cost and the development of drilling equipment, horizontal drilling technology was widely studied and applied again. Although the cost of drilling horizontal wells is higher than that of drilling vertical wells, one horizontal well can play the role of several vertical wells, so drilling horizontal wells is economically feasible. In some cases, it is not feasible to use conventional wells for mining, but horizontal wells can make development projects economically feasible. In 1990s, horizontal well technology began to be widely used, and now it has been applied to almost all types of reservoirs as a conventional drilling technology. So far, the United States has drilled the most horizontal wells in the world.
At present, the application of horizontal well drilling technology is developing towards integration. In recent years, drilling and completion technologies such as extended reach horizontal wells, slim hole horizontal wells and multi-branch horizontal wells have developed rapidly in the United States and have been put into practical application in large quantities (Table 2.5).
The United States began to use extended reach wells in the 1980s, and this technology developed rapidly in the 1990s. At present, it is mainly used in California offshore. Since 1990s, slim hole drilling technology has developed very rapidly. At present, this technology has also been applied to horizontal wells and deep wells, such as sidetracking multi-branch horizontal wells with slim holes, and coiled tubing has been used to drill slim holes. Due to the leading technology, slim hole drilling has the largest number.
Table 2.5 Development of Main Drilling Technologies in the United States from 1960s to 1990s [36]
Underbalanced drilling technology began in 1950s. In recent years, with the continuous emergence of new drilling equipment, underbalanced drilling technology has once again been highly valued and gradually matured. The main advantages of underbalanced drilling technology are reducing formation damage, improving single well productivity and drilling efficiency, reducing drilling cost, finding geological anomalies in time and identifying pay zones. In 2003, more than 2,200 wells were drilled by underbalanced method in the United States, accounting for about 20% of the number of wells drilled that year.