ENCYCLOPAEDIA

OF
HYDROCARBONS

ISTITUTO DELLA
ENCICLOPEDIA ITALIANA
FONDATA DA GIOVANNI TRECCANI
 ©
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Copyright by
ISTITUTO DELLA ENCICLOPEDIA ITALIANA
FONDATA DA GIOVANNI TRECCANI S.p.A.
2005

Printed in Italy

Photolith and printing by

MARCHESI GRAFICHE EDITORIALI S.p.A.
Via Bomarzo, 32 - 00191 Roma
 CHAIRMAN
Roberto Poli

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Paolo Scaroni

DIRECTORS
Alberto Clô, Renzo Costi, Dario Fruscio, Marco Pinto, Marco Reboa,
Mario Resca, Pierluigi Scibetta
ISTITUTO DELLA ENCICLOPEDIA ITALIANA

PRESIDENT
Francesco Paolo Casavola

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

VICE PRESIDENT
Cesare Geronzi

Roberto Artoni, Marcello De Cecco, Giuseppe de Vergottini, Giovanni Fiori,

Ademaro Lanzara, Federico Pepe, Riccardo Perissich, Vincenzo Pontolillo, Giovanni
Puglisi, Giuseppe Vacca

MANAGING DIRECTOR
Francesco Tatò

SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Francesco Cossiga, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, Giovanni Conso,
Rita Levi-Montalcini; Mario Agrimi, Adriano Alippi, Girolamo Arnaldi, Baccio
Baccetti, Giuseppe Franco Bassani, Mario Beccari, Giuseppe Bedeschi, Giampio
Bracchi, Pietro Calissano, Luciano Canfora, Mario Caravale, Sergio Carrà, Enrico
Castelnuovo, Francesco Clementi, Piero Coda, Umberto Colombo, Adele Benedetta
Craveri, Francesco D’Agostino, Giuseppe Dalla Torre, Nino Dazzi, Antonio Fazio,
Domenico Fisichella, Giuseppe Galasso, Paolo Galluzzi, Emma Giammattei, Antonio
Giuliano, Gherardo Gnoli, Augusto Graziani, Tullio Gregory, Maurizio Iaccarino,
Carlo Jean, Fiorella Kostoris Padoa Schioppa, Luigi Labruna, Lucio Lanfranchi,
Carlo Maria Ossola, Giorgio Parisi, Sandro Petruccioli, Giovanni Pugliese
Carratelli, Gian Tommaso Scarascia Mugnozza, Pietro Scoppola, Salvatore Settis,
Francesco Sicilia, Fulvio Tessitore, Edoardo Vesentini, Vera Zamagni

BOARD OF AUDITORS
Gianfranco Graziadei, Chairman; Mario Perrone, Saverio Signori
Luciano Pagliaro, Delegate of the State Auditor’s Department
 ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF HYDROCARBONS

PROJECT DIRECTORS
Mario Beccari, Ugo Romano

SCIENTIFIC CO-ORDINATING COMMITTEE

Pier Federico Barnaba, Piero Bernardini, Giovanni Brighenti, Sergio Carrà, Alberto Clô,
Carlo Giavarini, Renzo Mazzei, Ferruccio Trifirò

EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT

Chief Editor: Carlo Amadei

Technical-Scientific Area. Supervisors: Fabio Sebastiani; Maria Teresa Amoroso. Chemistry: Andrea
Ciccioli, Alessandro Di Menno Di Bucchianico, Antonio Di Meo - Physics: Maria Grazia
Ianniello - Engineering: Lucilla Monteleone, Roberto Steindler - Biological, Geological and
Natural Sciences: Francesca Beolchini, Francesca Ricci, Paola Vinesi

Legal, Economics and Historical-Geographical Area. Supervisor: Giandomenico Patrizi. Law: Fabiana
Di Porto, Stefano Petitti - Economics: Chiara d’Auria, Giuseppe Smargiassi - Geography: Arianna
Ballabene - History: Silvia Dionisi

Italian language edition. Pino Bongiorno, Ilenia Romana Cassetta, Fabio Catino, Claudio Censori,
Marina Chiarioni, Katia Furia, Patrizia Greganti, Tomáš Kubíček (illustrations), Simona Martullo,
Michela Mastroddi, Enza Milanesi, Simona Nucciarelli, Enrico Piccioni, Tiziana Provvidera

English language edition. Co-ordination: Cosima Campagnolo. Hannah Chapman, Johanna Erhardt,
Francesca Fava, Patrick O’Keeffe, Mary Anne Tafuri. Consultant: Peter Joseph Glendening.
Translators: Luigi Attardi, Fabrizio Balsamo, Paul David Blackmore, Alberta Crescenzi, Paolo
Del Giudice, Peter Joseph Glendening, Rachel Golder, H.J. Michael Harris, Erika Louisa
Milburn, Patrick O’Keeffe, Valentina Palombi, Lenore Rosenberg, Stefano Salpietro, Centro
Lingue Tradint S.r.L.

Secretaries: Pasqualina Leone, Giancarla Palumbo, Maurizia Scapin

 ART DEPARTMENT

Art Director: Gerardo Casale

Graphics: Giuseppe De Gregori

Illustration sourcing: Daniele Piselli; Claudio Cigognetti; Alessandro Albanese, Anna Maria Ciai,
Gilberto De Angelis
Drawings: Marina Paradisi; Giuseppina Elia, Massimo Montelli, Anna Olivieri, Francesca
Ottaviano, Giuseppe Polegri, Paola Salvatori (cartography)
Graphics and layout: Giuseppe De Gregori; Giulia Romana Faggiani, Francesca Ottaviano
Quality control: Anna Rita De Nardis
Secretaries: Aurora Corvesi, Carla Proietti Checchi

LIBRARY

Gabriella Miggiano; Marina Battaglini, Massimo Menna, Giuliana Scudder

Secretary: Gabriella Michetti

PUBLISHING DEPARTMENT

Publishing administration: Luisa Fusé; Cecilia Rucci, Mirella Aiello

Planning: Luisa Cinquina; Tiziana Picconi
Quality control: Rosalba Lanza; Simonetta Paoluzzi
Industrial production: Maria Devrushian; Loreta Lucchetti
Secretary: Eliana Naddeo

PUBLISHING DIRECTOR
Massimo Bray
Presentations
In the twentieth century hydrocarbons were, and will continue to be in the coming decades, by far the
most important energy source, the engine of economic and industrial development, a decisive factor
in social organization, and a strategic raw material, whose destiny closely links alliances, conflicts,
and geopolitical and security issues.
No other sector of the economy has comparable levels of complexity and uncertainty, and yet is
able to play such an important role in the international arena. Knowledge of the world of hydrocarbons,
their history, technical characteristics and prospects is crucial to understanding current international
systems and their future development.
The aim of Eni’s Encyclopaedia of Hydrocarbons is to offer readers, whether specialists or otherwise,
a clear and detailed insight into this sector, addressing the aspects relating to historical events, scientific
knowledge, the elements and the interrelations underlying the value of the oil and gas industry, the
ongoing and foreseeable technological developments, and the economic and legal aspects that influence
their prospects.

The first edition of this work was the brainchild of Enrico Mattei – founder and first chairman of
Eni, then called E.N.I (Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi) – who, introducing in 1962 the Encyclopaedia of
Petroleum and Natural Gas, stressed its features of technical and scientific innovation, strategic
necessity and an urgency for ideas.
Scientific innovation refers to it being the first in-depth, systematic collection of monographs in
the fields of study relating to research and to the use of hydrocarbons in various industrial sectors, as
well as the technological knowledge forming the basis of the oil industry.
A strategic necessity for a country – Italy at the time was “the last to appear on the world oil scene”
– signifies Eni’s deeply rooted mission to contribute to the country’s economic development, operating
actively at the international level.
An urgency for ideas, lastly, relates to the need to illustrate the “enterprises and the characters of
those who devoted their utmost energy to putting this resource to its best use”, and to concretize the
vocation to spread knowledge as an innate objective of industrial success.
In its fifty years of history, starting just after the end of the Second World War in a country poor
in raw materials, Eni has become one of the major international oil and gas companies in the world.
Today Eni is present in some seventy countries, where it operates responsibly towards its stakeholders,
investing in people and their enhancement, participating in sustainable development by means of
integrating social and environmental themes into its growth process.
Looking back at the starting phases of its activities, the extent of the road covered by Eni, and its

XIII
 capacity to successfully tackle the many challenges that have strewn this road, appear in their real
dimension. The technological, entrepreneurial and cultural assets achieved to date are an essential
requisite for successfully facing up to the complex future prospects.

At the start of the new millennium, the energy system seems to be oscillating between two extremes.
On the one hand, there is an emergence of innovative themes and new protagonists, foreshadowing
radically different solutions with respect to the past; and, on the other hand, the recurrence of unsolved
problems which have periodically accompanied the history of hydrocarbons.
Looking at the new phenomena, the scenario looming in the evolution of the economic system
appears to be characterized by a constant growth in energy demand, with rates of increase and
geographical origins profoundly different from those of the past. In the forthcoming decades the
strategy of the oil and gas industry will be dominated by two elements: the first, traditional one is the
supply of increasing quantities of hydrocarbons on the market; the second, new one is operating in
line with the strong demand for environmental quality.
Converging on this objective are various factors: the radical progress of science and rapid
technological innovation, the spread of computer and communication technology, and alternative
energy sources coming onto the scene, above all because of the need and urgency to achieve a high
level of environmental compatibility.
Alongside these strongly innovative elements, the international energy scenario is witnessing the
re-emergence of fears and unresolved problems that have accompanied the entire history of the oil
industry. Such fears and unresolved problems generate attitudes and reactions of pure conservation,
which can obscure both our understanding of what is new and the development of such opportunities.
This is the case of fears that resources will become exhausted; of the return by some States to the
search for energy self-sufficiency; of the crucial role played by oil, regarding both the aspirations and
the instability in vast regions of our planet.
In the cultural debate, public policies and company choices, the overlapping of old and new runs
the risk of hampering a clear assessment of opportunities. This can slow down the capacity to provide
positive responses to the demand for energy, as occurs in this century in terms of geographical origin,
quantity and quality.
The companies, in particular, find themselves facing a situation in which several factors co-exist
and influence each other: the scarcity of sound investment opportunities in the upstream, the uncertain
nature of the scenarios, strong competitiveness in every sector of the oil and gas industry, market
deregulation processes and increasing environmental regulation.
To meet these challenges, it is necessary to rethink strategies and new ways of generating value
in a sector in which – more than in any other business – the traditional dilemma between growth and
profitability is made more critical and greater today than in the century that has just ended, by the
intensity of capital required for new investments and by the duration of the projects.
It is equally important that these strategic themes and dilemmas should be the primary reflections
of public decision-makers, financial institutions and social organizations on the basis of a shared culture,
an ensemble of updated, serious and exhaustive elements of information, taking into account the new
interrelations that are emerging between energy, development and environment. For this reason Eni
has promoted this new Encyclopaedia of Hydrocarbons, to offer to a wide-ranging international public
all the elements of knowledge essential for understanding the potential and challenges of a sector that
is decisive for the balanced development of our economies and of our societies.

With this cultural initiative Eni has taken up a position both of continuity, with the intuition and
the publishing work promoted by Enrico Mattei, and of renewed perspectives.
In line with the past, Eni’s priority today is to stay in touch with all external institutions and people,

XIV
that derive services, products and wealth from Eni’s work, but also opinions, stimuli and reactions in
their capacity as citizens and communities.
At the same time, the objective of providing a transparent model of operating on the scientific,
technological and market fronts, continues to be part and parcel of Eni’s business style. Presenting
its wealth of knowledge linked with hydrocarbons and energy in an articulate, rigorous manner is a
further manifestation of Eni’s policy of disseminating culture and knowledge bound up with its
economic success. While, on the one hand, research and innovation pervade and sustain all industrial
activities, on the other hand, coaching and training to maximize its internal and external human
resources are indispensable elements for the company to fully accomplish its mission.
The inevitable evolution of Eni’s approach and method in writing this work is observed in the fact
that, at the beginning of the new millennium, the conception of an encyclopaedia project, albeit of a
sectoral nature, entails taking on the challenge of systemizing contents and prospects that are in a
state of very rapid change, trusting that its objective of completeness is achieved.
The project, surely an ambitious one, has been tackled not simply by putting together – as in the
past – an accumulation of ideas and concepts, but rather by mapping out the transversal nature and
interlinking of complex themes, within which great conceptual syntheses and organically connected
subjects can find their own specific declination.
The most innovative feature of the Encyclopaedia of Hydrocarbons is the pervasive presence, in
all the volumes and chapters, of the issue of environmental sustainability. Far from being considered
as a separate, additional problem, the safeguarding of health, safety and the environment is regarded
and treated as an intrinsic way of understanding and operating in this sector by Eni.
The aim is to compile a body of up-to-date knowledge fully representative of the manifold nature
– technological, industrial, economic and geopolitical – of hydrocarbons within the context of the
new global themes in which energy and the environment are interwoven, and which are bound to
influence ever more radically the development of the sector, the systems of production, the economies
and societies in various areas of the world.
This knowledge is offered to all those who are interested, both in the specific field and in society
at large, so that they may glean information, knowledge, and ideas for reflection and added awareness.

Roberto Poli Paolo Scaroni

Chairman of Eni Chief Executive Officer of Eni

XV
 Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana

The Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana and Eni present a new edition of the Encyclopaedia of
Hydrocarbons, which was proposed and introduced in 1962 with the title of Encyclopaedia of Petroleum
and Natural Gas by Enrico Mattei, founder and first chairman of the Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi.
In the meantime, the importance has increased for a thematic work about this crucial sector in the
contemporary world. The entire, complex apparatus of industrial production, transport, communications,
and technologies omnipresent in the day-to-day existence of populations living on every continent,
particularly in affluent societies, runs on the energy, summed up in the hendiadys of oil and gas.
The well-being and the extraordinary scientific and material progress enjoyed by humanity today
are, however, under threat from more than one source of concern. The first one is preserving the
quality of the environment against the polluting effects of the processes of production and use of
hydrocarbons. The second one stems from the predicted exhaustion of the oil-bearing strata. The third
one deals with the geopolitical equilibria of the areas containing these resources. The fourth one
regards the need to secure alternative energy sources.
Science, politics and economics, therefore, come into the picture. But neither the groups that invest
financial resources in production processes – and one fails to imagine any more globalized than those
pertaining to oil and gas – nor the political parties governing the States and the international organizations
of the States, nor the scientific communities and industrial decision-makers are able to draw up an
adequate strategy to tackle these real causes of collective worry. Such issues are brought to the attention
of the best informed public opinions in this new millennium.
We have therefore decided to respond to the many questions forming part of the series of concerns
outlined, using scientifically rigorous information and rational assessment.
We feel confident that Eni and Enciclopedia Italiana will receive the gratitude of all those who,
by profession or institutional responsibility, have to reach choices on energy issues, so decisive for
our immediate future and for that of forthcoming generations.

Francesco Paolo Casavola

President of the Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana

XVII
Preface
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its foundation, Eni has taken the initiative of producing the Encyclopaedia
of Hydrocarbons, in collaboration with the Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani.
The basic reason for this choice is an awareness of the central role of hydrocarbons in economic development,
in international relations and in technological prospects.
The need to explain the pivotal position of the petroleum industry, regarded as a mainly strategic activity,
definitely inspires this encyclopaedia and is clearly reflected in its approach and organization.
Hydrocarbons have been the engine and symbol of progress, but the latter cannot be separated from the
quality of hydrocarbons production and transformation processes, and hence from the analysis and problem
solving connected with health, safety and the environment. The very close connection between sustainable
development and technological innovation can be clearly observed in the structure of the work.
Taking the potential readers into account has also helped to clarify the correct approach towards the subjects
to be dealt with in the new encyclopaedia.
Defining the potential public enables the technical and scientific level to be calibrated. The main requirement
to be satisfied has been to create a high quality product intended for the world of economics, finance, politics
and science, of high technical and scientific quality, while possessing special characteristics as an instrument
for the diffusion of culture.
The organization chosen for the Encyclopaedia of Hydrocarbons is thematic. This approach does away
with the inevitable fragmentary nature of an alphabetical system and also makes it possible, in keeping with
the aim of the work, to present subjects of a more general nature, for example, those that are typically
economic or which deal with international regulations and types of contracts, alongside the technical-scientific
themes.
The work also describes matters not directly connected with the oil and gas industry, but which can find a
form of integration with it. Precisely with this in view, the most debated issues (e.g. nuclear energy and renewable
resources) have been addressed, comparing various opinions and obviously relying on the prestige and authority
of the positions expressed.

The Encyclopaedia of Hydrocarbons comprises five volumes, each with approximately 800 pages of
illustrated text. The work is published in two original language versions, Italian and English.
The first four volumes are organized on a thematic basis and contain a systematic outline of the knowledge
relating to the hydrocarbons industry. The contributions, assigned to the most authoritative specialists from
every part of the world, have a strong interdisciplinary slant, to underscore their educational and critical aspect,
as well as that of providing information. They are also enhanced with interesting illustrations, and an ample
specific bibliography with, in many cases, references to general literature necessary to study the subjects in
greater depth.

XXI
 The encyclopaedia is completed by a fifth volume intended to provide a guideline for readers in studying
the four other volumes which have a thematic content.

Very succinctly, the plan of the work is as follows.

The first volume, after an introductory part on petroleum geology (origin and formation of hydrocarbons,
geological characteristics of the accumulations and further information), describes the activities of prospecting,
well drilling and development, the study and development of deposits, the production and transport of hydrocarbons
and natural gas storage.
The second volume is devoted to an analysis of the structure of refineries, to describing the main derived
products and refining operations (distilling processes, processes to improve the quality of fuels, thermal and
catalytic conversion processes, etc.), obtaining the basic products (building blocks from natural gas, olefins,
aromatics), to the production of intermediates for petrochemicals, and to polymeric materials. Problems of
safeguarding the environment, and of health and safety, connected with downstream activities are studied. The
volume highlights both the high degree of integration among the various sectors, and the great innovations in
products and processes that have taken place in the production cycles in the last few decades.
The third volume illustrates evolving technologies and possible scenarios, providing a wide-ranging, in-
depth panorama of development activities targeted on a multiplicity of objectives: the production of hydrocarbons
from non-conventional oil sources (heavy crudes, bituminous sands and schists, hydrated gases), the production
of hydrocarbons from alternative fossil sources (from the liquefaction of coal to the conversion of natural gas
into liquid fractions), optimizing the field recovery factor, management of sulphur and water co-produced with
crude, energy vectors and use of hydrogen, the use of advanced technologies for generating electricity (industrial
cogeneration, distributed and highly efficient generation, energy from fuel cells, energy from renewable sources,
etc.), the development prospects of sustainable motorized transport (production of more eco-friendly fuels, the
use of electrical or hybrid traction), the separation, confinement and biofixing of CO2, and the development
of environmental monitoring techniques.
The fourth volume first analyses the amount and the geographic location of reserves and resources. Next,
comes an examination – also in terms of the geopolitical context and of expected scenarios – of the main
economic aspects connected with the hydrocarbons industry: the economic foundations of oil and natural gas,
public policies, the types of market and pricing policies, the key figures (the oil companies, the producer and
consumer States, international bodies, etc.), company strategies, the macroeconomic background, the transformation
of the gas industry from monopoly to competition, risk management and environmental issues. Following this,
international legislation connected with oil and gas exploration and exploitation is analysed, also taking into
account the aspects related to the prevention of pollution, as well as the main national regulations. Complementing
the volume is an appendix dedicated to a number of aspects of particular significance for the development of
the hydrocarbons industry (files on the most important countries from the oil standpoint; analysis of the finds
that have given substantial boosts to progress in the sciences and technologies of hydrocarbons; chronology of
the main historical events that have influenced the oil world).
The fifth volume is subdivided into two parts. The first part has a thematic structure and provides the
chemical and physical facts on which the science of hydrocarbons is based: the nature and characteristics of
hydrocarbons, physical and chemical equilibria, surfaces and dispersed systems, flow of fluids, kinetics and
catalysis, heat exchange, separation processes, chemical reactors, rudiments of the polymerization processes,
automation and control, combustion, detonation and explosions, analysis of systems and mathematical models,
properties of materials. The second part is arranged alphabetically, in the manner of an encyclopaedic dictionary,
and contains the items intended to give readers the necessary tools to understand the rich technical terminology
used in the petroleum industry.

Mario Beccari Ugo Romano

Project Directors of the Encyclopaedia of Hydrocarbons

XXII
 PLAN OF THE WORK

VOLUME I
EXPLORATION, PRODUCTION AND TRANSPORT
1 – Geosciences
2 – Petroleum exploration
3 – Drilling and completion of wells
4 – Oil field characteristics and relevant studies
5 – Development phase of hydrocarbon fields
6 – Field production phase
7 – Hydrocarbon transport and gas storage

VOLUME II
REFINING AND PETROCHEMICALS
1 – Oil refining industry: general aspects
2 – Distillation processes
3 – Processes related to environmental issues
4 – Processes to improve the qualities of distillates
5 – Thermal conversion processes
6 – Catalytic conversion processes
7 – Deep conversion of residues
8 – Lubricating oil manufacture
9 – Safety and environmental protection in the refining industry
10 – Bulk products and production lines in the petrochemical industry
11 – Synthesis of intermediates for the petrochemical industry
12 – Polymeric materials

VOLUME III
NEW DEVELOPMENTS: ENERGY, TRANSPORT, SUSTAINABILITY
1 – From primary sources to the market
2 – Hydrocarbons from non-conventional and alternative fossil resources
3 – New upstream technologies
4 – Energy carriers
5 – Power generation from fossil resources

XXIII
 6 – Power generation from renewable resources
7 – Energy systems analysis
8 – Transport
9 – Sustainability
10 – Environmental technologies

VOLUME IV
HYDROCARBONS: ECONOMICS, POLICIES AND LEGISLATION
HYDROCARBONS: ECONOMICS AND POLICIES
1 – Mineral resources between scarcity and growth
2 – Basic economics of the hydrocarbons industry
3 – Public policies and the oil industry
4 – Market structures and price policies in the oil and gas industry
5 – Key actors in the hydrocarbons industry and company strategies
6 – The natural gas industry from monopoly to competition
7 – Geopolitics and security
8 – Producer-exporter countries
9 – Future scenarios

HYDROCARBONS LEGISLATION
10 – International law
11 – Supranational law
12 – National regulation of the hydrocarbons industry
13 – Contractual regulation and settlement of disputes

VOLUME V
INSTRUMENTS
BASICS
1 – Nature and characteristics of hydrocarbons
2 – Physical and chemical equilibria
3 – Surfaces and disperse systems
4 – Fluid dynamics
5 – Kinetics and catalysis
6 – Process engineering aspects
7 – Combustion and detonation
8 – Mathematical and modelling aspects
9 – Materials
DICTIONARY

XXIV
 ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF HYDROCARBONS

volume i

EXPLORATION, PRODUCTION
AND TRANSPORT
SCIENTIFIC CO-ORDINATION
Pier Federico Barnaba, Giovanni Brighenti, Renzo Mazzei
 INDEX OF VOLUME I

EXPLORATION, PRODUCTION
AND TRANSPORT

Roberto Prato
OIL EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION 3

1 – GEOSCIENCES

Erling Halfdan Stenby, Wey Yan

1.1 – COMPOSITION AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF HYDROCARBONS 31
1.1.1 – Introduction 31
1.1.2 – Composition of petroleum fluids 31
1.1.3 – Physical properties of hydrocarbons 37
1.1.4 – Heavy petroleum fraction 51
1.1.5 – Reservoir fluids 54
1.1.6 – Formation water 58

Detlev Leythaeuser
1.2 – ORIGIN, MIGRATION AND ACCUMULATION OF PETROLEUM 65
1.2.1 – Origin of petroleum 65
1.2.2 – Migration of petroleum 73
1.2.3 – Accumulation of petroleum 77
1.2.4 – Alteration of petroleum 81

Raffaele Casnedi
1.3 – GEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF HYDROCARBON RESERVOIRS 85
1.3.1 – Reservoir rocks 85
1.3.2 – Cap rocks 102
1.3.3 – Hydrocarbon traps 104

1.4 – RELATIONS BETWEEN SEDIMENTARY BASINS AND PETROLEUM PROVINCES 117

Carlo Doglioni
1.4.1 – Plate tectonics 117
Albert Bally
1.4.2 – Sedimentary basins 136
Alain-Yves Huc
1.4.3 – Source rocks: formation and distribution 149

XXVII
 2 – PETROLEUM EXPLORATION

Roberto Prato
2.1 – PROGRAMMING EXPLORATION ACTIVITY 163
2.1.1 – Definition of exploration 163
2.1.2 – Examining and defining available technical data 163
2.1.3 – Selecting areas 166
2.1.4 – Acquiring mineral rights 168
2.1.5 – Programming direct and indirect surveys 169
2.1.6 – Analysing petroleum potential 172
2.1.7 – Economic aspects of petroleum exploration 176

2.2 – GEOLOGICAL PROSPECTING 185

Nigel Press, Mattia Sella
2.2.1 – Photointerpretation, remote sensing, digital cartography, integrated mapping 185
Raffaele Casnedi, Mattia Sella
2.2.2 – Geological surveying 196
2.2.3 – Petrography 199
2.2.4 – Principles of stratigraphy and sedimentology 203
2.2.5 – Tectonics and structural geology 206
Jean-Claude Dereuder
2.2.6 – Subsurface geology 209
Daniel M. Jarvie et al.
2.2.7 – Applied geochemistry 218

2.3 – GEOPHYSICAL PROSPECTING 239

Rinaldo Nicolich
2.3.1 – Gravimetric surveys 239
2.3.2 – Magnetometric surveys 244
2.3.3 – Magnetotelluric surveys 248
2.3.4 – Seismic surveys: reflection and refraction 251
Mauro Gonfalini
2.3.5 – Electric, acoustic and radioactive recording in the well 271

2.4 – EVALUATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE EXPLORATION 277

Giovanni Bertotti, Paolo Ruffo
2.4.1 – Integrated interpretation, geological modelling 277
Frédéric Schneider
2.4.2 – Basin modelling for petroleum exploration 287
Mauro Gonfalini
2.4.3 – Planning of exploratory wells and connected activities 296

3 – DRILLING AND COMPLETION OF WELLS

Paolo Macini
3.1 – DRILLING RIGS AND TECHNOLOGIES 303
3.1.1 – Introduction 303
3.1.2 – Rotary drilling rigs 305
3.1.3 – Hoisting system 306
3.1.4 – Rotation system 309
3.1.5 – Circulation system 312
3.1.6 – Power generation and distribution system 314
3.1.7 – The drill string 315

XXVIII
 3.1.8 – Bits 318
3.1.9 – Casing 323
3.1.10 – Cementing 324
3.1.11 – Drilling fluids 326
3.1.12 – The wellhead 330
3.1.13 – Safety equipment 331
3.1.14 – Well control 333
3.1.15 – Drilling problems 334

Diego Giacca
3.2 – DIRECTIONAL DRILLING 337
3.2.1 – Introduction 337
3.2.2 – Characteristics, configurations and planning of a directional or horizontal well 339
3.2.3 – Methods for assessing and surveying the deviation 346
3.2.4 – Conclusions 353

Ezio Mesini
3.3 – MEASUREMENT AND ANALYSIS IN THE WELL 355
3.3.1 – Introduction 355
3.3.2 – Control of drilling parameters and geological monitoring: mud logging 355
3.3.3 – Conventional core sampling 357
3.3.4 – Types of log and methods of measurement 359
3.3.5 – Borehole seismic 365
3.3.6 – Fluid sampling and pressure measuring 368
3.3.7 – Production tests 369

Paolo Macini
3.4 – OFFSHORE DRILLING 373
3.4.1 – Introduction 373
3.4.2 – Rigs standing on the seabed 374
3.4.3 – Floating rigs 376
3.4.4 – Drilling from floating offshore rigs 379

Claudio Alimonti
3.5 – WELL COMPLETION 385
3.5.1 – Introduction 385
3.5.2 – Types of completion 386
3.5.3 – Completion equipment 390
3.5.4 – Equipment 393
3.5.5 – Completion fluids 394
3.5.6 – Casing perforation 395
3.5.7 – Filters and drains for solid transport control 397
3.5.8 – Artificial lift systems 399

Adriano Pirocchi
3.6 – DRILLING ENGINEERING 403
3.6.1 – General 403
3.6.2 – Drawing up of drilling programme 404
3.6.3 – Shutdown of well 423

Marco Marangoni
3.7 – COMPLETION ENGINEERING 425
3.7.1 – Introduction 425
3.7.2 – Completion layout 427

XXIX
 3.7.3 – Fluids present in the well 433
3.7.4 – Impact of safety on the completion scheme 434
3.7.5 – Selection of materials 436
3.7.6 – Determining the size of the tubing 438
3.7.7 – Choosing packer type, setting method and tubing-packer connection 443
3.7.8 – Tubing hanger selection 444
3.7.9 – Subsea completions 445
3.7.10 – Notes on artificial lift 446
3.7.11 – Final design 447
3.7.12 – Workovers 447

4 – OIL FIELD CHARACTERISTICS AND RELEVANT STUDIES

Paolo Macini, Ezio Mesini

4.1 – THE PETROPHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF RESERVOIR ROCK 453
4.1.1 – Introduction 453
4.1.2 – Porosity 455
4.1.3 – Permeability 462
4.1.4 – Fluid saturation 470
4.1.5 – Wettability 474
4.1.6 – Capillary pressure 477
4.1.7 – Compressibility of rocks 481

Véronique Ruffier-Meray
4.2 – PETROLEUM FLUID PROPERTIES 487
4.2.1 – Introduction 487
4.2.2 – Phase behaviour 487
4.2.3 – Fluid classification 489
4.2.4 – Lateral and vertical distribution of hydrocarbons in reservoir 490
4.2.5 – Sampling 491
4.2.6 – PVT analyses (laboratory procedures and parameters measured) 494
4.2.7 – Equations of state 498
4.2.8 – Empirical PVT correlations 500
4.2.9 – Reservoir water 504

Francesca Verga
4.3 – DRIVE MECHANISMS AND DISPLACEMENT PROCESSES 509
4.3.1 – Pressure gradients 509
4.3.2 – Drive mechanisms 513
4.3.3 – Material balance 516
4.3.4 – Displacement processes 518

Francesca Verga
4.4 – WELL TESTING 527
4.4.1 – Introduction 527
4.4.2 – Test procedures and typologies 529
4.4.3 – Test interpretations 535
4.4.4 – Evaluation of well productivity 550

Luca Cosentino
4.5 – STATIC RESERVOIR STUDY 553
4.5.1 – Introduction 553
4.5.2 – Structural model 553

XXX
 4.5.3 – Stratigraphic model 555
4.5.4 – Lithological model 558
4.5.5 – Petrophysical model 560
4.5.6 – Integrated geological model 568
4.5.7 – Calculation of hydrocarbons in place 570

Khalid Aziz, Hamdi A. Tchelepi

4.6 – DYNAMIC RESERVOIR STUDY 575
4.6.1 – Oil recovery processes 575
4.6.2 – Reservoir flow simulation 576
4.6.3 – Simulation workflow 583
4.6.4 – Practical considerations 585
4.6.5 – Prediction uncertainty 586
4.6.6 – Development plans 587
4.6.7 – Development schemes 587
4.6.8 – Injection schemes 588

5 – DEVELOPMENT PHASE OF HYDROCARBON FIELDS

Doriano Vannini
5.1 – DEVELOPMENT OF ONSHORE FIELDS 595
5.1.1 – Introduction 595
5.1.2 – Feasibility study 596
5.1.3 – Construction design of the structures 597
5.1.4 – Areas for field structures 599
5.1.5 – Well locations (clusters or single locations) 600
5.1.6 – Equipment installed in wellhead area 601
5.1.7 – Hydrocarbons processing plants 605
5.1.8 – Treatment plants for secondary recovery projects 606

Fabio Pallavicini
5.2 – DEVELOPMENT OF OFFSHORE FIELDS 609
5.2.1 – Introduction 609
5.2.2 – Development in shallow waters 609
5.2.3 – Development of marginal fields 626
5.2.4 – Development in very deep waters 628

Romano Bianco
5.3 – TREATMENT PLANTS FOR OIL PRODUCTION 643
5.3.1 – Introduction 643
5.3.2 – Characterization of oils 645
5.3.3 – Separations 649
5.3.4 – Treatments 657
5.3.5 – Process equipment 669
5.3.6 – Secondary recovery systems 675

Romano Bianco
5.4 – TREATMENT PLANTS FOR GAS PRODUCTION 681
5.4.1 – Introduction 681
5.4.2 – Sales gas specifications 682
5.4.3 – Gas/liquid separation 684
5.4.4 – Dehydration and condensate removal 685
5.4.5 – Other treatments 695

XXXI
 5.4.6 – Process equipment and special units 701
5.4.7 – Liquefaction of natural gas 704

6 – FIELD PRODUCTION PHASE

Michael J. Economides, Luigi Saputelli

6.1 – WELL MONITORING 709
6.1.1 – Introduction 709
6.1.2 – Field monitoring and analysis of well performance 710
6.1.3 – Production logging and well monitoring techniques 714
6.1.4 – Pressure measurement technology 716
6.1.5 – Temperature measurement technology 717
6.1.6 – Multiphase flow measurement technology 719
6.1.7 – Assessment technologies for fluid saturation distribution 720
6.1.8 – Instrumented well and future trends 721

Michael J. Economides, Luigi Saputelli

6.2 – PRODUCTION OPTIMIZATION 725
6.2.1 – Introduction 725
6.2.2 – Workovers to eliminate undesired water and/or gas production 733
6.2.3 – Reservoir stimulation: matrix acidizing and hydraulic fracturing 736
6.2.4 – Sand control 743
6.2.5 – Perforating 745
6.2.6 – Production optimization by artificial lift 746
6.2.7 – Asphaltenes and paraffin control 751
6.2.8 – Workovers in case of casing and tubing collapse or in case of lack of cement 752
6.2.9 – Well architecture for production optimization 753
6.2.10 – Operation and maintenance of petroleum production systems 756

Gianfranco Altieri
6.3 – THE DECISION TO ABANDON A FIELD 761
6.3.1 – Introduction 761
6.3.2 – Economic reasons 762
6.3.3 – Technical reasons 762
6.3.4 – Actions to prolong the life of a field 765
6.3.5 – Abandoning a field 767

7 – HYDROCARBON TRANSPORT AND GAS STORAGE

Roberto Bruschi
7.1 – TRANSPORT BY PIPELINE 771
7.1.1 – General observations on the hydrocarbon transport 771
7.1.2 – Routes across the environments 778
7.1.3 – Transport fluid dynamics 792
7.1.4 – Materials 800
7.1.5 – Mechanical resistance 808
7.1.6 – Construction 817
7.1.7 – Inspection, maintenance and repair 822

XXXII
Claudio Alimonti
7.2 – TRANSPORT OF CRUDE BY SEA 829
7.2.1 – Introduction 829
7.2.2 – Resource distribution and trading 829
7.2.3 – Port structures 830
7.2.4 – Typology of vessels used 832
7.2.5 – Renewal of tanker fleet 839
7.2.6 – Environmental aspects of transport by sea 845
7.2.7 – The case of the Mediterranean 849

Claudio Alimonti
7.3 – TRANSPORTING NATURAL GAS BY SEA 855
7.3.1 – The geographical distribution of gas and commercial activities 855
7.3.2 – Transport technologies 856
7.3.3 – The transport of LNG 859
7.3.4 – The transport of CNG 867
7.3.5 – The transport of NGH with GTS technology 871
7.3.6 – Technologies of natural gas commercial exploitation 875
7.3.7 – The transport of LPG 877

7.4 – UNDERGROUND STORAGE OF NATURAL GAS 879

Franco Falzolgher
7.4.1 – Storage systems: principles, techniques and development 879
Gianfranco Altieri
7.4.2 – Underground structures for natural gas storage 901

XXXIII
 NOTES

UNITS OF MEASUREMENT

The units of measurement generally adopted are those of the Système International (SI), with corresponding mul-
tiples and submultiples. Only in particular contexts, typically connected with the petroleum industry, certain non-
SI units of current use have been maintained.

Main units of measurement adopted

ampere A henry H pascal Pa
angstrom Å hertz Hz poise P
atomic mass unit u horse-power hp pound lb
bar bar hour h pounds per square inch psi
barrel bbl inch '' (in) radian rad
becquerel Bq joule J second (angle) 
British thermal unit Btu kelvin K second (time) s
calorie cal kilogram kg siemens S
candela cd kilowatt-hour kWh sievert Sv
coulomb C litre l
standard cubic foot scf or SCF or sft3
darcy D lumen lm
steradian sr
day d lux lx
stock tank barrel stb
decibel dB metre m
degree Celsius °C square metre m2 stokes St
degree Fahrenheit °F cubic metre m3 tesla T
degree (sexagesimal) ° minute (angle)  tonne t
electron volt eV minute (time) min tonnes of oil equivalent toe
farad F mole mol volt V
foot ' (ft) newton N watt W
gram g nit nt weber Wb
gray Gy ohm Ω yard yd
hectare ha parts per million ppm year yr

TERMINOLOGY AND SPELLING

In the sectors of petroleum engineering and chemistry, of the petrochemical industry and of the earth sciences,
specific terms, acronyms and expressions are frequently used. The criterion adopted in this work is based on their
frequency of use, i.e. given two possible terms, the more common one has been used.
British spelling, according to the most authoritative reference works, has been adopted.

XXXV
 CHEMICAL NOMENCLATURE

In the nomenclature of simple compounds, the rules of IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry)
have been adopted as far as possible, traditional names being limited to the cases admitted by IUPAC. When there
are two or more names admitted, the commonest one is adopted.
Two principal exceptions to the above rule have been applied in this work:
• For organic compounds used in the petrochemical industry, the name adopted is that listed in: Wells G.M.
(1999) Handbook of petrochemicals and processes, Aldershot, Ashgate; Brookfield (VT), Gower.
• The British English spelling of sulphur and sulphur containing compounds is adopted.

TRANSLITERATIONS

In writing names belonging to other languages with an alphabet other than the Latin alphabet, the Romanization
Tables compiled by the Library of Congress of Washington have been applied, introducing however certain modifications
intended to reduce to a minimum the number of diacritical marks, and – in particular in the case of Arabic and Persian
– adopting a number of transliterations by now accepted in local and international usage.

Opposite page:
Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, artificial island for the perforation and production in Kashagan, the world’s biggest reservoir
discovered in the last thirty years. The activity is carried out in a joint venture, where Eni partecipates acting as the sole operator.
The reservoir is situated in the north of the Caspian Sea, 80 km from Atyrau. Its development represents one of the biggest
challenges in the world petroleum industry.

XXXVI