Production fluid
Encyclopedia
Production fluid is the fluid
mixture of oil
, gas
and water
in formation fluid
that flows to the surface of an oil well
from a reservoir
. Its consistency and composition varies.
Fluids may be described by a multitude of characteristics including:
Fluid
In physics, a fluid is a substance that continually deforms under an applied shear stress. Fluids are a subset of the phases of matter and include liquids, gases, plasmas and, to some extent, plastic solids....
mixture of oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
, gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
and water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
in formation fluid
Formation fluid
Formation fluid refers to the naturally occurring liquids and gases contained in geologic formations. Fluids introduced during the drilling process are called drilling fluids. Fluids in an oil or gas reservoir are called reservoir fluids. The fluids flowing from the wellhead of an oil or gas well...
that flows to the surface of an oil well
Oil well
An oil well is a general term for any boring through the earth's surface that is designed to find and acquire petroleum oil hydrocarbons. Usually some natural gas is produced along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce mainly or only gas may be termed a gas well.-History:The earliest...
from a reservoir
Oil reservoir
A petroleum reservoir, or oil and gas reservoir, is a subsurface pool of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. The naturally occurring hydrocarbons, such as crude oil or natural gas, are trapped by overlying rock formations with lower permeability...
. Its consistency and composition varies.
Fluids may be described by a multitude of characteristics including:
- Water cut - the proportion of the fluid, which is water rather than hydrocarbons.
- API gravityAPI gravityThe American Petroleum Institute gravity, or API gravity, is a measure of how heavy or light a petroleum liquid is compared to water. If its API gravity is greater than 10, it is lighter and floats on water; if less than 10, it is heavier and sinks...
- the oilfield measurement of the weight of the hydrocarbons. - GOR - Gas to oil ratio describing how many standard cubic feet of gas can be obtained for every stock tank barrelBarrel (unit)A barrel is one of several units of volume, with dry barrels, fluid barrels , oil barrel, etc...
of oil. - H2SHydrogen sulfideHydrogen sulfide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless, very poisonous, flammable gas with the characteristic foul odor of expired eggs perceptible at concentrations as low as 0.00047 parts per million...
- the concentration of this gas. Fluids with a high concentration of H2S are described as "sour".