The drill bit penetrates a rock formation thousands of feet below the surface of the earth, a steel casing is slid into the hole, and perforations are made to the casing that reach into the surrounding rock. At that point, an escape route is created for anything in the formation that can be released to the surface, which has lower pressure, or that can be lifted by that process. The producer must be able to obtain enough of what comes up to the surface and conditioned to a marketable state to make it worthwhile. Obviously, the natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil and condensates are the valuable commodities that are produced and sold. Unfortunately, other materials are included in what surfaces from inside the earth. Many of these require production equipment to remove the material or condition the product for sale, and the effects of some types of production equipment used can have an effect on measurement.
October 1, 2018
- AUTHOR: John McDaniel / Tom Cleveland Williams
- October 1, 2018