Most reservoirs at some point in their life are candidates for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). Successive to microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) when reservoir is put on waterflooding, water cut greater than 80% is observed after sometime. Then either a second round of MEOR is planned or the well is abandoned. Another round of MEOR takes at least six months, is expensive and complicated than waterflooding. The proposed tool will assist in detecting the bypassed oil after a cycle of MEOR and help make the best choice of recovery method to be used next, namely MEOR or waterflooding. The tool will work on the principle of Resonance Raman Spectroscopy (RRS). Since the microbes used in MEOR are exactly known, their response to RRS on the surface can be tested and the same response from inside the reservoir can be noted. In this way the microbes can be detected downhole by the Resonance Raman spectra which they exhibit. The microorganism detection is based on identification and excitation of chemotaxonomic markers present in them. Since microbes only survive on the oil-water interface wherever microbes will be detected, it is clear that oil is still present in that region. This depth will be sensed using depth sensor. Water being Raman inactive, at whatever depth thief zones of water are formed no spectrum will be observed and these zones can be detected and plugged thus deviating water to oil-bearing zones. The tool will be lowered downhole by optical fibers which can also transmit the reflected light to a computer on the surface to view the spectra. The nano optical fibers will penetrate the formation and carry the laser light in porous rock matrix and receive the reflected light. The tool can also identify different microorganisms present in reservoir. This helps in knowing the reservoir parameters like temperature, pressure, salinity etc, since every type of microbe has a particular environment in which it can survive. When waterflooding is done after any other thermal or chemical recovery process the tool can track oil instead of microbes directly by sensing H-C, H=C etc. bonds present in oil. Introduction The need to make the 'Oil-Microbe Detection Tool' arises from the fact that 'Easy Oil' is becoming scarce rapidly. There is an acute need to find efficient methods to recover the bypassed oil or the oil left behind after waterflooding, which has followed a cycle of MEOR. Once the water cut starts increasing normally another MEOR operation is planned to recover such oil, microbial plugging is undertaken or the well is abandoned. Another MEOR operation is more expensive, complex and takes minimum six months thus extending the overall duration of the EOR operation. The oil industry deals with the subsurface all the time and exact knowledge of downhole conditions is a constant need to make efficient planning of the right EOR method applicable in conditions as mentioned above to recover this bypassed oil. To detect this oil and recover it, the correct locations where such oil is remaining have to be ascertained. This tool can help find such locations precisely in-situ. The planning of EOR operation after knowing the precise regions where bypassed oil resides will become easier and efficient. Also, the uniqueness of the tool lies in the fact that it detects bypassed oil by using microbes. Hence, it will be used in co-ordination with MEOR and waterflooding where MEOR provides the microbes to be detected.

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Women on the Frontline - An examination of work/life balance issues by women in the industry.

A Young Professional’s Guide When the prices of oil and gas spiral upward or downward, the effects are felt around the world. Economies of some countries are affected more than the others, especially, if they are large oil-exporting and -importing countries. Four of the five largest oil-importing nations, China, Japan, India, and South Korea, are in Asia and collectively import more than 15 million B/D of oil, according to the CIA World Factbook 2013–14. Any shift in oil price results in huge adjustments to these countries’ national budgets. The world’s largest oil-exporting nations include Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Iran, and Nigeria. Collectively, these nations have the capacity to dominate the global oil economy. Let us take a closer look at the impact of changing oil and gas prices on Russia, one of the largest oil- and gas-exporting nations, and China, one of the largest oil- and gas-importing nations in the world. Russia: Oil and Gas Exporter Russia tops the chart as the largest country in the world by area, encompassing 6.6 million sq miles. It leads the political scene as one of the most powerful and developed countries in the world and maintains its innovative edge as a leader in nuclear power and space research. For a country with so much independent power, Russia’s economy remains hugely dependent upon the energy and mineral resources that it holds. Blessed with abundant resources, Russia exerts huge geopolitical influence on its European neighbors. Of paramount importance to countries such as Ukraine, Russia supplies 25%–30% of natural gas needs in Europe, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Oil and gas fund about half of the Russian budget, reports CNN. So what happens when commodities prices fluctuate—either up or down?

Detection of the bypassed oil zones during any matured waterflood or EOR process is a critical step in planning the further applications of these processes on a field. While technically deciding whether to continue to waterflood or plug thief zones as a remedy to high water cuts, it is of utmost importance to take into consideration that the overall economics of the project governs most of the decisions not only the technical applicability. The 'Bypassed Zone Detection Tool' described and proposed in this article will detect the bypassed zones and thief zones located in a reservoir precisely, by using Raman Spectroscopy. The number of such zones detected and the depth of their location can be used in planning of further waterflood or EOR process. The same tool has been described in the author's previous paper with respect to microbial detection by Raman Spectroscopy in order to detect bypassed oil zones. However, since MEOR reservoirs are very few and none commercially proven yet, this paper is aimed at direct oil detection with the same tool as also the assistance of the tool in planning an enhanced recovery process economically. This aspect has not been analyzed in the previous paper. The tool promises applicability in a wide variety of situations and downhole areas thus proving itself as a strong candidate for commercial use in near future. Introduction After having spent much time and money on a reservoir and after a successful application of a waterflood or a polymer flood the reservoir starts giving out the injected fluid in large amounts and not the desired one. This means that the water cuts/ polymer recovery in matured fields is more than 80–90% while the desired fluid is crude which is supposed to have high cuts. The reason is thief zones. What should be done in these situations? A crude oil crisis is 'haunting' the world and every bit of crude remaining in that reservoir is absolutely critical with growing technical advancements and thus the need for energy and hydrocarbons. An operator cares only for the economics involved in the project inspite of all this and rightly so! Hence, the aim here is to assist in planning the recovery of this crude remaining in the bypassed zones effectively and economically. This will be done first, by detecting the depth of the thief zones and bypassed zones precisely using the 'Bypassed Zone Detection Tool'. Also, for doing this, the tool uses 'Raman Spectroscopy' which has been the unexplored territory by the oil industry so far and 'Laser light'. Need For New Technology Fig. 1 gives us an idea of how important it is to think of new technologies and new means of recovering oil. As per the example in the figure it is seen that the original oil in place in US is 649 Billion Barrels. The discovered but unrecovered by current technology is a huge 45% of the whole sum while a huge sum is also under the undiscovered and unrecoverable by current technology section. This shows that great amount of crude oil exists and is known to us but our existing technology does not permit its production, so adding new efficient technologies which target this unrecoverable oil, is the best we can do than waiting for more hydrocarbons to be found which are easily recoverable or waiting for nature to make more of those. Also, since the crude oil prices have been sky rocketing with highest till now US $145, it is the best time for oil companies to invest in new technologies.