Papers by Robert Kleinberg
High-angle, open mode fractures control the presence of natural gas hydrate in water-saturated cl... more High-angle, open mode fractures control the presence of natural gas hydrate in water-saturated clays at the Keathley Canyon 151 site in the northern Gulf of Mexico, which was investigated for gas hydrates as part of the Chevron Joint Industry Project drilling in 2005. We analyze logging-while-drilling resistivity images and infer that gas hydrate accumulated in situ in two modes: filling fractures and saturating permeable beds. High-angle hydrate-filled fractures are the most common mode for gas hydrate occurrence at this site, with most of these fractures dipping at angles of more than 40 and occurring between 220 and 300 m below seafloor. These fractures all strike approximately N-S, which agrees with the 165 SE-345 NW maximum horizontal stress direction determined from borehole breakouts and which aligns with local bathymetric contours. In one interval of hydrate-filled fractures, porosity increases with increasing hydrate saturation. We suggest that high pore pressure may have dilated sediments during fracture formation, causing this increase in porosity. Furthermore, the formation of gas hydrate may have heaved fractures apart, also increasing the formation porosity in this interval.
Physical Review Letters, 1974
NMR spectral densities and two dimensional diffusion in TiS2(NH3)1.0 and TaS2(NH3)x
Solid State Communications, 1980
Abstract NMR measurements of proton spin-lattice relaxation times T 1 and T 1ϱ in the layered int... more Abstract NMR measurements of proton spin-lattice relaxation times T 1 and T 1ϱ in the layered intercalation compounds TiS 2 (NH 3 ) 1.0 and TaS 2 (NH 3 ) x ( x = 0.8, 0.9, 1.0) are reported as functions of frequency and temperature (100 K – 300 K). These observations probe the spectral density of magnetic fluctuations due to motions of the intercalated molecules at frequencies accessible to the T 1 (4–90 MHz) and T 1ϱ (1–100 kHz) measurements. Since the average molecular hopping time (τ) can be changed by varying temperature, different regions of the spectral density can be examined. For T > 200 K, both T −1 1 and T −1 1ϱ vary logarithmically with frequency, reflecting the two dimensional character of the molecular diffusion. The temperature dependence of T 1 suggests that a more accurate picture of the short time dynamics is required. No dependence of relaxation rate on vacancy concentration is found.
Marine and Petroleum Geology, 2008
High-angle, open mode fractures control the presence of natural gas hydrate in water-saturated cl... more High-angle, open mode fractures control the presence of natural gas hydrate in water-saturated clays at the Keathley Canyon 151 site in the northern Gulf of Mexico, which was investigated for gas hydrates as part of the Chevron Joint Industry Project drilling in 2005. We analyze logging-while-drilling resistivity images and infer that gas hydrate accumulated in situ in two modes: filling fractures and saturating permeable beds. High-angle hydrate-filled fractures are the most common mode for gas hydrate occurrence at this site, with most of these fractures dipping at angles of more than 40 and occurring between 220 and 300 m below seafloor. These fractures all strike approximately N-S, which agrees with the 165 SE-345 NW maximum horizontal stress direction determined from borehole breakouts and which aligns with local bathymetric contours. In one interval of hydrate-filled fractures, porosity increases with increasing hydrate saturation. We suggest that high pore pressure may have dilated sediments during fracture formation, causing this increase in porosity. Furthermore, the formation of gas hydrate may have heaved fractures apart, also increasing the formation porosity in this interval.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1983
A one-kilometer-diameter carbonate/hydrate mound in Mississippi Canyon Block 118 has been chosen ... more A one-kilometer-diameter carbonate/hydrate mound in Mississippi Canyon Block 118 has been chosen to be the site of a multi-sensor, multi-discipline sea-floor observatory. Several surveys have been carried out in preparation for installing the observatory. The resulting data set permits discussing the mound’s structure in some detail. Samples from the water column and intact hydrate outcrops show gas associated with the mound to be thermogenic. Lithologic and bio-geochemical studies have been done on sediment samples from gravity and box cores. Pore-fluid analyses carried out on these cores reveal that microbial sulfate reduction, anaerobic methane oxidation, and methanogenesis are important processes in the upper sediment. These microbial processes control the diffusive flux of methane into the overlying water column. The activity of microbes is also focused within patches near active vents. This is primarily dependent upon an active flux of hydrocarbon-rich fluids. The geochemical ...
Methane Emission Controls: Toward More Effective Regulation
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2021
In the United States, emissions to the air from the oil and natural gas sector are regulated by t... more In the United States, emissions to the air from the oil and natural gas sector are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency New Source Performance Standards (NSPS). Unfortunately, the pace of emission reductions has been slow. In 2016, the Obama administration pledged to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 40-45% by 2025, representing a compound annual decline rate of roughly 6%. However, the rate of methane emissions has changed slowly since the promulgation of natural gas emission control rules in 2012 and 2016, resulting in a compound annual decline rate of about 0.3%. This disappointing outcome is mainly the result of a narrow scope of regulation that has not confronted the realities of oilfield operations. Devised at a time when the technology for the measurement of natural gas emissions was relatively immature, performance-based regulations could not be implemented effectively. Therefore, NSPS regulations are either prescriptive or, if performance-based, lack means of verifying performance. Amendments promulgated in 2020 did little to change this situation. Thus merely reverting to the status quo ante, either by use of the Congressional Review Act or by conventional regulatory processes, will do little to improve the industry's environmental performance. Instead of proposing patchwork amendments to the current rules, which are outdated and ineffective, EPA should entirely rethink natural gas emission control. This paper analyzes why the rules were constructed as they were, examines the data that highlights the inadequacies of present regulations, explores the new technologies that have improved the prospects for effective regulation, and proposes a new, more efficient and effective regulatory regime.
The Global Warming Potential (GWP) is widely used to compare the climate change effects of variou... more The Global Warming Potential (GWP) is widely used to compare the climate change effects of various greenhouse gases. Although GWP has an established role in international climate agreements, GWP does not describe any specific identifiable impact of greenhouse gas emissions on climate. It is argued here that GWP is unphysical, unintuitive, arbitrary, ignores the time dependence of emission sources, and is in some cases misleading. Therefore it has no place in describing the effects of climate change mitigation strategies beyond a 20 year horizon. This paper argues for the broader use of global mean temperature change trajectories in educating policy makers and the public about greenhouse gas control, thereby making climate policy discussions more scientifically rigorous while demystifying the criteria upon which policy choices are made. Examples provided include multiyear emissions, venting versus flaring of natural gas, electric power generated by natural gas versus coal, European gas supply by LNG versus pipeline, European electric power by imported gas versus coal, and livestock reduction. All results and any errors in this report are the responsibility of the author. Cover image: "Rainbow Swash" liquefied natural gas tank, Boston, Massachusetts,
Energy Economics, 2018
When comparing oil and gas projects-their relative attractiveness, robustness, and contribution t... more When comparing oil and gas projects-their relative attractiveness, robustness, and contribution to markets-various dollar per barrel benchmarks are quoted in the literature and in public debates. Among these benchmarks are a variety of breakeven points (also called breakeven costs or breakeven prices), widely used to predict producer responses to market conditions. These analyses have not proved reliable because (1) there has been no broadly accepted agreement on the definitions of breakeven points, (2) there are various breakeven points (and other benchmarks) each of which is applicable only at a certain stage of the development of a resource, and (3) each breakeven point is considerably more dynamic than many observers anticipated, changing over time in response to internal and external drivers. In this paper we propose standardized definitions of each breakeven point, showing which elements of field and well development are included in each. We clarify the purpose of each breakeven point and specify at which stage of the development cycle the use of each becomes appropriate. We discuss in general terms the geological, geographical, product quality, and exchange rate factors that affect breakeven points. We describe other factors that contribute to tight oil market dynamics, including factors that accelerate the growth and retard the decline of production; technological and legal influences on the behavior of market participants; and infrastructure, labor, and financial inelasticities. The role of tight oil in short-term and medium-term oil market stability is discussed. Finally, we explore the implications of a broader, more rigorous, and more consistent application of the breakeven point concept, taking into account the inelasticities that accompany it.
Journal of Magnetic Resonance, Series B, 1996
In this work, an NMR technique capable of detecting bacterial bution can be performed in the fiel... more In this work, an NMR technique capable of detecting bacterial bution can be performed in the field, using NMR well-logcells and measuring the cell density in suspension and in porous ging equipment (2, 3). media has been developed. It is based on the pulsed-field-gradient Bacteria used in the bioremediation process are typically technique and relies on the fact that extracellular water diffuses about 1 mm in diameter and the density of cells ranges from freely while intracellular water is completely restricted by the rela-10 6 to 10 9 cells per gram of sediment or soil. Therefore, the tively impermeable cell wall of the bacterium. At high wave vec-NMR signal from the intracellular water protons is likely to tors, the signal from extracellular water is completely suppressed be overwhelmed by the signal from surrounding water. Since while the signal from intracellular water is comparatively unafextracellular water diffuses comparatively freely in contrast fected. This technique has been applied to the mapping of bacterial to intracellular water, it is possible to use a diffusion filter distributions in porous media. This method is presented as a nonto eliminate the signal from extracellular water. This is roudestructive, real-time technique for biomass characterization within laboratory column and flow cell experiments, and possibly tinely used to acquire spectroscopic information of intracelfor monitoring in situ bioremediation.
Multiphysics NMR Logging Techniques for the Determination of in Situ Total Gas in Gas Reservoirs
Well logging method and apparatus for determining the nuclear magnetic resonance longitudinal magnetization decay of formations
Anisotropy and Flow in Superfluid HELIUM-3-A
Thesis University of California San Diego 1978 Source Dissertation Abstracts International Volume 39 11 Section B Page 5428, 1978
Method and apparatus for locating gas hydrate
Phase change analysis in logging method
Early History of the CMR 10 October 2011
9. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
Experimental Methods in the Physical Sciences, 1999
Publisher Summary The chapter presents a review on the methods and applications of nuclear magnet... more Publisher Summary The chapter presents a review on the methods and applications of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements of porous media. It focuses on amplitude and relaxation techniques developed specifically for porous media. Other reviews cover magnetic resonance imaging, pulsed field-gradient techniques, and characterization of fluid flows by NMR. Special attention is paid to sedimentary rocks, which present a broad range of difficulties to the experimentalist and are in many respects “worst-case” porous media. Measurements have been made in the laboratory and, in some cases, by “inside-out’’ NMR equipment operating as much as 10 km underground for the purpose of measuring properties of subsurface geological formations in situ . Where the pore openings are on a molecular scale, such as in intercalation compounds and zeolites, the guest phases behave as individual molecules not as continuous fluids. Methods that are useful for characterizing these materials are in some respects distinct from those presented in the chapter. The use of NMR to investigate porous media has primarily focused on measurements of the fluids in the pore space. Because the common pore fluids are rich in hydrogen, most applications are based on proton NMR measurements. An NMR relaxation time measurement can be used to determine a volumetrically weighted distribution of pore sizes spanning several orders of magnitude. Properties that have been derived from the NMR-determined pore size distribution include hydraulic permeability and the capillary pressure curve. Calibrated proton spin density measurements can be the simplest and most accurate way to measure the volume fraction of pore space (porosity).
Concepts in Magnetic Resonance, 2001
Although nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) well logging is almost as old as NMR itself, it is unkn... more Although nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) well logging is almost as old as NMR itself, it is unknown to a large segment of the NMR community. New techniques, developed in the last two decades, have made made this technology an indispensable tool in the petroleum industry, similar to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in medicine. It was recognized at an early date that nuclear magnetic resonance could contribute to the in situ investigation of earth formations. Laboratory NMR studies of fluids in rocks, on clays, and in other porous media started in the 1950's at a number of oil company research laboratories, most notably those of Chevron, Mobil, and Shell. More than three dozen patent applications for borehole NMR devices were filed between 1948 and 1960, representing work sponsored by Chevron, Schlumberger, Mobil, Texaco, and Varian. Measuring properties of earth formations in situ by nuclear magnetic resonance obviously requires apparatus much different than that commonly used in the laboratory. Instead of placing the sample inside the apparatus, the apparatus is placed inside the "sample," which is, in fact, the earth. Thus "inside-out" NMR equipment is required: large static magnetic fields and high frequency oscillatory magnetic fields must be projected outside of the apparatus and into the surrounding rock formations. Figure I-1 shows the scale of the MRIL NMR logging tool. Due to the relatively weak B 0 fields used in well logging, two points should be clarified for the benefit of NMR spectroscopists and others accustomed to working with magnetic fields in the tesla
Concepts in Magnetic Resonance, 2001
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Papers by Robert Kleinberg