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STUDENT
PAGES
Quest for Oil

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1.

Today's programme
Student pages

1. Your teacher will instruct you in today's programme and Quest for Oil.
2. You will be playing the game as part of a group focused on one or
more of the four main themes of the game: sedimentology, seismology,
oil wells, and oil production and exploration.
3. You perform the tasks belonging to the theme (or themes).
4. If so agreed, you replay the game with a new themed focus and carry
out the tasks associated with this.
5. Each group present their knowledge to the rest of the class.
6. Evaluation and conclusion.

i
Intro

Quest for Oil

Themed tasks

1.1 Quest for Oil game guide

Select "START GAME" in the game's main menu. Next,
select a scenario by left-clicking one of two global
destinations:
The North Sea (easy) target: 1 million barrels of oil, or
Qatar (difficult)
target: 2 million barrels of oil.
When the game starts up, you will be see a bird's eye view
of the sea. In the bottom left-hand corner, you will see a
map and two units on the screen.
Mini-map
The overview part shows the map's oil fields and the position of you and your opponent's units and drilling rigs. The
potential part shows an overview of the oil fields' potential
and estimated return.
Menus
You can always press ESC on your keyboard to adjust the
game's graphics features and sound or to end the game.

Class session

Evaluation

Units
You have two units to be used for exploring oil fields and
buying licences: a helicopter and a survey ship. The units
are moved by left-clicking the unit concerned and then
right-clicking a point in the sea to which you want the unit
to move.
Oil production
Before you can produce oil in a oil field, you have to buy
the rights for this field by clicking the unit in the field
concerned and selecting "BUY LICENCE".
After this, left-click the small buoy floating in the water and
locate the volume of oil seismically on a SEISMIC crosssection of substrata. You can use this same buoy to buy
drilling equipment and DRILL the actual oil well. Finally,
select the RECOVERY method and buy transportation
options for the oil production.
Good luck with your oil venture!

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2.

Glossary
Student pages

2.1 Seismology

2.2 Sedimentology

Cap rock
Non-permeable rock which prevents oil and gas from
escaping from the trap.

Crude oil
Oil naturally existing in underground reservoirs. Crude
oil varies from one region to another in terms of sulphur
content and density.

Fault line
A fracture in the earth's crust. Structural oil traps can arise
along fault lines.
Migration
Oil moves horizontally and vertically to where pressure
is lower.
Oil reservoir
The oil found in an oil fields oil traps.
Oil saturation
A term designating the fraction of a rocks pore space
occupied by oil.
Oil trap
A geological structure that collects gas and oil which
cannot escape due to a cap rock.
Permeability
A measure of the ability of a rock to allow fluids to pass
through it. Low permeability designates a poor ability to
transmit fluids.
Porosity
A term defining the measure of the void spaces in the
grains of sediment, i.e. the amount of oil and fluid that can
occupy a rock.
Seismology
Seismic investigations are the most important tool for
charting substrata. Seismic waves sent from the surface
are reflected by substrata.

Hydrocarbons
Oil and gas formed by organic residue from sediment
exposed to high temperatures over time.
Oil formation
Material containing organic substances overlain by sediments. Overlying sediments gradually thicken and source
rock is pressured further and further downwards, both of
which increase pressure and temperatures. Oil is formed
when pressure becomes sufficiently high and the temperature is typically 90130 degrees Celsius.
Oil window
The pressure and temperature interval within which oil
is formed.
Organic components
Parts of organisms such as plants, animals and bacteria.
Reservoir rock
A porous rock whose pore structure can contain oil.
Sedimentology
The field of geology dealing with the characteristics and
formation of sediments and bedrock.
Sediments
Organic, inorganic or chemical deposits. This includes
organic sediments of dead plants and animals entrapped
in substrata without rotting.
Source rock
Source rock contains organic components which over
geological time are capable of being converted into oil
and gas.

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2.3 Production and exploration

2.4 Drilling

Barrel of oil
One barrel of crude oil = 158.57 litres. The worlds combined
oil reserves known of are 1,258 billion barrels. (2008)

Bit integrity
Quality of the drill bit.

Injection of water and gas into substrata

Method for pushing up oil from substrata. CO2 is the most
effective, but is costlier and in scarce supply due to purity
requirements.
Licence
The lease of rights to a body of water for a specified period
of time during which the body of water is accessible to a
specific shipping or oil company.
Offshore oil field
An oil field at sea.
Oil reserve
A calculated estimate of the possible oil recoverable based
on the technology available and economic factors.
Oil tanker
A ship for transporting oil in large chambers in its hull.
Pipeline
A series of interconnected tubes through which oil is
transported to shore.
Qatar
One of the most geologically challenging areas for oil
exploration on earth. Production from the Al Shaheen oil
field, did not begin until 1994, and today the oil field yields
200,000 barrels of oil per day.
Recovery
The process for bringing up oil from substrata and in so
doing producing the oil.
Recovery rate
Percentage of an oil field's potential for oil recovery
frequently 2060%.
The Danish North Sea basin
A complex, demanding production area where oil and gas
are embedded in limestone (formed 6596 million years
ago) and sandstone (53203 million years ago). The most
important oil fields are Dan, Gorm, Skjold and Halfdan.

Blowout
Dangerous expulsion of drilling fluid, water and hydrocarbons up through the well hole caused by a failure of
pressure-control systems.
Drill bit
The part of the drill string that crushes rocks to the size of
gravel, which is conveyed up and out of the well hole.
Drill ship
Workplace for drilling for oil in deep water.
Drilling
The process of using a drill to make a series of perforated
sections narrowing in diameter down to a depth of 5 km.
Drilling rig
A workplace at sea from which oil wells are sunk.
Jackup drilling rig typically used in shallow waters
(frequently used in Denmark).
Hydrostatic pressure
The pressure occurring in a fluid when it is "entrapped".
Oil platform
A platform from which oil wells are sunk.
ROP (Rate of Penetration)
The penetration velocity, or drilling speed.
Semi-submersible
Floating drilling rig.