中石油2016通用英语选读课文16.doc

16. Unconventional Oil and Gas 非常规油气1.One of the universally accepted definitions for unconventional oil and gas is that they are extracted using techniques other than the conventional method.In terms of the chemical composition,unconventional oil and gas are identical to conventional.Unconventional oil consists of oil sands,extra heavy oil and shale oil,which need advanced technology to be extracted.Unconventional gas is found in highly compact rock or coalbeds and requires a specific set of production techniques.1.非常规油气的一个广为接受的定义是它们是以非常规手段开发的油气。从化学成分上来看，非常规油气和常规油气是相同的。非常规石油包括油砂、超重石油和页岩油，但需要先进技术开采。非常规天然气存于高度致密的岩石或煤层中，需要使用特殊开采技术才能获得。2.Oil Sands2.油砂3.Tar sands are a combination of clay,sand,water,and bitumen,a heavy black viscous oil.Tar sands can be mined and processed to extract the oil-rich bitumen,which is then refined into oil.The bitumen in tar sands cannot be pumped from the ground in its natural state;instead tar sand deposits are mined,usually using strip mining or open pit techniques,or the oil is extracted by underground heating with additional upgrading.3.焦油砂是一种粘土、砂、水和沏青（一种重质黑色稠油）的混合物。通过开采和加工焦油砂，可获取富含石油的沥青质，然后再将沥青质炼制成石油。油砂中的天然沥青无法从地下泵上来，但油砂沉积物可以开采出来，通常使用露天开采技术或地下加热处理技术开采。4.Tar sands deposits near the surface can be recovered by open pit mining techniques.New methods introduced in the 1990s considerably improved the efficiency of tar sands mining,thus reducing the cost.These systems use large hydraulic and electrically powered shovels to dig up tar sands and load them into enormous trucks that can carry up to 320 tons of tar sands per load.4.近地表的焦油砂沉积物，可以通过露天采矿技术进行开采。20世纪90年代引进的新方法大大提高了焦油砂的开采效率，从而降低了成本。这些方法包括使用大型液压挖土机和电动挖土机挖掘焦油砂，然后装载到巨型卡车上，这种卡车每次可负载多达320吨的焦油砂。5.After mining,the tar sands are transported to an extraction plant,where a hot water process separates the bitumen from sand,water,and minerals.The separation takes place in separation cells.Hot water is added to the sand,and the resulting slurry is piped to the extraction plant where it is agitated.The combination of hot water and agitation releases bitumen from the oil sand,and causes tiny air bubbles to attach to the bitumen droplets,that float to the top of the separation vessel,where the bitumen can be skimmed off.Further processing removes residual water and solids.The bitumen is then transported and eventually upgraded into synthetic crude oil.5.焦油砂挖出后，运至提炼厂，经过热水处理，沥青质便与砂、水以及矿物质分离开来，该分离过程一般在分离间进行。焦油砂加高温热水后产生泥浆，泥浆通过管道运至提炼厂，进行搅拌。经过热水混合搅拌后，沥青就从焦油砂中释放出来；微小气泡附着在沥青质微滴的表面，使沥青质微滴漂浮到分离器的上部，从而将沥青质撇出去；然后再去掉残余水和固体残留物，将沥青质运走，最终精炼成合成原油。6.About two tons of tar sands are required to produce one barrel of oil.Roughly75% of the bitumen can be recovered from sand.After oil extraction,the spent sand and other materials are then returned to the mine,which is eventually reclaimed. 6.生产一桶原油大约需要两吨焦油砂，焦油砂大约可以提取75%的沥青质。采油结束后，废弃油砂及其他物质都要运回矿场，使矿场恢复再生。7.In-situ production methods are used on bitumen deposits buried too deep for mining to be economically recovered.These techniques include steam injection,solvent injection,and firefloods,in which oxygen is injected and part of the resource burned to provide heat.So far steam injection has been the favoured method.Some of these extraction methods require large amounts of both water and energy(for heating and pumping).7.现场开采法适用于埋藏太深不宜开采，且开采不经济的沥青质沉积物。现场生产技术包括注蒸汽法、注溶剂法和火烧油层法（注入氧气，燃烧部分油砂提供热量）。目前为止注蒸汽法最受青睐。在这些提取方法中，有的需要大量的水和能量（用于加热和泵送）。8.Unconventional Gas8.非常规天然气9.Unconventional gas refers to a part of the gas resource base that has traditionally been considered difficult or costly to produce.Here we focus on the three main categories of unconventional gas: shale gas,tight gas and coalbed methane.9.非常规天然气是天然气资源中的一部分，人们一直认为其开发难度大,成本高。本文将重点涉及三种主要的非常规天然气：页岩气、致密气和煤层气。10. Shale gas is natural gas contained within a commonly occurring rock classified as shale.Shale formations are characterized by low permeability,with more limited ability of gas to flow through the rock than is the case with a conventional reservoir.These formations are often rich in organic matter and,unlike most hydrocarbon reservoirs,are typically the original source of the gas,i.e. shale gas is gas that has remained trapped in,or close to,its source rock.10.页岩气是一种常见岩石即页岩中的天然气。页岩层的特点是渗透率低，与常规油藏相比，气体在页岩中的流动能力较差。页岩层富含有机质，与大部分油藏不同的是，页岩层是典型的天然气生油母质，也就是说页岩气是吸附在生油岩表面或聚集在其内部的天然气。11.Coalbed methane,also known as coal seam gas,is natural gas contained in coalbeds.Although extraction of coalbed methane was initially undertaken to make mines safer,it is now typically produced from non-mineable coal seams.11.煤层气，也称为煤层甲烷，是煤层中的天然气。最初开采煤层甲烷是为了使矿场更安全，但现在通常是从不可开采煤层中生产煤层气。12.Tight gas is a general term for natural gas found in low permeability formations.Generally,we classify as tight gas those low permeability gas reservoirs that cannot produce economically without the use of technologies to stimulate flow of the gas towards the well,such as hydraulic fracturing.Tight gas is often a poorly defined category with no clear boundary between tight and conventional,nor between tight gas and shale gas.12.致密气是对存在于低渗透率地层中的天然气的通称。这些低渗透率气藏如果不使用水力压裂等增产措施使气体加速流向井底，生产就算不上经济可行。致密气的定义并不是很明确，与常规气、页岩气之间的界限并不甚清晰。13.Although the development cycle for unconventional gas and the technologies used in its production have much in common with those used in other parts of the upstream industry,unconventional gas developments do have some distinctive features and requirements,particularly in relation to the perceived higher risk of environmental damage and adverse social impacts.This helps to explain why the issue of unconventional gas exploitation has generated so much controversy.13.尽管非常规天然气的开发周期和生产技术与上游工业中其他类生产有很多共同点，但非常规天然气开发确实有其不同的特性和要求，尤其明显的是所面临的环境破坏风险较高，以及由此带来的不良社会影响等。这就解释了为什么非常规天然气开采引发了如此多的争议。14.The main reason for the potentially larger environmental impact of unconventional gas operations is the nature of the resources themselves:unconventional resources are less concentrated than conventional deposits and do not give