Browsing by Subject "Petroleum"
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Item An offshore research and production facility in the Philippine Sea(Texas Tech University, 1981-05) Berry, John HaroldIn today's world, man is facing the crucial impacts of staggering population growth, increased food and energy consumption, and increasing dependence upon available natural resources. Solutions have been proposed and implemented-birth control, soil conservation, energy conservation, fuel efficiency, and oil, gas, and coal production increases are just a few. These apparent answers are the views of Western societies, though the most acute deprivations occur in the developing Eastern cultures. The recent "energy crisis" has emphasized the consequence of mass industrialization. The answer to this dilemma is not energy independence or making more and using less; it can only be seen in a comprehensive reevalution of the world's energy needs and potential energy sources. As OPEC dominates the world petroleum market, the gluttonous industrialized countries are forced to research and develop alternative energy reservoirs. To anticipate future energy directions, one must establish a clear distinction between non-renewable and renewable energy potentials. This creates an obvious failure in dependence upon fossil fuels. It is debatable whether the world will reach maximum petroleum production in 1990 or beyond 2000, but it is inevitable. Coal and natural gas are also resources in finite quantities. Present day attention is now focused upon the capitalization of the natural energy that surrounds us continuously - air movement, thermal absorption and radiation exposure. This thesis will be limited to the investigation of these constantly renewable energy sources as they exist in the marine environment. The energy production technologies to be implemented will include Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC), wave energy conversion, wind energy conversion, and the diversified aspects of solar energy. To prevent the exploitation of these resources and the delicately balanced cycles within the marine environment, one must seek a natural integral system. Integral in the sense of a unified whole, by definition "essential to completeness". To achieve this integral design there will be greater emphasis upon process than with realized form. As man extends his built environment further into the oceans, a distinct possibility is that this coexistence will be of greater benefit to the marine inhabitants than it will be to the human users. Evidence shows an increase in the biological populations due to man-made marine structures.Item Analysis of PDC bit wobbling and drilling string buckling(Texas Tech University, 2004-05) Bhagavatula, RamkamalEarlier study of failure of Polycrystalline-diamond-compact (PDC) bits was attributed to "bit-whirling" theory which caused cutter chipping due to down-hole bit vibrations. Based on the bit-whirl theory, the PDC bit design was modified by changing the cutters orientation, introduction of low-friction pads around the bit so that the net imbalance forces from the cutters are minimized. The "bit-whirl" theory by itself was not sufficient to address the failure mechanism as it considered only the kinematics of the bit and the geometric aspect of the bit dynamics was neglected. The study in the paper focuses on another theory known as PDC "bit-wobbling" which takes into account the bit down-hole dynamics. Based on this theory, a kinetic model of the bit and the bottom-hole assembly (BHA) is developed. The various forces acting on the model are presented and analyzed. Sensitivity analysis is carried out on the model to study the effects of stabilizer position, phase angle, bit velocity, bit weight, drill-collar stiffness etc. on the backward cutter velocity. This study identifies possible solutions for reducing the bit-wobbling. The theory of buckling is applied to derive the analytical solutions to drill-string buckling. Based on the analytical solutions, the different buckling orders are modeled and analyzed. The buckled drill-string and bending moment profiles of first and higher-order buckling are generated through computer programs given in the Appendix. The effect of various parameters on drill-string buckling is studied and presented..Item The Austin chalk and its petroleum potential : South-Central Texas(2017-10-09) Thornhill, Stephen Alan; Baylor University. Dept. of Geology.The Austin Chalk Formation (Upper Cretaceous) consists of uniformly bedded lithologies throughout south-central Texas. The lithologies found within the subsurface are technically wackestones to mudstones. These general textures may be divided into three specific facies: 1) Chalk Marl facies (1,000-7,500 feet), 2) Micritic Limestone (7,500-12,000 feet), and 3) Black calcarous shale facies (12,000 feet). The Chalk has been divided into four specific mappable units: 1) Lower Atco, 2) Upper Atco, 3) Bruceville Chalk Marl, and 4) Futchins Calk. The thickening trends of three units along with the total Austin Chalk interval suggest a uniform period of deposition during the Upper Cretaceous. The sediments deposited during this period were formed along a carbonate ramp-platform depositional environment. Structuring in south-central Texas is primarily faulting and fracturing trends and the homoclinal dip of Chalk to the southeast. The faulting planes are near vertical (65-70 degrees) and strike NE-SW. Fractures are oriented perpendicular to one another and are positioned NE-SW and NW-SE. Production potential of hydrocarbons within the Austin Chalk is controlled mainly by fracture development. Therefore, zones which intersect highly fractured areas are generally good producing wells. Giddings field and various fields within Gonzales County possess the largest amount of hydrocarbon production throughout the study area. Production is greatest in Lee County -- 27 million barrels (bbls) of oil and 75.5 billion cubic feet (BCF) of gas. The cumulative production along the productive chalk trend decreases in a southwesterly direction. This situation implies that fracture development will also show a decrease in this direction. Future development of the Austin Chalk is controlled by economic conditions. However, the best potential zones for future drilling sites may be indicated by "sweet spots" located on cumulative production maps.Item Barriers to a biofuels transition in the U.S. liquid fuels sector(2009-12) O'Donnell, Michael Joseph; Webber, Michael E., 1971-; Allen, David T.Demand for liquid fuels (i.e., petroleum products) has burdened the U.S. with major challenges, including national security and economic concerns stemming from rising petroleum imports; impacts of global climate change from rising emissions of CO2; and continued public health concerns from criteria and hazardous (i.e., toxic) air pollutants. Over the last decade or so, biofuels have been touted as a supply-side solution to several of these problems. Biofuels can be produced from domestic biomass feedstocks (e.g., corn, soybeans), they have the potential to reduce GHG emissions when compared to petroleum products on a lifecycle basis, and some biofuels have been shown to reduce criteria air pollutants. Today, there are numerous policy incentives—existing and proposed—aimed at supporting the biofuels industry in the U.S. However, the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Program stands as perhaps the most significant mandate imposed to date to promote the use of biofuels. Overall, the RFS stands as the key driver in a transition to biofuels in the near term. By mandating annual consumption of biofuels, increasing to 36 bgy by 2022, the program has the potential to significantly alter the state of the U.S. liquid fuels sector. Fuel transitions in the transportation sector are the focus of this thesis. More specifically, the increasing consumption of biofuels in the transportation sector, as mandated by the RFS, is examined. With a well-developed, efficient, and expensive, petroleum-based infrastructure in place, many barriers must be overcome for biofuels to play a significant role in the transportation sector. Identifying and understanding the barriers to a biofuels transition is the objective of this thesis. Although fuel transitions may seem daunting and unfamiliar, the U.S. transportation sector has undergone numerous transitions in the past. Chapter 2 reviews major fuel transitions that have occurred in the U.S. liquid fuels sector over the last half century, including the phasing out of lead additives in gasoline, the transition from MTBE to ethanol as the predominant oxygenate additive in gasoline, and the recent introduction of ULSD. These historical transitions represent the uncertainty and diversity of fuel transition pathways, and illustrate the range of impacts that can occur across the fuel supply chain infrastructure. Many pertinent lessons can be derived from these historical transitions and used to identify and assess barriers facing the adoption of alternative fuels (i.e., biofuels) and to understand how such a transition might unfold. Computer models can also help to explore the implications of fuel transitions. In order to better understand the barriers associated with fuel transitions, and to identify options for overcoming these barriers, many recent research efforts have used sophisticated modeling techniques to analyze energy transitions. Chapter 3 reviews a number of these recent modeling efforts with a focus on understanding how these methodologies have been applied, or may be adapted, to analyzing a transition to biofuels. Four general categories of models are reviewed: system dynamics, complex adaptive systems, infrastructure optimization, and economic models. In chapter 4, scenarios created from a high-level model of the liquid fuels sector (the Liquid Fuels Transition model) are presented to explore potential pathways and barriers to a biofuels transition. The scenarios illustrate different pathways to meeting the requirements of the RFS mandate, and differ based on the overall demand of liquid fuels, how the biofuels mandate is met (i.e., the mix of biofuels), and the status of the ethanol blend limit in the motor gasoline sector. The scenarios are used to evaluate the infrastructure implications associated with a biofuels transition, and illustrate the uncertainty that exists in assessing such a transition.Item Foam drilling simulator(Texas A&M University, 2007-04-25) Paknejad, Amir SamanAlthough the use of compressible drilling fluids is experiencing growth, the flow behavior and stability properties of drilling foams are more complicated than those of conventional fluids. In contrast with conventional mud, the physical properties of foam change along the wellbore. Foam physical and thermal properties are strongly affected by pressure and temperature. Many problems associated with field applications still exist, and a precise characterization of the rheological properties of these complex systems needs to be performed. The accurate determination of the foam properties in circulating wells helps to achieve better estimation of foam rheology and pressure. A computer code is developed to process the data and closely simulate the pressure during drilling a well. The model also offers a detailed discussion of many aspects of foam drilling operations and enables the user to generate many comparative graphs and tables. The effects of some important parameters such as: back-pressure, rate of penetration, cuttings concentration, cuttings size, and formation water influx on pressure, injection rate, and velocity are presented in tabular and graphical form. A discretized heat transfer model is formulated with an energy balance on a control volume in the flowing fluid. The finite difference model (FDM) is used to write the governing heat transfer equations in discretized form. A detailed discussion on the determination of heat transfer coefficients and the solution approach is presented. Additional research is required to analyze the foam heat transfer coefficient and thermal conductivity.Item Investigation of an advanced technique to select an optimal inhibition and removal method of paraffin deposition in oil wells(Texas Tech University, 2001-08) Baruah, Bikram M.From the very beginning of the business of hydrocarbon exploitation, the problem of paraffin deposition was encountered with varying degrees. With oil exploitation expanding into exotic frontiers like deep-water and the Arctic Circle, wax deposition became a greater challenge for the operators. Various mechanical, thermal and chemical methods are used to remove and prevent wax deposition. However, it is often difficult to select the most effective and economic remedial measure for a given situation. Due to uniqueness of every crude, there is no single technique that is most effective for all types of crude oils. The main objective of this thesis project is to explore the feasibilities of using computer-based consulting systems, commonly known as expert systems, to select the best remedial measure of wax deposition in a given situation. Extensive literature survey was carried out to understand and collect information on the phenomena of wax deposition and removal/prevention techniques. A separate survey was conducted to understand expert systems in general and also to find out the criteria and resources required for building one. Then a feasibility study of building an envisioned computer system was conducted. Steps were also taken to initiate the building of an expert system.Item Modeling the mobilization of connate water while injecting water to displace oil(Texas Tech University, 1998-12) Husband, Michael EarnestThe presence of connate water in an oil reservoir can significantly affect oil recovery. The mobility of the connate water can have adverse effects on the success of injected water additives designed to increase oil recovery. This research is an effort to characterize the mechanisms involved in the displacement process of connate water. This dissertation is the first attempt to characterize connate water mechanisms by creating a set of relative permeability curves to describe the injected water displacing connate water in a system that contains oil, injected water and connate water. The work in the dissertation is a detailed analysis of the displacement test. Buckley and Leverett developed the theory and equation to predict the mobility (fractional flow) of oil and water from oil and water relative permeability curves. The Buckley/Leverett equation is the basis of the unsteady-state method of creating relative permeability curves from displacement tests of immiscible fluids. This dissertation presents a modification of the Buckley/Leverett theory to characterize the miscible displacement of connate water by injected water. Relative permeability curves for connate and injected water were created from fractional flow values determined by using the expanded Buckley/Leverett theory. The relative permeability curves describe the mobility of connate water as the water saturation increases due to water injection. The combined set of permeability values can be used in a four-component computer simulation routine to predict how the oil recovery was influenced by connate water mobility in a field scale enhanced oil recovery program.Item NMR relaxation in crude oils at elevated temperatures(Texas Tech University, 1999-08) Jacob, JamesUntil recently, most nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements in support of lab petrophysics and well logging were conducted at room temperature. However, the T2 relaxation of bulk crude oils strongly depends on temperature. Measurement of the crude oil relaxation response at reservoir temperatures is needed for optimal interpretation of log data. This work used a Can-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) pulse sequence to measure the NMR T2 relaxation at 2 MHz. Four stock tank crude oils were studied over the temperature range 30-100°C at a constant pressure of 300 psig. For comparison, the T2 temperature response of five viscosity standards was measured over the same temperature range and compared to the crude oil data. A two component exponential decay described all the T2 data. As expected from the temperature dependence of translational diffusion, there is not a universal curve that fits all hydrocarbon mixtures. The standards and the crude oils did not fit a single curve. The observed T2 varied directly with absolute temperature and inversely with the viscosity. For the crude oils, the log mean T2 was related to a viscosity value calculated from the stock tank oil viscosity conelation as developed by Beggs and Robinson and modified by Egbogah. This T2 relation did not agree with a widely accepted T2 conelation developed at room temperature from oil samples of differing viscosity (0.7 to 1000 cp). When the viscosity of one of the crude oils was measured as a function of temperature, that data then fit the room temperature T2 conelation. Viscosity values derived from correlations based only on API gravity are evidently insufficient to make close estimates of crude oil T2 relaxation at elevated temperatures. In the T2-viscosity plot, one of the crudes was a distinct outlier from the others. The composition of this sample suggests further investigations into the T2 relaxation of oil-based mud filtrate and mixtures of crude and oil-based mud filtrate.Item Paradox Basin source rock, southeastern Utah : organic geochemical characterization of Gothic and Chimney Rock units, Ismay and Desert Creek zones, within a sequence stratigraphic framework(1995-08) Tischler, Keith Louris; Kirkland, Brenda Lee, 1959-The Chimney Rock and Gothic units of the Pennsylvanian Paradox Formation have long been considered source rocks for the rich hydrocarbon fields of southeastern Utah. Fundamental questions about these units include: source and nature of the organic material, source rock character, and position of the source rocks in the existing sequence stratigraphic framework. The Chimney Rock and Gothic, historically referred to as shales, are composed of calcareous mudstone, dolomudstone, and calcareous sandstone. High total organic carbon (TOC) values are more closely linked to sequence stratigraphic position than lithology. In the Gothic, TOC values decrease upwards. Terrestrial maceral content increases upwards in both the Gothic and the Chimney Rock as determined through point-count and qualitative observation. Pyrolysis indicates that greater than anticipated terrestrial influence is present and is consistent for all wells. No distinct difference in geochemical character exists between the two units. Sequence stratigraphic boundaries appear to be as good as, or better, than traditional lithostratigraphic boundaries for determining high TOC occurrence and source rock location. Within repetitive major sea level transgressions the organic matter that fed the basin evolved from a marine-dominated signature to a terrestrial-dominated signature.Item Petroleum Service Projects in the Gulf of Guinea(2011-10-21) Ken-Worgu, Kenneth ChukwumekaThe goal of this record of study is to examine the major facets involved in managing several petroleum service projects located in three different countries in the Gulf of Guinea simultaneously, while effectively engaging in business development activities for the Oil and Industrial Services Group (OIS). This work also furnishes adequate background on related subject matters to enable understanding of the projects presented. The petroleum services sector is the back bone of the oil and gas industry. Services companies are vital to the success of all petroleum and energy producers in the USA, the Gulf of Guinea and the world. There is a need and demand for these service companies because they play various roles such as logistics, drilling, construction, dredging, pipe laying, procurement, food supply, human resource supply, etc. The Gulf of Guinea comprises of countries from west and central Africa. This project was limited to Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon. This area holds the largest petroleum reserves in Africa and plays a vital role in the global supply of petroleum. The Oil and Industrial Services Group (OIS), plans to establish herself as one of the leading petroleum service companies in this gulf. To manage this expansion, I have taken the role of Gulf of Guinea manager to apply my background as a petroleum engineer as well as my business skills to build a successful division of the company. This work provides a record of study of the management of services, projects and contracts carried out by the OIS group in the gulf of Guinea. The following are the specific projects in the Gulf of Guinea that I participated in: Managing delivering, maintenance and marketing of offshore vessels, Offshore pipe laying project, Integrated pipeline maintenance project, Development a petroleum technical training facilities, Agbami pipe insulation project, Engineering lift project and Capital budgeting analysis for potential investments. The details of the specific tasks of the job, including objectives, description, managerial role, nontechnical aspects, approaches, information sources, discussions and contributions are projected in the body of this literature.Item Probabilistic Performance Forecasting for Unconventional Reservoirs With Stretched-Exponential Model(2011-08-08) Can, BunyaminReserves estimation in an unconventional-reservoir setting is a daunting task because of geologic uncertainty and complex flow patterns evolving in a long-stimulated horizontal well, among other variables. To tackle this complex problem, we present a reserves-evaluation workflow that couples the traditional decline-curve analysis with a probabilistic forecasting frame. The stretched-exponential production decline model (SEPD) underpins the production behavior. Our recovery appraisal workflow has two different applications: forecasting probabilistic future performance of wells that have production history; and forecasting production from new wells without production data. For the new field case, numerical model runs are made in accord with the statistical design of experiments for a range of design variables pertinent to the field of interest. In contrast, for the producing wells the early-time data often need adjustments owing to restimulation, installation of artificial-lift, etc. to focus on the decline trend. Thereafter, production data of either new or existing wells are grouped in accord with initial rates to obtain common SEPD parameters for similar wells. After determining the distribution of model parameters using well grouping, the methodology establishes a probabilistic forecast for individual wells. We present a probabilistic performance forecasting methodology in unconventional reservoirs for wells with and without production history. Unlike other probabilistic forecasting tools, grouping wells with similar production character allows estimation of self-consistent SEPD parameters and alleviates the burden of having to define uncertainties associated with reservoir and well-completion parameters.Item Quantification of production recovery using probabilistic approach and semi-analytical model for unconventional oil reservoirs(2015-12) Choi, Bong Joon; Srinivasan, Sanjay; Sepehrnoori, Kamy, 1951-Decline curve analysis is widely applied for production forecasting in oil & gas industry. However, many models do not work for super-tight, unconventional wells with dominant fracture flows. Some novel decline models have been introduced for unconventional plays, but the transition time between the transient and pseudo-steady flow period is difficult to model with such pure empirical relations. Consequently, the decline projections are often inaccurate and furthermore, they are difficult to quantify the uncertainty associated with the predictions. To address these issues, a combined probabilistic approach is proposed that uses a dual-porosity semi-analytical decline model within an extended bootstrap framework in order to provide estimates for the P10, P50 and P90 production profiles. The probabilistic method employed in this research is a data-generative approach that employs modified bootstrap method to generate multiple decline model projections. The semi-analytical model is an approximate decline model that optimizes parameters describing flow in matrix-fracture systems using the observed production profile. In the proposed method, probabilistic approach and semi-analytical decline model are combined. The modified approach is compared to the performances developed with Arps’ hyperbolic model. Both models are fitted by optimizing respective parameters and 50 synthetic data sets are used to draw confidence interval projections. The probabilistic approach is extended by proposing alternate blocking techniques – variance of the mean and analysis of the variance (ANOVA), in place of a scheme based on the autocorrelation exhibited by the decline data, originally implemented by other researchers. The cumulative production and forecast period production errors are calculated for these alternative schemes. For all proposed applications, two unconventional, horizontal oil wells are used to test the results. Both these wells exhibit sharp decline in production rate in the first few months that is related to fracture flow regimes. The results show that the proposed application of semi-analytical model with probabilistic approach significantly improved the projections. The implementation of alternate blocking techniques also show improvement in confidence interval projections, The resultant uncertainty distributions are more accurate and precise than those obtained using the autocorrelation based schemes. The combined results show that ANOVA blocking technique outperformed the other two techniques.Item Refinery-wide optimization using neural network surrogate models(Texas Tech University, 2002-08) Hetzel, Matthew JosephProcess optimization helps operate chemical processes more efficiently. Currently, the state-of-the-art in petroleum refineries is to use nonlinear unit-wide optimizers in conjuction with a linear optimizer to schedule the fiow between different process units. This approach, however, does not capture all of the potential benefits of optimization. In this work, a structure for performing a nonlinear refinery-wide optimization in an implementable manner is investigated. This structure uses neural networks to model the process in place of detailed, first-principle models. Neural networks are used because they can be solved much faster than detailed, first-principle, differential/algebraic equation (DAE) models. The detailed models and neural network models necessary to implement this method have been developed. Some discussion of neural network structure is presented, and methods of unconstrained optimization are developed for use in neural network training. Since the refinery optimization problem is subject to a number of nonlinear process constraints, the topic of constrained optimization is discussed as well. The neural network models are optimized and the resulting optimum was compared with the optimum found by optimization of the detailed models. The resulting program was profiled to determine the most computationally-intensive components. Since neural network training is a time-intensive problem, the use of parallel computers is examined. The platforms tested were a SGI Origin 2000 supercomputer and a cluster of Compaq Alpha computers. Finally, the time required to perform the optimization on a full-scale refinery is estimated.Item Spectrographic methods as applied to the analysis of oil well cuttings(Texas Tech University, 1940-06) Sheehan, JohnNot availableItem Thermoporoelastic Effects of Drilling Fluid Temperature on Rock Drillability at Bit/Formation Interface(2012-10-26) Thepchatri, Kritatee 1984-A drilling operation leads to thermal disturbances in the near-wellbore stress, which is an important cause of many undesired incidents in well drilling. A major cause of this thermal disturbance is the temperature difference between the drilling fluid and the downhole formation. It is critical for drilling engineers to understand this thermal impact to optimize their drilling plans. This thesis develops a numerical model using partially coupled thermoporoelasticity to study the effects of the temperature difference between the drilling fluid and formation in a drilling operation. This study focuses on the thermal impacts at the bit/formation interface. The model applies the finite-difference method for the pore pressure and temperature solutions, and the finite-element method for the deformation and stress solutions. However, the model also provides the thermoporoelastic effects at the wellbore wall, which involves wellbore fractures and wellbore instability. The simulation results show pronounced effects of the drilling fluid temperature on near-wellbore stresses. At the bottomhole area, a cool drilling fluid reduces the radial and tangential effective stresses in formation, whereas the vertical effective stress increases. The outcome is a possible enhancement in the drilling rate of the drill bit. At the wellbore wall, the cool drilling fluid reduces the vertical and tangential effective stresses but raises the radial effective stress. The result is a lower wellbore fracture gradient; however, it benefits formation stability and prevents wellbore collapse. Conversely, the simulation gives opposite induced stress results to the cooling cases when the drilling fluid is hotter than the formation.Item University lands: resource utilization for higher education, 1838-1996(Texas Tech University, 2004-05) Houck, Michael L ToddThe 2.1 million-acre land reserve of the University of Texas and Texas A&M University, called "university lands," played a significant role in the financial history of both institutions. This dissertation traces the history of the university lands from 1838 to 1996. President Mirabeau B. Lamar in 1838 announced plans to set aside a fifty-league land reserve for the establishment and maintenance of a university. In 1876, the Constitution called for the establishment of a University of Texas, the Permanent University Fund (PUF), the Available University Fund (AUF), and a grant of one million acres of land, known as the "constitutional million." An additional land grant in 1883 represented the so-called "legislative million" and completed the present-day university lands. The study examines the development, use, and management of the university lands. Following the establishment of the University of Texas in 1881, the University of Texas Board of Regents began lobbying for exclusive control over the sale and lease of university lands. Following two decades of such efforts, lawmakers granted the regents' request in 1895. The year 1896 marked a watershed in the history of university lands. The regents hired an agent to lease and sell university lands on their behalf Income increased almost immediately and surface use diversified in the following years, but, more importantly, oil was discovered on university lands in 1923. The year 1929 was also important in the history of university lands. That year the legislature established the University Lands Surface Office and University Lands Geology Office. Lawmakers also set up the Board for Lease of University Lands to handle mineral lease sales and the University Lands Survey Office to re-survey the entire 2.1 million-acre university lands. Surface leasing provided considerable income for the AUF throughout the twentieth century, but oil revenues proved to be the real windfall. Through sound policies, university lands management organization helped make the PUF the largest endowment of a public institution of higher learning in the United States. By the 1990s, oil revenues began to decline and the regents looked to investment management to continue sustained growth of the PUF. In 1996 the regents established the University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO) to manage PUF investments. They also placed the three management organizations. University Lands Surface, Mineral Interests, and Accounting, under a single director and designated the combined organizations as University Lands West Texas Operations (WTO).Item Will Iraq escape the resource curse?(2011-05) Ahmed, Saya Ali; Fisher, W. L. (William Lawrence), 1932-; Steel, Ronald J.; Ruppel, Stephen C.; Malik, Krishan A.Some oil-rich countries suffer from a resource curse, a paradoxical situation in which a country with oil wealth has poor economic growth and social development. A country can escape the resource curse by selecting appropriate policies. Governments are responsible for utilizing the right policies and managing the natural resource revenue effectively to benefit their nation. In this report, various economic, political, and social measurements are used to examine the fall into the resource curse by Nigeria, Iraq, and Brazil for a period of time, and the scape of Norway from the resource curse. The report also evaluates the current circumstances of Iraq to determine which direction the resource curse will take. Several recommendations are presented to direct Iraq out of the resource curse.