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Barite & Bentonite Barite, (BaSO4) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate. The baryte group consists of baryte, Celestine, anglesite and anhydrite. Baryte itself is generally white or colourless, and is the main source of barium. Baryte and Celestine form a solid solution (Ba,Sr)SO4 77% worldwide is used as a weighting agent for drilling fluids in oil and gas exploration to suppress high formation pressures and prevent blowouts. As a well is drilled, the bit passes through... various formations, each with different characteristics. The deeper the hole, the more barite is needed as a percentage of the total mud mix. An additional benefit of barite is that it is non-magnetic and thus does not interfere with magnetic measurements taken in the borehole, either during logging-while-drilling or in separate drill hole logging. Barite used for drilling petroleum wells can be black, blue, brown or gray depending on the ore body. The barite is finely ground so that at least 97% of the material, by weight, can pass through a 200-mesh (75-m) screen, and no more than 30%, by weight, can be less than 6 m diameter. The ground barite also must be dense enough so that its specific gravity is 4.2 or greater, soft enough to not damage the bearings of a tricone drill bit, chemically inert, and containing no more than 250 milligrams per kilogram of soluble alkaline salts. Bentonite Bentonite is an absorbent aluminium phyllosilicate, essentially impure clay consisting mostly of montmorillonite. Much of bentonite's usefulness in the drilling and geotechnical engineering industry comes from its unique rheological properties. Relatively small quantities of bentonite suspended in water form a viscous, shear thinning material. Most often, bentonite suspensions are also thixotropic, although rare cases of rheopectic behavior have also been reported. At high enough concentrations (~60 grams of bentonite per litre of suspension), bentonite suspensions begin to take on the characteristics of a gel (a fluid with a minimum yield strength required to make it move). For these reasons it is a common component of drilling mud used to curtail drilling fluid invasion by its propensity for aiding in the formation of mud cake.

Oil Exploration and Production is a complex process, and each step of the oil supply chain involves specialized technology. Oil reservoirs are identified through geological field work, geological modeling, seismic imaging and exploratory drilling. Oil is then extracted with production equipment and transported in tankers and pipelines. Oil refineries refine crude oil into various marketable end products including gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, marine fuel, petrochemical feed-stocks and other chemicals.

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