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The gas/oil ratio is the amount of natural gas and oil removed from the ground together. Natural gas can be found with crude oil, and the ratio varies between fields. When oil is extracted, associated natural gas is released, which can decrease the volume of oil available for processing. High gas/oil ratio wells were historically undesirable, but new developments allow for monetization or injection of natural gas back into the well.
The gas/oil ratio refers to the relative amounts of oil and natural gas that are simultaneously removed from the ground. Natural gas can be found in a nearby reservoir or exist in solution with crude oil. When oil is drawn to the surface, much of the natural gas comes out of solution. The resulting volumes of the two substances can then be used to determine the gas/oil ratio. If the deposits present in an oil field have extremely high gas-to-oil ratios, the resulting drilling sites are usually referred to as gas wells.
Oil and natural gas are two highly associated fossil fuels and when one is found, the other is often found as well. Most crude oil fields have some amount of natural gas present, although the gas/oil ratio can vary widely between fields. In some cases an oil field will have very little natural gas, and in other situations gas fields may be located that have no associated oil fields. When natural gas is found in and around oil, it is called associated gas. Separate deposits are known as non-associated gas and are often considered more economically desirable.
When oil is pulled out of the ground, any associated natural gas will tend to leach out of solution. A large part of the gas usually releases immediately, although the process can continue through each stage of transportation and processing. As the natural gas comes out of solution and the gas/oil ratio decreases, the volume of the oil naturally decreases. This can result in less oil being available for export or processing than has been removed from the ground if volume numbers are examined immediately after extraction. For this reason, it can be important to determine exactly where the volume measurement has been made along the supply chain.
In many cases, wells with a high gas/oil ratio are considered economically undesirable. Associated gas has historically been burned or burned on site because it was not economically feasible to capture and process it. There have been developments in that area that have allowed high gas/oil ratio wells to monetize natural gas or inject it back into the well to create additional pressure. In some cases, the gas is used as fuel on site to run generators rather than simply burning it to get rid of it.
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