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Hydrocarbon Distribution in Sedimentary Basin
Hydrocarbon Distribution in Sedimentary Basin
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
The importance of temperature
MEMOIR SERIES
This R&D Memoir Series summarizes cumulative achievements made by Statoil
researchers and their associates in key technical areas: care is thus taken to
differentiate between achievements made by Statoil alone and those resulting from
external cooperation. The intended readership is anyone with a technical overview of
the petroleum industry. No specialist knowledge of the subject is required.
CONTENT
Introduction 3
Hydrocarbon traps
Heat, pressure and diagenesis
Confronting conventional wisdom
Selective bibliography 14
AUTHORS’ NOTE
The key to reducing exploration risk is the combining of geological and geophysical approaches. The
Golden Zone concept must therefore be seen as an exciting, yet somewhat provocative addition to the
overall exploration toolkit.
Ongoing research may also reveal unforeseen modifications or even chip away at some of the basic
tenets. Nevertheless, if exploration geoscientists are persuaded to pay more attention to the importance
of temperature in predicting the global occurrence of hydrocarbon accumulations, the authors have done
their job.
The text has been deliberately simplified to clarify the concept, and the line drawings, although based on
a wealth of genuine information, are likewise idealized models of reality.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The research summarized in this memoir was carried out by co-authors Per Arne Bjørkum, Paul Nadeau,
Olav Walderhaug and associates, partly before but mainly after they were employed by Statoil. They
would like to thank the following experts for helpful discussions on specific diagenetic aspects: Knut
Bjørlykke, Stephen N Ehrenberg, Eric H Oelkers and Nils E Aase. Statoil publication was sanctioned by
Ingve R Theodorsen, Bill Maloney, Tim Dodson, Morten Rye-Larsen and John Reidar Granli. Knut Georg
Røssland kindly undertook a detailed review of the penultimate manuscript and Tony Boassen provided
the ESEM/backscattered electron images.
AWARD
Paul Nadeau received the 2000 Schlumberger Medal “in recognition of scientific excellence in mineralogy
and its applications”. The award was presented at a meeting of the Mineralogical Society on the 4th of
January 2001 in the Great Hall of Durham University (UK).
Antony T Buller (series author), Per Arne Bjørkum*, Paul Nadeau* & Olav Walderhaug*
Designer: Bente Lie, GTS, Statoil Research Centre
Publisher: Statoil ASA
Printer: Netprint
Publication date: August 2005
INTRODUCTION
Statoil researchers have laid the foundation for a paradigm shift in exploration thinking
that transforms perceived geological complexity into a global pattern of elegant
simplicity.
The time is therefore ripe to introduce a step Accumulation, however, does not guarantee
change in the industry’s understanding of how preservation. This depends on the sealing capacity
hydrocarbon accumulation works, starting with a of the overlying cap rock sequence, which is 1
Source rocks normally consist of fine-
summary of the basic principles. normally a low permeability mudrock or shale. grained sediments (mudrocks and shales)
that are rich in organic matter derived
Simply stated, the entrapment of oil and gas If the cap rock becomes fractured, some of from marine or lacustrine algae and
depends on the timely coincidence and fortuitous land plants. The organic matter has to
the escaping hydrocarbons may accumulate in
be insoluble to ensure its preservation
arrangement of three geological components: a reservoir rocks higher up in the sedimentary during burial, and must therefore have
petroleum charge system; high quality reservoir succession – a process known as re-migration. been originally deposited in wet, muddy
rocks; and an effective seal. environments devoid of oxygen. This
insoluble material is known as kerogen.
The trick, of course, is to find present-day traps
The charge system consists of organic-rich source whose cap rocks are intact, and whose reservoir 2
Porosity is expressed as the percentage
rocks1 that are capable of generating and expelling rocks are (i) sufficiently porous2 to contain bulk pore volume of a rock, irrespective
hydrocarbons. of whether pores are interconnected or
commercial quantities of hydrocarbons and (ii)
isolated. Permeability is a measure (in
sufficiently permeable2 to allow them to flow fast milliDarcies, mD) of the relative ease with
As source rocks are buried deeper and exposed to enough towards production wells. which fluid flows through a porous rock.
Cap rock
Oil leg
Gas-oil contact
The prerequisites of hydrocarbon
entrapment and standard
Oil-water contact Shale
descriptive terms. Although there
Vertical are many trap configurations, the
closure one one shown here – an anticlinal
andst fold – is perhaps the simplest.
S
The single-headed arrow depicts
the primary migration of oil and
Spill point gas from a maturing source rock
into an overlying sandstone
Shale reservoir.
Gas
Shale Oil
Water
Source rock
4 INTRODUCTION
gradients, which define the average, linear rate pressure regimes on the Norwegian
ho
continental shelf.
sta
3
burial.
pre
p
per kilometre in hot basins (e.g. the Bombay basin) pressure gradient towards the lithostatic
nt
static
basins is about 30 oC per kilometre, which is slighly between lithostatic and pore water
less than that encountered on the Norwegian
t
7 pressure).
continental shelf (NCS). 50 100 150
Pressure (M Pa)
Pressure also increases with depth, but in a less Pore water pressure
obvious fashion. With reference to the figure, Overpressure
hydrostatic pressure is that imposed by a static, Effective stress
unbroken column of formation water held in the
pores. This implies that if the water were free to The depths at which overpressure ramps occur in
rise in a borehole it would reach the surface. The nature vary considerably from basin to basin.
curve to the right shows the lithostatic pressure
gradient, which represents the total load of the Both pressure and heat control diagenesis – the
overlying water-saturated sediments – the process by which unconsolidated sediments are
overburden. converted with time and burial into sedimentary
rocks through physical consolidation and
These two curves define the limits between which compaction (mechanical compaction) and the
the pressure of pore fluids in a sediment column chemical precipitation of new minerals (chemical
normally varies. compaction). New minerals, which may occur
as grain coatings, pore linings or pore fills, often
Initially, the pore pressure closely follows the tend to cement and thereby strengthen the rock
hydrostatic boundary, but at a certain depth in a framework.
given basin it swings towards the lithostatic limit.
All of these phenomena alter the geometries, sizes
From the point of departure, a state of overpressure and interconnections of pores, which usually lead
is said to exist. In other words, at and beyond the to a loss in porosity and permeability. Reductions
overpressure ‘ramp’ the fluid pressure at a given in pore space also result in the expulsion of vast
depth is considerably greater than the hydrostatic quantities of formation fluids from the rocks,
pressure. which flow upwards through the sediments.
INTRODUCTION 5
Confronting conventional squeezed out. This mechanism works well for the Examples of sandstone compaction,
ranging from a shallowly buried, high
early stages of burial; however, it has been widely
wisdom assumed that the same process (effective stress) porosity, un-cemented sample (left) to
a deeply buried, extremely low porosity,
controls the precipitation of mineral cements at
quartz cemented sample (right).
Deep diagenesis results from thermo-chemical deeper burial. Compaction stages are schematically
reactions illustrated in the cartoon below.
The validity of using effective stress as the
Subsiding sedimentary basins are therefore controlling parameter for porosity loss at depth is
dynamic entities when viewed over geological hereby challenged, not least because the effective
time. stress is at a minimum below overpressure ramps
and may thereafter remain low and almost
However, certain present-day geological features, constant. Porosity loss and permeability reduction
such as the stratigraphic framework3 and the should therefore come to a halt, which is far from
superimposition of tectonic and structural the truth.
disturbances4, can be indirectly – if somewhat
3
The distribution and arrangement of
coarsely – determined by using geophysical After 15 years of studying the diagenesis of sedimentary strata.
techniques and information from wells that happen sandstones6 and shales7 on the NCS, Statoil
to be in the vicinity of an enticing prospect5. But researchers argue that beyond a certain depth 4
Tectonic and structural disturbances are
the crucial aspects of hydrocarbon expulsion, manifested as folds, faults and fractures. A
the main controlling force behind the diagenetic fault is a plane or zone of weakness along
migration and accumulation, which commonly reduction of porosity and permeability is which rock masses break and whose sides are
take place over tens of millions of years, have to temperature – not effective stress. Deep significantly displaced relative to one another.
be predicted. A fracture is a small-scale rupture that may
diagenesis consequently results from time-
or may not involve displacement.
temperature controlled (thermo-chemical)
Up until now, quantitative models of porosity, reactions, which generate overpressure because 5
A prospect is a potential hydrocarbon trap
the fluids are unable to escape fast enough judged worthy of detailed evaluation.
permeability and pressure evolution in sedimentary
basins have mainly been based on mechanical through the rock matrix as porosity is reduced. 6
Unless otherwise stated, sandstones are
compaction. Porosity (and hence permeability) medium-grained sedimentary rocks that
loss is thus thought to be controlled by effective As will be seen, this empirically verifiable, yet consist mainly of sand-sized grains of the
mineral quartz (SiO2).
stress; that is, the total pressure exerted on controversial theory helps to transform perceived
sediment grain contacts by the overburden minus geological complexity into a global pattern of elegant 7
Shales originate as watery mud and
the fluid pressure. This physically pushes loose sand simplicity, and has important consequences on mudrocks that become harder during burial
as the interstitial water is squeezed out.
grains, silt particles and clay minerals ever closer our understanding of hydrocarbon migration and They often contain about 70% or more
and harder together while the interstitial water is accumulation. clay-sized minerals.
Deposition
Mechanical compaction
Quartz grain
These conclusions have been built into a commercial opportunity for the pressure to be reduced 4
EXEMPLAR™ was developed by
software modelling package, EXEMPLAR™4. At by fluids migrating through highly permeable Geologica (now Aceca Geologica) in
Stavanger, Norway, based on concepts
temperatures below about 70 oC, the traditional rocks). Hard overpressure in sealed NCS pressure by co-authors Walderhaug and Bjørkum
principle of mechanical compaction is used because compartments starts at about 120 oC. during their earlier tenure at Rogaland
porosity loss is a function of effective stress. This Research, and has been purchased by
many oil companies and universities for
is easily determined because the pore pressure is Shales reservoir quality prediction. It has also
approximately hydrostatic. Broadly similar conditions apply to shales, which been incorporated in Aceca Geologica’s
commonly undergo a widespread diagenetic basin modelling program, Fobos Pro,
which predicts overpressure build up due
At temperatures above about 60 to 80 oC, mineral reaction that starts gradually at 60 oC to temperature-controlled diagenetic
porosity loss is modelled as a function of thermo- when even minute quantities of the clay mineral reactions.
chemical reactions. smectite are converted to iIlite. 5
This statement is based on sound
scientific grounds, which are too complex
This greatly simplifies matters because it is no Traditionally, this reaction has been ascribed to to deal with here.
longer necessary to use effective stress as an a process involving the in-situ replacement of
input parameter, which at these temperatures is smectite by illite, accompanied by an increase in
highly uncertain. the amount of free water and the concomitant
development of overpressure.
Further simplification is achieved by refuting the
idea that porosity reduction stops in the presence As illite has a smaller surface area than smectite, it
of hydrocarbons5. was thought that shale permeability would slightly
increase. In practice, however, permeability
decreases. Neither this nor the observed increase
25 30
in pore pressure was ever satisfactorily explained.
5
MICRO-DARCY SHALE
0 0
NANO-DARCY SHALE:
40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 Prone to overpressure
Temperature (0C)
500.0 μm 50.0 μm 10 μm
precipitated illite is fibrous; and (iii) pervasive Hydraulic fracture Examples of diagenetic fibrous illite
cement are shown here in two sandstone
fibrous illitization leads to such intense subdivision
of pore spaces that shale permeability is mechanisms samples, because its minutness in
shales is impossible to photgraph.
dramatically reduced, thus rendering the affected
The central image shows a detail from
shales (and hence the deeper parts of basins) the image on the left (within frame),
Thermo-chemical driven porosity loss at
prone to overpressure development. where fibrous illite cement has been
depth sheds new light on the generation
precipitated in a pore bounded by a
At temperatures above 100 to 120 oC,
of hydraulic fractures and their role in corroded feldspar grain (left) and a
hydrocarbon migration quartz grain (right). The right-hand
permeability may theoretically be further reduced
image (of another sample) shows the
to levels as low as 10-9 Darcies due to the illitization extremely delicate growth habit of
of the clay mineral kaolinite6 – a condition that is Conventional thinking also suggests that fibrous illite, which strongly reduces
obviously conducive to the onset of extremely hydraulic fractures7 are triggered by overpressure permeability but has little effect on
hard overpressure. development in the pore fluids of those sediments porosity. (Images: Tony Boassen.)
that are unable to expel their fluids fast enough.
The classical inter-dependency between shale Once fracturing has occurred, it is thought
porosity and permeability loss in the mechanical that the pressure rapidly normalizes and then
compaction regime therefore breaks down when gradually builds up again. The leakage of water or
temperatures exceed 60 oC. This is due to the hydrocarbons through fractures would thus occur
precipitation of fibrous illite, which causes a in fairly regular, intermittent bursts.
dramatic reduction in permeability but has little 6
Kaolinite is a common clay mineral
effect on porosity. However, this idea is untenable in the light of formed by the weathering or alteration
Statoil’s claim that thermally-driven porosity and of feldspars and other aluminous silicate
minerals.
permeability loss is the controlling factor for fluid
100 expulsion. If so, the thermally controlled ‘chemical 7
A similar situation may pertain where
pump’ will continue to work, irrespective of the pre-existing tectonic zones of weakness
are (re-)activated.
pore pressure it generates, until the permeability
80 is so low that the pump is forced to create its own
permeability in the form of open fractures. The
fractures will typically remain open for several
Illite in clay fraction
0
40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 Cap rock integrity and re-migration
Temperature ( C) 0 Furthermore, the textbook view of what
constitutes a good cap rock is that it should
be as impermeable as possible or have the
Thermal interval of illite formation
mechanical strength to withstand fracturing.
However, this diametrically opposes the view
that low permeability is the prime cause of hard
Idealized graph of the diagenetic illite content in
the clay fraction of Norwegian continental shelf
overpressure and cap rock fracturing.
sandstones versus temperature. The sharp increase
in the percentage of illite corresponds to the thermal Again conventional wisdom is contested by suggesting
zone of illite formation between 120 and 150 oC. that ‘good cap rocks’ are fracture-prone!
POROSITY, PERMEABILITY AND HYDRAULIC FRACTURES 9
Shale
Hydraulic
fractures
e
120 0C
on
dst
San
Shale
Turning to re-migration, it is an incontrovertible the belief that thermally mature source rocks will
fact that hydrocarbons almost always lie convert oil-prone basins into gas-prone basins
uppermost in traps, simply because they are more no longer holds true, because the oil may simply
buoyant than water. They are therefore in direct have been transferred to higher levels.
contact with the overlying cap rock shale and will
be the first fluids to leave a trap once the cap rock Summary
seal has been breached.
1. Where subsurface temperatures are less than
As a hydrocarbon trap subsides and eventually 60 oC, porosity and related permeability losses
becomes subjected to temperatures over 120 arise from mechanical compaction by squeezing
°C, severe porosity reduction and associated pore out the interstitial formation water. Pore water
pressure elevation may lead to the generation of pressures are either identical with or very close
fractures propagating upwards through the cap to hydrostatic. This conforms to conventional
rock. thinking and is easily simulated in predictive
models.
Initially, the permeability of the fractures will be
small. However, as the permeability of the shale 2. Where subsurface temperatures are greater
matrix decreases over time, the permeability of the than 60 oC, there is a gradual transition from a
fracture will increase. The volume and discharge mechanical compaction regime to a thermally-
rate of hydrocarbons leaving the reservoir through driven chemical compaction regime. At and
fractures will therefore increase. above these temperatures, chemical compaction
is largely caused by internally sourced quartz
This means that hydrocarbons probably remain cement in sandstones and the precipitation
trapped for only short periods of geological time of diagenetic clay (illite) in shales – the latter
before escaping to a lower temperature zone in dramatically reducing permeability. At about 120
which they may re-accumulate in more porous o
C, shale permeability loss is so extreme that
and permeable traps. the accompanying loss in porosity triggers the
development of hard overpressures and hydraulic
Prospects will therefore become increasingly fractures.
separated from their ‘parent’ source rocks, and
may no longer depend on primary migration 3. Widespread hydraulic fracturing may result in: (i)
but on vertical migration from one sandstone vertical fractures in shales serving as hydrocarbon
body to another via lengthy fractures formed in conduits directly linking source rocks to overlying
intervening shales. sandstones reservoirs; (ii) the fracturing of cap
rocks whose properties were formerly regarded
The important point is that once hydrocarbons have as favourable; and (iii) extensive re-migration of
been generated, they can sequentially re-migrate hydrocarbons to progressively shallower traps via
vertically through the overlying sediment column long intervening shales. These phenomena are largely
after a source rock has ceased expelling significant related to the chemical compaction regime.
volumes.
Everything therefore points to the existence of a
The notion that most present-day traps have to general, process-based zonation of hydrocarbon-
be directly charged from active source rocks is no bearing sedimentary basins founded on
longer the single most important issue. Moreover, temperature rather than pressure.
10 THE GOLDEN ZONE CONCEPT AND ITS IMPLICATIONS
tic
tic
pre
pre
Temperature (0C)
re
gra
gra
Hydro
4 120
rate, geothermal gradient, hydrocarbon volumes
nt
nt
static
5 150
pre
– temperature. 6 180
rad
ient
Temperature (oC)
Sandstone porosities and permeabilities in this GOLDEN
90 ZONE
zone are still quite high because the volume of
quartz cement is normally insufficient to fill more
than a part of the available pore space. The upper 120
limit of major entrapment – the 60 oC isotherm –
is where hydraulic fractures are generally thought
to peter out, simply because shale permeability is 150
insufficiently low for them to propagate through
the rock matrix.
180
The accumulation zone is a zone of transition
between the thermo-chemical compaction
regime of the expulsion zone and the overlying
mechanical compaction regime of the so-called Oil (%) Gas (%)
'sealing' zone. Here, at temperatures below 60 oC, Idealized distributions of oil and gas volumes plotted against temperature. Note that about 90
hydrocarbon volumes are low because the sealing % of the world’s oil and gas resources fall within the 60 to 120 oC isotherms – the Golden Zone
zone is largely beyond the influence of vertical, of Statoil. The volumes fall off rapidly above and exponentially below this zone where the pore
fracture-controlled re-migration. pressure is close to or exceeds the hydraulic fracture pressure.
Those hydrocarbons that are present, apart bacteria consume the lighter oil fractions, leaving 4
Biogenic gases are formed by the
from local biogenic gas4, have probably migrated behind a viscous mass of heavier oil fractions. This physiological activities of organisms
upwards from the underlying accumulation zone is a common phenomenon in oil reservoirs where (bacteria).
through laterally extensive sandstone or siltstone temperatures are less than 80 oC. Indeed a plot 5
High API (American Petroleum Institute)
‘carrier’ beds. of ‘heavy’ oil accumulations (API gravities < 25)5 values characterize light, hydrogen-
against temperature (not illustrated) reveals that rich deposits, whereas low API values
It is also widely known that oil in this zone is vulnerable over 80 per cent occur at temperatures of less characterize heavy, carbon-rich deposits
to bacterial degradation (biodegradation). The such as heavy oil.
than about 60 to 80 oC.
30 ‘Sealing’ zone
Temperature (oC)
60
Accumulation zone
GOLDEN
90 ZONE
Ram
p
120
Lith
Hydrost
ost
atic
150
pre
atic pres
ssu
re g
rad
sure grad
180
ien
t
Expulsion zone
ient
Lith
Lith
ost
ost
3 3
atic
atic
predictive tool.
pre
pre
ssu
ssu
Hydrost
Hydrost
4 4
re g
re g
rad
rad
atic pres
atic pres
ie
ien
nt
5 5
t
sure grad
might deviate from the norm (i.e. they would 6 6
be skewed). Comparing the skewed distribution
ie
ient
nt
60
should be deeper and may extend vertically over
Accumulation zone Accumulation zone Accumulation zone THE
three to four kilometres. GOLDEN
ZONE
HC HC HC
120
(Depleted zone)
(vertical) depths of exploration wells.
SUBSIDENCE
dynamic processes, because the sediments will ‘Sealing’ zone Former 120 0C isotherm
gradually be moved closer to the surface where ‘Sealing’ zone Former accumulation zone
the temperatures are lower. In these situations, the 60 Deactivated expulsion zone
properties of the former zonation may essentially Former 120 0C isotherm
Accumulation zone
Temperature (0C)
be ‘frozen’.
120 HC Deactivated expulsion zone
The amount of vertical displacement will obviously (Depleted zone)
Expulsion zone
depend on how much a basin has risen and how
much is eroded off the top. If the former 60 oC 200
(Depleted zone)
isotherm has been moved to the surface (i.e. UPLIFT
the entire sealing zone has been swept away), (Depleted zone)
the accumulation zone will start eroding and
UPLIFT
prospectivity will drop. If the former 120 oC
isotherm ends up at the surface, few hydrocarbons SUBSIDENCE Time
will be left in the basin.
The advantage of uplift and erosion is that the Uplift and erosion will lift a former accumulation zone (Golden Zone) to shallower depths and
depths to potentially viable prospects are less, lower temperature intervals. As seen on the right, a former accumulation zone may be partly or
thus reducing drilling costs. The main disadvantage completely removed by severe erosion.
is the risk of biodegradation in those reservoirs
that were originally relatively hot to start with, The main implications are: (i) drilling to depths
and therefore initially hostile to oil-consuming where temperatures greatly exceed 120 °C is
bacteria. probably unproductive; and (ii) exploration thinking
should consider dispensing with reservoir quality
Drilling safety and the environment as a crucial factor in favour of the thermally-
Our ability to roughly calculate pore pressure controlled likelihood of encountering hydrocarbon
curves in advance of drilling (using geothermal accumulations.
gradients) may also significantly improve safety
and lower environmental risks, both during
exploration and production drilling operations.
Denouement
A recommended practice in new areas is to identify The Golden Zone concept has essentially evolved
the depth at which the 60 oC isotherm is likely to from new approaches to the established theories
occur and design drilling programmes accordingly. and descriptions of two key processes: the
In this way, drillers will be well prepared to evolution of sandstone and shale porosity during
manage the increased probability of penetrating burial; and the evolution of shale permeability.
overpressured, hydrocarbon-bearing sandstones,
thereby diminishing the chance of potentially This has led to a radical shift in thinking away from
dangerous pressure ‘kicks’ (or blowouts). the mechanical approach to modelling basinal
fluid processes to a more self-regulatory system,
Be aware, however, that overpressured reservoirs involving thermo-chemical actions and reactions.
in the accumulation zone may be encountered Siliciclastic basins can thus be examined from
in otherwise normally pressured sedimentary an entirely new angle now that temperature is
intervals. recognized as the overarching control.
The reason for this is that reservoirs are often What have emerged are two, simple, empirically
broken into a number of compartments by verifiable global patterns – one for pore pressure
impermeable (sealing) faults, and thus lack profiles and one for volumetric hydrocarbon
the means of relieving their pressure by lateral accumulations.
drainage.
The fluid dynamics of siliciclastic basins and
Reservoir quality their hydrocarbon systems are therefore more
Another implication is that the idea of an ‘economic predictable and self-organized than previously
basement’ is devalued. The term refers to the common thought, and seem to act fundamentally in
assumption that commercially viable reservoir rocks similar ways. Statoil’s paradigm is thus helping to 6
Temperature control – a very important
– i.e. those with adequately preserved porosity and transform geological complexity into a uniformity observation. November 2004. ASPO
permeability – may be found as long as temperatures that was hitherto unrecognized. Newsletter, 47, p.10. ASPO is the
Association for the Study of Peak Oil &
around 150 °C are not exceeded. This may be so, but Gas – a network of scientists affiliated
it is unlikely that they will be hydrocarbon-bearing As an ASPO website article6 puts it: “It is impossible with European institutions and universities
because (as already stated) the development of to exaggerate the importance of (this) discovery having an interest in determining the date
and impact of the peak and decline of the
hard overpressure and hydraulic fracturing begins in terms of evaluating world oil and gas resources world’s production of oil and gas (www.
around 120 °C. and the status of depletion”. peakoil.net).
14 SELECTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY
SELECTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY
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