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Seal capacity of different rock types

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Exploring for Oil and Gas Traps

Contents
1 Range of capacities
2 Generalizations
3 Shale seals
4 Sand seals
5 Carbonate seals
6 See also
7 References
8 External links Series Treatise in Petroleum Geology
Part Predicting the occurrence of oil and gas traps
Range of capacities Chapter Evaluating top and fault seal
Author Grant M. Skerlec
Figure 1 shows the range of seal
capacities of different rock types. Link Web page
This figure was compiled from (http://archives.datapages.com/data/specpubs/beaumont/ch10/ch10.htm)
published displacement pressures
based upon mercury capillary curves. Store AAPG Store (http://store.aapg.org/detail.aspx?id=545)
Column heights were calculated
using a 35°API oil at near-surface conditions with a density of
0.85 g/cm3, an interfacial tension of 21 dynes/cm, and a brine
density of 1.05 g/cm3. Data were compiled from Smith[1]
Thomas et al.[2] Schowalter[3] Wells and Amaefule[4] Melas
and Friedman[5] Vavra et al.[6] Boult[7] Khrushin (1993), and
Shea et al..[8]

Generalizations
These data show the following:

Good shales can trap thousands of feet of hydrocarbon

column.
Most good sands can trap only 50 ft or less of oil
column.
Poor sands and siltstones can trap 50–400 ft of oil
column. Figure 1 Range of seal capacities of different rock
types.
Shale seals
Shales have high displacement pressures and can trap large columns of oil as large as 1830 m (6000 ft).
Nonsmectite shales have pore throat radii of less than 12 nm and can trap gas columns of more than 1000 m (3,000
ft) (Krushin, 1993). Shales in the Cretaceous section of the Powder River basin have displacement pressures of
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1000–4000 psi and can trap gas columns of 460–1830 m (1500–6,000 ft) (Jiao et al., 1993). The shortest oil
columns among the shale data include some true shales as well as siltstones, silty mudstones, and interbedded
sand/shale cores.

Sand seals
Sands commonly have low displacement pressures and can trap only small oil columns. Three-quarters of the
sands, most of which are Gulf Coast reservoirs, are capable of trapping less than 50 ft of oil. Sands can have
sufficiently high displacement pressures to trap hundreds of feet of oil. Oil column heights between 50–400 ft are
from sands with diage-netic pore fillings, tight gas sands, and very fine-grained sands that probably include
siltstones.

Carbonate seals
Carbonates have a wide range of displacement pressures. Some carbonates can seal as much as 1500–6000 ft of oil.
These better seals are argillaceous limestones and shelf carbonates. In the Gulf Coast basin, shorter oil columns are
sealed by grainstones, mud-stones, and wackestones of the Smackover Formation and chalk.

See also
Seal capacity
Seal capacity variation with depth and hydrocarbon phase
Seal capacity and two-phase hydrocarbon columns
Seal thickness
Fault-dependent leak points, continuity, and charge

References
1. ↑ Smith, D., A., 1966, Theoretical considerations of sealing and non-sealing faults
(http://archives.datapages.com/data/bulletns/1965-67/data/pg/0050/0002/0350/0363.htm): AAPG Bulletin,
vol. 50, no. 2, p. 363–374.
2. ↑ Thomas, L., K., Katz, D., L., Ted, M., R., 1968, Threshold pressure phenomena in porous media:
Transactions of SPE, vol. 243, p. 174–184.
3. ↑ Schowalter, T., T., 1979, Mechanics of secondary hydrocarbon migration and entrapment
(http://archives.datapages.com/data/bulletns/1977-79/data/pg/0063/0005/0700/0723.htm): AAPG Bulletin,
vol. 63, no. 5, p. 723–760.
4. ↑ Wells, J., D., Amafuele, J., O., 1985, Capillary pressure and permeability relationships in tight gas sands:
SPE/DOE paper 13879.
5. ↑ Melas, F., F., Friedman, G., M., 1992, Petrophysical characteristics of the Jurassic Smackover Formation,
Jay field, Conecuh Embayment, Alabama and Florida (http://archives.datapages.com/data/bulletns/1992-
93/data/pg/0076/0001/0000/0081.htm): AAPG Bulletin, vol. 76, no. 1, p. 81–100.
6. ↑ Vavra, C., L., Kaldi, J., G., Sneider, R., M., 1992, Geological applications of capillary pressure: a review
(http://archives.datapages.com/data/bulletns/1992-93/data/pg/0076/0006/0000/0840.htm): AAPG Bulletin,
vol. 76, no. 6, p. 840–850.
7. ↑ Boult, P., J., 1993, Membrane seal and tertiary migration pathways in the Bodalla South oilfield,
Eronmanga Basin, Australia: Marine and Petroleum Geology, vol. 10, no. 1, p. 3–13., 10., 1016/0264-
8172(93)90095-A
8. ↑ Shea, W., T., Schwalbach, J., R., Allard, D., M., 1993, Integrated rock-log evaluation of fluvio-lacustrine
seals, in Ebanks, J., Kaldi, J., Vavra, C., eds., Seals and Traps: A Multidisciplinary Approach: AAPG
Hedberg Research conference, unpublished abstract.

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External links
Original content in Datapages
find literature about
Seal capacity of different rock types
(http://archives.datapages.com/data/specpubs/beaumont/ch10/ch10.htm)
Find the book in the AAPG Store (http://store.aapg.org/detail.aspx?id=545)
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