Petroleum System

Petroleum System is defined as a natural system that includes all of the

geologic elements and processes that are essential if a hydrocarbon
accumulation is to exist.

Elements
Source rock
Reservoir rock
Seal
Processes
Maturation
Migration
Trap
1
 Source Rock
A rock unit containing sufficient organic matter of suitable chemical composition to
biogenically or thermally generate and expel petroleum.

 Reservoir Rock
A subsurface volume of rock that has sufficient porosity and permeability to permit the
migration and accumulation of petroleum under adequate trap conditions.
 Seal
A shale or other impervious rock that acts as a barrier to the passage of petroleum
migrating in the sub-surface; it overlies the reservoir rock to form a trap .
Source rock:
A rock unit containing sufficient organic matter of suitable chemical
composition to biogenically or thermally generate and expel petroleum.
 Source rock characteristics :
 sufficient organic matter content (>2 % TOC).
 fine grain sediments, usually shale or limestone.
 rock must be buried deep enough to thermally transform organic matter into liquid
or gas
 generated petroleum must migrate out of the source rock and be trapped as an
accumulation.
 Must having high porosity and low permeability.
 Most source rocks are shale, limestones, coal, and marl.
 Type of source rock
source rocks are classified from the types of Kerogen that they contain
which in turn governs the type of hydrocarbon that will be generated
Source rock Definition

Type I Source rock are formed from algal remain deposited under anoxic
condition in deep lake, they tend to generate waxy crude oils when
submitted to thermal stress during deep burial .

Type II Source rock are formed from marine planctonic remains preserved
under anoxic conditions in marine environment, they produce both oil
and gas when thermal cracked during deep burial.

Type III Source rock are formed from terrestrial plant “woody” material that has
been decomposed by Bactria and fungi under oxic or sub- oxic
condition, they tend to generate mostly gas with associated light oil
when thermally cracked during deep burial , most ( coal and coaly
shales are generated type III).
 TRANSFORMATION OF ORGANIC MATTER INTO PETROLEUM

1-Diagenesis:
2-Catagenesis:
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3-Metagenesis:
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PETROLUEM RESERVOIR
 Reservoir Rock

 Reservoir rock: is a rock where hydrocarbons are stored and from

which they can be produced.
 Reservoir Rocks Characteristics:
• Must have sufficient porosity to contain fluids and permeability to
permit their movement.
• Must contain hydrocarbons in commercial quantities.
• Must have some natural driving force, usually gas or water, to allow
the fluids to move.
• Most reservoir rocks are limestones, dolomites, sandstones, or a
combination.
 Types of reservoir rocks
 Clastic reservoir rocks (Fragmental)
Mainly sandstone or may be siltstone and conglomerate.
 Non-clastic reservoir rocks
Such as Limestone, dolomite and reefs.
 Miscellaneous reservoir rocks
Such as fractures in igneous and metamorphic rocks
 Porosity
• Porosity is defined as the ratio of pore space (pore volume) to total
volume (bulk volume) of reservoir rock.
• Some void spaces become isolated due to excessive cementation thus
many void spaces are interconnected cementation, thus many void
spaces are interconnected and others are isolated. This leads to the
following classification: Absolute (total) porosity and effective
porosity.
• Absolute porosity is the ratio between the total pore volume (interconnected pores
and isolated ones) and the bulk volume.
• Effective porosity is the ratio between the interconnected pore volume and the bulk
volume.
 Permeability:
• Permeability is define as the ability of the rock to transmit fluids
through it.
• The unit of measure is called the Darcy, named after Henry Darcy
(1803-1858).
 Migration of Petroleum
 Migration of hydrocarbons is a little-understood but critical process
of the petroleum system. It is the movement of petroleum from
source rock toward the reservoir to accumulate there to form
reserves that can be exploited.
 Hydrocarbons migrate as a separate phase, primarily due to
buoyancy. This force causes them to move vertically at geologically
rapid rates.
 Lateral migration is also facilitated by meteoric groundwater flow.
Flow rates for compaction-driven water generally are too slow to
significantly affect hydrocarbon flow.
 The properties of reservoirs and carrier beds (dip, relative
permeability, etc.) control the rate of migration and thus the specific
direction of the bulk of hydrocarbons under seals.
 Migration Stages

1. Primary Migration
The process of loss of hydrocarbons
from the source rock
2. Secondary Migration
is the movement of oil and gas within
this carrier bed.
3. Tertiary Migration
Migration to the surface, either from
a reservoir or source rock.
 Factors Enhancing Migration
1. Buoyancy:
A free hydrocarbon phase rises in a water column because its density is
less than that of water. This buoyancy force is proportional to the density
difference and the height of the hydrocarbon column. It acts vertically.
2. Specific gravity:
It is an important factor especially with the absence of water. When the
oil moves down in the porous rock under the influence of weight
separated from the natural gas and continues until become captured by
impermeable seal rock.
3. Capillary pressure (imbibitions):
Capillary imbibitions transfers interconnected free hydrocarbon phases
from fine-grained to coarse-grained layers. This force is dominant
within source rocks - especially at their contact with coarser beds. If the
layer is internal to the source rock (such as a silty streak), it will store
these hydrocarbons until a continuous hydrocarbon network connects it
with an external coarse-grained layer.
4. Source rock compaction:
Burial results in the downward motion of each sediment package and is
accompanied by a decrease in porosity as it compacts.
5. Cementation:
When the rock fragments consolidated and come together by pressure or
by the effect of the cementation materials (silica - calcium carbonate -
iron oxides) between the grains - the pores become narrower and smaller
in the rock and thus escaping oil and migrates them.
6. Natural gas pressure:
Natural gas pressure usually associated with oil facilitates the
petroleum migration process, because it helps to reduce the viscosity of
the oil and thus make it easier to move from one place to another.
7. Bacteria:
Some believe that the bacteria can sometimes help in the petroleum
migration process by melting limestone rocks (increase their vugs and
cavities) bearing crude oils. It may also generate streams of carbon
dioxide in the petroleum-bearing limestone rocks and then push the oil.
 Criteria Supporting Oil Migration
 The presence of oil seepage.
 The dominant occurrence of oil in sandstones.
 The minor occurrence of oil in igneous and metamorphic rocks.