Reservoir Geochemistry

Exploration Examples

 Oil-source relationships
 Petroleum Charge Histories
 Migration range
 Seal assessment
 Pressure history
 Frigg
Frigg Field:
Field: Palaeoleak
Palaeoleak
SEAL
SEAL
LEAKED
LEAKED

Dry Gas Cap 95%C1

iC4/nC4>2, 0.3%CO2
degraded oil

Degraded oil leg

Degraded
Degradedresidual
residual
oil column
oil column

M.Sc 06-07
 Frigg
Frigg Field:
Field: Palaeoleak
Palaeoleak
SEAL
SEAL
LEAKED
LEAKED
Frigg field and a Viking Graben black
oil charge.

Viking Graben Petroleum sourced at Ro% 0.8-

Dry Gas Cap 95%C1 0.9%.
iC4/nC4>2, 0.3%CO2
degraded oil 1. Current reservoir at 61C and 198.5bar
Gas Volume as % of charge = 26.2%
2. Reservoir at 50C and 149bar
Gas Volume as % of charge = 42.3%

Degraded oil leg Thus the trap would have a significant gas cap
under all conditions. Oil in seal.

Degraded
Degradedresidual
residual
oil column
oil column

M.Sc 06-07
 Migration Tracers

How far has the oil travelled?

What is the relative volume of oil and
migration pathway?
How focussed was migration?
 Potential Migration Molecular
Markers

OH alkylated derivatives of:-

OH
N
o-Cresol N
Benzo[c]carbazole
Carbazole
OH
Phenol
N
m-Cresol Decreasing solubility in water
Benzo[a]carbazole
(increasing oil/water partition coefficient)

Molecular
markers:-
facies,maturity
migration?

M.Sc 06-07
 Coreflood rig and set-up
Coreflood
cell
Siltstone
Sample
Piston P1 chambers
Oil cell

Valve
Water

Back
Pump pressure
Spike regulator
loop Direction of
flow
P0
Balance

M.Sc 06-07
 X-ray tomography indicates that at the end of the experiment oil flow has been pervasive

Image 3 Image 47 Image 61/62 Image 93

897 mm x 50.92 mm
Pre Flood Post Flood
Carboniferous Siltstone
12% porosity
10-20 microdarcy permeability
0.4% TOC
37 % clay

7000 psi confinement

700 psi gradient
70C

41 API N. Sea non-degraded oil

M.Sc 06-07
O riginal O il
Oils eluting
O ils producedfrom core
from core flood
Original oil

M.Sc 06-07
 Coreflood core extracts
OUTLET INLET

Slice #:
2 3 4 5 8 6
Distance from inlet (cm):
88-87 66-65 44-43 23-22 3-2 1-0

M.Sc 06-07
 Normalised Concentrations of Non-
Hydrocarbons in Coreflood Experiment

Benzo[c]carbazole

1-methylcarbazole

carbazole

para cresol

M.Sc 06-07
Coreflood Experiment: What was lost? Original oil minus first-eluted.
38000 resolution LV probe MS by Randy Winans, ANL, USA.
A v e r a g e d s p e c tr a S a m p le o r ig

1 e + 6

9 e + 5

8 e + 5

7 e + 5

6 e + 5
R A

5 e + 5

4 e + 5

3 e + 5

2 e + 5

1 e + 5

0
5 0 1 0 0 1 5 0 2 0 0 2 5 0 3 0 0 3 5 0 4 0 0 4 5 0 5 0 0 5 5 0 6 0 0 6 5 0 7 0 0 7 5 0
m /z

A v e ra g e d s p e c tra S a m p le 3 3 (2 )
1 e + 6

9 e + 5

8 e + 5

7 e + 5

6 e + 5
R A

5 e + 5

4 e + 5

3 e + 5

2 e + 5

1 e + 5

0
5 0 1 0 0 1 5 0 2 0 0 2 5 0 3 0 0 3 5 0 4 0 0 4 5 0 5 0 0 5 5 0 6 0 0 6 5 0 7 0 0 7 5 0
m /z

Compounds lost are most commonly low molecular weight,

generally uncharacterised but include alkyl phenols and M.Sc 06-07
carbazoles.
 ESEM analysis of Core chips following a core flood experiment

“Outlet” “Inlet”

Strongly water - wet Surfaces show tendency towards oil wet

V. low contact angle Increasing “Water phobicity”
High contact angles

water

water

100m 100m
M.Sc 06-07
 Core Flood: Conclusions

 Core extract composition controlled by kinetic

sorption of non-hydrocarbons and dispersion
 Very rapid sorption of hydrophobic
components to initially water- wet core is
promoted by small surfactant non-
hydrocarbons such as phenols and other
uncharacterised low molecular weight
multifunctional compounds.

M.Sc 06-07
 Long Distance Migration: Oman
Sultanate of Oman Q Petroleum System-Oman
Frewin et al(1999)

2.5

Q kitchen 2

Benzocarbazole[a]/[c]
1.5

0.5

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
Migration Range Km .

The Dhahaban petroleum system of Oman M.Sc 06-07

Terken JMJ, Frewin NL (2000) AAPG 84: 523-544
Abundance of Alkyl Phenols suggest
highly focussed migration pathways

L
r

M.Sc 06-07
M.Sc 06-07
 Implications of Adsorption of Non
Hydrocarbons for Seal Prediction?
Creep seep seal failure
1. Capillary seal forms at osc
2. Phenols diffuse into water
in seal
Virgin mudstone 3. Wettability in seal changes
4. Oil creeps forward.
water wet 5. Goto 1
Phenol diffusion zone

Oil wet
Oil leg(buoyancy drive)
Oil charge

M.Sc 06-07
Snorre: Bulk Composition of Caprock Extracts

Caprock extracts are enriched in resins and

asphaltenes relative to the reservoir oil. This implies
that these compounds are lost to mineral surfaces M.Sc 06-07
during leakage
Quantifying Migrated Petroleum
Benzocarbazoles (ppm)
0 10 20 30 0 10

1200m

Mixing lines
1800m

2400m

M.Sc 06-07