Chapter4: petroleum system analysis

Group six members

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 Introduction
• Oil and gas fields are economically viable concentrations of
hydrocarbons, the formation of which is controlled by a number of
factors referred to as elements and processes.
• Petroleum system analysis is the study of how these elements and
processes interact to create hydrocarbon-bearing provinces.
 Elements
A source rock is a rock containing sufficient hydrocarbon-prone organic matter
to generate oil and gas.
A reservoir rock is a rock in which oil and gas accumulate. Porosity and
permeability are fundamental properties of reservoir rocks. Porosity is the space
between rock grains in which oil and gas accumulate and permeability is
defined as the ease with which oil and gas can move through the pore spaces
between the grains.
A seal is a rock through which oil and gas cannot move effectively over time
(such as mudstone or evaporite).
 Cont…………...
The migration route is the avenue through which oil and gas move from
the source into the reservoir rock to the trap.
The trap is a feature that arrests the migration process and causes oil and
gas to accumulate.
 Processes
Generation results from the burial of the source rock to sufficient depths, which
subjects it to high temperatures that convert the organic matter into hydrocarbons.
Migration is the movement of the hydrocarbons out of the source rock into a
reservoir to form accumulations.
Accumulation is the concentration of hydrocarbons in a trap to form oil and gas
fields
Timing. Trap formation should predate or at least be simultaneous with
hydrocarbon migration.
 Significance of oil and gas seeps
• Seeps are the results of leaks from an existing accumulation. They do not
originate directly from source rocks since the generation and migration
processes are too slow to allow the escape of the hydrocarbons to the
surface without undergoing accumulation first.
• Seeps fall into two categories, namely, active and inactive.
• In the case of active seeps, oil and gas flows can be observed directly at the
surface.
• Inactive or dead seeps occur in the form of heavy oil or bitumen impregnations.
 Source Rocks and Generation of Petroleum
• Source rocks are very fine-grained, dark-coloured sediments such as shale or
carbonate mudstone. The dark colour is due to the presence of the organic matter.
• The preservation of the organic matter in the source rock is therefore a key factor
and this leads to a discussion of the conditions necessary for the deposition of
organic-rich sediments. The requirements are:
1. a subaqueous environment
2. oxic surface waters to support abundant organic life, from which the
hydrocarbons are ultimately derived
3. stagnant sea-bed conditions, leading to the development of an anoxic water–
sediment interface.
 Kero-gen
• kerogen, complex waxy mixture of hydrocarbon compounds that is the
primary organic component of oil shale. Kerogen consists mainly
of paraffin hydrocarbons, though the solid mixture also incorporates
nitrogen and sulfur. Kerogen is insoluble in water and in organic
solvents such as benzene or alcohol.
Types of Kero-gen
• Type I is derived mainly from algae. It is commonly lacustrine in origin
(deposited in fresh water lakes) and has high oil-generation potential.
• Type II is derived from marine organic matter consisting of animal and plant
material. Its oil-generation potential is lower than that of type I but it is still a
very important source of hydrocarbons. This is the most common kerogen
worldwide. Middle East and northern North Sea source rocks contain type II
kerogen.
• Type III is derived primarily from humic (terrestrial plant material) organic
matter and is gas-prone. It is the dominant kerogen type in deltaic petroleum
provinces.
• Type IV may have been derived from any source. It is usually recycled, oxidised
and largely inert (very little oil and gas generation potential).
 Migration of Petroleum
• Once generated, the hydrocarbons are expelled from the source rock. It is
generally agreed that migration is triggered by the natural compaction of
the source rock and by the process of oil and gas generation.
• The movement of the hydrocarbons out of the source rock into the
reservoir is called primary migration.
• The movement of oil and gas within the reservoir is known as secondary
migration.
 Reservoir Rocks
• A reservoir rock is a rock in which oil and gas accumulate

• In conventional oil and gas fields, hydrocarbons are stored in reservoir rocks. To
function as a reservoir, the rock must possess certain fundamental properties,
namely porosity and permeability.
 Porosity
• Usually abbreviated to Φ and expressed as a percentage, porosity is a measure of
the storage capacity of the reservoir.
It is defined as:
Φ = (Pore volume)/(Bulk volume) × 100.
 Permeability
• Permeability (k) is a measure of the ability of the rock to transmit fluids
and depends on the degree of connection between the pore spaces.
Porosity–permeability relationship
 Traps

• A trap is a special situation in the reservoir that arrests the migration

process and causes the hydrocarbons to accumulate. Traps may be formed
by changes in the shape of the reservoir (structural traps) or by
variations in its lateral continuity (stratigraphic traps) or by a
combination of these factors (combination traps).
simple Trap classification
 Seals
• Seals or cap rocks are low permeability layers which lie on top of or
adjacent to the reservoir, forming top seals or lateral seals, respectively.
• Their function is to prevent further movement and loss of the
hydrocarbons from the trap
• Shales, mudstones, evaporites and sometimes unfractured limestones
act as seals.
 The Petroleum Play

• The term “play” is used extensively in the upstream sector (exploration

and production activities) of the petroleum indust it is defined as a group
of fields or drilling prospects in a given region, identified by common
geological and engineering characters.
• The former include common source, reservoir, seal, trap, timing,
migration and preservation features, while the latter embrace the fluid
properties of the hydrocarbons and flow characteristics of the producing
reservoirs.
The Petroleum Events Chart