Geoscience B

Lecturer: Mrs. Siti Nuralia

Email:
S.Mohamad_Nazor@hw.ac.uk
Ext: 43741
Office: 15, E3.10

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Version:

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Geoscience B
Topic 1. Introduction to the
petroleum play

1.1. CONCEPT OF PETROLEUM PLAY

1.1.1. What is the petroleum play
1.1.2. Components of the
petroleum play
1.2. CONCEPT OF SOURCE ROCK
1.3. CONCEPT OF RESERVOIR
1.3.1. Definition of reservoir
1.3.2. Factors affecting the
reservoir
1.4. CONCEPT OF SEAL
1.5. PETROLUEM TRAPS
1.6. CONCEPT OF MATURITY
1.7. MIGRATION PATHS AND TRAPS
1.8. TIMING
1.9. PETROLEUM EXPLORATION

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Migration pathways
The transportation of petroleum from the source
rock to the reservoir rocks is called migration
Driven by the buoyancy of petroleum

Source: IPE, modified by S. Ilott

Can be spilt into

three stages:
1) Primary migration
2) Secondary migration
3) Tertiary migration

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Primary migration
Primary migration- the expulsion of the
petroleum from the source rock into adjacent
rocks

Source: IPE, modified by S. Ilott

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Primary migration
Primary migration- the expulsion of the
petroleum from the source rock into
adjacent rocks
As generation of takes place, the new oil
increases pressure inside the source rock

As pressure builds up, micro-fractures begin to

appear in the source rock
The oil is then expelled via the micro-fractures
Oil expulsion is episodic

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Secondary migration
Secondary migration- the journey from the
source rock to trap. This is the process which
concentrates or focuses the petroleum.

Source: IPE, modified by S. Ilott

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Secondary migration
Secondary migration- the journey from the
source rock to trap. This is the process which
concentrates or focuses the petroleum.
It migrates under buoyancy to the reservoir
rock
Gravity driven process
Controlled by the pore systems
The pore systems in the carrier rock are
normally larger than those of the source
rock

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Secondary migration
Secondary migration- the journey from the
source rock to trap. This is the process which
concentrates or focuses the petroleum.
Capillary entry pressure is the strong
controlling mechanism for secondary
migration.
The pores of a rock often contain other
liquids (normally water).
Oil needs to displace the water to enter the
pores
Secondary oil migration will continue until
the buoyancy driven flow is restricted by
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University of a caprock
the capillary
entry
pressure
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Secondary migration
Capillary entry pressure-the amount of force,
generated by buoyancy, needed for the oil to
displace the water in the pores

Source: S. Ilott

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Tertiary migration

Source: IPE, modified by S. Ilott

Tertiary migration- leakage and dissipation of

the petroleum at the Earths surface.

Occurs if there is no seal or trap in place

or if the seal leaks
Once oil reaches the earths surface it is
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biodegraded
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Timing
If hydrocarbons
migrate before:

Oil migration

a)A seal or trap

are in place
b)A reservoir
rock is formed
.then they
will escape to
the surface
Source: S. Ilott

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Timing-Basin modelling
Basin modelling can be used to
predict the generation and timing of
migration of hydrocarbons

Source: IPE

Can be used with geological history to tell

if all the components of the petroleum play
were in place before hydrocarbon
generation and migration took place
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Petroleum Play- Summary

SEALING:
IF: seal is deposited before migration
&: it is sufficiently impermeable

SEAL
impermeable
RESERVOIR
porous and permeable

TRAP

CARRIER BED
porous and permeable

SOURCE ROCK
organic rich

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TRAPPING:
IF: trap formation occurs
before migration

SECONDARY MIGRATION

MIGRATION:
IF: heat and pressure sufficient to create
hydrocarbons from source rock organic
matter
&: enough is created to cause expulsion
&: there are pathways for migration to
reservoir
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Petroleum Exploration
Defined in several ways:
Process of exploring for oil and gas
resources in the earths sedimentary
basins.
Leads to viable prospects to drill and
the actual drilling of these prospects
with exploratory and appraisal wells.
Commitment of large amounts of
risk capital to explore prospects that
have an uncertain outcome.
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Petroleum Exploration

e five stages of petroleum exploration ar

1. Play concept
2. Leads
3. Prospects
4. Discovery
5. Appraisal

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The process by
which hydrocarbon
accumulations are
identified

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Petroleum Exploration

Source: IPE

The exploration process- building

upwards to a successfully
producing field

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Petroleum Exploration
1. Play concept- Identifying and
mapping high probably areas to
investigate

Source: Allen & Allen, 1990

From concept models to actual data

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Stage 1: Play factors

Available data used to this stage
includes:
Outcrop data (where rocks of interest
such as potential reservoir rocks come
to the surface)
Seismic data (providing subsurface
imaging of the rock structure
Geological studies by government
geological surveys or industry
contractors
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Scout data (information from

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Stage 1: Play factors

The geologist will:
investigate all of the above
data to
gain an insight into the
regional geological history
identify if the main elements
of the petroleum play are
present.
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Play maps

Source: Allen & Allen, 1990

Source
Limit of the reservoir
Trap structure
rock
Facies distribution
location

Regional seal
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Migration zone
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Extra
information on
oil/ gas deposits
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Play assessment
Probabilities can be assigned for
each element of the play
(reservoir, seal, source, trap and
timing) from 0 (meaning
All
impossible) to 1 (certain or very
elements
in place
P
=
Total play risk
play
likely)
before
Presenc
e of
source
rock

hydrocarb
on
expulsion
seal

Psource x Pmaturity x Ptrap x P

x Ptiming
Matu
Regional seal

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re
sourc
e
rock

Trappi
ng
struct
ure

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to trap
hydrocarbons

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Play assessment
Pplay=
Psource x Pmaturity x Ptrap x Pseal
x Ptiming
Prospect type
Probability
value
Needs more work
P <0.4
High risk prospect
0.4-0.6
Low risk prospect
0.6-0.8
Very good
P >0.8
prospect
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Play assessment

Probabilities
can be used to
create a map

Source: Allen & Allen, 1990

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Common Risk Segment Map

Developed for plays to identify
areas of high or low probability of
finding petroleum accumulations

Generally use a traffic-light

colouring system: red is low
probability of success, green is
high probability.
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Source: IPE

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Common Risk Segment Map

Source: IPE

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The point is to rank the

different areas and then
prospects within those
areas, in order to find
the most likely
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prospects.

Petroleum Exploration
1. Play concept- Identifying and
mapping high probably areas to
investigate
2. Leads- Specific locations where
traps may exist
3. Prospects- Investigation shows
potential accumulations
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Prospects
A prospect is
a container that has a chance
of containing a reservoir rock
a suitable seal which were
present at the time of
hydrocarbon migration
is on the migration pathway.
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Prospects
Prospects must be sufficient
(large enough) size to warrant
drilling
Prospects have more certainty
then leads
Once a prospect has been drilled
it will become either:
A proven petroleum field
Dry
Class
1.3
hole (no gas or oil)
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Petroleum Exploration
1. Play concept- Identifying and
mapping high probably areas to
investigate
2. Leads- Specific locations where
traps may exist
3. Prospects- Investigation shows
potential accumulations
4. Discovery- Drilling and finding
hydrocarbons
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Appraisal
The appraisal process is designed to
determine the size of the
hydrocarbon pool and to decide
whether the petroleum accumulation
should be developed.
This stage involves collecting high
resolution seismic data (3D), to drill
more wells and acquire more
engineering and geological data to
analyse and constrain your prospect.
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Appraisal
The data collected at this
stage is used to:
Estimate the size of the
petroleum reserves
Determine the complexity of
the reservoir
Characterise formation fluids
Judge production
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performance

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Appraisal
This is the point at which a
decision is made between
whether:
to commercially produce an
oil/gas field
to postpone the development
of the field
to abandon the field due to it
being uncommercial
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Risk of exploration process

It is important to note that all
exploration is risky
All prospects have uncertainties
attached to them.
The size of a lead or prospect and
the likelihood of success are often
linked.
The greater the possible return,
the higher the level of risk
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(possibility of failure) which can
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Risk of exploration process

Other risks:
political (the local government
might refuse a licence)
economic (the price of
hydrocarbons might decrease
making the field uneconomical)
it is important to qualify and
manage the risk associated with
the
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References
Allen, P & Allen, J. 2005. Basin Analysis: Principles and
applications.
Blackwell science Ltd. Students should read the following chapter:
Part 4. Application to petroleum play assessment.
Allaby, M. (Ed.). 2013. A Dictionary of Geology and Earth Sciences
(4
ed.).Oxford University Press.
Bjrlykke, K. 2010. Petroleum Geoscience: From Sedimentary
Environments to Rock Physics. Springer.
Gluyas, J and Swarbrick, R. 2004. Petroleum Geoscience. Blackwell
science Ltd.

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Timing-Basin modelling
Can be used to tell when (or if) a
source rock was in the oil or gas
window- Burial history

Source: IPE

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