Lecture Introduction To Petroleum Geology

Petroleum Geology
Organic Matters and Source Rocks

• Petroleum geology comprises those geological disciplines which are of greatest
significance for the finding and recovery of oil and gas.
• It is important to understand the geological processes which determine the
distribution of different sedimentary rocks and their physical properties.
• Since practically all petroleum occurs in sedimentary rocks, sedimentary geology
forms one of the main foundations of petroleum geology.
• Sedimentological models are used to predict the location of different facies in the
sedimentary basins, and from that the likely presence of source rocks with a high
content of organic matter, reservoir rocks and cap rocks.
• Reservoir rocks are mostly sandstones and carbonates which are sufficiently
porous to hold significant amounts of petroleum.
• The composition and properties of other rock types such as shales and salt are also
important.
• The sedimentary environments (sedimentary facies) determine the
distribution of reservoir rocks and their primary composition. Sediments
do, however, alter their properties with increasing overburden due to
diagenesis during burial.
• Diagenetic processes determine the porosity, permeability and other
physical properties such as velocity, in both sandstone and limestone
reservoirs. Chemical processes controlling mineral reactions are
important.
• Organic geochemistry, which includes the study of organic matter in
sediments and its transformation into hydrocarbons, has become another
vital part of petroleum geology.
A Brief Petroleum History
•There are many places where oil seeps out of the ground.
•Bitumen produced from such naturally occurring crude oil has been
collected and used since ancient times, both for lighting and medicine, and
by the Greeks even for warfare.
•Rising oil prices and new technology have made exploration financially
attractive in areas which previously were of little interest, including in very
deep waters. High oil prices can also pay for more enhanced hydrocarbon
recovery from reservoirs.
•There is now increasing interest in heavy oil, tar sand and oil shale.
• Oil shale is a source rock exposed near the surface.
• If the source rock (shale) is mature it will have a characteristic smell of
hydrocarbons, but it may not be mature so that hydrocarbons have not been
generated.
• If the oil shale is mature much of the oil has escaped by primary migration.
• Shales can however contain gas which can be produced when there is a network of
small fractures.
• Gas shale is expected to be an important source of petroleum in the years to
come, particularly in the US.
• Very large amounts of fossil fuels are stored in organic-rich mudstones or shales
that have not been buried deeply enough for the organic matter to be converted to
petroleum. In this case very little hydrocarbon has escaped but these deposits
must be mined and heated to 400–500◦C in ovens to generate petroleum
(pyrolysis).
Accumulations of Organic Matter
•It is well documented that oil accumulations are of organic origin and formed from
organic matter in sediments.
•The organic matter from which petroleum is derived originated through
photosynthesis, i.e. storage of solar energy.
• Transformation of solar energy
to fossil fuels by photosynthesis.
• Only a small fraction of the solar
energy is used for photosynthesis
and most of the produced organic
matter is oxidised. As a result very
little organic matter is buried and
stored in sedimentary rocks and
very little of this is concentrated
enough to become a potential
source rock
• Most of the organic materials which occur in source rocks for petroleum are
algae, formed by photosynthesis.
• The zooplankton and higher organisms that are also represented grazed the algae
and were thus indirectly dependent on photosynthesis too.
• Since petroleum is derived from organic matter, it is important to understand how
and where sediments with a high content of organic matter are deposited.
• Nutrients for this organic production are supplied by erosion of rocks on land and
transported into the ocean.
• The supply of nutrients is therefore greatest in coastal areas, particularly where
sediment-laden rivers discharge into the sea.
• Plant debris is also supplied directly from the land in coastal areas.
• Biological production is greatest in the uppermost 20–30 m of the ocean
and most of the phytoplankton growth takes place in this zone. In clear
water, sunlight penetrates much deeper than in turbid water, but in clear
water there is usually little nutrient supply.
• At about 100–150 m depth, sunlight is too weak for photosynthesis even
in very clear water.
• Phytoplankton provides nutrition for all other marine life in the oceans.
• Zooplankton feed on phytoplankton and therefore proliferate only where
there is vigorous phytoplankton production.
• Organisms sink after they have died, and may decay so that nutrients are
released and recycled at greater depths.
• Basins with restricted water circulation will preserve more organic matter and
produce good source rocks which may mature to generate oil and gas.
Depositional environments for potential source and reservoir rocks. Depressions on the sea
floor with little water circulation provide the best setting for organic matter to be accumulated
before it is oxidised.
Migration of petroleum from source rocks into reservoir rocks after burial and
maturation. The carbonate trap (e.g. a reef) is a stratigraphic trap, while the
sandstone forms a structural trap bounded by a fault
• All animal plankton (zooplankton) live on plant plankton, and in turn are eaten by
higher organisms in the food chain.
• At each step in the food chain, which we call a trophic level, the amount of organic
matter (the biomass) is reduced to 10%.
• Ninety percent of the production of organic matter is therefore from algae. This is
why algae and to some extent zooplankton account for the bulk of the organic
material which can be transformed into oil. Larger animals such as dinosaurs are
totally irrelevant as sources of oil. Why?
• The total amount of organic matter that can be produced in the ocean is dependent on
the nutrient supply from rivers, but river water does not only carry inorganic
nutrients. It also contains significant amounts of organic matter, in particular humic
acid compounds, lignin and similar substances formed by the breakdown of plant
material which are weakly soluble in cold water. When the river water enters the sea,
there is precipitation due to the increased pH and lower surface temperature in the
ocean.
Breakdown of Organic Matter
•Almost all (>99%) of the organic matter which is produced on land and in the oceans is broken
down through direct oxidation or by means of microbiological processes. If oxygen is present,
organic matter will be broken down in the following manner:
• When the rate of accumulation of organic matter exceeds the rate of oxygen
supply the redox boundary will be in the water column, separating the oxidising
surface water from the reducing bottom water.
• Lakes may have good water stratification because warm surface water is less
dense than the colder bottom water.
• Black mud deposited at the bottom of lakes may produce good source rocks. In
cold climates, however, the water in the lakes overturns in the winter because
the maximum water density is at 4◦C, preventing the stable stratification
required to form source rocks.
Source Rock and Hydrocarbon Generation
•Source rock refers to the formation in which oil and gas originate.
•Hydrocarbons are generated when large volumes of microscopic plant and
animal material are deposited in marine, deltaic, or lacustrine (lake)
environments.
•The organic material may either originate within these environments
and/or may be carried into the environment by rivers, streams or the sea.
•The microscopic plant and animal material generally is deposited with fine
clastic (silt and/or clay) sediments.
• During burial the sediments protect the organic material by creating an
anoxic (oxygen depleted) environment.
• This allows the organic material to accumulate rather than be destroyed
by aerobic organisms such as bacteria.
• Over time, the organic remains are altered and transformed into gas and
oil by the high temperatures and increased pressure of deep burial.
• This process can take tens of thousands of years to occur.
• The amount of petroleum generated is a function of the thickness of the
accumulated sediments and organic material, the burial of these
materials, and time.
• Organically rich, black-colored shales deposited in a quiet marine,
oxygen depleted environment are considered to be the best source rocks.

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Petroleum Geology

Organic Matters and Source Rocks

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