Topics:

Structural Geology in Petroleum Exploration

Petroleum System Traps Exploration Methods (seismic) Maui Field Example Salt Tectonics Reading:

1. Outline in website 2. Pdf file: Geology for Petroleum Exploration, Drilling, and Production by Norman J. Hyne, 1984, pages 173-197.

Oil Exploration Strategy:

Origin of Petroleum

Find the Traps Most common traps are structures So exploration often targets the structures in hopes of finding oil

Oil forms from the decay and transformation of dead organisms buried in sedimentary rocks

Major Hydrocarbon Provinces in North America

Sedimentary Basins

Factors required to make an Oil deposit

Source rock- rich in organic matter Burial heating- > maturation Reservoir rock- porous and permeable Trap

structural trap stratigraphic trap

Petroleum system

Source Rocks

Black organic-rich marine shales Organic matter is preserved low-oxygen water Restricted marine basins and zones were water rises from the deep

Maturation of Organic Matter

Migration of oil

Organic matter in sediments is solid (kerogen) At about 60o C transformation begins Liquid hydrocarbons begin to form At 120o C gas begins to form At 140o C organic matter is exhausted Only gas forms at higher T

Oil is less dense than water Oil will move up by buoyancy Oil needs a permeable bed to move It will stop when it reaches an impermeable bed

Migration
Eastern Venezuela

Western Canada

Oil traps

Permeable reservoir bed Impermeable seal

Stratigraphic Traps

Porosity

Structural Traps

Fault Traps

Map of the Murre Field Newfoundland

Salt Traps

Compressional Traps

Traps in Strike-Slip settings

Positive Flower Structures

Trap Types

How to image the subsurface?

Drilling Structural Interpretation Seismic Reflection Imaging Send sound into the rock, and collect the echoes

Seismic Acquisition

3D Seismic Image

3D Geological Model

Salt

Offshore Platform

Maui Field, New Zealand

Gulf of Mexico Salt

Salt moves driven by buoyancy

Salt density= 2 g/ cm3 Salt undergoes no compaction Shale Density is initially 40% water Initial Density = 1.8 g/ cm3 Water expelled during compaction Final Density = 2.4 g/ cm3

Sequential Stages of a Salt Diapir

Seismic Image of a Salt Dome

3D Seismic Interpretation of Salt Structures

Sandbox Experiment
Relationship between diapirism and normal faulting

Extension Above Salt Diapir

Syn-sedimentary Salt Movement