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Organic Geochemistry 42 (2011) 1343–1350

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Organic Geochemistry
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/orggeochem

Quantitative estimation of overpressure caused by oil generation

in petroliferous basins
Xiaowen Guo a,b,⇑, Sheng He a, Keyu Liu b,c, Lunju Zheng d
a
Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources, China University of Geosciences, Ministry of Education, Wuhan Hubei 430074, China
b
PetroChina Exploration and Development Research Institute, Beijing 100083, China
c
CSIRO Earth Science and Resource Engineering, P.O. Box 1130 Bentley, WA 6102, Australia
d
Wuxi Research Institute of Petroleum Geology, SINOPEC, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214151, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Oil generation can be the dominant overpressure mechanism in low permeability source rocks because of
Received 21 April 2011 the volume increase upon conversion of organic matter to less dense oil during the petroleum generation
Received in revised form 22 August 2011 process. To quantitatively express the relationship between oil generation and overpressure in source
Accepted 27 August 2011
rocks, an equation for the pressure change due to oil generation was derived to quantitatively estimate
Available online 8 September 2011
the overpressure generated in the source rock by considering of the episodic fluid expulsion and param-
eters, such as the residual oil coefficient, source rock porosity, transformation ratio, TOC (total organic
carbon), hydrogen index, the compressibility of Type I kerogen, oil and pore water. The equation was then
calibrated with the results from physical simulation experiments in a closed pyrolysis system. Sensitivity
analyses on the residual oil coefficient, TOC and hydrogen index were performed to investigate the dom-
inant parameters controlling overpressure due to oil generation. A good correlation was achieved
between measured overpressure from the physical simulation experiments and the calculated data using
the derived equations for the pressure change due to oil generation, suggesting that the equation can be
used to quantitatively estimate overpressure caused by oil generation in source rocks. Many parameters
can affect overpressure caused by oil generation, including residual oil coefficient, source rock porosity,
TOC, hydrogen index, and transformation ratio. Sensitivity analyses indicate that the most effective
parameter on the pressure change due to oil generation in the source rocks is the residual oil coefficient,
implying that the internal pressure seal for the source rock is the most important parameter for overpres-
sure development caused by oil generation. Overpressure cannot be generated from oil generation if the
residual oil coefficient is less than 0.75. Source rock TOC and hydrogen index have moderate effects on
the pressure change caused by oil generation. Overpressure can be generated when the TOC content is
as low as 0.5% provided the source rocks have a good internal pressure seal.
Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction dehydration reactions (Powers, 1967; Schmidt, 1973; Magara,

Much of the world’s oil and gas was generated from overpres-
sured source rock (Hunt, 1990). The estimation and prediction of
modern and palaeo-pressure plays an important role in petroleum
system and basin analysis, and is essential for understanding basin
wide fluid migration and subsequent petroleum accumulation and
preservation. Processes thought to contribute to the development
of overpressures include compaction disequilibrium (Dickinson,
1953; Rubey and Hubbert, 1959; Magara, 1975; Sharp, 1976;
Tingay et al., 2009), aquathermal pressuring (Barker, 1972;
Bradley, 1975; Plumley, 1980; Sharp, 1983), fluid release during
⇑ Corresponding author at: Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources,
China University of Geosciences, Ministry of Education, Wuhan Hubei 430074,
China.
E-mail address: cuggxw@163.com (X. Guo).
1975), petroleum generation (Timko and Fertl, 1971; Hedberg,
1974; Law and Dickinson, 1985; Spencer, 1987; Bredehoeft et al.,
1994; Guo et al., 2010), thermal cracking of oil to gas (Barker,
1990; Tian et al., 2008) and tectonic compression (Berry, 1973).
Petroleum generation can result in high fluid pressures in sedi-
mentary basins because the conversion of solid kerogen to oil
and gas results in an increase in fluid volume. Pore pressure in-
crease during organic maturation is evident from the primary
migration process during which petroleum is expelled from low-
permeability source rocks under pressure. Overpressure produced
by petroleum generation depends upon kerogen types, abundance
of organic matter, thermal history, and rock permeability (Osborne
and Swarbrick, 1997), which have been invoked to explain over-
pressure in some older basins (e.g. Meissner, 1976, 1978; Law
and Bostick, 1980; Law and Spencer, 1981; Spencer, 1983, 1987).
Gas generation is accompanied by a large volume expansion in

0146-6380/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.orggeochem.2011.08.017
 Author's personal copy
1344 X. Guo et al. / Organic Geochemistry 42 (2011) 1343–1350
Nomenclature
P overpressure caused by oil generation
Ph pore pressure at point C = the normal hydrostatic pres-
sure
Pexp overpressure caused by oil generation at the end of oil
expulsion
U0 the initial porosity
Uc the porosity at point C
Z depth
K compaction factor
G gravitational constant
Vk kerogen volume at point C
Vk1 kerogen volume at point D
Vw1 pore water volume at point C
Vw2 pore water volume at point D
Vo residual oil volume
Vexp residual oil volume in the source rock at the end of oil
expulsion
the source rock and clearly has the potential to be a major factor in
overpressure generation (Osborne and Swarbrick, 1997).
However, there is still no consensus on whether oil generation
can yield overpressure in petroliferous basins. It is claimed that
oil generation can only result in a 15% volume expansion for typical
oil compositions and the volume change is thus believed to be
insufficient to cause high pressures (Ungerer et al., 1983; Mudford
and Best, 1989). From numerical modeling, Luo and Vassuer (1996)
concluded that oil generation does not normally play an important
role in overpressure generation in the source rock unless the TOC is
over 5%. However, Bredehoeft et al. (1994) showed that pore pres-
sures from oil generation could be maintained for long periods in
low-permeability source rocks, and that lithostatic pressure values
can be attained. Berg and Gangi (1999) suggested that overpres-
sures related to oil generation can be great enough to overcome
the capillary displacement pressures of fine-grained, low-perme-
ability source rocks, and are sufficient to drive oil from the source
rocks to carrier beds. Guo et al. (2010) demonstrate that the over-
pressures in the Dongying Depression are caused by oil generation
from source rock within the Es3 and Es4 intervals. Therefore, over-
pressure in source rocks can be one of the main driving forces for
primary oil migration. When the pore-fluid pressure exceeds the
capillary pressure of the microfractures in the source rock, primary
oil migration will occur. A number of authors attempted to quan-
tify the relation between oil generation and overpressure (e.g.,
Ozkaya, 1988; Ozkaya and Akbar, 1991; Berg and Gangi, 1999),
but they assumed that the source rocks have relatively high per-
meability (>1016 cm2) or there is no loss of fluid from the pore
volume. In this paper, a new equation is proposed to quantitatively
estimate the overpressure caused by oil generation in source rock
by considering the loss of oil and episodic fluid expulsion from the
source rock. The equation is then calibrated using the results of
laboratory simulation experiments.
2. Pressure changes from oil generation
As source rocks are buried, the temperature increases. When
the burial depth reaches a threshold, the transformation ratio of or-
ganic matter becomes much higher and oil is then generated. The
pore space in the source rocks is filled with petroleum, water,
and inert residue. Pore pressure increases as the organic matter
in the source rock is converted into oil, which results in a volume
increase. To determine the pressure change in the source rock due
to oil generation, a hypothetical model without oil generation is
Mk kerogen mass
M1 generated oil mass
M2 residual oil mass
Mexp residual oil mass in the source rock at the end of oil
expulsion
M2-exp residual oil mass in the source rock after oil expulsion
qk kerogen density
qw water density
qo oil density at the surface
Ck kerogen compressibility
Cw water compressibility
Co oil compressibility
F transformation ratio of the source rocks
Fexp transformation ratio of the source rock at the end of oil
expulsion
a residual oil coefficient
I hydrogen index
adopted and an equation of overpressure generation caused by
oil generation can therefore be derived by making certain assump-
tions. The major assumptions are: (1) normally compacted source
rocks without petroleum generation fall into the normal pressure
category; (2) oil and water coexist in the pore space and have
the same pressure system; (3) natural gases generated from Type
I kerogen can be completely dissolved in the oil and water as sug-
gested by comparing the gas: oil ratio data reported by Lewan and
Henry (2001) for source rocks containing Type I kerogen with the
solubility ratio of gas in oil reported by Elsharkawy and Alikhan
(1997); (4) the generated oil remains as a separate phase, and
the oil solubility in the pore water is negligible with the dissolved
oil having no significant effect on the overpressure generation as
Price (1976) showed that although the temperature can increase
the aqueous solubility of whole oils, the aqueous solubility of the
Farmers whole oil is only about 100 ppm at 150 °C; (5) the com-
pressibility properties of the rock matrix, organic matter, and fluids
remain constant during oil generation; (6) the pore volume of the
rock contains only water if there is no oil generation; (7) the Type I
kerogen-mass loss is equal to the oil-mass gain because the gener-
ated natural gases are dissolved completely in the oil and pore
water; (8) the loss of water from the source rock pore volume is
the same with the normal compacted source rocks without petro-
leum generation; (9) the thermal cracking of oil and volume
changes of pore water, oil and kerogen associated with thermal
expansion are negligible.
Overpressure due to the oil generation in source rocks is caused
by the conversion of kerogen to oil. Therefore, the overpressure
equation is derived by comparison of overpressure due to oil gen-
eration with the hypothetical model of the source rocks without oil
generation (Fig. 1A). For the hypothetical model, the pore water
volume is equal to the porosity of the source rocks because the
pore space is initially filled with water. As the source rock under-
going normal compaction, the porosity at point C can be calculated
according to Falvey and Middleton (1981)
1=Uc ¼ 1=U0 þ KZ ð1Þ
where U0 is the initial porosity; Z is the depth, Uc is the porosity at
point C; K is the compaction factor. The adopted initial porosity and
compaction factor of mudstone are 0.62 and 2.4 km1, respectively.
The kerogen volume and pore pressure at point C can be written as:
V k ¼ Mk =qk ð2Þ
Ph ¼ qw GZ ð3Þ
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X. Guo et al. / Organic Geochemistry 42 (2011) 1343–1350
Fig. 1. Comparison of pore water, kerogen, oil volumes and pore pressure for the
same depth of points C and D. (A) A hypothetical model for source rocks without oil
generation. Vw1, Vk, Mk, Ph are pore water volume, kerogen volume and mass, and
pore pressure (hydrostatic pressure), respectively; (B) overpressure generation due
to the conversion of kerogen to oil. Vw2, Vk1, Mk1, Vo, Mo, P are pore water volume,
kerogen volume and mass, oil volume and mass, and overpressure caused by oil
generation, respectively.
where the Vk is the kerogen volume at point C; Mk is the kerogen
mass at point C; qk is the kerogen density; Ph is the pore pressure
for the source rocks at point C; qw is the water density and G is
the gravitational constant.
Oil-mass generated from the source rock depends upon the
transformation ratio, hydrogen index and the mass of the kerogen.
Thus, the generative oil-mass for source rock can be expressed as:
M 1 ¼ IFMk
where M1 is the generated oil-mass; I is the hydrogen index; F is the
transformation ratio and Mk is the mass of the kerogen. The com-
paction of pore water and kerogen is more intense when the over-
pressure is generated in the source rock by converting kerogen to oil
(Fig. 1B). The equation of pore water and kerogen volume at point D
can be written as:
V w2 ¼ ð1  C w PÞV w1
V k1 ¼ ð1  IFÞð1  C k PÞV k
where Vw2 is the pore water volume at point D; Cw is the water com-
pressibility, P is the overpressure caused by oil generation at point
D; Vk1 is the kerogen volume at point D and Ck is the kerogen com-
pressibility. The oil volume at point D is the sum of the change in
the volume of water and kerogen from point C to D.
V o ¼ ðV w1  V w2 Þ þ ðV k  V k1 Þ
where Vo is the oil volume at point D. Combining Eqs. (5) and (6), we
obtain:
V o ¼ C w PV w1 þ IFV k þ ð1  IFÞC k PV k
The volumes of fluids (oil and water) are crucial to quantita-
tively estimate overpressure caused by oil generation in source
rocks. The loss of fluids is associated with the source rock perme-
ability and the driving force of the fluids. In this paper, we assume
1345
the loss of water is equal to the porosity reduction of the normally
compacted source rock without petroleum generation (Fig. 1A).
The loss of oil is expressed by the residual oil coefficient, a, which
is defined as the ratio of the residual oil in the pore space of the
source rock over the total generative oil. The residual oil coefficient
increases with decreasing source rock permeability. The residual
oil in the pore space can be written as:
M2 ¼ aM 1 ð9Þ
where M2 is the residual oil mass in the pore space and a ranges
from 0 to 1. The oil volume at point D can be calculated as
V o ¼ M2 ½1  ðPh þ PÞC o =qo ð10Þ
where Co is the oil compressibility and qo is the oil density at the
surface. Combining Eqs. (4) and (9), we can get:
V o ¼ aIFMk ½1  ðP h þ PÞC o =qo ð11Þ
Replacing the left side of Eq. (11) by the right side of Eq. (8) it yields:
C w PV w1 þ IFV k þ ð1  IFÞC k PV k ¼ aIFMk ½1  ðPh þ PÞC o =qo ð12Þ
The overpressure due to oil generation then becomes the fol-
lowing expression by combining Eqs. (2) and (12):
IFMk ½aDð1  Ph C o Þ  1
P¼ ð13Þ
C w V w1 qk þ ð1  IFÞC k M k þ aIFMk DC o
where D = qk/qo. Eq. (13) is the exact expression for P when consid-
ering the loss of oil. Fracturing and episodic oil expulsion from the
source rock can occur if sufficient excess pore-fluid pressures are
generated by the transformation of kerogen to oil. The pore-fluid
pressures decrease during fluid expulsion from the source rock
and the fractures close with compaction (Robert and Nunn, 1995).
Once the fractures close, pore-fluid pressures would increase due
to the conversion of kerogen to oil and the pressure equation differs
from Eq. (13) because the residual oil mass in the pore volume of
the source rock is no longer equal to the Type I kerogen-mass loss
after oil expulsion. The pore pressure and transformation ratio of
the source rock at the end of oil expulsion, Ph + Pexp and Fexp, are de-
fined in this study to drive the overpressure equation after oil
expulsion. The residual oil mass at the end of the oil expulsion
can be expressed as:
ð4Þ
Mexp ¼ V exp qo =½1  ðPh þ Pexp ÞC o  ð14Þ
where Mexp and Vexp are the residual oil mass and volume in the
source rock at the end of oil expulsion, respectively. With increasing
burial depth and temperature, the transformation ratio and residual
oil mass in the source rock increase, causing the fluid pressure to in-
crease. The residual oil mass can be written as:
M2exp ¼ Mexp þ aIMk ðF  F exp Þ ð15Þ
ð5Þ
ð6Þ where the M2-exp is the residual oil mass in the source rock after the
oil expulsion. The conversion of kerogen to oil can change the solid-
to-liquid volume ratios and the porosity of the rock will increase,
which may produce disequilibrium compaction in the source rock
if the porosity remains constant. The Vexp in Eq. (14) can be calcu-
lated using Eq. (8).
V exp ¼ C w Pexp V w1 þ IF exp V k þ ð1  IF exp ÞC k Pexp V k ð16Þ
ð7Þ
The residual oil volume in the source rock after oil expulsion is
V o ¼ ½Mexp þ aIMk ðF  F exp Þ½1  ðPh þ PÞC o =qo ð17Þ
Combining Eqs. (8) and (17), we can get
ð8Þ
D½M exp þ aIMk ðF  F exp Þð1  Ph C o Þ  IFMk
P¼ ð18Þ
C w V w1 qk þ ð1  IFÞC k M k þ DC o ½Mexp þ aIMk ðF  F exp Þ
However, oil expulsion from source rocks can cause the loss of
porosity and the redistribution of overburden stress between solid
 Author's personal copy
1346 X. Guo et al. / Organic Geochemistry 42 (2011) 1343–1350
rocks and pore fluids. We assumed the loss of porosity is equal to
the conversion of kerogen volume to oil. In this case, the Vexp in Eq.
(14) can be written as:
V exp ¼ C w Pexp V w1 þ ð1  IF exp ÞC k Pexp V k
Thus, after the oil expulsion from source rock, Eq. (8) can be ex-
pressed as:
V o ¼ C w PV w1 þ IðF  F exp ÞV k þ ð1  IFÞC k PV k
Combining Eqs. (17) and (20), we obtain the overpressure
equation:
D½Mexp þ aIMk ðF  F exp Þð1  Ph C o Þ  IðF  F exp ÞM k
P¼
C w V w1 qk þ ð1  IFÞC k M k þ DC o ½Mexp þ aIMk1 ðF  F exp Þ
In this overpressure equation, both the loss of oil and the episodic
fluid expulsion from the source rock are taken into account.
3. Calibration by simulation experiments
Overpressure in source rock occurs due to the volume increase
during the transformation of high-density organic matter to less
dense oil. Therefore, closed system pyrolysis experiments can be
used to investigate the pressure changes during the artificial mat-
uration of Type I kerogen and the results can be used to calibrate
the equation of overpressure due to oil generation.
3.1. Sample description
The samples selected for this experiment must be immature to
ensure that prior oil generation has not occurred. They should also
be dominated by Type I kerogen to minimize natural gas genera-
tion. A black mudstone sample from the Dongpu Depression in
the Bohai Bay Basin, East China was selected. Rock-Eval pyrolysis
shows that the sample has a TOC content of 4.77%, S1 of 0.74 mg
HC/g rock, S2 of 36.39 mg HC/g rock, a hydrogen index (HI) of
763 mg HC/g TOC, and a Tmax of 438 °C. The geochemical data are
typical of Type I kerogen. The measured equivalent vitrinite reflec-
tance (%Ro) is 0.48% using the fluorescence alteration of multiple
macerals (FAMM) technique, suggesting a low maturity. The core
sample was crushed to about 100 meshes and cleaned by using
Soxhlet extraction with chloroform for 72 h to remove residual
hydrocarbons.
3.2. Experimental methods
The experiments on overpressure due to oil generation were
conducted in stainless steel reactors similar to those described by
Zhang et al. (2007), Lewan (1997) and Behar et al. (2003). This sim-
ulation of overpressure caused by oil generation is a typical closed
system hydrous pyrolysis experiment. Blank tests were conducted
to investigate the overpressures due to aquathermal expansion
during isothermal heating in the closed system. The steel reactor
was filled with a steel core and distilled water. After the reactors
were sealed, they were filled with approximately 7 MPa of nitrogen
and checked for leakage under water. The nitrogen was subse-
quently released and the sealed reactor was evacuated. The re-
tained nitrogen pressure in the reactor after leak checking was
reduced to 0.067 Pa and no additional pressure was added. The
reactors were isothermally heated from 20 °C to the target temper-
ature at a rate of 1 °C/min. Once the hydrous experiment reached
the designated temperature, the pore pressure in the reactor was
set at 57 MPa at 250 °C, 25 MPa at 275 °C, and101 MPa at 380 °C.
Each designated temperature was maintained for 24 h within a
standard deviation of 0.2 °C. After the blank tests, the steel core
and distilled water in the reactor were removed. The reactor was
then filled with 100 g of the cleaned mudstone powder, thoroughly
mixed with distilled water. Each reactor was completely filled with
water and sample. Temperatures were monitored with thermocou-
ples calibrated against the national standards at 300 °C, 325 °C,
ð19Þ
350 °C and 375 °C. The temperatures were initially set at 96 °C,
104 °C, 116 °C and 128 °C, and maintained for 4 h, then the pore
pressure in the reactor was set to 26 MPa, 27.5 MPa, 33.2 MPa
and 36 MPa, respectively. The heating was programmed at 1 °C/
ð20Þ
min from the initial temperature to the designated temperature
with a final hold time of 48 h. Heating was then stopped and the
container with the sample was gradually cooled to the initial tem-
perature for recording the final pore pressure. Mudstone powders
were not compacted and a fluid expulsion system connected to a
ð21Þ
liquid pump was used to avoid the generation of high fluid pres-
sures and damage to the equipment as the maximum working
pressure of the reactors is 150 MPa. The fluid expulsion system
provides additional space for the reactor if the fluid pressure be-
comes too high. The expelled fluid was injected back into the reac-
tor using a liquid pump during the cooling process. Closed-system
pyrolysis experiments were also conducted and temperatures were
monitored with thermocouples calibrated against the national
standards at 250 °C, 320 °C, 360 °C and 385 °C, respectively. The
experimental methods were described in detail by Zhang et al.
(2007).
3.3. Results
The results of the blank tests show that pore pressures in the
reactor for temperatures at 250 °C, 275 °C and 380 °C are constant
within 1 MPa over the testing period, indicating that aquathermal
expansion cannot generate significant overpressure during an iso-
thermal heating in a closed system.
In contrast to the blank tests, overpressures were observed in
the closed system pyrolysis experiments on the black mudstone
samples (Fig. 2). Overpressures increase rapidly after reaching
the desired isothermal temperatures in all experimental runs. An
abnormal pressure trend for the experimental run at 385 °C oc-
curred from 0 to 400 min because little petroleum was expelled
before reaching the desired isothermal temperature of the source
rock.
The overpressures observed in the closed system pyrolysis
experiments are believed to be caused by oil generation because:
(1) aquathermal expansion cannot generate overpressure as the
blank tests show that the pore pressures in the reactor are more
or less constant during the isothermal heating; (2) the observed fi-
nal overpressure values in the closed system pyrolysis experiments
increase with temperature from 250 °C to 385 °C and (3) petro-
leum expulsion from the source rock caused the overpressure to
decrease obviously.
The final measured overpressures due to oil generation in the
closed system pyrolysis experiments are summarized in Table 1.
Fig. 2. Results of the closed-system pyrolysis experiments showing overpressures
during the oil generation from the black mudstone.
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X. Guo et al. / Organic Geochemistry 42 (2011) 1343–1350
Table 1
Summary of the results from the physical simulation experiments showing overpressure caused by oil generation and its positive correlation with the source rock transformation
ratio and maturity. (Vitrinite reflectance (%Ro) is measured using the fluorescence alteration of multiple macerals (FAMM) technique.)
Temperature (°C) Ro (%) Transformation ratio
300 0.70 0.274
325 0.75 0.448
350 0.85 0.829
375 1.00 0.996
The measured overpressures increased with the source rock trans-
formation ratio and maturity. Overpressures varied from 14.8 MPa
to 54.0 MPa with an increase in source rock transformation ratio
(0.274–0.996) and maturity (0.70–1.00% Ro), respectively, further
confirming that the overpressure was caused by oil generation.
3.4. Calibration
The pressure changes in the reactor associated with the fraction
of kerogen converted were calculated using Eq. (13). The results
can be used to calibrate the overpressure equation by comparison
with the measured overpressure values. Because the mudstone
samples are not under compaction, the porosity and density were
adopted from initial values of 62.0% and 1.7 g/cm3, respectively
(Table 1). The residual oil coefficient, a, was assigned a value of 1
because the hydrous experiment is a closed system and there is
no fluid expulsion allowed in this study. The densities of the Type
I kerogen, oil and distilled water are 1200 kg/m3, 900 kg/m3 and
1000 kg/m3, respectively. The Type I kerogen, oil and distilled
water compressibility are 1.4  103 MPa1(DuBow, 1984),
2.2  103 MPa1 (McCain, 1990) and 0.44  103 MPa1 (Amyx
et al., 1960), respectively. The correlation between the calculated
and measured overpressure values (Fig. 3) indicates that the calcu-
lated overpressure values using Eq. (13) are almost the same as
those from the simulation experiments with a linear correlation
coefficient (R2) of 0.96. Eqs. (18) and (21), which consider episodic
fluid expulsion from source rocks cannot be calibrated by the cur-
rent simulation experiments because of limitations of the experi-
mental conditions. However, the goodness of fit of the calculated
overpressure to the measured values suggests that the equations
of overpressure due to oil generation proposed here can be used
to estimate the evolution of overpressure caused by oil generation.
4. Sensitivity analysis of parameters
The parameters affecting overpressure from oil generation in-
clude residual oil coefficient, oil and kerogen density and com-
pressibility, source rock porosity, TOC, hydrogen index, and
transformation ratio. In this study, the sensitivity analyses of resid-
ual oil coefficient, TOC and hydrogen index were performed to
investigate the dominant parameters controlling overpressures
due to oil generation from source rocks. A hypothetical mudstone
Fig. 3. Calibration of the equations of overpressure due to oil generation with the
simulation experiments shows a good linear correlation between measured data
and calculated overpressure.
1347
Overpressure (MPa) Porosity (%) Density (g/cm3)
14.8 62.0 1.70
26.3 62.0 1.70
43.6 62.0 1.70
54.0 62.0 1.70
profile was selected to model petroleum generation from a source
rock with primarily Type I kerogen using the BasinMod1-D soft-
ware. An average geothermal gradient of 35 °C/km and a surface
temperature of about 10 °C were used. The mudstone is assumed
to be normally compacted and the porosity–depth relationship
for the decompaction correction of Falvey and Middleton (1981)
was adopted. Maturation and petroleum generation were calcu-
lated by using the Easy% Ro routine (Sweeney and Burnham,
1990) and the NULL chemical kinetic model (Braun and Burnham,
1987; Burnham et al., 1987; Sweeney et al., 1987), respectively,
while taking into account of the Type I kerogen. The modeled
porosity, maturity and transformation ratio of the source rock
within the oil generative window is shown in Fig. 4. From the
depth interval of 2000 m to 4200 m, the porosity of the source
rocks varies from 15.5% to 8.5% and the maturity ranges from
0.5% to 1.3% Ro. Oil generation begins at 2000 m depth and the
most intense oil generation occurs in the interval from 3200 m to
3900 m, where the transformation ratio ranges from 10% to 98%.
Eq. (13) was used to calculate the overpressure from oil gener-
ation without considering any episodic fluid expulsion from the
source rock even when the pore-fluid pressure exceeds the capil-
lary pressure of the fractures. Several cases were calculated using
the overpressure equations with the following ranges for various
parameters; TOC from 0.5% to 10% mg/g; hydrogen index from
600 to 1000 mg HC/g TOC; and residual oil coefficients from 0.75
to 1.0. Fig. 5 displays the profiles of the calculated overpressure
and pressure coefficients in the source rock. In all cases, there are
excellent linear trends between the overpressure and pressure
coefficient depth profiles and the depth profile of the source rock
transformation ratio, indicating that the transformation ratio is a
very important parameter for the pressure change caused by oil
generation.
The overpressure increases with depth and reaches maximum
values at 4000 m. The intense increase of overpressure occurs in
the depth interval from 3200 m to 3900 m due to intense oil gen-
eration from the source rock. When the TOC and hydrogen index
are kept constant at 5% and 800 mg HC/g TOC, the calculated over-
pressures caused by oil generation in the source rock at 3900 m are
16 MPa, 34 MPa, 50 MPa, 64 MPa, 78 MPa and the corresponding
pressure coefficients are 1.41, 1.87, 2.28, 2.64, 3.00, respectively
for the residual oil coefficients of 0.8, 0.85, 0.9, 0.95 and 1.0. The in-
creases of overpressure and pressure coefficients are over 14 MPa
and 0.35, respectively with the increase of the residual oil coeffi-
cients is 0.05. Overpressures from oil generation cannot be gener-
ated if the residual oil coefficient is less than 0.75, implying that
the amount of episodic oil expulsion from the source rocks is less
than 25% of the total generated oil, assuming that there is no loss
of porosity after oil expulsion. Loss of porosity due to the redistri-
bution of overburden stress between solid rocks and pore fluids
may cause more oil expulsion from the source rocks. When the
hydrogen index and residual oil coefficients are kept at constant
values of 800 mg HC/g TOC and 1, respectively, the calculated over-
pressures in the source rock at 3900 m are 36 MPa, 51 MPa,
65 MPa, 78 MPa and 83 MPa, respectively for the TOC of 0.5%, 1%,
2%, 5% and 10%. If the TOC and the residual oil coefficient of the
source rock are kept at constant values of 5% and 1, respectively,
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1348 X. Guo et al. / Organic Geochemistry 42 (2011) 1343–1350

Fig. 4. Depth profiles of modeled porosity, maturity and transformation ratio for a hypothetical source rock within the oil generative window, showing that the most intense
oil generation occurs in the depth interval of 3200–3900 m.

Fig. 5. Calculated overpressure (A–C) and pressure coefficient profiles (D–F) using the equation derived for estimating overpressure from oil generation, showing that the
most effective parameter on the pressure change is the residual oil coefficient. TOC = total organic content, I = hydrocarbon index, a = residual oil coefficient.

the increase of overpressure and pressure coefficient are about value of 100 mg HC/g TOC. It can be seen that overpressures from
6 MPa and 0.15, respectively with an incremental hydrogen index oil generation can occur when the TOC content of the source rock is
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X. Guo et al. / Organic Geochemistry 42 (2011) 1343–1350
as low as 0.5% as long as the source rock has a good internal pres-
sure seal. Therefore, among TOC, hydrogen index and residual oil
coefficient, the most effective parameter on the overpressure gen-
eration from oil generation in source rock is the residual oil coeffi-
cient. In other words, the source rock internal pressure seal is one
of the major dependent variables on the pressure change. The TOC
and hydrogen index of the source rock have a moderate effect on
the pressure change caused by oil generation.
5. Conclusions
Overpressure can occur in petroleum source rock when the rate
of volume increase generated by the conversion of high-density or-
ganic matter to less dense oil is faster than the rate of volume loss
from fluid expulsion out. Equations were derived to express the
relationship between oil generation and overpressure in source
rock by considering episodic fluid expulsion and parameters such
as the residual oil coefficient, source rock porosity, transformation
ratio, TOC, hydrogen index, and the compressibility of Type I kero-
gen, oil and water. The following conclusions can be drawn based
on simulation experiments and sensitivity analyses of parameters
considered in the equations for calculating overpressure caused
by oil generation.
(1) Overpressures caused by oil generation are observed during
the simulation experiments, confirming that the oil genera-
tion can become the dominant overpressure mechanism in
low permeability source rocks.
(2) A good linear correlation (R2 = 0.96) between the results of
the simulation experiments and the calculated overpres-
sures using the derived equations, suggests that the
equations can be used to quantitatively estimate the
overpressure caused by oil generation.
(3) Sensitivity analyses on the residual oil coefficient, TOC and
hydrogen index indicate that the most effective parameter
controlling pressure change due to oil generation in source
rock is the residual oil coefficient. Overpressure cannot occur
from oil generation if the residual oil coefficient is less than
0.75. TOC and hydrogen index have moderate effects on the
pressure change caused by oil generation. Overpressure can
occur even when the TOC content is as low as to 0.5%, pro-
vided the source rock has good internal pressure seal.
Acknowledgments
This study was financially supported by the National Natural
Science Foundations of China (Nos. 40739904 and 41072093),
and sponsored by the major research project (No. P11060) of the
SINOPEC’s Science and Technology Department. Dr. Ken Peters is
thanked for his thorough review and for providing a reference on
high gas yield from experiments using Type I kerogen. The authors
are also grateful for constructive comments from Dr. Lloyd
Snowdon and an anonymous reviewer.
Associate Editor—Ken Peters
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