…Finding & producing oil & gas

– some basic facts

International Association of Oil & Gas Producers

Prehistoric remains: how oil & gas were formed

O il & gas are the remains of creatures
and plants that died millions of
years ago.
Having drifted to the floors of ancient
seas and lakes, this organic matter was
joined by deposited layers of sand
and mud and buried beneath even
more sediment gradually laid down by
prehistoric seas and rivers. The result is a
sedimentary basin.
Under the
weight of these accumulating
sedimentary layers, the pressure and
heat (both growing towards the centre
of the earth) increased and gradually
turned this organic substance into a
chemical called kerogen – the building
block of oil & gas. When present in high
quantities in a thick sedimentary layer, a
source rock for oil & gas is formed.
The process of generating oil & gas from
a source rock took anything from 10
million to 100 million years, depending
on the temperature in the sedimentary
basin. Temperatures between 60°C and
100°C led to the formation of crude oil.
Temperatures above 150°C helped to
transform the oil into natural gas. Natural
gas is also formed directly from the
increased heating of layers of coal.
Gradually, as the subter-
ranean oil and gas
formed, it migrated
from the source
rock through
water-filled pore spaces.
Since oil & gas are less
dense than water, they rose
slowly upwards through the layers
of porous rock.
The slow journey of oil & gas
continues to this day until Major oil & gas regions
they reach the surface on
accumulated in the porous rock below,
land or in the sea, where they
forming what is known as a hydrocarbon
escape naturally in the form of
reservoir.
seepages and gas emanations.
Much of the earth’s oil & gas In summary, three elements are needed:
disappear in such a natural a source rock, a reservoir and a seal.
process. The hydrocarbon reservoirs, once
In particular circumstances, however, discovered, can be turned into producing
the migration of oil & gas is blocked oil & gas fields. Major sites include the
by a layer of impermeable rock, which Middle East, the Gulf of Mexico, the
acts like a seal. When this happens, North Sea, Siberia, West Africa, North
the hydrocarbons become trapped and Africa, Indonesia and the Caspian.

About OGP

O GP represents the upstream oil & gas industry before international organisations including the International Maritime Organisation, the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Regional Seas Conventions and other groups under the UN umbrella. At the regional level, OGP is
the industry representative to the European Commission and Parliament and the OSPAR Commission for the North East Atlantic. Equally important is
OGP’s role in promulgating best practices, particularly in the areas of health, safety, the environment and social responsibility.

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