DAGON UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY

Generation Migration-
Accumulation, Hydrocarbon Traps
And Exploration
 GENERATION, MIGRATION AND
ACCUMULATION OF HYDROCARBONS

Mg Khant Hein Htet

H2- Geol. 3
 AGENDA
(1) Petroleum Generation (Maturation Process)
Diagenesis
Catagenesis
Metagenesis

(2) Petroleum Migration

Primary migration
Secondary migration

(3) Petroleum Accumulation and

Trap formation
 (1) Petroleum generation(Maturation Process)

Diagenesis
During diagenesis, there is shallow
burial of organic matter at near normal
temperature and pressure as well as
some decay.
Methane, carbondioxide, and water
are released leaving behind the
complex hydrocarbon called kerogen.
Catagenesis

Deeper burial results in increased

temperature and pressure.

Petroleum is released from the kerogen.

First oil is released(2-3 km depth) and

second gas is released (3-5 km depth).
Metagenesis

The metagenesis phase involves even higher

temperature and pressure verging on
Metamorphism.

The only hydrocarbon that is released during

this phase is methane(Gas).

At this point this petroleum has matured

enough to migrate to traps.
 (2) Petroleum migration

Migration is the process of the oil and gas moving away from the source
rock. This is a slow process i.e perhaps a few kilometers over a period of
million of years.

Factors control Migration

Pressure (Burial and Compaction)
Increase in volume
 1- Pressure (Burial and Compaction)
As the source rock is buried deeper in the Earth, increasing pressure
(overburden) of the overlying rocks compacts the rock to provide the driving
forces to expel water, oil and gas.

The mineral grains don't compact but their pore spaces are decreased.

Petroleum generated is squeezed out from the source rock spaces.

Compaction of the source rock beds by the weight of the overlying rocks
provides the driving mechanism to expel the hydrocarbons causing them to
move, where they will take the easiest route i.e (through the most porous beds
or fracture) moving to regions of lower pressure (that normally would be at
shallower depths).
 2- Increase in volume

The maturation of a liquid or gas from a solid, causes an increase in volume

which may cause fracturing of the source rock.

The hydrocarbons generated, escape upwards through such fractures that

are created.
 Notes

Water, Oil and gas will only migrate through permeable zones.

Petroleum is trying to rise until it is trapped or escapes at the earth's surface.

As sediments build up to greater thickness in sedimentary basin, water is

squeezed out by the weight of the overlying sediments.
 Types of Migration

1- Primary migration
2- Secondary migration

1-Primary migration
Primary migration is the process of hydrocarbon movement from source rock.
Primary migration, the transportation of water, oil and gas out of the compacting
sediments.

2-Secondary migration
Secondary migration is the hydrocarbon movement within the carrier bed(reservoir)
to reach entrapment point.
The oil droplets are moved within the reservoir(carrier beds) to form pools.
 Factors control secondary migration

1- Buoyancy causes oil to migrate to the highest permeable part of the reservoir.

2- Capillary forces direct the oil to the coarsest grained area first then into finer grained
areas later.

3- Crustal movements of the earth may shift the position of the pool within the
reservoir rock.

4- Faults sometimes cut through reservoirs destroying parts or shift them to different
depths.

5- Fracturing of the cap rock may allow accumulations to migrate vertically to much
shallower depth.
Figure: Processes of primary migration and secondary migration
 (3) Petroleum Accumulation

Accumulation in reservoir beds

The porosity (volume of pore space) and permeability (capacity for

transmitting fluids) of carrier and reservoir beds are important factors in the
migration and accumulation of oil.

Most conventional petroleum accumulations have been found in

(1)clastic reservoirs (sandstones and siltstone) and
(2)carbonate reservoirs (limestones and dolomites)

Accumulation of unconventional petroleum occur in shales, igneous and

metamorphic rocks because of porosity resulting from fracturing.
Figure: Accumulation of hydrocarbons
After secondary migration in carrier beds, oil and natural gas finally collect in
a trap.

The fundamental characteristic of a trap is an upward convex form of porous

and permeable reservoir rock that is sealed above by a denser, relatively
impermeable cap rock (e.g., shale).

The trap may be any shape and it can be formed in many ways.

Those formed by tectonic events, such as folding or faulting of rock unit, are
called structural traps. The most common structural traps are anticlines.
Another kind of structural trap is fault trap.
Structural Traps:
(1) Fold traps
(2) Fault traps
 2. Stratigraphic traps

Formed as a result of lateral and vertical variations in the thickness, texture,

porosity or lithology of the reservoir rock. Eg Unconformity trap, a lens trap
and reef trap.
 3. Hydrodynamic trap

Downward movement of water prevents the upward movement of oil

without normal structural or stratigraphic closure.
 4. Diapiric trap

Caused by diapirs, where salt or mud have moved upward and domed the
overlying strata, causing many individual types of trap.
 5. Combination traps

Are formed by a combination of two or more of the previously defined

genetic proceses.
Petroleum System

Hydrocarbon Traps

Presenter - Mg Soe Lwin Kyaw (H2)

၂ဂုဏ်ဘ - ၁
What is hydrocarbon traps?
• Hydrocarbon traps form where permeable reservoir rocks (carbonates,
sandstones) are covered by rocks with low permeability (caprocks) that are
capable of preventing the hydrocarbons from further upward migration.

• Typical caprocks are compacted shales, evaporites, and tightly cemented

sandstones and carbonate rocks.

• A trap as any geometric arrangement of rock that permits significant

accumulation of hydrocarbons in the subsurface.
 Seal or Roof rock
• An impermeable rock that acts as a barrier to the passage of further
upward migration of Hydrocarbon, migration in the subsurface.

• Common seals are

− shale
− evaporites

• Seal overlies the reservoir rock to form a trap

• Also known as roof rock and cap rocks

 POOL
❖An underground accumulation of petroleum or
gas usually forming a reservoir in porous
sedimentary rocks.
Fig (1) Nomenclature of trap
 a

Fig (2) Nomenclature of a trap

 Nomenclature of a Trap

• Crest or Culmination:
Highest point in the trap

• Spill point
Lowest point of the trap up to which HC is contained

• Spill Plane
Horizontal contour cutting spill point

• Pay
The productive reservoir i.e. vertical interval of HC
 Nomenclature of a Trap

Closure;

Vertical distance from crest to spill plane

Bottom Plane;

Water zone immediately beneath the petroleum reservoir

Edge water;

Zone laterlly adjacent to the reservoir

For a commercial oil accumulation to occur, five conditions must be fulfilled;

1. There must be an organic-rich source rock to generate the oil and/gas .

2. The source rock must have been heated sufficiently to yield its petroleum.

3. There must be a reservoir to contain the expelled hydrocarbons. This

reservoir must have porosity, to contain the oil and/or gas, and permeablity,
to permit fluid flow.

4. The reservoir must be sealed by an impermeable cap rock to prevent the

upward escape of petroleum to the earth’s surface.

5. Source, reservoir, and seal must be arranged in such a way as to trap the
petroleum.
 Type of Traps
I. Structural traps - caused by tectonic processes

Fold traps - Compressional anticline

- Compactional anticline
Fault traps

II. Diapiric traps - caused by flow due to density contrasts between strata

Salt diapirs
Mud diapirs

III. Stratigraphic traps -caused by depositional morphology or diagenesis

IV. Hydrodynamic traps -caused by water flow

V. Combination traps - caused by a combination of two or more of the above processes

 Anticline and domes

• An anticline is an example of rocks which are previously flat, but have been bent into an
arch will flow to the crest of the arch and get stuck .

• Fold result in the physical bending (deformation) of the rock units without breaking .

• The rock units undergo bending very slowly over a long periods of geologic time.

• These types of traps are often found adjacent to mountain ranges.

Compressional anticline
Horst and graben formed by tensional fold
Tensional anticlines
Fault traps
▪ As reservoir rocks are deformed into an anticline or dome trap ,they are often cut
by fault .

▪ The fault can sometimes be barriers to fluids flow and are called sealing faults.
Growth fault and rollover anticlines

o Growth fault or down to the basin, is called because it moves as the sediments are
being deposited.
o This is in contrast to other faults such as normal ,reverse and strike-slip fault.
o Have a curved fault plane
o The fault is steep near the surface , weight compacts the sediments ,causing the
steep
o Becomes less steep with depth ,
o The growth fault ,however ,occurs in loose sediments.
o Fault movement was synchronmous with deposition, such fault are thus called
growth faults.

• Another unique and important characteristic is rollover anticlines.

• This is anticlines is caused by the curved fault plane that is almost horizontal with
depth
• As the growth fault moves , a gap forms between the near surface sediments on
either side of the fault.
Growth fault
Diapiric traps

❑ A geological structure formed when a mass of material of high plasticity and low density,
such as salt, gypsum, or magma, pushes upward into overlying strata

❑ French, from Greek diapeirein, to push through :

dia- + peirein, to pierce

❑ Diapiric traps are produced by the upward movement of sediments that are less dense than
those overlying them.

Salt domes

• Density about 2.03 g/cm3

• Sand and clay is less dense than the salt
• Compaction, losing porosity , gaining density
• Between 800 and 1200 m depth ,the salt will tend to flow up through denser over burden
• Salt movement or Halokinesis
• Movement is random
John Franklin Carll(1880) Frederick Gardner Clapp(1917) Arville Irving Levorsen(1967)

World’s First Petroleum geologist

Stratigraphic Traps

• Stratigraphic traps’s geometry is due to changes in lithology.

• Traps due to deposition ,include channels ,bars ,and reefs.

• Traps due to diagenesis , that is porosity and permeability changes

caused by solution and cementation.
Channel traps

• River channel sandstone are deposited and preserved as incised

valley fills during a fall and rise of sea level.
• During an ancient sea level fall, the river incises(erodes) a valley .
• During the following sea level rise, the valley is filled with sands.
• If the sands are overlain by a caprock, it can form a gas or oil trap.
• But it is very difficult to find because of their geometry
• Although, cuz of advance technology, they can find with 2D and 3D
surveys.
• A channel subtley imaged on a 2D seismic line.
• 3D examples are much more dramatic.
Barrier Bar Traps

• Excellent reservoirs because of their clean, well-sorted texture.

• Coalesced barrier sands may form blanket sands within which
oil may be structurally trapped.
• Isolated barrier bars may be totally enclosed in marine and
lagoonal shales.
• These barrier bar may form shoestring stratigraphic traps
parallel to the paleo-shoreline.
Pinchout Traps

• A regressing barrier island deposits a sheet of sand.

• Where these sheet sands pass up-dip into lagoonal or inertidal
shales.
• This sand may form a continuous reservoir, although in some
instances shale
permeability barriers may separate successive progradational
events.
• They may give rise to pinchout, or feather edge trap.
Reefs or carbonate buildups
• Reefs develop as domal(pinnacle) and elongated
(barrier)antiforms.

• Extensive diagenesis is characteristics of carbonate reservoirs.

• It is common to find secondary porosity whose distribution is

unrelated to the primary porosity with which the sediments was
deposited.
Diagenetic Traps

• Diagenesis plays a considerable role in controlling the quality of a reservoir

within a trap.

• Solution can enhance reservoir quality by generating secondary porosity, whereas

cementation can destroy it.

• Diagenetic traps are not only formed by the solution or precipitation of mineral
cements.
Self-potential log
Hydrodynamic Traps

➢ When the hydrodynamic force of the water is the greater than the
force due to the buoyancy of the oil droplets , the oil will be
restrained from upward movement and will be trapped within the
bed without any permeability barrier.(Levorsen,1966)
Combination Traps

Many oil and gas field around the world are not due solely to
structure or stratigraphy or hydrodynamic flow, but
combination of two or more of these forces.

Such field is called a combination traps.

Exploration Methods of Petroleum

Submitted by
Mg Thaw Zin Oo (H2 Geol – 5)
 CONTENTS
Introduction
Importance role of Exploration
The Petroleum Industry
Role of Petroleum Geologists
Steps of Prospecting
The techniques of Petroleum Exploration
Petroleum Exploration in Myanmar
 Introduction

In Petroleum Geology, Exploration methods are the techniques employed in

the search for petroleum.
The primary task in exploration is not only directly to find oil but also to
provide geological structures and identify a prospective hydrocarbon region.
Geological interpretation of the data may eventually lead to drilling and the
discovery of oil.
Importance role of Exploration
The role of exploration is to provide the information required to exploit the
best opportunities presented in the choice of areas.
Verification that the location was not previously drilled by another company.
An oil company may work for several years on a prospective area before an
exploration well is spudded and during this period the geological history of the
area is studied and the likelihood of hydrocarbons beings present quantified.
The Petroleum Industry
The petroleum industry is usually divided into three major sectors: upstream,
midstream, and downstream.
The upstream sector is commonly known as the exploration and production
(E&P) sector.
The midstream sector is the section of transportation and storage of raw oil and
natural gas from E&P.
The downstream sector commonly refers to the refining and manufacturing of
petroleum crude oil, the marketing and distribution of products.
Role of Petroleum Geologists
Identifying and assessing the location
Quantity and quality of deposits
Ascertaining extraction risks
Analyzing geological data, preparing reports and maps
Steps of Prospecting
The techniques of Petroleum Exploration
There are mainly three types of techniques in Petroleum exploration.
They are:
(1) Geological Techniques,
(2) Geochemical Techniques, and
(3) Geophysical Techniques.
(1) Geological Techniques
In the early 1900s, it was finally accepted that oil accumulated in high areas of
reservoir rocks such as anticline and domes.
This was known as the anticlinal theory that was originally suggested in the
late 1800s but was not immediately accepted.
Geologists to map sedimentary rock layers cropping out on the surface.
There are two main types of mapping in geological techniques to show
geological structures and formations.
They are :
(1) Surface Maps, and
(2) Subsurface Maps
(1) Surface Maps
(i) Topographic Map
A topographic map show the elevation of the earth’s surface such as
mountains, hills, valley etc.
A contour line on a topographic map is a line of equal elevation.
A contour line is always labeled with an elevation that is above or below sea
level.
If the contour lines are spaced close together, the slope is steep and when the
contour lines are spaced far apart, the slope is gentle.
(ii) Geological Map
A geological map shows where each rock layer crops out on the surface of the
earth.
Each rock layer is given a different pattern, color and symbol on the map.
(iii) Base Map
A base map is a map that shows the position of all the wells that have been
drilled in an area.
Spotting a well involves the location of a wellsite and placing the well symbol
on a base map.
Base maps can also include seismic line and other data.
(2) Subsurface Maps
(i)Structural Map
A contour map that shows the subsurface features of a reservoir or formation.
These maps clear show faults, folds, and other geologic structure.
Its appearance is similar to a topographic map, but topographic map displays
elevation of the Earth’s surface.
(ii)Isopach Map
A contour map of equal values of true stratigraphic thickness.
Isopach maps are also referred to as True Stratigraphic Thickness(TST) maps.
(iii) Percentage Map
A percentage map plots the percentage of a specific rock type such as
sandstone in a formation.
Higher percentages of a reservoir quality rocks, such as sandstones and
carbonates, imply a larger reservoir net pay.
(2) Geochemical Techniques
Geochemistry is the application of chemistry to the study of the earth.
Traces of hydrocarbon in soil and water are often good indications of the
proximity of a petroleum trap.
In an exploratory area, surface samples of waters and soils are taken.
These samples are analyzed in the laboratory with instruments such as gas
chromatographs for minute traces of hydrocarbon.
Many subsurface petroleum reservoirs are leaky and have obvious seeps on the
surface due to fracturing the rocks by temperature and pressure.
Common Geochemical Techniques are Biomarker Analysis and Isotopic
Analysis.
Biomarker analysis is used to estimate the migration pathway of petroleum
deposits.
Isotopic analysis is used to estimate the accumulation of oil and gas.
(3) Geophysical Techniques
Geophysics is the application of physics and mathematics to the study of the earth.
The geophysicists uses physical phenomenon such as magnetic attraction, the pull
of gravity, the velocity of sound waves through different types of rocks, and the
behavior of electric currents to determine the subsurface structure.
There are three main types of Geophysical Techniques. They are : Gravity,
Magnetic, and Seismic Surveying.
Among them, the gravity surveying and magnetic surveying are relatively
inexpensive, portable, and easy to use instruments.
But the seismic surveying is being expensive due to the most technology
equipments are being use.

Photograph showing the Geophysicists are more investigated than Geologists of the
subsurface structures and reservoirs
(i)Gravity Surveying
A gravity meter or gravimeter is used to measures the Earth’s gravity in the
subsurface.
The strength of the gravitational field is directly proportional to the density of
the subsurface materials.
Note : The gravity meter doesn’t work well in either an airplane or the ocean
due to vibrations.
(ii)Magnetic Surveying
A magnetometer that measures both the orientation and strength of a magnetic
field.
A magnetometer can be operated in an airplane and the ocean.
(iii)Seismic Surveying
The seismic method uses sound energy that is put into the earth.
The energy travels down through the subsurface rocks, is reflected off
subsurface rock layers, and returns to the surface to be recorded.
Seismic exploration images the shape of the subsurface sedimentary rocks and
locate petroleum traps.
Seismic surveying can be operated in land and in the ocean.
Petroleum Exploration in Myanmar
Myanmar has a long history of upstream oil and gas development.
The first modern well was drilled in the Yenangyaung field in the Magway
region, a central inland area of the country, in 1855.
As the country was under British colonial rule until 1948, early upstream
operations were mainly carried out by British oil companies.
In 1901, other foreign companies began to enter Myanmar and commence
operations, starting with Standard Oil, a private American company.
Most foreign companies targeted the Yenangyaung field with more than 4,000
wells drilled in the field as 1915.
When the Japanese army invaded Myanmar looking for resources to fuel its military
operations during World War II, British companies operating in the country had been
destroyed their oil production facilities and evacuated the country.
After the war, Burma Oil resumed its upstream operations, once more under almost
monopolistic conditions.
In 1961, a American company, Unocal(now merged with Chevron) entered the country,
and operating companies became more diversifield.
In 1963, however, the country’s oil industry was nationalized by U Nay Win
administration.
All upstream assets were transferred to a newly established state-owned entity, Myanmar
Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), which then engaged the country’s upstream operation
exclusively.
Q&A