Fundamentals of

Petroleum
Engineering
D R. FA R Q A D H A D I

LECTURE 2
Outline
Review of Last Lecture
Petroleum Migration and Accumulation
Physical Properties of Hydrocarbons
 Petroleum Migration and Accumulation

Petroleums have experienced a long series of

processes prior to accumulation in the reservoir.
Certain requirements must be fulfilled for a
commercial petroleum deposit to be present.

Source rocks
Migration
Sedimentary rocks
Traps
 Petroleum Migration and Accumulation

Source Rocks
Refer to rocks from which hydrocarbons have been generated
They are organic-rich sediments that may have been deposited in a variety of
environments including deep water marine, lacustrine, and deltaic.

Migration
When petroleum moves from source beds into reservoir rocks, it does so by
primary migration. If it moves subsequently within the reservoir after it has
accumulated, it does so by secondary migration.
There are many reasons that cause the petroleum migration from the source rocks
to the reservoir rocks:
•Hydrocarbon volume increases due to maturation
•Compaction of sediments with burial depth (overburden stress)
•Crustal movements causing pressure differentials and consequent subsurface fluid
movements.
•Gravity forces which cause fluid segregation due to the density differences.
•Capillary forces transfer interconnected free hydrocarbon phases from fine-
grained to coarse-grained layers.
 Petroleum Migration and Accumulation

Reservoir Rocks (Porous and Permeable Beds)

Reservoir rocks that have ability to store fluids inside its pores, so that the
fluids (water, oil and gas) can be accumulated.

In petroleum geology, reservoir is one of the elements of petroleum

system that can accumulate hydrocarbons (oil or gas)

Traps
Closed containers in the subsurface for the accumulation of petroleum.

Traps are sealed above by impermeable sediment layers (cap rocks) in

order to keep petroleum accumulations in place.
  
Density [specific gravity ()] and viscosity are the most
important properties of the liquid petroleum.
The specific gravity of liquid (herein oil) is defined as the ratio
of the density of the liquid to the density of water at specific
conditions of temperature (60 FH) and pressure
(atmospheric).
- 131.5
Physical
The specific gravity of crude oils ranges from about 0.75 to
Properties of 1.01. This means that API gravity yields numbers greater than
Hydrocarbons 10 for all materials having less than 1.
Hydrometer method.
Less dense oils (higher API gravity), are they giving valuable
price?
Physical Properties
of Hydrocarbons
Viscosity is the resistance of fluid to flow because of the
friction between its plates.
The viscosity of crude oil ranges from about 0.3 cp for a gas
saturated oil at reservoir conditions to about 1000 cp for a
gas-free crude oil at atmospheric pressure and 100 FH.
Two types of oil viscosity: Absolute and relative’
Two types of absolute viscosity of oil which are dynamic (in
centipoises) and kinematic (in centistokes)
Bubble point pressure Pb (or saturation pressure): It is the
pressure at which the first gas bubble is liberated from the
reservoir oil upon isothermal pressure reduction at the
reservoir temperature.
Physical
Properties of
Hydrocarbons
Formation
  Volume Factor (Bo): It is defined as the ratio of
the volume of oil at reservoir (in-situ) conditions to that at
stock tank (surface 14,7 psia and 60 FH ) conditions.

This factor, is used to convert the flow rate of oil (at stock tank
conditions) to reservoir conditions.
 Physical Properties
of Hydrocarbons
Behavior of typical reservoir oil sample on pressure reduction

 (A) Oil sample at original reservoir conditions

(B) First bubble of gas escapes (liberates) from solution when pressure reduced to Pb

(c) Considerable free gas evolved when pressure is reduced to P1(less than Pb)

(D) Pressure is now atmospheric; liquid volume has shrunk to Vro, the oil volume at the reservoir temperature
and 14.7 psia.

Cooling this oil to standard temperature (60 FH) results in shrinking by an amount of Delta VT to the tsnk oil
volume Vio.
Physical
Properties of
Hydrocarbons

Solution Gas-Oil Ratio (Rs): The dissolved gas content of the

liquid. Or it is expressed in terms of the total gas in solution per
unit volume at any pressure. It is in SCF/STB units.

It is constant above bubble point (Pb).

A crude oil is said to be “saturated” with gas at nay pressure

and temperature if on a slide reduction in pressure some gas is
released from solution.

Conversely, if no gas is released from solution, the crude oil is

said to be “undersaturated” at that pressure.