Fall

Submitted by: Omar Ahmed

ID # 43550
PET 305: Fundamentals of Petroleum Operations
HW #1

Dr Hussain Ahmed M.B.E.

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Fundamentals of Petroleum Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION

OIL AND GAS SOURCE ROCKS

OIL AND GAS RESERVOIR ROCKS

OIL AND GAS TRAPS

SUMMARY

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REFERENCE

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Table of Figures
FIGURE 1: CONVENTIONAL PETROLEUM SYSTEM WITH FOUR COMPONENTS:
SOURCE ROCK, RESERVOIR ROCK, TRAP AND SEALAND TWO
PROCESSES: PETROLEUM GENERATION AND MIGRATION.

FIGURE 2: OIL PRODUCED IN THE SOURCE ROCKS

FIGURE 3: OIL TRAPPED IN THE PORES OF THE RESERVOIR ROCKS

FIGURE 4: LAYER OF GAS, OIL AND WATER

FIGURE 5: SOME TYPES OF TRAPS

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Fundamentals of Petroleum Operations

INTRODUCTION
Over million years ago, layers of sediment such algae, bacteria got accumulated
and this kept continuing for years. Due to lack of oxygen under the earths crust,
the organic matters in the layers of sediment changed into the substance called
kerogen & bitumen, as the temperature rose to 110 Celsius or higher kerogen
changes to oil and gas [6]. Generation of oil and natural gas mainly depends on
three factors that are the presence of organic matter to yield hydrocarbon,
preferable high temperatures and substantial time to source rock to maturity.
Pressure, catalyst, heat, and bacteria presence can play an important role in
generation of oil and gas, and this process takes at least a million year to
produce huge scale for commercial accumulations [1].

Figure 1: Conventional petroleum system with four components: source rock, reservoir rock, trap and
sealand two processes: petroleum generation and migration [1].

Fundamentals of Petroleum Operations

Oil and natural gas fields are geological features that lead from occurrence of
four types of geologic features (1) oil and gas source rocks, (2) reservoir beds,
(3) sealing beds, and (4) traps. Huge amount of oil and natural gas migrate into
adjacent reservoir rocks and the trap restricts further movement, which are
impermeable rocks [5].

OIL and GAS SOURCE ROCKS

Fundamentals of Petroleum Operations

Originations of oil or gas are from source rock; a source rock can be defined as
sedimentary rocks, which are fined-grained and consist of deposited sediments.
Organic richness makes source rock as the most viable region to generate oil or
natural gas and its location deep under the earths crust increases both the heat
and pressure, which usually fastens up the process of being cooked [7].

Figure 2: Oil produced in the source rocks [7]

Hydrocarbon is usually generated if the organic maters within the source rock are
mostly wooden fragments, upon maturation it turns to natural gas. Both oil and
natural gas are generated if organic components consist more of plants and
algae. So, gas are generated by two ways, either it can be generated from woody
organic matter in the source rocks, or from thermal breakdown of earlier oil at
high temperatures (+ 150 Celsius). Formation of oil and gas in this manner are
known as thermogenic [8].

Fundamentals of Petroleum Operations

OIL and GAS RESERVOIR ROCKS

Fundamentals of Petroleum Operations

When oil and gas are generated in the source rocks, they are migrated into
adjacent reservoir rocks. Reservoir rocks are sedimentary rocks consisting of
more porosity and permeability than the igneous and metamorphic rocks. These
rocks are very helpful in storing and transmitting fluids because of its physical
properties.

Figure 3: Oil trapped in the pores of the reservoir rocks [9]

The ability of storing fluid in pores is called porosity and this can be expressed as
volume percent of the total rock which can be from lowest to highest (over 40% in
some of the chalks) which can be mostly carbonate rocks. The ability of
transmitting is called permeability and its defined by Darcys law which can be
influenced by properties such as grain sorting, grain size, texture of the rock and
grain roundness for example rounder grains lead to higher permeability.
Reservoir rocks are usually saturated with saline ground water which has density
more than 1.0 g/cm^3 because oil and gas are less dense than the ground water
(the density of oil is 0.82-0.93 g/cm^3 and natural gas is 0.12 g/ cm^3), these

Fundamentals of Petroleum Operations

rises upward through the water-saturated pore spaces until they meet a barrier of
impermeable rock which are seal/ oil-gas trap. Most of the reservoir rocks are
limestone, sandstones, or dolomites [9].

OIL AND GAS TRAPS

Fundamentals of Petroleum Operations

After migration through pores of reservoir rocks and getting blocked from further
movement is restricted by the physical arrangement of the reservoir rock and one
or more seals such as low permeability and very small pores. The arrangement
of the reservoir and seals are known as trap. There are two main types of traps:
structural and stratigraphic [2]. Combinations of structure, deposition and
digenesis form Structural/ stratigraphic traps. Stratigraphic traps are formed by
changes in rock type or unconformities, or other sedimentary features such as
buildups and reefs. Structural traps are domes and double plugging anticlines.
Some of the minerals that perform as a seal are shale, salt and cemented
sandstone, 80-90% of the oil traps are anticline, which is structural, trap with
curved higher surfaces [10]. Hydrocarbons filling the traps are known as pools
but engineers mostly use the terminology reservoir instead of pool for gas and oil
accumulation.

Figure 4: Layer of gas, oil and water [5]

Fundamentals of Petroleum Operations

Oil traps doesnt last for long when oil matures in the reservoir, it become lighter
and buoyant due to the effects of temperature, which may build up pressure,
which can overcome the effectiveness of a seal and start to leak out of the
reservoir, once the buoyant hydrocarbons have escaped for a seal, again the
hydrocarbons get trapped and this creates a pool of oil and gas [11]. A trap is an
essential component of a petroleum system. Some of the petroleum traps are
mentioned below:

Figure 5: Some types of traps [11]

Anticlinal Trap-: An anticline is rocks that were previously flat, but have been bent
into an arch where oil flows into a reservoir rock that has been bent into an arch
will flow to the crest of the arch, and get stuck by trap rock.
Stratigraphic Trap: Stratigraphic traps are formed when the reservoir rock is
deposited as a discontinuous layer. Seals are both deposited beside and on top
of the reservoir.
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Fundamentals of Petroleum Operations

Fault Trap: The fault plane must have a sealing effect so that it functions as a
fluid migration barrier for reservoir rocks, movement of rock along a fault line
forms fault traps. In some cases, the reservoir rock has moved opposite a layer
of impermeable rock, thus prevents the oil from escaping which can be a very
effective trap.

Salt Dome: It is a trap, which has pushed up existing slat sediments into a dome
structure, this result in the trapping of gas, oil and water in the pores of the
permeable rocks adjacent to and above it.
Trap at an unconformity: A stratigraphic trap formed by uplift, folding and erosion
of porous strata, where further deposition takes place to form a seal for gas, oil
and water.
Reef Trap: Stratigraphic oil or gas trap produced by porous reef limestones which
is a reservoir rocks covered by impermeable strata.

SUMMARY
Generation of oil and natural gas began from the remains of organisms that
deposited in sedimentary rocks along with mineral grains of those rocks. Many
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Fundamentals of Petroleum Operations

factors contributed to convert organic matter to oil and natural gas such as
bacterial processes, high temperature, deepness of the burial, pressure,
radioactive bombardment, catalyst and time etc. After the oil and gas is produced
In the source rocks it migrates to the nearest reservoir rocks due to its less
density compared to water. After migration from the source rock, the reservoir
pores are saturated with the oil and gas and it moves further upward until its
obstructed by impermeable rocks, this is were oil and gas gets accumulated and
its perfect spot to form oil and gas field.

REFERENCE
[1] McCarthy, K., Rojas, K., Niemann, M., Palmowski, D., Peters, K., &
Stankiewicz, A. (2011, June 8). Basic Petroleum Geochemistry for Source Rock
Evaluation. Retrieved October 29, 2014, from
https://www.slb.com/~/media/Files/resources/oilfield_review/ors11/sum11/basic_
petroleum.pdf

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Fundamentals of Petroleum Operations

[2] Petroleum System. (n.d.). Retrieved October 29, 2014, from

http://www.landforms.eu/orkney/Geology/Oil/OIL petroleum system.htm
[3] Petroleum Geology. (n.d.). Retrieved October 29, 2014, from
http://ocw.tudelft.nl/courses/petroleum-engineering-and-geosciences/petroleumgeology/lectures/lecture-4-migration-from-source-to-reservoir/
[4] Petroleum Geology. (n.d.). Retrieved October 25, 2014, from
http://ocw.tudelft.nl/courses/petroleum-engineering-and-geosciences/petroleumgeology/lectures/5-reservoir-rock-properties/
[5] Broadhead, R. (n.d.). The Origin of Oil and Gas. Retrieved October 28, 2014,
from http://infohost.nmt.edu/~petro/faculty/Engler101/origin.pdf
[6] How oil and gas form. (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2014, from
http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about-bp/what-we-do/finding-oil-andgas/how-oil-and-gas-form.html
[7] Broadhead, R. (n.d.). PETROLEUM GEOLOGY: AN INTRODUCTION.
Retrieved October 25, 2014, from
http://geoinfo.nmt.edu/faq/energy/petroleum/petroleum_geology_intro.pdf
[8] Oil On My Shoes The Original Petroleum Geology Site! (n.d.). Retrieved
October 29, 2014, from http://www.geomore.com/sedimentary-rocks/
[9] Reservoir geology. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2014, from
http://petrowiki.org/Reservoir_geology#Reservoir_base
[10] PETROLEUM TRAPS. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2014, from
http://www.kau.edu.sa/Files/0054337/Subjects/types of oil traps.pdf

[11] Structural traps. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2014, from

http://www.priweb.org/ed/pgws/systems/traps/structural/structural.html
[12] PETROLEUM TRAPS FORMED BY STRATIGRAPHY. (n.d.). Retrieved
October 24, 2014, from http://www.spec2000.net/21-strat4.htm

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