Petroleum generation (Maturation Process)

Petroleum is generated from productive source beds which have high organic carbon content. This high
organic carbon content resulted from the burial of plants and animals. Since all plants are not of equal
carbon content and so do animals, the C range of the petroleum change when the carbon source changes.
Table 1 gives an indication on the carbon source for C range present in

petroleum

Maturation is the ability of the rock to generate hydrocarbons, and indicates its maturity. Therefore, the
more the rock quality is, the more mature it is. Maturation occurs through millions of years in which
diagenesis and catagenesis processes take place. About 10 to 20% of petroleum is formed during
diagenesis. Most petroleum is formed during the catagenesis and metagenesis of the residual biogenic
organic matter.Converting biomolecules into petroleum is called maturation. Figure 1[1] explains the
maturation process

Diagenesis
Diagenesis is defined as the chemical reactions that occurred in the first few thousand years after burial
at temperatures less than 50C.[2] During diagenesis: oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur are removed from the
organic matter leading to an increase in hydrogen content of the sedimentary organic matter. In addition,
presence of iron during diagenesis increases the probability of sulfur removal as the iron reacts with sulfur
over long burial time and this increases petroleum economic value.

Catagenesis
The reactions that occur between 60 and 200C are considered to be catagenetic in nature. [2] During
catagenesis, the organic compounds are exposed to diverse thermal degradation reactions that include
double bonds reduction by adding sulfur or hydrogen atoms, cracking reactions and condensation
reactions.

Metagenesis
Metagenesis takes place at temperatures over 200C and is considered to be a type of very low-grade
metamorphism.[2] Figure 2 [3] explains the changes occur in organic matter during diagenesis, catagenesis
and metamorphism

After
petroleum generation it migrates until it is trapped. So, a brief overview about the migration process in
indicated in the next section.

Basin Modelling
 The Time-Temperature index (TTI) of maturity is a theoretical measure of maturation and
oil generation. One needs to be able to model the geological burial history of the area
(Depth v Time) and be able to estimate the geothermal history. Allowance has to be made
for uplift and erosion as well.

The empirical relationship between vitrinite reflectance and petroleum formation was utilized
by Lopatin (1971) to develop a simple method of using both time andtemperature to calculate
the thermal maturity of the organic matter in sediments.

Lopatin took a burial history diagram and superimposed on it a grid of isotherms at 10C
intervals as shown in the above diagram. He then determined the thermal exposure of the
source rock in each time- temperature interval and summed these up to give the total
exposure since the time the source rock was originally deposited.

This was called the time-temperature index (TTI) of maturity. The thermal exposure was
calculated by multiplying each time interval by a temperature factor based on the old chemical
rule that reaction rates double for each 10C rise in temperature. This is why isotherms at
10C intervals are used.

Lopatin's technique worked well despite the reaction rates increasing by more than a factor of
two with rising temperatures. Although Lopatin's initial calibration for the oil window was based
on coals and Type III kerogens, Waples extended the method to other kerogen types. It is
now a widely used technique for defining the oil window in sedimentary basins

BO:
Below the bubble point pressure, the oil formation volume factor increases with pressure. This is
because more gas goes into solution as the pressure is increased causing the oil to swell. Above the
bubble point pressure, the oil formation volume factor decreases as the pressure is increased,
because there is no more gas available to go into solution and the oil is compressed.
Solution Gas-Oil Ratio (Rs)
The solution gas oil ratio is the amount of gas dissolved in the oil (or water) at any pressure. It
increases approximately linearly with pressure and is a function of the oil (or water) and gas
composition. A heavy oil contains less dissolved gas than a light oil. In general, the solution gas oil
(or water) ratio varies from 0 (dead oil (or water)) to approximately 2000 scf / bbl (very light oil (or
water)). The solution gas oil (or water) ratio increases with pressure until the bubble point pressure is
reached, after which it is a constant, and the oil (or water) is said to be undersaturated.

The solution gas oil (or water) ratio is often the most significant component of the PVT correlations. It
has a very big influence on the oil (or water) formation volume factor (Bo or Bw), the oil (or water)
viscosity (o or w), and the oil (or water) compressibility (co or cw). It is also used for calculating the
in-situ total reservoir fluid rate (qtBt).