Nontechnical Guide to Petroleum Geology - Hyde

Thursday, August 1, 2013

4:44 PM
Chapter 1: Nature of Oil and Gas

Crude Oil:
Aromatic molecules are 6 carbon atoms and longer in length. At the refinery, an aromatic-rich
crude oil yields the highest octane gasoline and makes a valuable feedstock for the
petrochemical industry. Therefore, a refiner often pays a premium for this type of crude oil.
An aromatic-rich crude oil has a fruity odor
A normal crude oil has a pungent odor of gasoline
An asphaltic based crude oil contains little or no paraffin wax
Asphaltic molecule has 40 to over 6- carbon atoms. (when refined it contains a large
percentage of high-grade gasoline and asphalt)
Paraffin-based = little to no asphalt
Light oils = 35-45 API
o Very fluid, often transparent, rich in gasoline and are often the most valuable
o Water = 10 API
Heavy oils = below 25 API
o Very viscous, dark-colored, contain considerable asphalt, and are lease valuable

Sweet crudes: have less than 1% sulfur by weight
Sour crudes: more than 1% sulfur by weight
In general, heavy oils tend to be sour, whereas light oils tend to be sweet.
Low sulfur crude: 0-0.6% sulfur
Intermediate crude: 0.6-1.7% sulfur
High sulfur crude has 1.7% sulfur

All crude oils contain some paraffin molecules. If the paraffin molecules are 16 carbon atoms or
longer, they are waxes. The amount of wax crude oil is indicated by the pour point of the oil.

Pour points of crude oils: 104- -75 degrees F (40--60C)
Extremely waxy crude oils: 104-100F (40-38C) are yellow

Cloud point is related to pour point. It is the temperature in which the oil first appears cloudy as
waxes form when the temperature is lowered. It is 2-5F (1-3C) above pour point. Slightly waxy crude
oils can have a greenish color. Low or no wax oils are black.

Crude oil has a calorific heat value of between 18,300-19,500 Btu/lb.

1 Barrel = 42 US gallons or 34.97 Imperial gallons
1 Barrel = 0.159m
3


Common feedstock's: methane, ethylene, propylene, butylene and napthene

Natural Gas:

The gas that is burned in homes is methane gas. When propane and butane burn they give off more
heat than methane and they are often distilled from natural gas and sold separately. Liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG) is made from propane gas


Inerts: natural gases that dont burn. Most common is carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide/ Nitrogen can be used for inert gas injections, an enhanced oil recovery process, in
depleted oil fields.

Producing gas-oil ratio (GOR) of a well is the number if cubic feet of gas the well produces per barrel
of oil. Usually, a gas well has a GOR greater than 150,00. Oil wells have GORs less than 15,000

Condensate:
In some subsurface gas reservoirs under high temperatures, the shorter-chain liquid hydrocarbons,
primarily those with 5-7 carbon atoms in length, occur as a gas. When the gas is produced, the
temperature decreased, and the liquid hydrocarbons condense out of the gas. The liquid is called
condensate, it is almost pure gasoline, is clear to yellowish to bluish in color, and as 45-63 API
gravity.

Condensate is commonly called: casing head gasoline, drip gasoline, or natural gasoline.

Condensate that is removed from gas is often added to crude oil in the field in a process called
spiking to decrease the API gravity and to increase the volume of oil. Because it is pure gasoline, the
refiners will pay almost as much for condensate as crude oil. Natural gas that contains condensate is
called wet gas, whereas natural gas lacking the condensate is called dry gas. The condensate (along
with butane, propane and ethane) can be removed from natural gas and it is called natural gas
liquids (NGL).

Reservoir Hydrocarbons:
Chemists classify reservoir hydrocarbons into"
1. Black oil
a. High percentage of long, heavy nonvolatile oils.
b. API below 45.
c. Initial producing gas-oil ratio of 2,000 scf/bbl or less
2. Volatile oil (high-shrinkage oil)
a. Relatively more intermediate sized molecules and less longer sized molecules than black
oil
b. Initial producing gas-oil ratio between 2,000-3,300 scf/bbl.
c. API 40 or above
3. Retrograde gas
a. In the reservoir under original pressure but a liquid condensate forms in the subsurface
reservoir as the pressure decreases with production.
b. Initial gas-oil ratio is 3,300 scf/bbl or higher
4. Wet gas
a. Occurs entirely as a gas in the reservoir, even during production, but produces a liquid
condensate on the surface
b. Initial gas-oil ratio of 50,000 scf/bbl or higher
5. Dry gas
a. Pure methane
b. Does not form a liquid condensate either in the reservoir or on the surface

Carbonate Reservoir Rocks

Dolomite is difficult to distinguish from limestone in the field. Dolomite and limestone have similar
crystal shape, color and hardness. Limestone will bubble in cold dilute acid. Dolomite, however, will
bubble only in hot concentrated acid.

Dolomite is often a good reservoir rock. Because the magnesium ion is smaller than the calcium ion
it replaces, the theoretical volume reduction of limestone by the formation of dolomite is 12-13%.

Source Rocks, Generation, migration and Accumulation of Petroleum

A black shale will commonly have 1-3% organic matter by weight and up to 10%

Black shales have the right chemical composition to generate both natural gas and crude oil. In some
areas of North Africa and the Middle East, organic-rich, dark limestones are source rocks.

A saturated pool always has a free-gas cap on the oil reservoir. The oil in the reservoir has dissolved
all the natural gas it can hold and is saturated. An unsaturated pool lacks a free-gas cap.

Sandstone porosity cutoff = 8-10%
Limestone porosity cutoff = 3-5%

Granite wash is a potential reservoir rock formed by the weathering of granite. Granite is composed
of large, well-sorted, sand-sized mineral grains and weathers to form a well-sorted sandstone that
can be very thick

Saturation is the relative percentage of oil and water or gas and water in the pores.
Oilfield brine is primarily water that shared the pores with the oil.
Fluid that occupied the outside of the pore and is in contact with the rock surface is called the
wetting fluid. Sandstone usually have oil in the center of the pore. Water is on the outside of the
bore in contact with the sand grains. Because of this, most sandstones are water wet. In contrast,
limestone and dolomites are usually oil wet. This is one of the reasons why the amount of oil
recovery tends to be greater in sandstones than in carbonates. The fluid in the center of the pore
will flow easier than the fluid on the outside of the pore that is being held to the rock surface by
surface tension.

When the oil shale is heated to about 660F (350C), kerogen is transformed into crude oil called shale
oil.
Oil shales are organic-rich rocks that are old enough but have never been buried deep enough for
heat to transform the organic matter into oil. They are immature source rocks. The inorganic
sediments are commonly clay, fine-grained quartz and calcite, and salts.

The oil shales are actually calcareous muds and salts that were deposited in a lake, and algae was a
major source of organic matter.

High cost is a major factor preventing the commercial development of oil shales.

Tar sands are sandstones that contain heavy oil. Oil is too viscous to be produced by conventional
methods.

Petroleum Traps

In an area where large volume of loose sediments are rapidly deposited, such as in deltas and coastal
plains, a unique type of fault and anticline forms. A growth fault moves as the sediments are being
deposited. The weight of the sediments being deposited along the shoreline pills the basin side of
the fault down. A growth fault is similar to a giant slump.

There are four unique aspects of a growth faults that distinguish it from faults in solid rocks:
1. It has a curved fault plane that is concave towards the basin. The fault becomes less steep with
depth. Fault in the solid rock tend to have linear fault planes. The growth fault, however,
occurs in loose sediments. AS the sediments are buried, weight compacts the sediments,
causing the steep, near surface fault plane to become more gentle with depth.
2. The growth fault has thicker sediment layers on the basin side of the fault. Because the fault is
moving as the sediments are being deposited, a topographic low forms on the basin side of the
fault. This accommodates thicker layers on the down side than on the up (land) side of the
fault.
3. The deeper the sediments, the larger the fault displacement. This is because the deeper
sediments are older and have experienced more fault movement.
4. A rollover anticline commonly occurs on the basin side of the growth fault. The anticline is
caused by the curved fault plane, which is almost horizontal with depth. As the growth fault
moves, a gap forms between near-surface sediments on either side of the fault. The relatively
loose sediments roll over into the gap to form the anticline. Rollover anticlines are prolific
petroleum traps along the Gulf of Mexico coastal plan and in the Mississippi and Niger River
deltas.

Growth faults will become inactive and buried in the subsurface as the shoreline progrades out into
the basin. Ancient growth faults are found both inland and offshore. The offshore growth faults were
active during lower sea levels.

Rollover anticlines on growth faults are often cut by smaller faults called secondary faults. Secondary
faults are often sealing faults that divide the field into numerous smaller reservoirs.

The traps are rollover anticlines that are often cut by secondary faults that are sealing faults. The
only active growth faults are the ones located just inland from the present shoreline. The growth
faults that are buried and located further inland were active when the shoreline was inland. The
inactive growth faults located offshore were active when the sea level was lower.

Rollover anticlines generally do not form giant fields.
Drag folds in rocks are formed by friction generated along a fault plane when a fault moves. Friction
causes the beds on either side of the fault to be dragged up on one side and down on the other side.
The orientation of the drag fold indicated the direction of the fault movement.
The thrust faults occur in a zone called an overthrust or disturbed belt.

Fractures:
Fine-grained sedimentary rocks such as shales and chalks can be porous, but they are not reservoir
rocks because they lack permeability. Natural fractures such as joints, however, give the rock
permeability.

Stratigraphic Traps:
Angular unconformities can form giant gas and oil traps when a reservoir rock is terminated under
an angular unconformity that is overlain by a seal. In several giant oil fields, the reservoir rock, called
a buttress sandstone, is located on top of the angular unconformity.

Petroleum production can come not only from a reef, but also from a compaction anticline overlying
a reef. A compaction anticline forms in porous sediments, such as sands and shales, deposited on a
hard rock mound or ridge, such as a limestone reef or bedrock hill. The sediments are deposited
thicker to the sides of the reef than directly over the top. When the sediments are buried deeper,
the weight of the overlying sediments compacts the loose sediments. The reef, composed of
resistant limestone, compacts relatively little. Because more compaction occurs in the thicker
sediments along the flanks of the reef, a broad anticline forms in the sediments over the reef.

Pinch Outs:
An updip pinch out of a reservoir rock in a shale or salt can form a petroleum trap. Pitchouts of
dolomite reservoir rocks in salt cap rocks occur along the edge of many basins to trap petroleum.

Bald-Headed Structure:
When an anticline or dome is formed, the crest of the structure is exposed to erosion. Most or all of
the potential reservoir rocks can be removed from the top of the structure. Later, seas cover the
area and sediments are deposited burying the eroded structure in the subsurface. When the
petroleum migrates up the reservoir rocks, it is trapped below the angular unconformity. Because
the crest of the structure is barren but the flanks are productive, it's called a bald-headed structure
or anticline.

Salt Domes:
Salt, composed primarily of halite, is a solid that flows slowly as a viscous liquid under pressure. As
the salt rises, it uplifts and pierces overlying sedimentary rocks to form a piercement dome. The salt
is composed primarily of halite which is highly soluble. Large amounts of salt are dissolved as the
rising salt dome comes in contact with water in the overlying sediments. However, 1-5% of the salt is
insoluble anhydrite. As the salt dissolves, an insoluble layer called the caprock builds up on the top
of the dome. The caprock range from 100-1000ft (30-300m) thick. Some of the anhydrite is altered
by bacterial and chemical reactions to gypsum, limestone, dolomite and sulfur. The caprock is often
highly fractures and has vug pores. Many subsurface salt domes have mounds on the surface above
the rising dome.

Petroleum Exploration - Geophysics

Seismic Processing:

Common depth point (CDP): is a processed used to improve the signal/noise ratio by reinforcing the
actual reflection and minimizing random noise. It involves recording reflections several different
times from different sources and detector combinations for each subsurface point and combining
(stacking) the reflections (traces).

The number of times that each subsurface point is recorded is called the fold.

Because it travels twice the depth (down and up), time on a seismic record is two-way travel time.
The deeper the reflecting layer, the longer it takes the echo to return to the surface. Therefore, time
and depth from the surface are roughly equivalent.

Recorded in two ways:
A variable area wiggle trace uses vertical lines with wiggles to the left or tight (traces) to record
positive or negative seismic energy.
A variable density display uses shades of gray to represent seismic energy amplitude. The darker the
shade, the stronger the reflection.

The amplitude of the echo off the top of a subsurface layer depends primarily on the contrasts in
acoustic impedance (sound velocity time density) between the upper and lower rock layers that
form the surface. The greater the contrast, the bigger the reflection. The percent of seismic energy
reflected is called the reflection coefficient.

Because gas has a very slow velocity, the slowest sedimentary rock is an unconsolidated gas sand. If
this is overlain by a caprock, the acoustic impedance will produce an echo of about 20% of the
seismic energy called a bright spot. It is seen as an intense reflector on the seismic profile. Bright
spots have been used very successfully to locate gas reservoirs and free-gas caps on saturated
oilfields. Not all bright spots, however, are commercial deposits of natural gas. Another direct
hydrocarbon indicator is a flat spot. A flat spot is a seismic reflector in rock layers that re not flat
such as an anticline. The flay spot is a reflection off a gas-oil or gas-water contact.

Deconvolution is a process done by a computer that compresses and restores the recorded
subsurface reflections so that they are similar to the original seismic energy impulse. This makes the
reflection sharper and reduces some of the noise.

A seismic section is accurate only over flat, horizontal rock layers. Dipping rock layers have a
different path for the seismic energy from source to detector than horizontal rocks layers in the
same position. Because of this, dipping rock layers do not appear on the seismic record in their
actual positions. They are shifted to a downdip position and appear flatter than they are. This effect
causes anticlines to look wider and synclines to look narrower. It causes the rock layers in a deep,
steeply dipping syncline to cross forming a bow-tie. Rock layers sharply terminated against a fault
appear to cross with rock layers on the other side of the fault. A computer process called migration
moves the dipping rock layers into a more accurate position on the seismic record.

Vertical seismic profiling (VSP) is the same as a check-shot, except the geophone interval is shorter.

Evaluating a Well

SP:
The mud filtrate usually has a different salinity than the natural fluids of the pores of the rock
(water, gas or oil) and is in contact. This creates a potential electrical current along the top and
bottom of the reservoir rock where it is in contact with shales. Spontaneous potential measures the
magnitude of the current to identify potential reservoir rocks in the well.

The SP curve kicks to the left to identify a potential reservoir rock and to the right for nonreservior
rocks such as shale, tight sand or dense limestone.


Tight sands, dense limestones and shales have characteristic signatures on the SP and R logs. The
spontaneous potential of all three kicks to the right. Shales have low resistivity. Tight sands and
dense limestones, however, have high resistivity. There is no way to distinguish between a tight sand
and a dense limestone on an electrical log.

Induction log:
The induction log was developed to give a resistivity measurement in wells filled with any type of
drilling mud or water. Induction resistivity is often measured as deep, medium or shallow. Deep
induction resistivity measures the true resistivity of the reservoir behind the invade zone and is
interpreted similar to the long normal resistivity of an electrical log. Shallow induction resistivity is
interpreted similar to short normal resistivity. A dual induction log measures deep and medium
depth resistivity.

Natural Gamma Ray Log:
Of the three common sedimentary rocks, only shale, which contains potassium including radioactive
K40, is radioactive. Shales are 'hot' and kick to the right. Sandstones and limestones, which are
potential reservoir rock, kick to the left.

Neutron Porosity Log:
Used to measure the porosity of rocks on the well.
The tool has a radioactive source that bombards the rocks adjacent to the wellbore with high-speed
atomic particles (neutrons) as the tool is raised in the well. If a high-speed neutron collides with a
large rock atom, the atom will bounce the high-speed neutron back with almost no loss of energy. If
the high-speed neutron collides with a hydrogen atom, a very small atom, the hydrogen atom
absorbs some of the neutron's energy. The neutron will bounce back as a slow-moving neutron. The
slow-moving neutron can be captured by another atom in the rock, causing the atom to emit a
gamma ray.
The more hydrogen atoms in a rock, the more slow-moving neutrons and gamma rays the rock will
emit as it is bombarded by fast-moving neutrons. The less hydrogen atoms in a rock, the more fast-
moving neutrons that will bounce back as the rock is bombarded. Hydrogen atoms are found in
water, gas, or oil in the pores of a subsurface rock. The more porous a rock, the more slow neutrons
and gamma rays will be emitted.

Gas effect:
The neutron porosity log is calibrated to measure porosity assuming a liquid is in the pores. It will
yield an inaccurate, low porosity reading on a gas reservoir. The formation density log will give a
more accurate but slightly high porosity calculation on a gas-filled rock.
Natural gas can be detected in subsurface reservoir rocks by running other porosity logs (formation
density and neutron porosity) in the well. If natural gas is present, the neutron porosity log will read
low and the formation density log will read high. The divergence of the two logs is called the gas
effect.

Sonic:
Of the common sedimentary rock, shales have the lowest sonic velocities, sandstones have higher
velocities and limestone sand dolomites have the highest. There is a wide range of sonic velocities
for individual sedimentary rocks because the sound velocity thorough gas and liquid is less than
thought solids such as rocks. The more porous a rock, the more gas or liquid it contains and the
slower its sonic velocity.

Dip meter is a logging tool used to determine the orientation of rock layers in a well.