Definitions

Petroleum system:
A group of plays within a given geographical area
having a common source rock

Play:
A geographically and stratigraphically delimited
area where common geological factors exist in
order that petroleum accumulation can occur

Petroleum System
A petroleum system consists of a pod of
active source rock and all related oil and
gas and includes all the essential elements
and processes required for oil and gas
accumulations to exist.
So main thing is the SOURCE ROCK that is
COMMON for all the accumulations
The figure on the next slides shows a
fictitious petroleum system

Petroleum System Processes

Generation - Burial of source rock to temperature and pressure regime
sufficient to convert organic matter into hydrocarbons
Migration - Movement of hydrocarbon out of the source rock toward and into
a trap
Accumulation - A volume of hydrocarbon migrating into a trap faster than the
trap leaks resulting in an accumulation
Preservation - Hydrocarbon remains in reservoir and is not altered by
biodegradation or water-washing
Timing - Trap forms before and during hydrocarbon migrating

Play Element

In order to effectively analyze a play, we must be able

to determine the presence of play elements within a
basin. The seven play elements we must consider are:

source
maturation
migration
reservoir
seal
trap
timing

In the proper setting, and with the proper timing,

these play elements work together to produce
economic accumulations of oil and natural gas.

Source
Maturation/Generati
on

THE GEOLOGY OF PETROLEUM SOURCE

ROCKS
Deposition, analysis and prediction of the various source rock
types

SOURCE ROCK: A ROCK CONTAINING

PRESERVED, NON-OXIDISED ORGANIC MATTER, IN
QUANTITIES ADEQUATE TO GENERATE PETROLEUM
IN PROPER PHYSICO-CHEMICAL CONDITIONS.
SOURCE ROCKS

PRESERVED ORGANIC
MATERIAL

OXYGEN-FREE
BIOLOGICAL
ENVIRONMENTS PRODUCTIVITY
(ANOXIC CONDITIONS)

Mostly shales and

limestones. Not much
interested in their
deposition.
STUDY OF SOURCE
ROCKS

Classification of fine-grained
sedimentary rocks

SILICA RICH

CLAY MINERALS RICH

CARBONATE - RICH

> 1% Total
Organic
Carbon

< 1% Total
Organic
Carbon
SILICA RICH

1.

Organic-rich lydite

2.

Siliceous black shale

3.

Carbonate and silica-bearing

black shale

4.

Black shale

5.

Argillaceous-siliceous black
shales

6.

Organic-rich carbonates

7.

Carbonate-bearing black shale

8.

Carbonate-argillaceous black
shale

9.

Argillaceous black shale

10.

Organic-rich pelite

11.

Lydite

12.

Siliceous shale

13.

Carbonate and silica-bearing

shale

14.

Shale

15.

Argillaceous-siliceous shale

16.

Carbonates

17.

Carbonate-bearing shale

18.

Carbonate-argillaceous shale

19.

Argillaceous shale

20.

Pelite

(Stribrny & Urban, 1989)

Carbon Dioxide CO2 in the atmosphere

Rain, Silicate weathering
CO2 + CaSiO3 CaCO3 +
SiO2

CO2 + H2O CH2O +

O2

Organic
Carbon in
sediments

Weathering

Carbonate
Carbon in
sediments

Su
u
bd
ct

bd
uc
ti o
n

Absence of oxygen

io

Su

photosynthetic organisms

Metamorphis
m

Metamorphis
m

Photosynthetic
organisms
Death and burial of

Volcanism

Study of source
rocks

Photosynthesis

Petroleu
m

Abioge
nic
genesi
s

MANTLE
Modified from Berner, R (2003),

Tectonic environment of
deposition: Palaeogeography orography

STUDY OF
SOURCE ROCKS

Oceanography, Hydrology
(limnic, swamps), Water
chemistry

Climate, rain patterns,

aridity

Organic chemistry of
organisms, macerals

Aquatic & terrestrial biology

(organisms, plants and their
parts)

The prerequisites for

petroleum:
Living cellular organisms and
hydrogen
After
the death of the living organisms, the organic

compounds in the cells are oxidised (by free oxygen) to

produce carbon dioxide. Sometimes, however, due to
lack of oxygen at the place of death and burial, the
organic material survives oxidation and reacts with other
chemical elements to produce the precursor of
petroleum, kerogen. The main atoms in kerogen
compounds are carbon and hydrogen.

Some useful terms

Potential source rock: any rock that has the ability to generate and
expel enough petroleum to form an accumulation of oil or gas.
Effective source rock: a source rock that has already formed and
expelled petroleum to a reservoir.
Kerogen: all the disseminated organic matter in sedimentary rocks
that is insoluble in non-oxidising acids, bases and organic solvents. It
consists of macerals and degradation products of organic matter.
Kerogen comes from marine, lacustrine and terrestrial environments.
Macerals are remains of different types of organic matter that can
be recognised under the microscope due to their morphologies.
Bitumen consists of in situ hydrocarbons that can be extracted from
the rocks using organic solvents.
Petroleum includes all solid, liquid and gaseous material composed
dominantly of carbon and hydrogen compounds .
The quantity of the organic matter is assessed by the Total Organic
Carbon (TOC) measurement. Its quality and type are assessed by the
Hydrogen Index (HI) and Oxygen Index (OI) values.

THE THREE MAIN PRE-REQUISITES FOR THE

FORMATION OF ORGANIC-RICH ROCKS:
1) HIGH BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTIVITY, TO
PROVIDE THE ORGANIC MATTER.
2) ANOXIC CONDITIONS TO PRESERVE THE
ORGANIC MATTER: THIS IS ACHIEVED BY
WATER STRATIFICATION (no replacement of
oxygen at depth)
3) HIGH SEDIMENTATION RATE, SO ORGANICRICH ROCKS ARE BURIED FAST AND THE
OXIDATION PROCESS STOPS.

PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY IS TAKING PLACE MOSTLY IN AQUATIC

ENVIRONMENTS.
PHYTOPLANKTON IS THE MAIN ORGANIC CONTRIBUTOR, WITH
BACTERIA ALSO VERY IMPORTANT. TERRESTRIAL MATTER IS
USUALLY PROVIDED BY HIGHER PLANTS.
PRODUCTIVITY DEPENDS ON AVAILABILITY OF OXYGEN, LIGHT AND
NUTRIENTS.
PRESERVATION OF ORGANIC MATTER REQUIRES AN ANOXIC
(OXYGEN-DEFICIENT) ENVIRONMENT.
THE KEY TO DEVELOP ANOXIC CONDITIONS IS PERMANENT/
SEMI-PERMANENT STRATIFICATION OF THE WATER COLUMN
ONLY ABOUT 0.1% OF THE TOTAL ORGANIC MATTER IS PRESERVED
IN OXYGEN-RICH ENVIRONMENTS BUT ABOUT 10% IS PRESERVED
IN ANOXIC CONDITIONS

Red
clay
Green
clay

Colour in muds is related to the

amount of dead organisms settling to
the water bottom.. A small amount of
organic matter, settling slowly and
residing for a long time at the bottom
gets oxidised and creates a reddishbrown colour in the muds. Larger
amounts of OM, settling faster, create
a green and, then, a black colour in the
muds.

Green clay

Black
clay

Distribution of organic material within the

sedimentary rocks

With increasing compaction, the clay mineral grains

align horizontally and the organic matter is
distributed in subhorizontal lamellae.

Non-source rock

MATRIX

P
m etr
ol
eu

ORGANIC MATTER

WATER

MATRIX

WATER

ORGANIC
MATTER

Immature source rock

From Passey et al. (1990): AAPG Bull., 74, p. 1777-1794

MATRIX

WATER

The organic matter is deposited contemporaneously

with the clay minerals (tabular grains). It does not fill
pores.

Mature source rock

Some of the organic matter is transformed into
petroleum, which occupies part of the rocks porosity,
replacing the water

Components of the organic-rich

shales
Quartz
Inorganic matrix

Carbonates
Pyrite and other
minerals

BLACK,
ORGANICRICH
SHALE

Feldspars
Clays (mainly illite &
chlorite)

Bitumens
(soluble in organic
solvents)

Kerogen (insoluble in
organic
solvents), containing U,
Fe,
V, Ni, Mo

Conventional petroleum
Source Rock
product
type and maturity

Unconventional petroleum
product

Oil Shale
Immature
SR

Tar Sands
Oil in porous
reservoirs

Oil-prone
SR in oil
window

Fractured-shale-oil

Shale-gas
Gas and condensate
in porous reservoirs

Oil-prone
SR in gas
window

Coalbed methane
Dry gas in porous
and tight reservoirs

Gas-prone
SR in gas
window

BLACK SHALES DO NOT ONLY CONTAIN KEROGEN! THEY MAY CONTAIN

OTHER IMPORTANT RESOURCES, AS WELL.
Mineral resources associated with black shales are placed in two broad
groups:
i) Black shale-hosted mineral resources e.g. uranium, copper, silver, gold, etc.
ii) Black shales as indicators of occurrences of mineral resources e.g. black
shale association as a guide to Phosphorogenesis (Phosphorite deposits)
iii) Manganese deposits with trangressive stratigraphic sequences near or at
black shale pitchouts.
iv) Placer deposits originating from black shales e.g. emerald.

Percent of worlds original petroleum reserves (BOE) generated by

source rocks in various stratigraphic intervals all basins (Klemme &
Ulmishek, 1991)
29.0
25.0

Most of the hydrocarbon reserves

have been generated during 6
stratigraphic intervals. The plot is
heavily influenced by the Middle
East giant fields, sourced by
Cretaceous source rocks.
9.0

Oil

8.0

12.5

8.0

Gas
2.8

2.6

OLIGOCENE-MIOCENE

PLIOCENEQUATERNARY
5.3

36.5

CONIACIAN-EOCENE

APTIAN-TURONIAN
88.5

NEOCOMIAN
119

UPPER JURASSIC
144

169

UPPER PERMIANMIDDLE JURASSIC

206

PENNSYLVANIANLOWER PERMIAN

VISEANSERPUKHOVIAN

352

UPPER DEVONIANTOURNAISIAN
374

LOWER-MIDDLE
DEVONIAN
400

SILURIAN
438

570

CAMBRIANORDOVICIAN

UPPER
PROTEROZOIC
Age
(Ma)

1.2

0.4

0.3

320

1.0

0.2

0.2
0.1

CAMBRIAN-ORDOVICIAN

SILURIAN

PLIOCENE-QUATERNARY

OLIGOCENE-MIOCENE

0.7

CONIACIAN-EOCENE

APTIAN-TURONIAN

<0.1

NEOCOMIAN

UPPER JURASSIC

UPPER PERMIANMIDDLE JURASSIC

PENNSYLVANIANLOWER PERMIAN

<0.1

VISEAN-SERPUKHOVIAN

UPPER DEVONIAN-TOURNAISIAN

LOWER-MIDDLE DEVONIAN

0.2

UPPER PROTEROZOIC

(Klemme & Ulmishek,

1991)

Percent of worlds original petroleum reserves (BOE) generated by

source rocks of various stratigraphic intervals, in basins with less than
5.0
15 billion BOE

Petroleum reserves in smaller basins

3.0

1.7
1.1
0.8

0.4
0.1

ORGANIC-RICH ROCKS INCLUDE BLACK SHALES, LIMESTONES AND

MARLS

What is a 'black shale' ?

According to the Glossary of Geology:
A dark, thinly laminated carbonaceous shale, exceptionally rich in organic
matter (5% or more carbon content) and sulphide (especially iron
sulphide, usually pyrite), and more commonly containing unusual
concentrations of certain trace elements (U, V, Cu, Ni). Fossil organisms
(principally planktonic and nektonic forms) are commonly preserved as a
graphitic or carbonaceous film, or as pyrite replacements. Synonyme:
biopelite
Main characteristics of black shales:
- Gray to black colour
- Fissility
- Light weight
- Common petroleum odour
- Exist in cyclic sequences, often interbedded with thick or thin calcitelimestone beds

Contemporary black shale deposition: Black Sea bottom

layers
Black Sea: Carbonate (white)
and organic-rich clay layers
(black) observed in transmitted
light microscopy
scale bar: 1 mm

Distribution of organic carbon in the

surface layer of sediments, Black Sea

ophotographs of various facies present in Liassic black shales, north Sp

Sub-millimetric cyclicity within the laminated black

shales.

Organic marl made of carbonate lenses

Shell bivalves within the black shale facies.
and bitumen.
These opportunistic faunas colonized the sea floor during
sporadic oxygenation events

Fissility of organic-rich shales: Jurassic Terres Noires, Entraunes,

French Alps
Length of ruler = 30 cm

Agadir, Morocco: Cenomanian black shales

The Cenomanian of
Agadir (Morocco)
Dark-coloured,
organic-rich marls,
limestones and
siliceous CenomanianTuronian strata with up
to 11% TOC outcrop in
the Agadir Basin just
north of Agadir .

Alternation of harder and softer calcareous marl

PHOTO: Dr. Sebastian Lning, Black Shale
Research

Kimmeridge Clay, Kimmeridge Bay. Note the

cyclicity

Kimmeridge Clay, Kimmeridge Bay. Note the

cyclicity

The Ordovician Kukersite oil shale, Estonia

(Geoscientist, vol. 17, February 2007)

Mining of the Kukersite oil shales

PALEOZOIC BLACK SHALES

IN THE U.S.A.

Upper Devonian New

Albany Shale, Illinois
and Michigan basins

Devonian
Chattanooga
Shale, Tennessee.

http://www.uta.edu/paleomap/homepage/Schie
berweb/summer_2000_field_work.htm

Source Rocks - Kerogen

source rock refers to rocks from which hydrocarbons have been generated
or are capable of being generated

They are organic-rich sediments that may have been deposited in a variety
of environments including deep water marine, lacustrine and deltaic

Kerogen is a mixture of organic chemical compounds that make up a

portion of the organic matter in sedimentary rocks.

It is insoluble in normal organic solvents because of the huge molecular

weight of its component compounds.

The soluble portion is known as bitumen

When heated to the right temperatures in the Earth's crust, some types of
kerogen release crude oil or natural gas, collectively known as
hydrocarbons (fossil fuels).

Kerogen
Type I
Containing alginite, freshwater algae,

H/C > 1.25 and O/C < 0.15

Shows great tendency to readily produce liquid hydrocarbons

It derives principally from lacustrine algae and forms only in

anoxic lakes and several other unusual marine environments

Formed mainly from proteins and lipids

Type II

H/C < 1.25 and O/C 0.03 to 0.18

Tend to produce a mix of gas and oil.

They all have great tendencies to produce petroleum and are all
formed from lipids deposited under reducing conditions
Type III

H/C < 1

O/C 0.03 to 0.3

Material is thick, resembling wood or coal

Tends to produce coal and gas

Has very low hydrogen because of the extensive ring and

aromatic systems

Kerogen Type III is formed from terrestrial plant matter that is

lacking in lipids or waxy matter
Type IV

H/C < 0.5

Contains mostly decomposed organic matter in the form of

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. They have no potential to
produce hydrocarbons.

KEROGEN
Due to microbial activity and oxygen presence in aquatic environments, part of
the deposited organic matter is consumed and decomposed into carbon dioxide
and water. Another part is used as building material for the microbial cell and
is, therefore, re-introduced into the food cycle. The remaining residue that
cannot be biologically assimilated, gets incorporated into a new
polycondensate compound, the kerogen.
The characteristics of kerogen are:
- Disseminated organic matter in sediments
- Organic Matter that is insoluble in non-polar solvents (benzene/methanol, toluene,
methylene chloride) and non-oxidizing mineral acids (HCl and HF)
- It is the major source for oil and gas generation
- It is the most abundant form of organic carbon on earth (1000 times more than coal)

It is made up from macerals (remains of marine and lacustrine micro-organisms, with

varying amounts of terriginous debris)
For photos of kerogens: http://www.ceg.ncl.ac.uk/facilities/kerogengallery/index.htm

Preservation of organic matter is favoured in fine grained sediments (clay and

carbonate mud), where anaerobic conditions are quickly developed

The organic matter is destroyed in porous sediments under aerobic water

conditions, as the oxygen can penetrate into the rock.
(Tissot & Welte, 1978)

The chemical structure of the three kerogen types: carbon chains in Type
I, rings in Type III and a mixture of the two in Type II.

The high straight-chain contents of Type I kerogens makes them twice as

good as Type III kerogens for generating oil and gas. The abundance of chaintype molecules in a kerogen is reflected in its hydrogen content (Hydrogen
Index).

The main groups of compounds in crude oils are saturated

hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons, resins and asphaltenes.

1) Saturated hydrocarbons contain straight chains of normal

and iso-alkanes, as well as cyclo-alkanes.
2) Aromatic hydrocarbons comprise pure aromatics or
condensed aromatic and saturated cycles.
3) Resins and asphaltenes are high molecular weight
polycyclic molecules containing N, S and O atoms, arranged
in a polyaromatic sheet.
Kerogen (the insoluble part) is a geopolymer macromolecule
made of condensed cyclic nuclei linked by saturated and
unsaturated chains.

Three main kerogen types may be identified on the basis of

their oxygen and hydrogen contents:
4) Algal kerogen has many chains and few aromatic nuclei,
with consequent high oil and gas potential.
2) Liptinic kerogen contains more aromatic rings and fewer
chains.
3) Humic kerogen is mostly condensed polyaromatic rings with
very few chains. Oil potential is low, gas potential

VISUAL ANALYSIS OF THE KEROGENS

Components of kerogens recognised under the microscope include:
1) UNSTRUCTURED KEROGEN, or Structureless Organic Matter. It represents the
bacterial breakdown of lipid material. It also includes faecal pellets, particles of algae,
organic gels and, sometimes, humic components. Unstructured lipid kerogen changes
character during maturation.
2) STRUCTURED LIPID KEROGEN, composed of macerals with a recognisable structure,
which can be related to the original living tissue. Types of this kerogen include: (a)
Alginite, derived from algae. Examples are Botryococcus and Pediastrum (lacustrine)
and Tasmanites, Gloecapsomorpha, Acritarchs & dinoflaggelates (marine). It has a very
high HI; (b) Cutinite; (c) Resinite; (d) Sporinite; (e) Liptodentrinite; (f) Suberinite
3) SOLID BITUMEN, which are expelled hydrocarbon products. They are classified into
the Exsudatinite Group. They could be hydrocarbons generated in situ, or migrated
from another kitchen.
4) HUMIC TISSUE, which is organic material derived from the woody tissue of land
plants (vitrinite and inertinite)
.

KEROGEN TYPES
TYPE I KEROGEN (LIPTINITE or ALGINITE)
MOSTLY ALGAL ORGANIC MATTER (e.g. Botryococcus lacustrine, Tasmanites
marine), USUALLY FROM LACUSTRINE FRESHWATER ENVIRONMENTS
Very high H content relative to O

VERY OIL-PRONE

TYPE II KEROGEN (LIPTINITE or EXINITE)

ORGANIC MATTER FROM MARINE ENVIRONMENTS WITH MINOR CONTRIBUTION
FROM THE CONTINENTS (ALGAL TISSUES, SPORES, POLLEN)
High H content relative to O

OIL-PRONE

TYPE III KEROGEN (VITRINITE)

TERRESTRIAL AND WOODY ORGANIC MATTER COMING FROM CELL WALLS, WOODY
TISSUE OF STEMS & BRANCHES AND ROOTS OF PLANTS.
Lower H content relative to O

GAS-PRONE

TYPE IV KEROGEN (INERTINITE)

ORGANIC MATTER FROM VARIOUS SOURCES, WHICH MAY BE RECYCLED, ALTERED
OR OXIDISED
Exhausted hydrogen content

NO HYDROCARBON POTENTIAL

The kinetic classification of kerogens by Pepper & Corvi (1995)

the five organofacies

Organofacies

Descriptor

Principal
Biomass
Marine algae,
Bacteria

Sulphur
incorporation
High

Environmental/
age association
Marine, upwelling zones,
clastic-starved basins (any age)

Possible IFP
Classification
Type II-S

Aquatic, marine, carbonate,

evaporite

Aquatic, marine, siliciclastic

Marine algae,
Bacteria

Moderate

Marine, clastic basins

(any age)

Type II

Aquatic, non-marine,
lacustrine

Freshwater algae,
Bacteria

Low

"Tectonic", non-marine basins,

minor on coastal plains

Type I

Low

Terrigenous, non-marine, waxy

Higher plant
cuticle, resin,
lignin, bacteria

Terrigenous, non-marine,
wax-poor

Higher plant
cuticle,
lignin, bacteria

Low

lignin, lower proportion

of higher plant &
bacterial lipids

Low

Type III-H

Some Mesozoic and younger

"ever-wet" coastal plains

Coastal plains (Late Paleozoic

and younger)

Type III/IV

Useful, in cases where the Type of kerogen is not known, but only its
depositional environment.

Maturation and Generation

Hydrocarbon Occurrence & Thermal Maturity

Laboratory Analysis for Source Rock Potential

(Pyrolysis)

S1peak represents the amount of HC thermally distilled

S2 peak records hydrocarbons generated by thermal Cracking of Kerogen
Tmax represents the temperature at which cracking of kerogen releases the
maximum amount of HC

EVALUATION OF SOURCE ROCKS

METHODS TO DETERMINE THE

TYPE, QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF
ORGANIC-RICH ROCKS

The two most common measurements to define the quality of a source

rock are:
1) Measurement of the Total Organic Carbon (TOC), to define the
quantity of organic material in the rock
Total Organic Carbon (in weight %) in a source rock is composed of:
(a) Organic Carbon contained in hydrocarbons already generated by the source
rock.
(b) Organic Carbon that can be converted to petroleum (reactive or labile carbon)
(c) Organic material with insufficient hydrogen atoms to produce petroleum
(dead, or residual carbon)
The most important component for the oil industry is the reactive
component. However, organic carbon that left the source rock as petroleum
has to be added, to define the original Total Organic Carbon of the source
rock.
TOC MEASUREMENT METHODS
In the Loss-On-Ignition (LOI) method, a known weight of sample is placed
in a ceramic crucible and heated to between 350 and 440C for ~8 hours.
The sample is then cooled in a desiccator and weighed. Organic matter
content is calculated as the difference between the initial and final sample
weights divided by the initial sample weight x 100%. LOI method
temperatures should be maintained below 440C to avoid the destruction of
any inorganic carbonates that may be present in the sample.
More detailed measurements of total carbon (TC), carbonate carbon (IC), total

2) Determination of the Hydrogen and Oxygen indices by the

RockEval method, to define the type and generation capacity of
the source rock

Definitions of
the RockEval
terms

Geochemical log for DSDP well

959, Gulf of Guinea, Ivorian
Basin
Hydrocarbon source potential S2
0-2 : poor
2-5 : fair
5-10 : good
>10 : very good
Hydrocarbon type S2/S3
0-2.5: gas prone
2.5-5: mixed oil-gas
>5: oil prone

Kerogen types and maturity plots (Van Krevelen plots)

Van Krevelen plot (1961)

The arrows indicate change of kerogen composition
due to increase in maturity (progressive loss of
hydrogen atoms)

Modified Van Krevelen plot

(1977)
to be used with RockEval measurements
(S1, S2, S3)

The four types of kerogen (I, II, III & IV) plotted on a OI/HI diagram
Terminology of kerogens on a OH/HI
plot
ALGINITE
1.
6
1.
5

LIPTINITE
(EXINITE)

1.
4
1.
3

SPORINITE

ATOMIC H/C

1.
2
1.
1
1.
0
0.
9

VITRINITE

0.
8
0.
7
0.
6

MACRINITE
INERTINITE

0.
5
0.
4

FUSINITE

0.02 0.04 0.06

0.14

0.08 0.10

0.12

ATOMIC O/C

Tysons (1995) organic facies

characteristics

Van Krevelen diagram

showing organic
facies

Tmax vs Hydrogen Index plot

To be used when Oxygen Index measurements are not available.

Tmax (C)

Definition of source rock quality based on TOC content (%)

Traditional classification
Poor

Fair

Good

Very Good

0.0-0.5

0.5-1.0

1.0-2.0

>2.0

Bordenave et al, 1993 ("Applied Petroleum Geochemistry", Technip)

Poor

Fair

Good

Excellent

Type I

0-0.5

0.5-1

1-1.5

>1.5

Type II

0-0.8

0.8-1.6

1.6-2.4

>2.4

Cornford, 1998 ( Glennie's "Petroleum Geology of the North Sea", Chapter 11)
Type III
0-2
2-4
4-6
>6

Oil Shale,

Very Poor

Poor

Fair

Good

Very Good

Bitum.lmst

Clastics

0-0.5

0.5-1

1-2

2-4

4-12

>12

Carbonates

0-0.3

0.3-0.5

0.5-1

1-2

2-6

>6

Evaluation of potential source rocks

Quantity & Thickness:

TOC vs DEPTH

Kerogen Type:

Kerogen maturity & Type:

Hydrocarbon source potential:

Hydrocarbon source type:

Oxygen Index vs Hydrogen Index

Tmax vs Hydrogen Index
S2 vs DEPTH
S2 vs S3

For a quick look on the quality of a source rock the TOC vs S2 plot is
often used, with the main Hydrogen Index lines added on it. So, the
quality and H/C potential of the source rock as well as its kerogen type
can be seen on the same plot. Beware! These plots do not show how
THICK are the good source rock layers. So, always make the TOC vs
Depth plot.

SOURCE ROCK QUALITY

INDICATORS
3) Hydrocarbon potential S2
1) Total Organic Carbon content (TOC %)

0-2 : poor

<0.5

2-5 : fair

Very Poor

0.5-1.0

Poor

5-10 : good

1.0-2.0

Fair

>10 : very good

2.0-4.0

Good

4.0-12.0

Very Good
4) Hydrocarbon type S2/S3

2) Kerogen type (from Hydrogen Index,

HI)
Type III

HI up to 150-200

Type II/III HI 150-200 to 250

Type II

0-2.5: gas prone

2.5-5: mixed oil-gas
>5: oil prone

HI 250 to 500-600

Type I
HI over 600
HC generation potential or yield (S2) must be larger than 5 kgHC/tonnerock.