Petroleum Geology - Lecture 4 08
Petroleum Geology - Lecture 4 08
Petroleum Geology - Lecture 4 08
General Considerations
Oil and gas migration are the least understood processes in
the formation of hydrocarbon reservoirs. Much of the current
thinking of how it happens is hypothetical and difficult to
prove with either experiment or theory.
When potential source and reservoir rocks are buried, they
contain water in their pore space. The oil or gas, therefore,
has to replace this water in the migration process when it
reaches the reservoir rock.
We have first a look at the composition of formation water.
Formation Waters
Water in hydrocarbon reservoirs is usually connate water originating
from the water that surrounded it during or shortly after the
depositional process. It is, therefore, fossil water. Meteoric water, on
the other hand, is fresh water that originates from the surface; it may
significantly alter its aqueous chemistry during burial.
Water is special because of all hydrides that the life-forming elements
(N, C, H, S, O) form it is the only one that is liquid at standard
temperature and pressure, with the other ones being gaseous. It has
other special properties that are generally caused by its dipole
molecular structure (surface tension, dielectric constant, latent heat
of evaporation). Its tendency to arrange molecules in tetrahedra and
to exclude electrolytes (e.g. in freezing) causes it to assume special
properties in the presence of minerals such as clays.
The La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles are probably the most spectacular oil
seepage. They are puddles of asphalt that seeped to the surface from young
(Miocene) source rocks through faults. In the Pleistocene and Holocene many
animals perished in them and became fossilized, giving us an extraordinary
glimpse of the fauna at that time. Visit the George C. Page Museum.
Petroleum Geology AES/TA 3820
Primary Migration
Mature hydrocarbons first have to migrate out of the source rock.
This is in general a fine-grained rock that has a low permeability,
for reasons outlined earlier in this course. During burial, this rock
gets compacted and its interstitial fluid become overpressured
with respect to surrounding rocks that have higher permeabilities
and from which fluids can migrate with greater ease upwards.
Therefore, a fluid pressure gradient develops between the source
rock and the surrounding, more permeable rocks. This causes the
fluids - the water and the hydrocarbons - to migrate along the
pressure gradient, usually upwards, although a downward
migration is possible. This process is called primary migration,
and it generally takes place across the stratification. Why?
Source: Hunt, J.M. (1995) Petroleum Geochemistry and Geology, 2nd edition.
W.H. Freeman & Co
Source: Hunt, J.M. (1995) Petroleum Geochemistry and Geology, 2nd edition.
W.H. Freeman & Co
Secondary Migration
The process in which hydrocarbons move along a porous and
permeable layer to its final accumulation is called secondary
migration. It is much less controversial than primary migration,
and it is almost entirely governed by buoyancy forces.
These forces are proportional to the density difference between
hydrocarbon and water. For continuous (but physically separate)
hydrocarbon and water columns, the hydraulic potential, or the
difference between the products of density times height of the
two phases governs the flow of fluids.
The principal conduits for secondary migration are permeable
sandstone beds and unconformities.
Migration Pathways
Source: Hunt, J.M. (1995) Petroleum Geochemistry and Geology, 2nd edition.
W.H. Freeman & Co
Migration Pathways /2
Source: Hunt, J.M. (1995) Petroleum Geochemistry and Geology, 2nd edition.
W.H. Freeman & Co
Migration Pathways /3
Source: Hunt, J.M. (1995) Petroleum Geochemistry and Geology, 2nd edition.
W.H. Freeman & Co
Migration Pathways /4
Source: Hunt, J.M. (1995) Petroleum Geochemistry and Geology, 2nd edition.
W.H. Freeman & Co
Migration Pathways /5
Source: Hunt, J.M. (1995) Petroleum Geochemistry and Geology, 2nd edition.
W.H. Freeman & Co
Differential Entrapment
This phenomenon has been
theoretically postulated and
subsequently found realistic in
many cases. It results in the
heaviest fluid (water) being
trapped in the highest anticline,
and the lightest (gas) in the
lowest! Quite the opposite of
what is generally encountered.
Notice that for this effect to take
place, free gas must be able to
form.
Source: North, F.K. (1985) Petroleum Geology, Allen & Unwin
Differential Entrapment /2
The same scenario as before, but
with different structural
relationships
Seals
Secondary migration proceeds until an impermeable barrier is
encountered that prevents further flow. The most common seal is a
shale layer. The most effective seals are evaporites, notably salt and
anhydrite, partly because of their inherently low intrinsic permeability,
and partly because their capacity for viscous flow enables them to
heal fractures and faults.
Conclusions on Migration
We distinguish primary and secondary migration.
While primary migration is slow and proceeds over short distances,
secondary migration is faster and can proceed over very long
distances (more than one-hundred kilometers).
There are several theories for primary migration, among which
diffusion, oil-phase migration, micro-fracturing and migration in
solution.
Secondary migration is better understood and leads to the
accumulation of hydrocarbon in traps where a seal prevents them
from further migration.
Study Task
Calculate how much water is expelled from a shale layer 1 km
thick and 10 10 km in area, as it is buried from 1 km to 3 km
depth, assuming its compaction is in equilibrium.
Assume now that this is a source rock with 600 ppm weight
percent mature hydrocarbon, of which 15% get expulsed in
primary migration.
How much oil is generated?
What is the average concentration of oil, in ppm, in the water
that escapes from the shale?