Chapter 3

Petroleum Systems
The Origin of Oil & Gas
Source Rocks, Generation and
Migration
Presenter: Leigh Brooks
1

Over millions of years & deep burial by layers of sand & mud in a sedimentary
basin, organic rich mud becomes rock rich in organic remains (an oil source
rock). As this is buried even further it becomes hotter, until the organics crack
and are converted into OIL and GAS.

GAS

INCREASING
PRESSURE &
TEMPERATURE

Generally
Minimum
3-4km

OIL

Major producing Shales in USA

+ Eagle Ford Shale

The Petroleum System

Is. The essential elements and processes and all
genetically-related hydrocarbons that occur in
petroleum shows and accumulations whose
provenance is a single pod of active source rock.
Elements
Source Rock
Migration Route
Reservoir Rock
Seal Rock
Trap

Processes
Generation and
Expulsion
Migration
Accumulation
Preservation

Petroleum
SystemElements
elements
Petroleum System
critical components of a productive system

Anticlinal Trap

Top Seal Rock

(Impermeable)

Reservoir Rock
(Porous/Permeable)
Potential
Migration Route

Source Rock

(Organic Rich)

24803

Petroleum System elements

Source - A rock rich in organic matter (finely disseminated through
the rock) which, if heated sufficiently, will generate oil or gas, or
which may generate biogenic gas at low temperatures. Typical
source rocks, usually fine grained shales or limestones, contain
more than 1% total organic carbon (TOC), although a rich source
rock might have as much as 10% organic matter. Analysis of rock
samples eg core & cuttings is important

Migration pathway path by which oil and gas moves through

permeable beds or fractures upwards by buoyancy, away from
source rocks.

Reservoir - porous and permeable media capable of holding

hydrocarbons in a trap

Seal - impermeable sedimentary rock that blocks upward of oil and

gas and prevents it from escaping the reservoir rock within a trap

Trap - forms when the buoyancy forces driving the upward

migration of hydrocarbons through a permeable rock cannot
overcome the capillary forces of a sealing medium

Petroleum System processes

that act on the elements to result in a hydrocarbon accumulation. Generation
Petroleum System Elements
discussed here is for thermally mature sediments. Note biogenic or bacterial
gas forms at low temperatures

Gas
Cap
Oil

Accumulation
Entrapment
and
preservation

Water

Seal Rock
Reservoir
Rock

Migration
120
~100Fdeg C
Source Rock

Generation
and expulsion

350
~175Fdeg C
24803

Petroleum System processes

Generation - Burial of source rock to a temperature and

pressure regime sufficient to convert organic matter

into hydrocarbon. Different types of organic matter require
different temperatures to produce oil. Sufficient volumes of
hydrocarbon need to be generated within the source rock to
create high enough pressures to force expulsion of the
hydrocarbon from the source rock

Migration Expulsion of hydrocarbon out of the source

rock and movement upwards and into a trap, if present

Timing - for effective entrapment, trap must form before or

during hydrocarbon migration

Accumulation - A volume of hydrocarbon that migrates into

a trap faster than the trap leaks results in an accumulation

Preservation - Hydrocarbon remains in the reservoir and is

not too adversely affected by biodegradation or waterwashing

Generation - Thermal maturation history

thermal cracking of kerogen to form hydrocarbons
Less Hydrogen More Hydrogen
K

Diagenesis

Kerogen
Onset of Oil
Generation

Ro = 0.5%

Burial to
Greater
and Hotter
Depths

Oil

Gas

Oil

Gas

Oil

Gas

K1

Catagenesis
K2

K3

Oil PhaseOut

Ro = 2.0%

Con Gas
d

K4
Gas

Metagenesis
Horsfield and Rullkotter, 1994

Timing - Burial history chart plot of depth and

P

TR

Cen.
K

Rock
Unit

Thick
Fm

Generation

Overburden

Mesozoic

Seal

Paleozoic

100

Reservoir

200

Source

300

Depth (Km)

Time mill yrs

400
before
present

Lithology

modelled temperature vs geological time to estimate when generation occurred

2
Placer Fm
George Sh
Top oil window

Boar Ss

Top gas window

Deer Sh
Elk Fm

Critical Moment

Magoon and Dow, 1994

Time of Expulsion and Migration. (Trap must already exist for oil
and gas to be trapped)

Petroleum Systems Events Chart to work

out whether essential elements are present and the timing good
North Slope, Alaska
400

300

Paleozoic

M P P TR

200

100

Mesozoic

Geologic Time-Scale
Mill yrs before present

Cenozoic

Pe N

Petroleum
System Events

Source Rock
Reservoir Rock
Seal Rock
Overburden
Trap Formation
Generation, Migration,
and Accumulation

1. Western North Slope

2. East-central North Slope

Timing is critical

Preservation
Critical Moment

Petroleum System
1) Early Generation

A Dynamic Entity

Spill Point

Migration from
Kitchen

2) Late Generation

Spill Point

Reservoir Rock
(Sandstone)

Seal Rock
(Mudstone)

Gas beginning to
displace oil

Displaced oil
accumulates
Gas displaces all
oil

Example petroleum system: Critical moment determined by

Burial history chart plot of depth and modelled temperature vs geological

TR

Cen.
K

Rock
Unit

Thick
Fm

Generation

Overburden

Mesozoic

Seal

Paleozoic

100

Reservoir

200

Depth (Km)

300

Lithology

400

Source

time (millions of years before present) to estimate when generation occurred

2
Placer Fm
George Sh
Top oil window

Boar Ss

Top gas window

Deer Sh
Elk Fm

Critical Moment

Magoon and Dow, 1994

250 Ma -Time of Expulsion and Migration due to rapid burial.

An example Petroleum System at Critical interval of time

(Moment) - map or plan view
250 Ma (million years ago)

Raven

Marginal

Owens

Teapot

Pod of Active
Source Rock

Big Oil
Just

Hardy

Lucky

David

Immature Source Rock

Zero Edge of
Reservoir Rock

Magoon and Dow, 1994

Example Petroleum System at Critical Moment

Critical Moment = Time of Expulsion/Migration
250 Ma (million years ago)
GEOGRAPHIC EXTENT OF PETROLEUM SYSTEM

Trap

250 Ma

Trap

Trap

POD OF ACTIVE SOURCE

ROCK

Essential
elements of
petroleum
system

Petroleum accumulation
Top of oil window

Overburden
Seal
Reservoir
Source
Underburden

Sedimentary
basin-fill

STRATIGRAPHIC
EXTENT OF
PETROLEUM SYSTEM

Bottom of oil window

Location for burial history chart

Magoon and Dow, 1994

Petroleum System Events Chart

Timing of Elements and Processes
400

300

200

Paleozoic

100

Mesozoic

TR

Geologic Time
Scale

Cenozoic

Petroleum
System Events

Reservoir Rock
Seal Rock
Overburden Rock
Trap Formation
Gen/Migration/Accum
Preservation

Critical Moment
Magoon and Dow,
1994

Critical Moment

Processes

Source Rock

Elements

Rock Units

Time of Expulsion and Migration. (Trap must already exist)

Present day example Petroleum system cross section

view -things have changed since the critical moment
GEOGRAPHIC EXTENT OF PETROLEUM SYSTEM

Trap

Present-Day

Trap

Trap

STRATIGRAPHIC
EXTENT OF
PETROLEUM SYSTEM

Petroleum accumulation
Top of oil window
Bottom of oil window

Overburden
Seal
Reservoir
Source
Underburden

A
Note this pool was
charged early, before
the latest structuring,
which separated this
trap from the source.
Without working out
the timing of
generation and
migration, you might
conclude this structure
could not contain
hydrocarbons due to
no viable migration
pathway from mature
source

Magoon and Dow, 1994

Composition of Petroleum
Petroleum consists mainly of
hydrocarbons, composed of C
and H atoms (oil, condensate,
gas). Other components may
include Nitrogen, Oxygen,
Sulphur and traces of metals
Comprises a large number of
compounds ranging from gas
to solid (C1 to C50), which can
be divided into 4 main
groups: aromatics,
napthenes, branched
alkanes and normal alkanes
Oils have average H/C of 1.52.0 and thus require large
amounts of H for them to be
created

Origin of Oil and Gas Source Rocks

Source
Petroleum is derived from organic matter (OM) deposited in fine grained
sediments. This OM consists of proteins, carbohydrates (incl. sugars &
cellulose), lignins (in wood and bark) and lipids (vegetable oils, fats and
waxes)
Two main sources of OM
- 1. aquatic organisms growing in oceans and lakes, mainly algae
and phytoplankton (microscopic plants) and bacteria. Usually v minor
animal remains (zooplankton, eg foraminifera whose shell remains form
chalk, radiolarians, crustaceans such as krill, etc)
Algal bloom off England
diatoms

- 2. remains of terrestrial (land) plants carried to the site of deposition

A good source rock requires a sufficient concentration of OM to be
preserved

 The production of plankton (floating organisms) in the world is prodigious.

Large amounts produced in areas rich in nutrients eg sites of upwelling
currents
Eg within the Black Sea every year 2.7 thousand million tons of plankton
are produced, containing on the average 1%-3% of fatty acids and 4%16% of amino acids.

Preservation of Organic matter (OM)

Requires an oxygen deficient (anoxic) environment of deposition,
which commonly occurs just below the sediment water interface
- where there is little destruction of OM by aerobic bacteria and
scavengers
- anaerobic bacteria will not destroy the OM
Areas of poor water circulation such as silled or ponded basins are
favourable. (good circulation leads to oxygenated water and sedimentunfavourable)
Stratified water columns, eg thermal or saline stratification, result in poor
circulation of water which leads to stagnant conditions near the sediment
water interface

Silled basin models for

anoxia
Scott WABS 1994

 Anoxic conditions are favoured by continued optimum rate of mudstone

deposition, shielding the organic matter (OM) from potentially oxygenated
waters. Too rapid deposition may dilute the OM in the sediment and too
slow allows more time to degrade the quality of the OM
High supply of OM is obviously favourable to preservation of significant
amounts of OM in sediments. This requires a continued supply of nutrients
such as N and P, which is delivered to basins in the run off from rivers or
by the upwelling of deep nutrient rich waters
As the remains of organisms decay, oxygen is consumed, leaving oxygen
depleted waters suitable for preservation of OM if there is poor water
circulation

Conversion of Organic matter to kerogen

Within a few metres from the surface, biopolymers begin to be
converted into kerogen, a chemically stable, insoluble (in organic
solvents and water) substance consisting of huge complex molecules
composed of C,H and O. This process is largely completed at
relatively shallow burial depths of 300-1000m
A minor soluble component of the OM is bitumen, which consists of
asphaltenes, resenes and hydrocarbons derived from living material.
These hydrocarbons (biomarkers), although small in volume are
important because they retain the chemical characteristics of their
plant source and can thus be used to identify the particular source bed
and to correlate oils. Identifying the source of a particular oil may
assist exploration
eg C33alkylcyclohexane found in most of the oils in the Perth Basin is found only in the
Early Triassic basal Kockatea Shale

Source richness
Concentration of OM is usually measured by Total Organic Carbon
(TOC) as % weight of C/ unit weight of rock
World average TOC of shales ~1%
Good (rich) source rocks considered to have TOC >2%
Very rich source rocks have TOC>5%

Evolution of kerogen, including cooking

(catagenesis, sometimes spelt katagenesis) to
produce oil and gas

Thermal
generation of
petroleum

Quality of kerogen
Kerogen has been divided into 3 main types, which will yield different
types and amounts of hydrocarbon when thermally mature
Many source rocks contain mixtures of the 3 main types
Type I (Alginitic) Excellent oil source, high in H, derived from algae and
phytoplankton (microscopic plants). Relatively rare and occurs in
lacustrine (lake) environments or closed marine basins. End member
can produce up to 68% petroleum (mainly oil) by weight
Type II (Liptinitic- Exinitic) Good oil prone OM, high in H, derived from
phytoplankton. Common in marine transgressive sediments. Standard
Type II can produce 40% petroleum (mainly oil) by weight
Type IIIa (Vitrinitic), Type IIIb (or Type IV) (Inertinitic). Type IIIa is a
gas/condensate source. Poor in H. Mainly derived from terrestrial (land)
plants and composed of woody material, it is common in deltaic
sediments. Standard Type IIIa can produce 16% of petroleum, mainly
gas, by weight. Inertinitic OM has little source potential and dry gas only
Note many coally (Type III) sediments in Australasia have a significant
Type II oil prone component derived from spores, pollen and leaf waxes
and bacterial remains
See Van Krevelen diagram

Kerogen types

TOC 2.12 WT.%

TOC .38 WT.%

Source Rock for Petroleum

Dark organic-rich thin
laminae result of wet season runoff

Measured Values
Total
Organic
Carbon

3.39
In-Place
Petroleum
S1

2.24
1 Inch

LOMPOC Quarry Sample

Monterey Formation, CA

Hydrogen
Index

378
Pyrolytically
Generated
Petroleum
S2

12.80

Types of petroleum produced

Oil and gas are formed by the thermal
cracking of organic compounds buried in
fine-grained rocks.

Eg
Algae = Hydrogen rich = Oil-prone. Type 1
Wood = Hydrogen poor = Gas-prone. Type
3b
Accurate prediction of probable
hydrocarbon type and volume, based on
paleogeographic and productivity models,
is critical to exploration success.

Thermal maturation

Average geothermal gradient within sedimentary basins is approximately 25-30

deg C/km. It depends on heat flow up through the earth and thermal conductivity
of the sediments and varies during the basins evolution. Some basins may have
high heat flow and be quite hot ie have high temperatures at relatively shallow
depths
Increased heat flow and higher geothermal gradients occur during rifting, when
the crust is thinnest
Temperatures increase with depth and for example may reach 135-150 deg C at
about 4000m
When kerogen in sediments is subjected to sufficiently high temperatures from
deep burial, it is progressively cracked into smaller, simpler molecules
petroleum, with increasing temperature. This is known as catagenesis
If oil prone kerogen (Types I and II) is present, the first products will be heavier
oil. As burial continues and the temperature increases, the hydrocarbon
molecules produced become lighter, moving through the peak oil generation
phase to gas- condensate and finally to the end stage where the oil retained in
the rock is converted to methane and the kerogen to carbon.
A single source rock can produce many oils of different gravities and
characteristics, depending on the richness of the source rock and the basins and
oils histories
The temperature at which peak oil generation occurs is variable, depending on
the type of kerogen and the heating rate among other things, but generally
ranges between 110 and 150 deg C

Thermal maturation general relationship between oil and gas

generation and various parameters such as vitrinite reflectance (Ro), spore colour
(SCI) etc

Measurements
Organic richness is measured by routine Total Organic Carbon analyses
(TOC, = weight of C/ unit weight of rock as % )
The degree of thermal maturity of kerogen can be measured by various
means and is important in assessing the history of the basin and source
rocks. This is critical in assessing remaining exploration potential
Measurement methods include vitrinite reflectance, Spore Colour
Index, extracted soluble hydrocarbons, Rock Eval Pyrolysis, gas
chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry
The history and maturity of migrating oils can be studied if traces of the
oil are trapped in small inclusions within crystalline cements in
sandstones - Molecular Composition of Inclusions

Expulsion and migration

When hydrocarbons are formed from the thermal degradation of kerogen
there is an increase in volume ie the oil and gas occupies more space
than the kerogen. When sufficient volumes (high saturation) are
generated within the source rock, the high pressures produced within the
source rock will cause microfracturing of the rock to occur and some of
the hydrocarbon will be expelled into surrounding more porous and
permeable (and lower pressured) rock.
Expulsion from rich source rocks will occur earlier than in poorer source
rocks because the critical volume of hydrocarbon within the rock is
reached sooner

Expulsion and migration

Oil and gas expelled into more permeable neighbouring rock such as
siltstone and sandstone beds in clastic sediments and into fractures then
migrates upwards through buoyancy effects, as the petroleum is lighter
than water. Driven by pressure gradients resulting from the buoyancy, the
oil and gas takes the easiest path.

Migration
Migration pathways occur in permeable beds immediately under
impermeable seals and oil will find its way to the surface if not impeded.
If migration is impeded by structure/large decrease in permeability, it is
trapped. If the volume trapped is significant it will form an exploration target

Oil (and gas) can travel large horizontal distances, >50 km and probably
up to hundreds of kms if there is a good thick regional seal and the
geometry is favourable ie gentle regional dips and little faulting to allow the
hydrocarbon to leak vertically. This is most common in foreland basins in
front of rising mountains/thrust belts (next slide)

Conversely, if there are no thick shales and there are many faults, migration
is likely to be largely vertical. Lateral migration distances in rift basins are
often quite short, resulting in fields close to basin depocentres
Secondary migration can occur if traps leak or hydrocarbon is displaced by
later gas charge

Foreland Basins: Oil (and gas) in the Eastern Venezuelan Basin has
travelled ~200 km along simple pathways to the edge of the basin, where
over 1200 billion barrels of biodegraded heavy oil is trapped at shallow
depths in the Orinoco Tar Belt
Overburden wedge of
sediments shed off
mountains pushed source
rocks into generation window

Trinidads Tar Lake migration to the surface

- where biodegradation occurs, creating heavy oil/tar

Chemical relations between petroleum hydrocarbons

and other natural hydrocarbons
6

Shale Oil and Gas

Large amounts of oil and gas will remain within thermally mature
organic rich shales (source rocks) even if the shale has been through
the peak oil generation window and large amounts of oil and gas have
been expelled. Expulsion efficiency in shales is variable and depends on
the presence of interbedded permeable carrier beds
Porosity of viable shale in shale gas plays may range from 4-5% to
>10%, but permeability is very low. Most of the porosity is in nanopores
formed as the OM is converted to hydrocarbon
Until recently, these shales were considered non reservoir (in fact
seals), but
If these shales have some natural fracture network and the right
mechanical characteristics (primarily brittleness) to enable them to be
fractured (fracced) to produce the hydrocarbons contained within, they
may become a valuable Shale Resource
Recent developments in horizontal drilling and fracture stimulation
techniques and reduced costs allow vast volumes of shale to
produce hydrocarbons economically

Shale Gas Petroleum System

A shale gas system is a self-contained sourcereservoir-seal (-trap) system

In this system, shales that generated the gas also function

as very low matrix permeability and low porosity
reservoir rocks
The gas in shales occurs both as a free phase within pores
and fractures and as gas adsorbed onto organic matter
The adsorbed gas is proportional to the total organic carbon
(TOC) of the shale. Free gas is proportional to the effective
porosity and gas saturation in the pores

Reservoir

Low matrix porosity is

increased as more pore space
is created through conversion
of organic matter to
hydrocarbon
Total porosity generally 3-10%
Data from core and logs

Oil Preservation
When oil has been trapped in a reservoir it can be affected by several
processes that will change the character of the oil
Normal maturation. If the trapped oil is buried further and becomes hotter,
the heavier more unstable compounds will be cracked to lighter compounds
resulting in the oil becoming lighter (higher API gravity)
De-asphalting. If downdip gas migrates into the oil accumulation, heavier
asphaltenes can precipitate (plugging reservoir pores) leaving a lighter oil
Water washing. If the oil accumulation is in contact with moving aquifer
water, the lighter gasoline range hydrocarbons (mostly C5-C10) are
dissolved in the water and carried away, leaving a heavier oil. A less severe
but similar effect can be produced from long distance migration which may
result in oils with low Gas Oil Ratios (GOR)
Biodegradation. This occurs when fresh oxygen charged meteoric waters
carry aerobic bacteria from the surface to the oil reservoir, which must be at
temperatures less than about 70 deg C. The aerobic bacteria eat the lighter
molecules, particularly the normal alkanes, leaving heavier oil (eg Trinidad)
The large tar sand accumulations in Canada and Venezuela are a result of
biodegradation and water washing, at shallow depths

Oils aint oils

Boiling is a simple, single-word

explanation of how crude oil is
separated into its eight basic parts
- fractionation

11

Density or Gravity of oil

One of the most important properties of oil which, among other characteristics,
determines its commercial value, is DENSITY.
Oil density is expressed in industry as oil gravity. This is given in a scale
determined by the American Petroleum Institute. Oil gravity is expressed in
degrees API [API].
The API gravity scale is based on the Baume scale. The following equation is used
to go from specific gravity
oAPI

= [141.5 / Specific Gravity(60/60F) ] 131.5

where Specific Gravity 60/60F means specific gravity of oil at 60F

referred to water at 60F.

For Water: Specific Gravity = 1.00 g/cc, API = (141.5 /1.00) 131.5 = 10 API
For a light oil: Specific gravity = 0.80 g/cc, API = (141.5 /0.80) 131.5 = 45 API

12

ATHABASCA

COLD LAKE

CONVENTIONAL
ALBERTA CRUDE

7-8

10-12

35

Saturates

18-23

21

70-90

Aromatics

29

19

Asphaltenes

17

16

0.1-0.2

Resins

35

44

9-15

Sulfur, %

4.7

4.5

0.1-2

Vanadium

250

1-5

Nickel

100

1-5

10,000100,000

ATTRIBUTE
Gravity API

Metals, ppm

Reservoir oil
viscosity, cp

500,000

Comparison of conventional crude and heavy oil Canada

15

Biogenic Gas (non thermal)

Biogenic gas is generated at low temperatures by decomposition of
organic matter by anaerobic microorganisms.
It consists mainly of methane (C1), with generally minor CO2, N2 and
C2 (ethane)
Biogenic gas usually can be distinguished from thermogenic gas by
chemical and isotopic analyses
More than 20% of the world's discovered gas reserves are of
biogenic origin
The factors that control the level of methane production after
sediment burial are anoxic environment, sulfate-deficient
environment, low temperature, availability of organic matter, and
sufficient pore space.
This generally occurs in areas of rapid deposition and the timing of
these factors is such that most biogenic gas is generated prior to
burial depths of 1,000 m.
The thermal model does not apply to this gas, which may be
present in basins with no thermally mature source rocks

Case study
-of a relatively simple empirical approach to defining the depth to
and extent of potential oil expulsion
-this approach is reasonable in areas which have suffered
continuous subsidence to the present day and which are believed
to have had relatively uniform heat flux through deposition
Western Platform, Taranaki Basin, New Zealand
Key well Tane-1, with detailed geochemical analyses of
potential coally source rock intervals
NOTE
More rigorous modelling of thermal history of sediments can
be done using the estimated heat flux from deeper within the
crust and a model of the thermal conductivity of the
sediments

Tane-1

Wainui

Rakopi

Potential coally and

shaley source intervals

Basement

Tane-1

Wainui
Rakopi
Wainui and Rakopi coals
correlate into depocentre

Note increasing coally

character from N to S

Kiwi-1
Photomicrograph
showing formation of
oil from organic
matter

Fluorescing oil

Rakopi Formation: Rock-Eval. Samples from Tane-1

500

HI (mg HC/g TOC)

Oil-prone
400

300

Gas- &
oil-prone
200
Coaly mst.
Shaly coal
Coal

100

Gas-prone

0
0

10

20

30

40

50

TOC (wt.%)

60

70

80

90

(GNS Science unpubl. results)

Decreasing QI, ie oil

generating potential, is due
to oil having been expelled
from the coally sediments at
increasing temperature
This defines the maturity
level at which expulsion
occurs

Increasing maturity

Modelled generation based on geochemical analyses of the OM in Tane-1.

Different OM will have a different generation history and products
50
45

Cumulative HC6+ Expelled (mmstb/km2)

Cumulative HC1-5 Expelled (mmboe/km2)

Significant oil expelled at

150-160 deg C

Cumulative HC6+ Expelled (mmstb/km2)

40
35
30
25

Significant gas expelled at

>170 deg C

20
15
10
5
0
100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

Temperature (C)

Standard GNS values for Tane-1 (Sykes pers comm.)

300 HI, 70% TOC, 34 m thickness (combined coals and shaly coals and
muds), gogi 0.34
Potential 23 MMbbl/km2 oil and 42 MMBOE/km2 gas

Empirical
measurements
used to estimate
top of oil expulsion
-consistent with
estimated
temperature of
~150 deg C

Significant oil expelled at

this maturity

Conservative
top of oil window

sea level

Gross thickness of mature source rock

A range of depths to top of oil

expulsion were used to assess
sensitivity to estimated gross
volume of mature sediment and
hence to volume of oil expelled
and available to fill traps

Estimated Mature Wainui/Rakopi Thickness from seismic mapping

4500 m BSF

4700 m BSF

4900 m BSF