1

Well Control The Petroleum Play

CONTENTS
1.WHAT IS A PETROLEUM PLAY
2. RESERVOIR
3. SEAL
4. SOURCE ROCK, MATURITY AND
MIGRATION
5. TRAP
6. TIMING
7. RISK ANALYSIS
8. EXPLORATION TOOLS

1
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
The objectives of this chapter are to provide the engineering student with the basic
concepts used by Explorationists (Geologists and Geophysicists) in the search for
new oil and gas fields.
The important Geological concepts of the petroleum play are introduced through the
main controls on petroleum accumulations, namely:
Reservoir
Seal
Source rock and migration path
Trap
Timing
These controls are introduced together with a formal method of analysing the chance
of a successful outcome to an exploration well, in advance of its drilling. Knowledge
of these concepts is important in any discussions between engineers and explorationists
concerning the value of an exploration portfolio.
At the end of this Chapter the student will be able to:
1. Describe and illustrate a petroleum play
2. Know the difference between a lead and a prospect
3. List the components of a petroleum play
4. Describe exploration risk analysis
5. Describe the control on poroperms in clastic and carbonate rocks
6. Describe the palaeogeographic controls on reservoir development
7. Describe the effects of burial on reservoir rocks
8. Describe the elements of an effective seal
9. Describe the elements of a good source rock
10. Describe the effects of time and temperature on organic matter
11. Describe why some source rocks produce oil, some gas and some both
12. Describe maturity of source rocks
13. Describe primary and secondary oil migration
14. Describe the difference between a stratigraphic and structural trap
15. Describe the traps formed around salt domes
16. Describe why timing of source rock generation and trap formation are important

The Petroleum Play

1. WHAT IS THE PETROLEUM PLAY?

In hydrocarbon exploration, favourable geological conditions are sought with a
reasonable chance that a well drilled in the location will encounter a significant
volume of hydrocarbons. The method by which Explorationists (the collective noun
for Geologists, Geophysicists and Geochemists) evaluate the geological conditions is
through a concept of the petroleum play. The petroleum play is a perception (or
model) of how a specific region of the Earths subsurface may be an appropriate target
for exploration drilling. More specifically, how a:
producible reservoir (the rock with its connected pore or fracture system),
petroleum charge system (the source rock for the hydrocarbons and its migration
path to the subject reservoir),
regional topseal (the capping rock preventing migration out of the reservoir), and
trap (the geological features defining the physical limits to the reservoir rock in the
subsurface)
may combine to produce significant petroleum accumulations at a specific stratigraphic
level. The US Geological Survey defines a play as a set of known or postulated oil
and (or) gas accumulations showing similar geological, geographical and temporal
properties such as source rock, migration pathway, timing, trapping mechanism and
hydrocarbon type. This essentially refers to already discovered fields rather that the
conditions favourable for their discovery. In both definitions, the necessary attributes
for a successful petroleum play are the same and are of fundamental importance to
explorationists.
Explorationists within the operator (the oil or gas company that holds a licence to
explore on the behalf of a consortium of companies) are charged with identifying the
3-D distribution of the various elements listed above (this is termed play mapping).
The basic data that are used for this purpose include:
Outcrops where the rocks of interest come to the surface,
Well data, where borehole measurements and samples of the rocks of interest are
available,
Seismic data (providing sub-surface imaging of the rock structure),
Geological studies by government geological surveys or industry contractors,
Information from discussions with professionals in other companies (scout data).
These data have to be synthesised and integrated into a series of play maps to show
the general areas of interest for further consideration by operator management and
consortium partners. Within these areas (usually large, from 10s to 100s or even
1000s of sq.km) the explorationists will also define specific leads (usually less than
10 sq.km) which can be identified and worked into prospects after further data
collection or analysis. The operator may wish to drill prospects if a sufficent chance
of success can be demonstrated. A lead is unlikely to be drilled without further work.
A prospect is an identified trap (structural or stratigraphic) which:

Department of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University

1
has a reasonable chance of containing rock that has holes (i.e., is porous) which are
connected and can conduct fluid (i.e., is permeable),
is older than the time which oil/gas was available (oil and/or gas migrates from a
source rock on reaching thermal maturity),
is in a location to which oil/gas could move (migrate)
is of sufficent potential size with enough confidence that oil will be found to warrant
drilling an exploration well.
The decision to carry out any exploration work will depend on various factors at each
stage. A play has to be identified before any exploration drilling starts. Initial
surveying will depend on the potential of the play. Detailed surveying will depend on
the size and number of leads identified. At any stage, the licence position with the
licencing authority (usually government) has to be agreed. Licencing rounds are
usually offers for competitive bidding from consortia. Licences are usually awarded
on the basis of the largest proposed work programme (usually surveys and wells). An
operator will want to secure a licence before undertaking too much exploration
expenditure. For these commercial reasons, exploration is usually conducted in the
utmost secrecy.
The size of a lead or prospect and the likelihood of success are often linked. The
greater the possible return, the higher the level of risk (probability of failure) which
can be taken. Several other criteria will be applied to the decision process. These
include location (offshore/onshore, distance from facilities or export routes), tax
regime of the relevant country and the characteristics of the operator (risk taker/
avoider, cash rich, etc).
These vary so much between operators and between locations that it is hard to place
limits; however, the principles and the approach taken are always the same. There is
no way to be certain about what a prospect contains before it has been drilled.
Uncertainty is always present in exploration (and also in appraisal or even production)
wells. The explorationists most important task, after identifying a prospect, is to
provide an estimation of technical risk. Risk analysis is a technique used to quantify
the technical uncertainty by estimating the probability of success in the key elements
of a prospect. The key elements are summarised as:
Reservoir,
Seal,
Source Rock, Maturity and Migration Path,
Trap,
Timing
In this chapter, we will examine the method(s) by which the risk can be assessed in
each of these areas. Before proceeding, we can summarise this section:
(a) The Petroleum Play is a concept that allows explorationists to identify
drillable prospects.
(b) The Petroleum Play includes the integrated analysis of various data to address
relevant geological elements:
producible reservoir (RESERVOIR),
4

The Petroleum Play

petroleum charge system (SOURCE ROCK, MATURITY, MIGRATION

PATH and TIMING),
widespread topseal (SEAL), and geological structure (TRAP).
(c) The analysis of the Petroleum Play leads to the estimation of the probability of
success for a particular prospect.

2. RESERVOIR
A rock is considered to be a potential "reservoir" if it contains holes (porosity is the
ratio of holes to solid) and the holes are connected over a significant volume
(permeability is the ability of a rock to transmit fluid). Porosity determines the volume
of hydrocarbon the structure might contain (hydrocarbon-in-place) and permeability
controls the rate at which it can be produced. In prospect appraisal, it is usually the
former that explorationists focus on, because porosity and permeability in many
reservoir rocks are often related (10% porosity often equates to a 1mD cut-off which
is thought necessary for oil production). The explorationist will thus be risking the
occurrence of rock that is greater than 10% porosity in order to define the reservoir.
Exploration wells may be successful and find oil, but the rock might be so
impermeable that none of it can be economically produced! Sometimes the
economics of oil can change (oil price rises, new technology, etc.), so it is often
difficult for the explorationist to apply an appropriate cut-off value to estimate if the
reservoir should be economically productive.

vw

g
rtin
so
vp

100,000

10,000

PERMEABILITY (mD)

Figure 1
Textural control on
poroperm properties in
sandstones
(from experimental work
published in 1973 by Prior
and Beard & Weyl)
Grain size varies from very
fine (vf) to coarse (c) and
sorting from very poor (vp)
to very well (vw). Sorting
captures the variation in
grain size within a
sandstone sample

Porosity and permeability in clastic reservoirs are primarily controlled by the textural
properties. The texture of a sediment is the concern of the sedimentologist and the
reader is referred to the following Sedimentology Chapter 3 for a full appreciation of
this subject. In the petroleum play, the two main elements of the textural description
are the size of the sand grains in the sandstone (grain size) and how variable the grains
are (sorting, where well sorted means all the grains are approximately the same size,
poorly sorted means they are a wide range of sizes). Grain size and sorting have a
major control of porosity and permeability - collectively known as poroperms in
popular usage (figure 1).

1000

grain
size

100

10

vf

0.1
0

10

20

30

40

50

POROSITY (%)

Department of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University

1
The grain size and sorting will depend on the physical conditions where the sands
ceased to be transported and so were deposited, prior to being lithified (i.e., the
depositional environment), because of:
nearness or proximity to sediment source (coarser material is usually transported
over less distance).
nature of sediment source which is known as provenance (an eroded sandstone will
generate a different sediment than a granite, both in grain size and composition).
the energy of the depositing currents
fluctuations in depositing current strength and direction
The play mapping for a prospective reservoir unit will therefore include a model for
the deposition of sandstone (or other reservoir rock) through time and space. The
evolution of a reservoir is often represented by maps (horizontal or plan representations)
and cross-sections (vertical section representations) for various stratigraphic levels
recording the vertical and lateral distribution of rock types (figure 2). Depositional
trends preserved in the rock record (described in detail in Chapter 3) can be used to
infer depositional patterns. Geologist's use the term palaeo- to indicate a feature in
the geological record. Hence the depositional patterns may indicate palaeo-slope,
palaeo-wind direction and palaeo-drainage directions.

FZ

FZ

3km

N
FZ

FZ

SW

NE

RIDGE BASIN

FZ

FZ
FZ

3km

3km
FZ - FAULT

DEPOSITIONAL TRENDS

PLIO
TERTIARY
MIO
PRE-TERTIARY

BRECCIA

PLEIS
FLUVIAL SANDS AND SHALES
DEEP MARINE SANDS AND
IGNEOUS/METAMORPHIC BASEMENT

FZ

Figure 2
Sandstone development in
the Ridge Basin, California
(after Allen and Allen,
1990). Top: A plan map
view with the north (N)
arrow indicating
orientation. Below: A cross
section through the centre
of the map from north-east
(NE) to south-west (SW).
Pleistocene (PLEIS),
Pliocene (PLIO) and
Miocene (MIO) are
chronostratigraphic terms
(see Fig. 22, Chapter 1)
indicating that the 12km of
sediment in this basin was
deposited in the last 26
million years.

The Petroleum Play

With an understanding of the depositional environments through time, reconstructions

can be made, with a reasonable degree of accuracy, even where the rock record is not
preserved or not sampled. These maps, made for the depositional system at the time
of deposition, are known as palaeogeographic reconstructions (figure 3).

T2
N
BRAIDED FLUVIAL
CHANNEL SYSTEM

BRAID PLAIN

ALLUVIAL FANS

MOUNTAINS

Figure 3
Palaeogeographic
reconstructions at two time
periods, in the Ridge Basin,
California, based on the
cross section (refer to Fig.
2). The locations of time
planes T1 (centre) and T2
(top) are shown in the
cross-section (below) and
represent reconstructions of
the geography in Miocene
and Pliocene times,
respectively, as the basin
filled up over geological
time

T1
LAND

COASTAL
DEPOSITS

TURBIDITES

OCEAN
SUBMARINE FANS

LAND?

T2

T1

For the Ridge Basin in California, reconstruction at time planes (stratigraphic level of
a particular time in the geological record) at time T1 (Miocene), shows the distribution
of ocean with both deep water (submarine fans and turbidites1) and shallow water
(coastal deposits1) sediments being deposited. By time T2 (Pliocene) the ocean had
drained and the region was dominated by a broad river system (braided fluvial channel
system and braid plain1) over a wider area than covered by the earlier Miocene ocean.
Such maps will show where the important trends lie (e.g., depocentres where the
thickness reservoir of source rock may be deposited, depositional edge lines where
the distribution limits of potential reservoirs are mapped) that might lead the
explorationist to target certain areas in preference to others.
1

- Sedimentological terms to be defined in Chapter 3

Department of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University

1
The textural maturity (i.e., how quartz-rich a sand is) is also important as diagenesis
tends to degrade the properties of immature sands (those with particles other than
quartz, which is quite stable) more rapidly. Provenance studies can be used to map
the source of the sand material and its likely maturity (You should be aware of the
difference between sediment source rocks and organic source rocks and textural
maturity of sandstones and thermal maturity of source rocks). The variability in
petrophysical properties (reservoir heterogeneity) is not too important at the exploration stage - these are more the concern of the production geologist. It is usually
assumed (perhaps incorrectly in some cases) that the heterogeneity will be addressed
by the field development scheme.
Porosity in sedimentary rocks usually declines with depth of burial (figure 4) and this
burial effect is often incorporated in a reservoir play map. Initial porosity in shales is
higher than that of sandstones at the time of deposition, but declines more rapidly as
the sediment expels waters.

10

POROSITY (%)
100

10

100

BURIAL DEPTH (km)

SHALE

SAND

Examination of thin sections and SEM images allow the relative timings of the mineral
phases and cements to be determined by petrographic analysis. This analysis allows
the sequence of diagenetic events to be determined (figure 5). Porosity-reducing and
porosity-increasing phases of diagenesis can be identified. The latter is particularly
important as it can lead to anomalously high porosities (relative to those predicted in
figure 4) at depths. This type of porosity is known as secondary porosity.
In the UK North Sea Central Graben, High-Pressure, High-Temperature (HPHT)
reservoirs have become an exploration target and an important North Sea Play in
recent years, with >20% porosity resulting from secondary porosity events at up to
6km depth (figure 6). Higher than normal water pressures (overpressure) in the
reservoirs (the HPHT reservoirs are also highly overpressured) is another mechanism
for the preservation of reservoir porosity at depth.

Figure 4
Plots of log prosity against
depth for a range of shales
and sandstones
(after Allen and Allen,
1990).

The Petroleum Play

Figure 5
A petrographicallydetermined sequence of
porosity-decreasing
cements for a reservoir
sandstone unit in the
Central North Sea (after
Wilkinson, et al., 1997).
Note phases of dissolution
of dolomite, felspar and
ankerite (a carbonate
mineral) also lead to the
development of porosity .

TIME
PETROGRAPHIC SEQUENCE

EARLY DIAGENESIS

- FULMAR SST

DOLOMITE
DOLOMITE DISSOLUTION
QUARTZ OVERGROWTH
ILLITE
FELSPAR
ANASTASE

ANKERITE
ANKERITE DISSOLUTION
POROSITY REDUCING

BITUMEN
CALCITE

POROSITY ENHANCING

10

0.15

POTENTIAL POROSITY
0.30

0.45

PRIMARY
POROSITY

No

rm
pa al
ct
io

Cementation

Co

Figure 6
Porosity versus depth for
two North Sea Central
Graben wells plotted
against a normal
compactional loss of
porosity show loss of
porosity due to cementation
and then later increase of
porosity as the cement is
dissolved

BURIAL DEPTH (km)

SECONDARY
POROSITY

4
WELL A
PRESENT DAY

WELL B
PRESENT DAY

The primary fabric and mineralogy of carbonate reservoirs are also controlled by
deposition, through biological activity (e.g., the building of reefs by coral), and by
precipitation (small carbonate grains - ooids - are built by carbonate precipitation
around a nucleus). Carbonate reservoirs are often developed as coral reef build-ups
on a shallow marine shelf (figure 7). However, more importantly, it is diagenesis that
creates most of the porosity in a carbonate reservoir. Diagenesis includes all changes
that occur to the rock once buried after deposition. Periods of post-depositional uplift
and subaerial dissolution by rainwater (leaching of holes in the surface, karsts, or
subsurface, caverns, etc.) are particularly important as a reservoir-creating mechanism. Trends showing where this might have occurred (critical for exploration
consideration) can be mapped from regional information.
Department of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University

1
ANHYDRITE

SHELF SLOPE

SALT
CARB
SALT
CARB

REEF FLANK FACIES

CORAL REEF
CARB. MUD MOUND

30m
1km

The change of limestone into dolomite during diagenesis is accompanied by a volume

reduction (16%) which can create microporosity betwen the dolomite crystals.
Dolomitization is largely a depth-controlled phenomenom, so dolomite reservoirs
tend to be deep (or have been buried deeply). But, dolomite can also be deposited in
some situations-such as in the evaporitic conditions of sabkha settings on desert
coasts. There are also other diagenetic changes. A result of the relative instability of
carbonate under burial, pressure solution occurs, leading to the development of subhorizontal discontinuities known as stylolites and potentially to reservoir development.
The connection of voids, in order to provide permeability, is often a major concern in
carbonates where large numbers of large pores (vugs) may have no effective
permeability because the vugs are disconnected.
Carbonate rocks are relatively brittle (dolomite more so than limestone) and have a
tendency to break in response to structural deformation (i.e., fracture). Fracture
trends or zones may be mappable from seismic or from structural analysis.
Chalk is a special type of limestone, being made up from the shells of many
microscopic marine organisms. Chalk reservoirs tend to be low permeability unless
fractured, as in the main producing zones in the Danish Offshore and the Austin Chalk
of Texas.
The Upper Cretaceous Chalk of the Norwegian North Sea is a rather special carbonate
reservoir. In one area (i.e., the Ekofisk Complex), chalks have provided a high
porosity matrix where they have been redeposited by deep marine flows of sediment
from the shelfal areas. Early oil migration and overpressuring have ensured a high
porosity (40-50%), high permeability reservoir that is quite unusual in a carbonate.
The production mechanism is partly provided by a matrix compaction drive which has
had a dramatic effect, even at the sea bed where settlement of the platform was
observed!
Key RESERVOIR points from this section to note are:

In clastic reservoirs the reservoir quality is a function of grain size and sorting.
Grain size and sorting are a function of depositional environment.
Primary porosity generally (but not always) reduces with depth of burial.
Porosity and permeability development in carbonates is dominated by secondary
processes.

10

Figure 7
Cross section through a
carbonate (CARB)evaporite (SAL) dominated
platform of Upper Silurian
age from the Michigan
Basin, USA, showing the
development of isolated,
large coral reefs. (after
Allen and Allen, 1990)

The Petroleum Play

3. SEAL
A seal is a fine-grained rock that prevents the oil migrating to the surface (which
happens in many parts of the world - leading to natural oil seeps). In some situations,
salt provides an effective seal but muddy, clay-rich rocks represent most seals. The
seal is an important component in a prospect. A fine-grained caprock seal is effective
if the capillary entry pressure (figure 8) into the pores of the seal rock above an
accumulation is in excess of the buoyancy drive of the underlying hydrocarbon
column. The field demonstration of this comes from Jennings (1987) where the 43m
(140ft) oil columns equate to the entry pressure of the siltstones in a stratigraphic trap
(figure 9).

Height

al

lP

ores

La

ge

Figure 8
Explanation of capillary
pressure.
Left - height of water rise in
a series of capillary tubes.
Right - Buoyancy pressure
needed to overcome
capillary entry pressure for
oil to displace water from
capillaries in a reservoir

P ore s

Water Saturation

1km

Figure 9
Map (top) and cross-section
(bottom) through the Bell
Creek oil field in SE
Montana. Eleven different
oil colums are trapped by
siltstone with 0.1 - 3mD
permeability (after
Jennings, 1987). The
capillary pressure curves
show low entry pressure in
the sandy rock (bar facies)
and high entry pressure in
the muddy rock (lagoon
facies).

A'

Dip Direction
Oil

Water

A'

43m

Capillary Release Valve

w
Bar
Facies

Lagoon
Facies

Bell Creek Montana

Department of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University

11

1
The importance of seals and trapping warrants the following explanation. let us define
the terms:
p petroleum density [kg/m3]
g acceleration due to gravity [m/s2]
H height of hydrocarbon column [m]
water-petroleum interfacial tension [N/m]
rs SEAL pore radius [m]
rr RESERVOIR pore radius [m]
water-petroleum contact angle [degrees]
Seal entry pressure (i.e. the pressure needed to breach seal)
Pcap = 2 [(1/rs) - (1/rr)] cos()

[Pascals]

(2)

The minimum requirement to breach a seal is when

Pbuoyancy = Pcap

(3)

Since
Pbuoyancy = H.g.[w - p]
Therefore
H = [2 [(1/rs) - (1/rr)] cos()] / [(w - p) g]

(4)

In general, the term for the seal radius in equations 2 and 3 dominates as the seal has
much smaller pores than the reservoir. As a consequence, equation 4 can be (and
usually is) reduced to:
H = [2 (1/rs) cos()] / [ g]

(5)

The contact angle is usually taken as being zero for water-wet water/petroleum
systems, so the cos() term is unity, and the expression can be further reduced to:
H = [2 (1/rs)] / [ g]

(6)

If we assume some typical values (water density of 1.013, oil density of 0.77, and an
interfacial tension of 10-2 N/m), we can see how the critical column height varies with
the radius of the pore throat of the seal (figure 10). Clearly, to use these formulae, it
is necessary to estimate the effective pore throat radius for the seal. This is not easy,
but shales and salt are often assumed to be effective seals (and this is borne out by
observations of hydrocarbon accumulations).

12

The Petroleum Play

900

Figure 10
Variation of critical
hydrocarbon height
controlled by pore-throat
radius of seal (water
specific density of 1.013 and
oil of 0.77)

Petroleum Column Height (m)

800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 0.10 1.1
Seal Pore Radius (microns)

4. SOURCE ROCK, MATURITY AND MIGRATION PATH

Petroleum originates (or is "sourced") from biologically-derived organic matter
buried as sediment in sedimentary rocks. The sedimentary rocks, rich in organic
matter, which are capable of generating hydrocarbons are known as source rocks.
"Good" source rocks usually contain between 5% - 20% organic matter. Living
organic matter, is comprised of four main chemical components: carbohydrates,
proteins, lipids and lignins. Lipids and lignins are the most likely to be preserved and
incorporated in sediment. Lipids occur in marine animals (fauna) and terrestial plants
(flora). Lignins are found only in land plants. Lipids are predominantly oil
precursors (i.e., the material they contain may end up as oil); lignins, gas precursors.
Palaeozoic land plant deposits (i.e., coals e.g., Carboniferous in SNS) tend to be gas
prone; however, more recent ones (e.g., Tertiary in SE Asia) can also be oil prone.
Anoxic (low oxygen levels) conditions favour the preservation of organic matter. This
is because the low oxygen availability restricts the action of organisms that would
otherwise consume the deposited organic materials.
Source rocks are deposited in three main settings:
Lakes - isolated basins with poor turnover of the liquid column, allow the accumulation
of land-derived (gas prone) or algal-derived (oil prone) organic matter. The Eocene
Green River Shale of the Western US and many of the SE Asian (particularly in China)
source rocks were deposited in lakes (lacustrine).
Deltas - Deltas occur where rivers meet the sea (e.g., Nile, Mississippi). They are
characterised by river channels with swamps and ponds (lagoons) in between.
Organic matter can be derived from lagoonal algal concentrations or directly from
plants growing on the delta plain. Coals in the Tertiary sequence of Indonesia,
originally deposited in swamps, form important oil source rocks. The lagoonal shales
in the Carboniferous (e.g. the Pumpherston Oil Shale outcropping at S. Queensferry,
Lothian, Scotland, immediately underneath the Forth Rail Bridge) have been an oil
source. More commonly, the coals in the Carboniferous are the source for gas, as
occurs in the Southern North Sea.
Department of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University

13

1
Marine basins - Marine basins, especially those with restricted circulation, form ideal
conditions for the accumulation of thick organic-rich source rocks. The Kimmeridge
Clay (North Sea) is a good example of a rich source rock (e.g. high organic content)
in a marine shale. The Posidonia Shale (Posidonia is a marine fossil), of Lower
Jurassic age, is the oil source in the southern part of the Dutch Offshore and the Paris
Basin and is a marine source rock. Zones of adundant upwelling in the oceans, where
the fauna thrives because of the abundance of nutrients brought up as warm light water
meets dense cold water, can also lead to the formation of organic rich beds.
Source rocks are usually detected by the analysis of unwashed cuttings. The Total
Organic Content (TOC) of a shale can be readily measured in the laboratory (by
burning a sample and measuring the amount of carbon dioxide given off) and
laboratory pyrolysis (cooking to ca. 500oC and measuring the products) can determine
the petroleum yield of a source rock. TOC varies from 2-10+% in marine shale source
rocks to >50% in a coal. Collection of headspace gas (gas given off by the drilling
cuttings samples when stored in a can) can be used to determine source rock potential
of the sample. The analysis of source rocks is the role of the geochemist. Geochemical
sampling is routine on all exploration wells. The geochemical typing of shales is
important to the subsequent tracing of the source of any discovered oils/gases.
Oil shales are defined as those capable of producing commercial quantities of oil. The
first industrial shale oil plant was developed in France in 1838 followed by the famous
works of James Paraffin Young at Bathgate in 1850. The spoil heaps from the latter
(mined from the Pumpherston Oil Shale) can still be seen to the west of Edinburgh.
There are three components (known as macerals) of coal; vitrinite (gas prone), exinite
(oil prone) and inertinite (not hydrocarbon prone). These can be readily identified
petrographically by geochemists. The reflectivity of vitrinite (vitrinite reflectance)
to ordinary light under the microscope increases as the maturity of a coal increases.
Anthracite, a mature coal, is shiny whilst brown coals, which are immature, are dull.
Maturity is a function of time, temperature and pressure (as every cook knows).
Vitrinite reflectance, measured as a percentage of the light which is reflected back, is
used to determine the maturity of a source rock. The vitrinite reflectance (Ro) is
correlatable with the main zones of hydrocarbon generation.
Ro < 0.55
0.55 < Ro < 0.80
0.80 < Ro < 1.0
1.0 < Ro < 2.5

Immature
Oil (and gas) generation
Cracking of oil to gas, gas generation
Dry gas generation

These levels are based on typical North Sea source rocks, Note that some oils (e.g.,
Tertiary, SE Asia) can be sourced at much lower (Ro < 0.40 ) maturities because of the
nature of the source plant material.
Kerogen is the lipid-rich part of organic matter that is insoluble in common organic
solvents (lipids are the more waxy parts of animals and some plants). The extractable
part is known as bitumen. Kerogen is converted to bitumen during the maturation
process. The amount of extractable bitumen is a measure of the maturity of a source
rock. Bitumen becomes petroleum during migration. Petroleum is the liquid organic
14

The Petroleum Play

substance recovered in wells. Crude oil is the naturally occurring liquid form of
petroleum. Oils can be correlated with other oils (oil-oil) and with source rock extracts
(oil-source rock) by the comparison of gas chromatograhy (figure 10).
Chromotagraphy works by passing the oil (or extract) through a column of glass beads
where the different hydrocarbon components can be separated. These components are
then flushed out and burnt. The peaks on a chromatogram record the amount of each
component against time with the heavier ones being flushed out later than the light
ones. In the chromatograms in figure 11, the reader is left to compare the two oils with
the source rock by matching up the peaks - the Audignon Field seems to match better
than the Guajacq Field.

Oil
Audignon
(Albian)

Figure 11
Comparison of gas
chromatograms of
saturated hydrocarbons for
oil-oil and oil-source rock
correlation (from the
Alberta Basin, W. Canada,
after Tissot and Welte,
1978). The verical scale is
a function of the
concentration and the
horizontal scale is time.
The heavier components
will appear to the right
hand side of the figure. See
text for further discussion.

Source Rock
Aire-sur-Adour
(Upper Jurassic)

Oil
Gaujacq
(Albian)

The light fraction in oils is also subject to biodegradation during and after accumulation.
Bacteria living in the subsurface will readily consume this fraction of the hydrocarbon
as food and high temperature is needed to prevent this (at least 60C). Biodegraded
crude oils are notably heavier (more viscous) than unbiodegraded ones. Waxy crudes
are also hard to deal with from an engineering point of view. Waxyness is also a
function of the source organic matter and lacustrine source rocks are notably waxprone.
Kerogen is divided into reactive (most easily converted waxy, labile, part and the
more woody, refractory part) and inert portions (figure 12). The proportions will
depend on the source organic matter and the depositional conditions of the source
rock. The petroleum liquids expelled from each portion can be quite different in
composition and also have a different timing of expulsion (figure 13). A source rock
Department of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University

15

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may also have zones with varying components. It is important to assess the type of
source rock and the temperature history of a source rock carefully to assess what may
have been generated and when it was generated. This variation in source material and
the oil generation process goes some way to explain the variety of oils found in
reservoirs.

Initial Oil

Kerogen

Reactive

Gas

Labile
Oil
100 150oC
Refractory

>150oC

>150oC

Figure 12
Classification and fate of
organic matter in source
rocks (after Allen and
Allen, 1990)

Gas

Graphite

Inert
Very high T + P

Petroleum generation takes place as the breakdown of kerogen occurs with rising
temperature. Temperature and time are the most important factors affecting the
breakdown of kerogen (a processes similar to domestic pressure cooking - all recipes
give a time and a temperature). As formation temperature rises on progressive burial
(figure 13), an immature stage is succeeded by stages of oil generation, oil conversion
to gas or cracking (to make a wet gas with significant amounts of liquids) and finally
dry gas (i.e., no associated liquids) generation. Different proportions of components
at various times in the evolution of hydocarbons is shown schematically in figure 13.

0.4

IMMATURE

KEROGEN

Ro

16

0.6
DEPTH (km)

DRY GAS WET GAS

METAG

CATAGENESIS

OIL

DIAGEN

HYDROCARBONS
0

2
OIL
0.9
3

GAS
4
2.0

Figure 13
General scheme of
hydrocarbon formation as a
function of burial of source
rock. With burial the rock
undergoes a rise in
temperature and passes
through phases of change:
diagenesis, catagenesis and
eventually metagenesis.
Vitrinite reflectance, Ro, is
the maturity indicator.

The Petroleum Play

Petroleum expulsion and primary migration take place as the oil leaves the source and
enters the permeabile formation that will allow its migration to the ultimate reservoir
(this is called the carrier bed and, often but not always, this might be the same
stratigraphic unit that contains the reservoir). Primary migration is generally thought
to be helped by the volume expansion associated with oil generation. Primary
migration is, however, difficult to observe directly and primary migration paths are
difficult to identify. Shales with silt beds (i.e., internal plumbing) can be efficient
source rocks (e.g., Posidonia shale). Expulsion efficiency (i.e., how much of what is
generated is expelled) can be as high as 60-90%, if the source rock is very rich and
permeable, although this is difficult to estimate. For lean (low TOC) source rocks, the
expulsion efficiency may be very low. Following the earlier analogy of the "cooking"
of a source rock, its is natural to call the location where that happens - the source
"kitchen". Once in the carrier, secondary oil migration takes place from the
kitchen, under buoyancy (i.e., gravity-dominated) flow (figure 13) to the reservoir.

AL

Poor
charge

SH

Figure 14
Migration from a mature
kitchen area by simple
buoyancy (after Allen and
Allen, 1990).

LO
W

DE

Good charge

Source
kitchen
EP

Good charge

Poor
charge

The details of the migration might be quite complex as the oil has to move through a
pore system in the rock where capillary entry pressure is a strong controlling
mechanism. A complex network of accumulations and flow paths can be shown by
simulations of secondary oil migration (figure 15, from Carruthers et al., 1997).
Regional flows of aquifer water (known as hydrodynamic flow) in basins can also
influence the efficiency of secondary oil migration. If these disperse the migration
fluid, this may reduce the efficiency of the process. Strong hydrodynamic flow may
also help focus the flow. Secondary oil migration is prevented when the buoyancy
driven flow is restrained by the capillary entry pressure of a caprock (i.e., it meets its
seal), breaking through when sufficient column has accumulated. Secondary oil
migration is thought to be a fairly inefficient process and requires "channeling" within
a few carrier beds to be effective over long distances.

Department of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University

17

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(a)

(b)
Micro accumulation
beneath a high threshold
pressure baffle

The vertical migration

trajectory is deflected by
the sedimentary
structure

(c)

(d)

Oil has reached the

capillary baffle and
saturation begins to
increase in the lower zone

The oil migrates vertically

through the undisturbed
sand and the vertically
aligned burrows until
another baffle is reached
and another micro
accumulation is formed

Figure 15
Simulations of secondary
oil migration under gravity
and capillary dominated
conditions in a small
sandstone slab (courtesy
Dan Carruthers, 1997).

Once in the reservoir, the hydrocarbon can be subjected to further changes due to
increased temperature, perhaps leading to the in-situ cracking of oil into gas. Bacterial
action can also degrade the oil by eating away the lighter ends and producing "heavy"
oil, (<20OAPI). A gas charge into an oil column can also lead to the formation of a
solid residue (known as asphaltene). Often the hydrocarbon will retain some links
with the characteristics of source rock extracts, allowing the oil sources to be
identified. These may be multiple sources, or the hydrocarbon could be generated by
multiple events. Either way, and quite commonly, these can lead to petroleum
compositional variations which can be exploited to determine reservoir compartments (i.e., isolated fault blocks) .
N
MOST LIKELY
OIL MIGRATION ROUTES

10km

VESLEFRIKK

TROLL
WEST
OIL
PROVINCE

W-E SECTION THROUGH TROLL

gas
oil
G
PALAEO OWC
TROLL EAST

OSEBERG

TROLL
WEST
GAS
PROVINCE

BRAGE

OSEBERG OIL POPULATION

NORTHERN TROLL OIL POPULATION

VESLEFRIKK OIL POPULATION

Studies of the geochemical tracers and hydrocarbons contained within a series of

fields can be used to determine the filling history and to identify the best prospects,
since the hydrocarbons may have varying properties and hence be of varying value.
These geochemical studies also help the understanding of the compositional variations within and between fields (figure 16). For the reservoir engineer there may be
an interesting and complex story behind observed variations in oil properties.

18

Figure 16
Filling directions for fields
in the Troll area,
Norwegian North Sea
(from Horstad and Larter,
1997)

The Petroleum Play

Key SOURCE ROCK points:

Source rocks for hydrocarbons are fine-grained organic-rich sediments (e.g.,
coals, shales).
Source rocks may be quite different stratigraphic units, in a location far away, from
the reservoir rocks.
Shales tend to source oils and coals, gas.

Key MATURATION points:

Pressure and temperature sustained for a period of time are needed to generate oil
or gas from a source rock.
Gas tends to be generated at higher pressures and temperatures.
The region in which maturation takes place is called the kitchen.

Key MIGRATION points:

Migration from the source rock into the carrier bed is called primary migration.
Primary migration is driven by pressure build-up caused by hydrocarbon generation.
Migration from the source kitchen area to the reservoir trap is called secondary
migration.
Secondary migration is a gravity-driven processs controlled by pore-entry networks.

5. TRAP
The hydrocarbon-trapping structure (trap) can be either a structural or a stratigraphic
feature. Hydrodynamic trapping has also been observed in areas where there is active
aquifer flow.
Structural traps are those caused by tectonic (figures 16-18), diapiric (figure 19),
gravitational and compactional processes. These form at some time after deposition
of the reservoir as a result of Earth movements. (See Structural Geology Chapter 4).

Department of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University

19

1
SECTION

PLAN

Trap

Hanging wall

10
20
30

20

40
50

Trap
10

Footwall

Figure 17
Structural trap formed by
high-angle reverse
(contractional) fault in
cross-section (left)
and plan or map view
(right)

50

40

PLAN

SECTION
10
20

Trap

20

30

Trap

40
50

10

Footwall

50
40

Hanging wall

Figure 18
Structural trap formed by
normal (extensional) fault
in cross-section (left)
and plan or map view
(right).

SECTION

Trap

10
20
30
40
50

PLAN

Hanging Wall Anticline

30

20

Trap
20
30
40

20

Figure 19
Structural rollover traps
formed by extensional fault
movement (examples from
the Niger delta area).
Sometimes this movement
occured during deposition
leading to thicker sections
on the hanging wall.

The Petroleum Play

Figure 20
Structural traps associated
with salt diapirs. Salt is
mobile in the subsurface
and tends to rise to the
surface, aided by its low
density. Rising salt takes
on a distinctive "diapiric"
shape. Salt domes are very
common is some areas of
the world (e.g., Gulf Coast )

Traps
Salt Dome

A structural (or stratigraphic trap) is said to be filled to spill point if there is sufficient
oil to fill the structure to overflow (or underflow) at the spill point, which is the
infection point on the deepest closing contour of the map. If a structure is not filled
to spill point, it implies insufficient oil has been generated or flowed along the
migration path. (This is directly analogous (but inverted) to a sink or bath which has
its spill point at the overflow pipe). An alternative is that the top seal limits the column
height.
Stratigraphic traps are those in which the geometry is inherited from the depositional
morphology, subsequent diagenesis, facies changes (figure 21) or unconformities. In
each case there is a stratigraphic reason for the juxtaposition of reservoir and seal in
a favourable arrangement to trap migrating hydrocarbons. Stratigraphic traps neverthe-less require structural tilting.

Unconformity

Figure 21
Stratigraphic traps
associated with an
unconformity (top) and a
lateral facies change
(middle). Where the facies
changes are transitional
waste zones can develop
(lower).

Facies Change

Facies Change

Hydrodynamic traps are comparitively rare, but occur when the hydrocarbon is trying
to migrate under the force of gravity against (or across) the downwards flow of aquifer
water.
Often traps have a combination of structural, stratigraphic and hydrodynamic trapping
mechanisms. Active hydrodynamic flow can also produce tilted oil-water contacts,
together with complex structural or filling histories. Fields commonly have different
hydrocarbon contacts in different parts of the overall trap (figure 22).
Department of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University

21

1
TRAP
CONFIGURATION

PRESSURE
PROFILE

STATIC

DYNAMIC
AQUIFER
FLOW
AQUIFER FLOW

PERCHED
CONTACT

MIGRATION

MULTIPLE
CONTACTS

STRUCTURAL
COMPARTMENTS

Key TRAP points:

Tectonic features such as faults, folds and salt domes give rise to structural traps.
Stratigraphic traps are formed by favourable stratigraphic arrangement of seal and
reservoir rock.
Active movement of fluid through the aquifer can lead to the tilting of hydrocarbonwater contacts and assist the trapping of hydrocarbons.
Fields may have more than one hydrocarbon contact.

6. TIMING
One of the most important considerations required in a play evaluation is the timing
of trap development relative to the timing of hydrocarbon migration. Stratigraphic
traps due to depositional facies changes tend to pre-date any hydrocarbon generation.
Unconformity traps and structural traps can develop much later in geological history,
risking the loss of any early migration of oil. One aspect not to ignore is the possibility
of remigration from one trap to another. This occurs in basins where late phases of
tilting may empty earlier traps.
22

Figure 22
Scenarios for oil-water
contacts due to aquifer
flow, filling history or fault
compartmentalisation.

The Petroleum Play

The timing of oil migration can be determined by basin modelling. Basin modelling
concerns the (computer) modelling of the stratigraphy, structure and source rock
history through time. If the stratigraphic section is reasonably complete, the time
period for each unit of rock can be determined using biostratigraphy. If the thickness
and time period of deposition are known, the rate of sedimentation can be estimated.
For a kilometre of rock deposited over 1 million years at a uniform rate of 0.1cm/yr,
the burial history can be shown graphically (figure 23a). This burial gradient is less
steep compared to a burial history for a rate of 0.15cm/yr. Different rates of
sedimentation can be shown on a burial history curve. Since the sediment compacts
as it is buried, the compaction can be incorporated as a reduction in thickness. When
going "backwards" from the preserved rock record that is seen in a well to calculate
depositional rates, de-compaction has to be taken into account. Successive units with
varying sedimentation rates can be used to build up a burial curve (figure 23b). Nondeposition or uplift and erosion can also be illustrated graphically (figure 23c). In this
way the burial history (also called geohistory) of a source rock through time can be
determined. The vertical scale is usually depth, with temperature overlain. As an
example, burial histories for a Jurassic source rock in two well locations (one marginal
and one axial to the basin) in an Australian basin are shown in figure 24.

1 m yrs

Figure 23
Illustration of burial or
geohistory curves. A) Over
a time period of 1million
years, a rock will be buried
1km for a sedimentation
rate of 0.1cm/year or 1.5km
for 0.15cm/yr. With 20%
compaction the rock will be
buried to only 800m or
1.2km respectively. B) In
this case a rock is buried at
the rate of 0.1cm/yr for
1myrs and then at 0.15cm/
yr (Vertical scale as in A).
C) If the rock undergoes
non-deposition it will
remain at a fixed depth
(which may also be a fixed
temperature). If the rock is
uplifted, its depth of burial
is reduced (and the rock
will cool).

1 m yrs

A
1 km
0.1 cm/yr
0.1 cm/yr
0.15 cm/yr
0.15 cm/yr

NO COMPACTION

80% COMPACTION

m yrs

m yrs

NO COMPACTION

80% COMPACTION
per m yrs

C
3

m yrs

m yrs

15

30

45
oC

60
75

90

UPLIFT
AND
EROSION

NONDEPOSITION

Department of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University

23

1
The curves can represent (figure 23):
(a) different rates of deposition, with or without compaction;
(b) the sequence of burial history with different rates of deposition, and
(c) periods of non-deposition, or uplift and erosion.
A constant rise in temperature with depth (geothermal gradient) of 30oC/km has
been used to generate the temperature profile shown in figure 23(c) . Note the time
scale usually has present day at the right hand side and time (in million of years before
present - MYBP) increasing to the left.
The geothermal gradient ensures that deeper rocks are at higher temperatures than
surface ones. The burial curve gives the residency time of the source rock in a
temperature window and the time and temperature can be used to estimate a maturity
profile (in the same way that a recipe book has to give a time and a temperature to tell
the reader when something will be cooked). As rocks are uplifted, the temperature
reduces and maturation slows down or stops.

BASIN AXIS
MYBP
150

100

50

0
SEABED

Ro

0.5

0
1.0
2

1.3

DATA

DEPTH (km)

0.7

Log (Ro)
-0.8 -0.4 -0.2

CALC
4
8

BASIN MARGIN
150

100

50

0
0

Ro = 0.5

2
4
4

24

DEPTH (km)

Log (Ro)
-0.8 -0.4 -0.2

Figure 24
Geohistory curves for two
wells from the Bass Basin,
Australia. From these, it is
possible to determine the
maturity levels of the
various formations in the
basin axis (top) and basin
margin (bottom) (From
Williamson et al., 1987).

The Petroleum Play

Because the rock record in a well is often incomplete due to unconformities and faults,
these models need to be calibrated. The burial curves are calibrated by vitrinite
reflectance (Ro) profiles in wells which record the maximum temperature to which
the source rock has been taken - indicated by the level of thermal maturation of the
organic material (figure 24).
The geothermal gradient can be overlain on the burial history to provide the thermal
history (figure 22c). Knowing the time and temperature history of a source rock
allows the timing of onset of oil and/or gas generation to be determined. The variation
of geothermal gradient through the burial history period is another uncertainty which
can be compared with the Ro data. The model of the thermal history is usually
presented as modelled vitrinite reflectance levels from which the oil and gas window
can be determined (figure 12).
The burial history analysis also gives the periods of uplift and timing of structural trap
formation. The relative timing of oil sourcing and trap formation can be determined.
Hydrocarbons are often sourced in kitchens lying in the basinal (i.e., graben) areas
along side the uplifted (i.e., horst) areas where traps may form. The burial history of
kitchen and trap have to be determined. This can become a complicated 3-D basin
modelling exercise, which is becoming more common in exploration with the
development of appropriate computer software.
The availability of mature source rock is a critical aspect in oil exploration. Many of
the North Sea oil accumulations are to be found within the area of mature Kimmeridge
Clay (figure 25). Similar relationships hold for the gas fields in the Cooper Basin,
Australia (figure 26). Maps of maturity levels of the major source rocks are critical
to the play evaluation. In the Cooper Basin, wells drilled in the mature source region
have a 1 in 2 success ratio. In the post-mature zone there have been no discoveries.
In the immature zone one well in 23 has been successful where gas has migrated up
out of the deeper bain. If you were an Exploration Manager, you would certainly find
this map very useful.
OUTER BOUNDARY OIL PRONE
TO MIXED ORGANIC FACIES OF
LATE JURASSIC KIMMERIDGIAN
MATURE
KIMMERIDGIAN

OIL
FIELDS
GAS FIELDS

SHETLAND
ISLANDS

ORKNEY
ISLANDS

Figure 25
North Sea Basin showing
relationship between
discovered oil fields and the
maturity region of the main
source rock (from
Demaison, 1984).

UNITED
KINGDOM

NORWAY

NORTH SEA
BASIN

Regionalised Oil and Gas

Maturation Fairway
Ro>0.6

Department of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University

25

1
AUSTRALIA

COOPER BASIN
2.0

0.90.9
GIDGEALPA
MOOMBA

Figure 26
Cooper Basin showing
distribution of gas fields
and the location of the gas
window (0.9 < R0 <2.0, after
Demaison, 1984)

PERMIAN COAL MEASURES

MATURE (GAS)
0.9Ro

S.A.

QUEENSLAND

POST-MATURE

N.S.W
GAS FIELD

100 km

SUCCESS RATIOS
IMMATURE PERMIAN

1 IN 23

MATURE PERMIAN SOURCE ZONE

1 IN 2

POST-MATURE PERMIAN ZONE

The basin modelling (also called geohistory analysis), together with structural maps
and maps showing the location of source rock, can be assembled to produce a charge
model for a prospect (figure 27). In this way the risk associated with the source rock,
structure and timing can be assessed.
A
Potential Source Area
0.8

Isomaturity Lines (Ro)

3
1.0
2400
2200
0.8

2000

1800

0.6

A
A'

Depth(km)

CRET

TERT

1
0.6

0.8

0.8

0.6

1.0

1.0

Jurassic Source Rock

4
0.8

Key TIMING points:

26

JUR

Isomaturity Lines (Ro)

Depth(km)

3
0

Figure 27
Example of a prospect
charge model, applying
basin modelling (1D) to
various locations in the
basin (after Sluijk and
Nedelrof, 1984). A: map
view showing contours of a
source rock and well
locations; B: cross section
showing profile with isomaturity lines generated
from; C: three burial
curves for the three well
locations. Isomaturity lines
are lines connecting points
of equal maturity.

The Petroleum Play

Trap has to be older than the time of migration of hydrocarbons.

Analysis of burial history of both reservoir and source is used to determine the
relative timing of trap formation and oil generation.

7. Risk Analysis
With the play maps available for all the key elements (figure 28), it is possible for
explorationists to establish the probability of a prospect containing trapped hydrocarbon in the various areas of a basin (figure 29). These play chances can be carried
forward into a more formal risk assessment.

Figure 28
Example of a play map
(from Allen and Allen,
1990).

Department of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University

27

Figure 29
Subdivision of the play map
(Fig. 24) into common-risk
segments These assess the
contributions of charge
(source, migration path,
timing), topseal and likely
trap development. In this
illustration, segment A is
considered proven (play
chance = 1). Any structure
mapped in this area would
have a very good chance of
being a successful prospect.
(from Allen and Allen,
1990).

Probabilities are assigned for each of the elements from 0, impossible or very unlikely,
to 1, certain or very likely:
P(R)

- The probability that there is reservoir developed in the prospect

P(SL)

- The probability that sufficient unbreached, non-permeable seal continuously

existed above and lateral to the reservoir from prior to hydrocarbon
migration until the present day

P(SR)

- The probability that there is a mature hydrocarbon source rock in the

vicinity of the structure and that a migration path exists

P(TR) - The probability that a structural or stratigraphic trap is present

P(T)

- The probability that the trap was developed prior to hydrocarbon migration

The Total Prospect Risk, P, is determined as:

P = P(R) x P(SL) x P(SR) x P(TR) x P(T)
For this to be statistically correct, the events should be independent. Note that even
if one was reasonably confident in all elements, P(R) = 0.75, P(SL) = 0.75, etc., the
Total Prospect Risk would be so high (P= 0.24) that it would be very unlikely that the
prospect would be drilled with out more work. As a guideline:
28

The Petroleum Play

"Needs more work prospect

High Risk Prospect
0.4 <
Low Risk Prospect
0.6 <
Very good prospect
0.8 <

P < 0.4
P < 0.6
P < 0.8
P

From equation 3, it is clear that if there is some uncertainty in any two or three
elements, it will not be possible to convince management that a drillable prospect
exists. In this case there are a number of options - spend money to reduce uncertainty
to increase the chances of success (e.g., shoot more seismic), wait for someone else
to do it for you (by drilling a well and making a discovery nearby), or farm-out (i.e.,
get someone else to take the chance by drilling the well at their cost and they take part
of your percentage of the acreage), or relinquish the acreage (thereby saving the rental
costs). Play maps are an important and valuable property to an oil company and as a
result they are usually very confidential!!

;yy;
y;y;y;y;y; y; y;
y
;
y;y;y;y;y; y;y;y;y;
y
;
y; y; y; y;y;y;y;

Permian Gas
Play

Carboniferous
Gas Reserves

Limit of
Carboniferous
Source Rock

German
Sector

UK
Sector

Permian Gas
Field

N
N

Netherlands
A' Sector

Erosional Limit of
Rotliegendes
Reservoir

Depositional Limit
of Rotliegendes
Reservoir

Onshore
UK

Limit of Zechstein
Salt

A
SW
A

Depth

Figure 30
A: Map of the Permian Gas
Play in the Southern North
Sea (after Spencer et al.,
1996)
B: Schematic cross section
A-A' (figure 28A) showing
the Rotliegendes reservoir,
underlying gas-producing
coals in the Carboniferous
and overlying Zechstein salt
seal. Where the
Rotliegendes passes into
shale (to the north-east)
Carboniferous sandstones
become the target reservoir.

Onshore
Neth.

100km

NE

Salt

Poor Seal
Rotliegendes
Reservoir

A'
Good Seal
Silverpit
Seal

Source Rock
Sand

Location of
Gas Field

Coal

Carboniferous

Reservoir
and
Source

B
The Permian gas play in the Southern North Sea is a good illustration of a petroleum
play that is very successful (figure 30) and well described. There are many gas fields
across the UK and Netherlands sectors of the North Sea, to the onshore Netherlands
and extending to the east into Germany. The successful gas-bearing fields occur in
structural traps that lie:
Department of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University

29

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To the north of a line that defines the southern limit of the Zechstein salt seal,
overlying the Rotliegendes reservoir
To the south of a line that marks the northern extent of the deposition of sand in the
Roliegendes.
Within the area of underlying Carboniferous source rock
In the area to the north of the limit of Rotliegendes sandstones, gas fields occur in
Carboniferous reservoirs, sealed by Silverpit shales. Structural traps identified within
the play fairway (defined by the band of Rotliegendes reservoir with a top seal), have
little risk. Reservoir, source, seal and timing are all certain. In this fairway, a high
percentage of exploration wells are successful (p > 0.8), the dry holes usually
explained by poor structural definition.
Key RISK ANALYSIS points:
Risk Analysis involves the estimation of chances of exploration success (defined
as finding hydrocarbons).
The probabilty of a prospects exploration success is a funtion of the individual
probabilities concerning RESERVOIR, SEAL, SOURCE/MIGRATION, TRAP
and TIMING. If these are independent, the total prospect probability is the product
of the individual element probabilities.
Risk analysis is an important exploration management tool to define which
prospects should be drilled, worked further, sold or otherwise given up.

8. EXPLORATION TOOLS
There are a whole range of sources of geological information that can be
combined in the determination of the play chances presented in the last section.
These data sources include:
Scout data: Information gained from the operator (officially or unofficially). Careless
talk gives away secrets!
Regional geological data: National Geological Surveys, consultants reports on
released data, outcrop studies.
Seismic data (refer to Chapter 5): 2-D traditionally in exploration, but increasingly
3-D. For structural and stratigraphic mapping. Exploration seismic data are often
acquired by the service companies as speculative data or spec data in advance of a
licence round, at the service companies expense and sold many times over to various
operators.
Well data: drilling records, wireline logs, cuttings (for biostratigraphy or geochemistry),
cores.

30

The Petroleum Play

Traded data: The Operator that acquires the well or seismic data, owns the data on
together with members of the consortium. The data are held confidentially. The time
which companies are allowed (by government) to hold confidential data varies from
country to country. In the UK it is currently 10 years. Companies can agree to an
equitable exchange or trade of unreleased data.

Summary
In this chapter we have seen what the critical geological issues are prior to drilling an
exploration well. The engineer in a company will be expected to take exploration risk
numbers into the economic evaluation of a prospect portfolio. This introduction to the
concepts that underlie the explorationist's evaluation will help the engineer appreciate
the quality and controlling issues behind those assessments.

Department of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University

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References
Allen, P.A., and Allen, J.R., 1990, Basin Analysis, Principles and Applications,
Blackwell, Oxford, 451p. (Petroleum Play concepts covered in Chs. 10, 11)
Demaison, G., 1984, The Generative Basin Concept, in Petroleum Geochemistry and
Basin Evolution, Demaison, G and Murris, R.J., (eds.) AAPG Memoir 35, p1-14.
Horstad, I., and Larter, S.R., 1997, Petroleum Migration, Alteration and remigration
within Troll Field, Norwegian North Sea, AAPG Bulletin, 81 (2), 222-248.
Jennings, J.B., 1987, Capillary pressure techniques: Application to Exploration and
Development Geology, AAPG Bulletin, 71, 1196-1209.
Tissot, B.P., and Welte, D.H., 1978, Petroleum Formation and Occurrence, Springer
Verlag, Berlin, 538p
Weber,1997
Wilkinson, M., Darby, D., Haszeldine, R.S., and Couples, G.D., 1997, Secondary
porosity generation during deep burial associated with overpressure leak-off: Fulmar
Formation, UK Central Graben, AAPG Bulletin, 81(5), 803-813.
Williamson, P.E., Pigram, C.J., Colwell, J.B., Scherl, A.S., Lockwood, K.L., and
Branson, J.C., 1987, Review of the stratigraphy, structure, and hydrocarbon potential
of Bass Basin, Australia, AAPG Bulletin, 71(3), 253-280.

32

The Petroleum Play

EXERCISE 1
Write a report on the Petroleum Play that occurs closest to one of the following:
your place of birth,
your home location, or
your work location.
Be sure to address each element of the play as identified in this Chapter.
EXERCISE 2 (Page 34)

Department of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University

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EXERCISE 2
Across
2.

See 3 down

4.

A Jurassic clay source rock for oil (10)

6, 12

A favourable site for the accumulation

of hydrocarbons caused by lateral facies
changes in the reservoir unit (13,4)

11, 19. A light hydrocarbon (7,3)

12.

See 6 across

13.

A lead thats worth drilling (8)

15.

A 25 API hydrocarbon (3)

16.

A gas source rock lithology (4)

20.

See 8 down

23.

A chemical change in the sediment

post- deposition (10)

24.

A fine-grained sealing lithology (4)

Down
1.

A reconstruction of the topography at time

of deposition (16)

3, 2.

Calculating the probability of success

of a prospect (4,8)

The mother of hydrocarbons (7)

5.

What occurs in the source kitchen (10)

7.

Main petroleum exploration concept (4)

8, 20.

What happened to a rock between its

deposition and the present day (6,7)

9.

A pressure that controls secondary oil

migration (9)

34

The Petroleum Play

10.

One of the critical elements of a

Petroleum Play (6)

14, 22. Another name for a caprock (3,4)

17.

A precursor of kerogen in land plants (6)

18.

A critical ingredient for maturity (4)

21.

A fluid interface in the reservoir (3)

10

11

12

13

14
15

16

17
18
19

20

21

22
23

24

Department of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University

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ANSWER: EXERCISE 2

P
A

A N A L

Y S

I S

A
3

R
I

S
K

10

M M E R

D G E

I G R A
E

P H
L

11

N A

P R O S P E C
N

C O A L

17

19

23

T
I

L
A
R

21

S T O R Y

E T

A
C L

A G E N
24

18

22

14

20

G A S

T R A P

15

16

13

12

T U R A L
I

36

T R A T
O
U

O
U

A Y

The Petroleum Play

Department of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University

37