2.1 Introduction.

Geology and Geologists

Greetings, dear colleagues, and welcome to our course! Today we start an exciting
journey into petroleum field development. Before we can produce oil, we need to
find a field with sufficient oil reserves.
For this purpose, we carry out what is called geological exploration, which is
somewhat of an art. Of course, it is based on precise scientific methods, but their
efficient application and interpretation require sophistication and creativity, due to
significant uncertainty. Exploration and analysis of any oilfield starts with
geological work, which is a key factor in successful discovery of new oilfields and
increment of oil reserves.
So who are geologists?
Geology is a word that comes from Greek words geo which means earth
and logos which means study. It is a group of sciences devoted to the structure
and composition of Earths crust, and history of Earth development. The term
geology was introduced by a Norwegian scientist M.P. Esholt in 1657. Thus, a
geologist is an expert in composition and structure of rocks who uses this
knowledge to find mineral resources, and a petroleum geologist is the one that
looks particularly for hydrocarbons in other words, for oil and gas.
A petroleum geologist seeks to discover new fields and evaluates the
potential of the ones already discovered.
Not long ago, geologists took great effort to study outcrops which are found
on Earth surface. Today, everything that can be found on the surface, has been
extensively studied, and is used for reference purposes as analogues, based on
which we can predict field size and prospectivity.
It is vital to understand that petroleum geologists are interested in fields that
can be found deep underground for example, in Western Siberia most oilfields are
as deep as two thousand meters and below.
What is an outcrop?
It is part of a rock formation that appears above the surface of the
surrounding land, exactly what you can see behind my back.

Thanks to outcrops, geologists of the past were able to make discoveries,

learn about nature and history of past and present Earth processes, check ideas and
theories.
That is why it is so important to be able to describe and interpret outcrops,
based on what was learned from studying rocks.
When we study an outcrop, we examine it in detail and determine all the
characteristics related to rock composition and structure.
Lets check the outcrop behind my back. We are in Tomsk, my hometown in
Western Siberia. It is built on the river called Tom, and we are now standing on its
right bank.
First of all, I need to mention that all the terraces on the right bank of the
Tom have clearly visible bedplates with clay slates and magma rocks at the bottom
and continental sediments at the top. The white color you see between the slates
and the sediments is the white kaolinite clay, the so-called weathering crust. People
say that this clay can be used for pottery.
The clay slates were formed in carboniferous period, that is, about 300
million years ago. The color varies from smoke blue to dark blue. These rocks
were deposited in the environment rich in oxygen. One can also see the so-called
diabase dikes intrusions of magma rocks. I will tell about that in one of the other
videos.
The sediments building all the terraces are rather uniform in mineral
composition. This means that the river Tom had a rather stable channel pattern
bringing sediments from constant sources. The age of some rocks can be identified
using animal fossils like mammoth remains that were found in the sediments.
That was a very brief description of this small outcrop.
Modern petroleum geology is a high-tech science that uses cutting edge
technology and software products.
Geologists start looking for an oilfield with indirect exploration methods
such as gravity or magnetic surveys which measure Earths various natural fields;
they also study images taken by space satellites, apply seismic methods, which we

will cover later, review regional geological data and information on oilfields that
have already been discovered in the area.
When it comes to exploration drilling, cores are recovered. These are
samples of rock that are also studied and described by geologists.
Then, geologists use the gathered and interpreted information to build digital
models of oilfields.
And there is more. Geologists participate in field development, monitor
production process. With time, as oil and gas deposits get depleted, a field needs to
be renovated, suspended or even abandoned. All this requires attention of a
geologist.
A modern geologist is a sought-after expert dealing with a huge amount of
information.
During the first week of our course, you will learn about what petroleum
geologists need to know. See you.