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2012
LECTURE MATERIAL
1. INTRODUCTION
5. RESERVOIR ROCK
Elements Processes
Source Rock Generation
Migration Route
Migration
Reservoir Rock
Accumulation
Seal Rock
Trap Preservation
SEAL
A seal usually consists of an impermeable unit that overlies or surrounds a reservoir, preventing
vertical or lateral movement of reservoired petroleum. Even with ideal source and reservoir units,
our play will fail without an effective seal. So, we must ask ourselves:
The simplest type of seal is a contact between the reservoir and an overlying roof rock where this
surface has been deformed into a convex-upward shape (Milton and Bertram, 1992). A
sandstone/shale couplet deformed into a dome is an example of this type of sealing situation.
Other sealing surfaces include sedimentary contacts and facies changes. Typical seals are fine-
grained clastics such as shales, fine-grained limestones, or anhydrite and other evaporites.
Course-grained rocks cemented with silica, calcite, halite, and asphalt also act as seals. Fault
surfaces can also be seals. If a porous unit is juxtaposed with a sealing unit across an inactive fault,
the fault generally will act as a seal. Clay or shale distributed in a gouge zone can produce a
sealing fault. A pressure difference between two porous units across a fault zone can also create
sealing conditions. To truly understand the importance and effect of the seal element, we need to
consider its relationship to the trap element.
After petroleum has been generated and has migrated into a reservoir unit, it will continue to
migrate through that unit unless it encounters a seal and is trapped in some way.
Traps must be sealed by impermeable barriers in order to stop the continued
upward migration of petroleum. In the case of anticlines ( Figure 1a), only a vertical
seal, or cap rock, is required; but faults ( Figure 1b) and stratigraphic traps
( Figure 1c) must be sealed both vertically and laterally.
Shale is the dominant caprock of worldwide reserves (Figure 2) and is
overwhelmingly the seal in basins rich in terrigenous sediments, where sandstones
are the dominant reservoir rock.
Evaporites, however, are the most efficient caprock. They are particularly common
in carbonate-rich basins, and they often form seals for carbonate reservoirs.
Furthermore, evaporites commonly develop in restricted basin settings, where
accumulations of organic-rich source rocks are also favored. Dense carbonates are
the third most abundant caprock lithology and seal about 2% of the world's
reserves.
Caprock lithologies, depth range, age and recoverable reserves of the
world’s 25 largest oil fields (Allen & Allen; 1990)
Caprock lithologies, depth range, age and recoverable reserves (in
standard cubic feet) of the world’s 25 largest gas fields (Allen &
Allen; 1990)
Seal depths of the world ’ s giant oil fields. Almost of half of the
ultimately recoverable reserves in the world’s giant fields are sealed at
depth of 1 to 2 km. (Allen & Allen, 1990).
Seal depths of the world’s giant gas fields. For the world, the depth
distribution is similar to that for oil. Deep gas may, however, be under-
represented relative to its occurrence in nature, since in many cases it is
uneconomic to explore for deep gas. (Allen & Allen, 1990).
Trap
The last critical factor in the cycle of generation, migration and
accumulation is the development of a trap. A trap is a geometric
configuration of structures and/ or strata, in which permeable rock
types (the reservoir) are surrounded and confined by impermeable rock
types (the seal). In some cases, traps may be created by hydrodynamic
factors, that is, by the movement of subsurface waters, but these are
relatively rare. Most traps fall into one of three categories ( next figure
): structural traps, stratigraphic traps, or combination traps that have
both structural and stratigraphic aspects.
Many terms are used to describe the various parts of a trap. The
anticlinal trap, the simplest type, will be used as our reference. The
highest point of the trap is the crest or culmination. The lowest point is
the spill point. A trap may or may not be full to the spill point. The
horizontal plane through the spill point is called the spill plane. The
vertical distance from the high point at the crest to the low point at the
spill point is the closure. The productive reservoir is the pay. Its gross
vertical interval is known as the gross pay. This can vary from only one or
two meters in Texas to several hundred in the North Sea and Middle
East.
Fluid contacts in a trap are almost always planar but are by no means always
horizontal. Should a tilted fluid contact be present, its early recognition is essential
for correct evaluation of reserves, and for the establishment of efficient production
procedures.
One of the most common ways in which a tilted fluid contact may occur is through
hydrodynamic flow of bottom waters the next Figure is the Tilted fluid contact
caused by hydrodynamic flow.
There may be one or more separate hydrocarbon pools, each with
its own fluid contact, within the geographic limits of an oil or gas
field. The next Figure is Multiple pools within an oil and gas field.
Each individual pool may contain one or more pay zones.
TRAP CLASSIFICATION
The rollover anticline, however, is crosscut by a channel. Oil with a gas cap occurs
only within the channel; thus, the trap is due to a combination of structure and
stratigraphy.
An excellent example of a combination trap is provided by the Prudhoe Bay field on
the North Slope of Alaska (Morgridge and Smith, 1972; Jones and Speers, 1976;
Jamison et al., 1980; Bushnell, 1981). A series of Carboniferous-through-basal-
Cretaceous strata were folded into a westerly-plunging anticlinal nose (Structural
contours on top of Sadlerochit reservoir, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska).
Fault-unconformity
combination traps
characterize the northern
North Sea. Jurassic
sandstone reservoirs exist in
numerous tilted fault blocks
which were truncated and
overlain by Cretaceous
shales. The resulting traps
include such fields as Brent
(Bowen, 1972), Ninian
(Albright et al., 1980), and
Piper (Maher, 1980). A cross
section through one of
these, the Piper field, is
shown in this figure
(Southwest-northeast
structural cross-section,
Piper field, North Sea).
A cross section of
the field shows that
the channel is only
partially filled by
sand and is partly
plugged by clay
(West-east cross-
section A-Z of two
Lower Muddy
stream channels).
The Rocky Mountain Cretaceous
basins contain many barrier bar
stratigraphic traps. The Bisti field in
the San Juan basin, New Mexico is
a classic barrier bar sand (Sabins,
1963, 1972). The field is about 65
kilometers long and 7 kilometers
wide. Figure Bar sandstone isopach
map of Bisti field, Colorado).