2.0 Exploration
2.0 Exploration
2.0 Exploration
0 EXPLORATION
reservoir rocks, traps, seismic, gravity survey, magnetic survey, geochemistry, mudlogs,
field studies.
Introduction and Commercial Application: This section will firstly examine the conditions
necessary for the existence of a hydrocarbon accumulation. Secondly, we will see which
techniques are employed by the industry to locate oil and gas deposits.
Exploration activities are aimed at finding new volumes of hydrocarbons, thus replacing
the volumes being produced. The success of a company's exploration efforts determines
Overview
as indicated in Figure 2.1. The first of these is an area in which a suitable sequence of
rocks has accumulated over geologic time, the sedimentary basin. Within that sequence
there needs to be a high content of organic matter, the source rock. Through elevated
temperatures and pressures these rocks must have reached maturation, the condition
Migration describes the process which has transported the generated hydrocarbons
into a porous type of sediment, the reservoir rock. Only if the reservoir is deformed in a
Sedimentary Basins
One of the geo-scientific breakthroughs of this century has been the acceptance of the
concept of plate tectonics. It is beyond the scope of this book to explore the underlying
theories in any detail. In summary, the plate tectonic model postulates that the positions
of the oceans and continents are gradually changing through geologic times. Like giant
rafts, the continents drift over the underlying mantle. Figure 2.2 shows the global
The features created by crustal movements may be mountain chains, like the Himalayas,
Red Sea and East African Rift Basin are formed by extensional plate movements. Both
type of movements form large scale depressions into which sediments from the
surrounding elevated areas ("highs") are transported. These depressions are termed
sedimentary basins (Fig. 2.3). The basin fill can attain a thickness of several kilometres.
Source Rocks
About 90% of all the organic matter found in sediments is contained in shales. For the
deposition of these source rocks several conditions have to be met: organic material
must be abundant and a lack of oxygen must prevent the decomposition of the organic
remains. Continuous sedimentation over a long period of time causes burial of the
organic matter. Depending on the area of deposition, organic matter may consist
live in the upper layers of the oceans, and upon death sink in vast quantities onto the
seabed. Plant derived source rocks often lead to "waxy" crudes. An example of a marine
source rock is the Kimmeridge clay which has sourced the large fields in the Northern
North Sea. The coals of the carboniferous age have sourced the gas fields of the Southern
North Sea.
Maturation
The resulting products are largely controlled by the composition of the original matter.
Figure 2.4 shows the maturation process, which starts with the conversion of mainly
kerogen into petroleum; but in very small amounts below a temperature of 50~ (kerogen:
organic rich material which will produce hydrocarbon on heating). The temperature
rises as the sediment package subsides within the basinal framework. The peak
conversion of kerogen occurs at a temperature of about 100~ If the temperature is
raised above 130~ for everf~ short period of time, crude oil itself will begin to "crack"
and gas will start to be produced. Initially the composition of the gas will show a high
content of C4 to C10 components ("wet gas" and condensate), but with further increases
in temperature the mixture will tend towards the light hydrocarbons (C1 to C3, "dry
gas"). For more detail on the composition of hydrocarbons, refer to Section 5.2.
The most important factor for maturation and hydrocarbon type is therefore heat. The
varies from basin to basin. An average value is about 3~ per 100 meters of depth.
Migration
The maturation of source rocks is followed by the migration of the produced hydrocarbons
from the deeper, hotter parts of the basin into suitable structures. Hydrocarbons are
lighter than water and will therefore move upwards through permeable strata.
Two stages have been recognised in the migration process. During primary migration
and low porosity source rock which allows hydrocarbons to move into more permeable
strata. In the second stage of migration the generated fluids move more freely along
bedding planes and faults into a suitable reservoir structure. Migration can occur over
Reservoir rock
Reservoir rocks are either of clastic or carbonate composition. The former are composed
of silicates, usually sandstone, the latter of biogenetically derived detritus, such as coral
or shell fragments. There are some important differences between the two rock types
which affect the quality of the reservoir and its interaction with fluids which flow through
them.
Chemically it is a fairly stable mineral which is not easily altered by changes in pressure,
temperature or acidity of pore fluids. Sandstone reservoirs form after the sand grains
have been transported over large distances and have deposited in particular
environments of deposition.
Carbonate reservoir rock is usually found at the place of formation ("in situ"). Carbonate
The pores between the rock components, e.g. the sand grains in a sandstone reservoir,
will initially be filled with the pore water. The migrating hydrocarbons will displace the
water and thus gradually fill the reservoir. For a reservoir to be effective, the pores need
to be in communication to allow migration, and also need to allow flow towards the
borehole once a well is drilled into the structure. The pore space is referred to as porosity
in oil field terms. Permeability measures the ability of a rock to allow fluid flow through
its pore system. A reservoir rock which has some porosity but too low a permeability to
In Section 5.1 we will examine the properties and lateral distribution of reservoir rocks
Traps
place to stop their upward migration they will eventually seep to the surface. On seabed
surveys in some offshore areas we can detect crater like features ("pock marks") which
also bear witness to the escape of oil and gas to the surface. It is assumed that throughout
the geologic past vast quantities of hydrocarbons have been lost in this manner from
sedimentary basins.
There are three basic forms of trap as shown in Figure 2.5. These are:
In many oil and gas fields throughout the world hydrocarbons are found in fault bound
basin an accumulation will not necessarily be encountered. One of the crucial questions
in prospect evaluation is about the timing of events. The deformation of strata into a
suitable trap has to precede the maturation and migration of petroleum. The reservoir
seal must have been intact throughout geologic time. If a "leak" occurred sometime in
the past, the exploration well will only encounter small amounts of residual hydrocarbons.
Conversely, a seal such as a fault may have developed early on in the field's history
In some cases bacteria may have "biodegraded' the oil, i.e. destroyed the light fraction.
Many shallow accumulations have been altered by this process. An example would be
Given the costs of exploration ventures it is clear that much effort will be expended to
even in very mature areas where exploration has been ongoing for years, only every
third exploration well will encounter substantial amounts of hydrocarbons. In real 'wildcat'
areas, basins which have not been drilled previously, only every tenth well is, on average,
successful.
low cost and in a short period of time. Exploration budgets are in direct competition with
acquisition opportunities. If a company spends more money finding oil than it would
have had to spend buying the equivalent amount "in the market place" there is little
reserves at low cost has a significant competitive edge since it can afford more
exploration, find and develop reservoirs more profitably, and can target and develop
smaller prospects.
The usual sequence of activities once an area has beenselected for exploration starts
with the definition of a basin. The mapping of gravity anomalies and magnetic anomalies
will be the first two methods applied. In many cases today this data will be available in
the public domain or can be bought as a "non exclusive" survey. Next, a coarse twodimensional
(2D) seismic grid, covering a wide area, will be acquired in order to define
leads, areas which show for instance a structure which potentially could contain an
will emerge next. Since at this point very few hard facts are available to judge the merit
of these ideas they are often referred to as "play'. More detailed investigations will be
Eventually, only the drilling of an exploration well will prove the validity of the concept. A
wildcat is drilled in a region with no prior well control. Wells may either result in discoveries
of oil and gas, or they find the objective zone water bearing in which case they are
termed "dry'.
Exploration activities are potentially damaging to the environment. The cutting down of
trees in preparation for an onshore seismic survey may result in severe soil erosion in
years to come. Offshore, fragile ecological systems such as reefs can be permanently
carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) prior to activity planning and draw
up contingency plans should an accident occur. In Section 4.0 a more detailed description
Gravity Surveys
The gravity method measures small (-10 -6 g) variations of the earth's gravity field caused
form of spring balance. Variations in the earth's gravity field cause changes in the length
of the spring, which are measured (Fig 2.6). Measurements must be corrected for the
elevation of the recording station.
Magnetic Surveys
The magnetic method detects changes in the earth's magnetic field caused by variations
in the magnetic properties of rocks. In particular basement and igneous rocks are
relatively highly magnetic and if close to the surface give rise to short wavelength, high
amplitude anomalies in the earth's magnetic field (Fig. 2.7). The method is airborne
(plane or satellite) which permits rapid surveying and mapping with good areal coverage.
Like the gravity technique this survey is often employed at the beginning of an exploration
venture.
Seismic Surveys
It is fair to say that advances in seismic surveys over the last decade have changed the
way fields are developed and managed. From being a predominantly exploration focused
tool, seismic has progressed to become one of the most cost effective methods for
optimising field production. In many cases, seismic has allowed operators to extend the
Seismic surveys involve the generation of artificial shock waves which propagate through
the 'overburden' rock to the reservoir targets and beyond, being reflected back to
acceleration (in geophones - onshore). The signals from reflections are digitised and
stored for processing and the resulting data reconstructs an acoustic image of the
acoustic image of the subsurface, with as much resolution as possible, where all the
reflections are correctly positioned and focused and the image is as close to a true
geological picture as can be. This of course is an ideal, but modern (3D and 4D)
Seismic is used
Interpretation involves
. deriving the structure of the field or potential trap (both the stratigraphic detail and
the faulting)
. getting some insight into the reservoir quafity variations, such as porosity, of interest
Geochemistry
has several applications, some of which are useful for production monitoring.
small amounts of petroleum compounds have leaked into the overlying strata and
soil samples.
. To assess potential yield and maturity of source rocks and classify those according
Field studies
There is only one method available that allows the study of the vertical and lateral
relationship of the different rock types of a reservoir on a scale of 1:1. This is the study
of outcrops. These are areas like quarries, roadcuts, cliffs, mines, etc., which consist of
model:
. presence, maturity and distribution of source rock
. detailed reservoir framework, including flow units, barriers and baffles to fluid flow
Over the last decade some of the major oil companies have been using vast amounts
and flow behaviour within individual units. Hence this technique is not only important for
the exploration phase but more so for the early assessment of production profiles.
Mudlogging
The technique of mudlogging is covered in this section because it is one of the first
direct evaluation methods available during the drilling of an exploration well. As such,
the mudlog remains an important and often under-used source of original information.
This first information about the reservoir is recorded, as a function of depth, in the form
decisions, e.g. at what depth to set casing, or where to core a well. Mudlogging is also
The rate at which the drill bit penetrates the formation gives qualitative information
about the lithology being drilled. For example, in a hard shale the rate of penetration