PETROLEUM EXPLORATION

Classroom presentations
to accompany
Understanding Petroleum occurence
PREPAREDBY
B.RAJKUMAR
G.S.DILEEPAN
G.CHOZHAPANDI

Chapter 1
Origin & Occurrence of PETROLEUM

Petroleum Composition
Petroleum is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons
Mostly saturated or aromatic (~10%)
Small amounts of S (up to 10%), O (up to 5%), N (up

to 1%), can have trace amounts of V, Fe, Al, Ca, Cu,

Ni, Na, U
Molecules range greatly in size and are separated
into fractions based on boiling point

Energy Resources

Thomas Kitchin/Tom Stack

Natural resources
Most geologists are employed in looking

for some kind of resource.

Resources range from petroleum to

precious metals to water.

Resource
A material that is both useful and available in

useable quantities.
A renewable resource is one that is produced faster

than it is depleted.

Reserves
Resources that are identifiable and recoverable

under today's economic conditions

Conditional resources: not economic at the

moment.

Photosynthesis and
Fossil Fuels The
Carbon Cycle
Fig. 22.3

Fossil fuels
Decayed organic material (plants)
Must have relatively rapid burial

FOSSIL FUELS ARE A

NONRENEWABLE
RESOURCE

Hydrocarbonsoil and gas

Oil formation
1) Relatively large quantity of organic matter
2) Rapid burial (before oxidation)
3) Subsequent chemical reactions [f(P,T)] transform
decaying organic matter into hydrocarbons.

How do oil and gas deposits form?

Production of large amounts of organic material

(mainly microscopic plants and bacteria)

Preservation in a reducing (oxygen-poor)

depositional environment (e.g., restricted ocean

basin)
Burial causes increased heat and pressure,

resulting in maturation (the physical and

chemical breakdown of organic matter into a
liquid or gaseous hydrocarbon compounds) in a
source rock.

Theres more:
Migration of fluids out of the source rock

into a more permeable reservoir rock.

Trapping of fluids must occur by
encountering an impermeable seal.
In short, you need
Production
Preservation
Maturation
Migration
Trapping

Thermal conditions of oil formation

Relatively narrow temperature range:

50200C

(also depends on time)

Temperature and duration determine type of

hydrocarbon:

oil wet gas dry gas gone

Duration of process could last millions of years

Environments of oil formation

Continental shelf
Continental rise
Some nonmarine basins

Reservoirs
For oil to be useful, it must accumulate in

concentrated and accessible areas. Such spots are

called reservoirs.
Accumulation is possible because oil and gas are

low-density fluids that can migrate through the

pore space in rocks.

Reservoirs
To create a reservoir, the migration of the
fluids is retarded by cap rock.
Cap rocks Reservoir rocks
shale

sandstone

gypsum

limestone

salt
limestone

Sedimentary Rocks

Sedimentary Rocks
Sedimentary rocks are the secondary rocks which are

formed from the loose fragments or detrital or clastic

sediments produced by weathering of older rocks.
Almost 90% of earth crust is made up of igneous rocks
75% of land surface on the earth is covered by thin veneer
of sediments or sedimentary rocks.
These sediments are transported and deposited by river
water, wind or by movement of glacial ice. Transportation
is either in suspension or in solution.
When settle down on the beds of ocean, river and lakes
undergo compaction/cementation for millions of years to
form SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

Types of sedimentary rocks

Clastic rocks

Sandstones
Conglomerates
Breccia
Shale/mudstones

Chemical & Organic rocks

Evaporatic Rocks
Carbonate Rocks
Organic Rocks

These rocks are formed

due to evaporation of
saline water (sea water)
eg. Gypsum, Halit
(rock salt)
Form
basically
from
CaCO3 both by chemical
leaching and by organic
source (biochemical) eg.
Limestone; dolomite
Form due to
decomposition of organic
remains under
temperature and pressure
eg. Coal/Lignite etc.

CLASTIC ROCKS
Formed from broken rock fragments weathered

and eroded by river, glacier, wind and sea waves.

These clastic sediments are found deposited on
floodplains, beaches, in desert and on the sea
floors.
Clastic rocks are classified on the basis of the grain

size: conglomerate, sandstone, shale etc.

Grain Size

Gravel
>256-2 mm

Sand
2- 0.062 mm

Boulder: >256mm
Cobble: 64-256 mm
Pebble: 4-64 mm
Granule: 2-4mm
Fine gravel

Silt
0.062-0.004 mm

Clay
<0.004 mm

When clastic fragments are cemented or undergo consolidation they are called
CONGLOMERATES

Similarly when angular clasts undergo consolidation they are called BRECCIA

Sedimentary environment

Sedimentary Environments
A geographic setting where
sediment is
Accumulating.
Determines the nature of the
sediments that accumulate
(grain size, grain shape, etc. )

Sedimentary environments
Types of sedimentary environments
Continental
Dominated by stream erosion and
deposition
Glacial
Wind (eolian)
Marine
Shallow (to about 200 meters)
Deep (seaward of continental shelves)
Transitional (shoreline)
Tidal flats
Lagoons
Deltas

Sedimentary Structure

Terrestrial sedimentary environment

Continental environment

Aeolian Environments:
Areas of windblown sand near
beaches or in arid,desert environments.
Large areas of sand dunes are known as
ergs.

Glaciers

Glaciers are one of the most effective erosional

agents on earth. They literally grind and bulldoze
rock from beneath them, leaving deposits of loose
material called moraines.
Moraines are comprised of glacial till, a chaotic mix
of detrital sediment containing
everything boulders to silt.

Glaciers leave deposits of eroded material called moraines. Moraines are

given different names depending on their location relative to the glacier.
Moraines consist of a mixture of boulder to silt sized material.

Recessional Moraine

Loose, unconsolidated recent till deposited by glaciers during the last

ice age. Till contains particles of all sized, ranging from large boulders to
silt.

Tillite: Consolidated glacial till that has been lithified.

It is now conglomerate containing large bouldersized clasts.

Alluvium

Mixed material consisting of boulder- to silt-sized

material deposited by streams, usually at the mouth of
canyons.
These are very common in mountainous desert areas
such as southern Utah. In fact, Cedar City is build on a
series of alluvial fans.

Alluvium: Mix of boulder- to silt-sized material deposited by

streams.

Stream

Transitional environment

Transitional environment
Kinetic energy is due to

the wind and waves.

It contain organic
material with good
deposits.
It is generally observed
at river mouth and high
tide sea area.

Beach

Beaches are the most recognizable transitional

environments. Beaches form where wave energy
washes silt and clay away, leaving larger sand
particles behind. Silt and clay may then be deposited
in other low energy transitional environments such as
tidal flats or sabkhas, or in deep marine
environments.

Sand split

Behind the beach area of this sand spit lies

another transitional environment, a tidal flat.
It contains mud particles logged with
backwaters or sea-water.

Sabkhas

Sabkhas are another transitional environment

that, although rare today, are important to the
geologic past of Utah.
Sabkhas only occur in, hot, arid climates where
sea water can evaporate rapidly.

Sabkhas
Sabkhas can be though of as tidal flats or pools that
are periodically inundated with water. The water
evaporated leaving behind deposits of evaporate
minerals like halite (salt) or gypsum.
These satellite photos show a tidal pool in Tunisia
in a filled state (1987) and after the water evaporated
(1999) The white material in the 1999 photo is halite
and gypsum.

Sedimentary facies
Sedimentary facies refer to the shallow marine
environment.

Different sediments often accumulate adjacent to

one another at the same time

Each unit (called a facies) possesses a distinctive

set of characteristics reflecting the conditions of a
particular environment.

The merging of adjacent facies is a gradual

transition.

Sedimentary Facies
In a shallow marine setting, the different
facies represent different depositional
environments .

Notch Peak, Millard Co., Utah, and an extraordinarily clear

day. The different layers consist of limestone and shale
deposited in shallow marine settings.