UNIT 1

Petroleum Formation
A.
Petroleum oil is generally considered to be formed from animal and vegetable
debris accumulating in sea basins or estuaries and buried there by sand and
silt. The debris may have been decomposed by anaerobic bacteria under
reducing conditions, so that most of the oxygen was removed, or oil may have
been distilled from the partially decayed debris by heat generated by earth
movements or by depth of burial.
The final results is a black viscous product of composition:
Carbon 80 to 89%
Hydrogen 12 to 14%
Nitrogen 0.3 to 1%
Sulphur 0.3 to 3%
Oxygen 2 to 3%
The main differences between the origins of oil and coal are:
a) Coal was formed mainly from land plants, decaying under mildly
reducing conditions
b) Oil was formed mainly from sea plants and animals decaying under
strongly reducing conditions
c) Coal seams remained where deposited.
d) Oil can migrate under the effects of temperature and pressure so that
the location of existing deposits may not be the location of the initial
accumulation of oil-forming debris.
e) The source rock is sedimentary in nature and mainly, or entirely, of
marine origin.
B.
Temperature changes, earth movements, and differences in density between oil
and salt water, caused the oil to migrate from the source rock to accumulate in
favourable geological formations. Favourable locations mean a porous
sedimentary rock, called a Reservoir rock in which oil and gas can
accumulate in the upper lavers, capped by an impermeable rock, or rock
formation, which prevents escape of the oil and gas. Reservoir rocks are usually
coarse-grained sandstones, grit, limestones or dolomite. Cap rocks are fine
grained clays and shales, marls and limestones. The strata in an oilfield form a
trap and the following types are commonly found:

a) Anticlinal dome, under which the oil can form a reservoir, in time the
deposit separates into three layers: gas, oil and water.
b) Fault trap, in which a fracture in the strata brings an impervious, sealing
layers above the reservoir rock.
c) Stratigraphic trap, in which inclined layers of oil containing rock are
overlain by a cap of impervious rock
d) Anticline formed by a salt dome, which has been thrust through strata,
sealing off the oil-bearing layers.
In cases b) to d) the gas has escaped and the deposit consists only of oil and
salt water.
C.
Oil deposits are detected by visual, geological, and geophysical methods.
Visual methods include observations of oil seepages at the surface and fossils
occurring in the strata.
Geological methods include mapping the age of rocks, their nature, and the
types of formations present. These may be assisted by aerial photography.
Geophysical methods. These include:
Gravimetric, measuring with sensitive instruments the variation in density of
the earths crust.
Seismic, measuring the reflectance of shock waves passed through the earths
crust. This gives the depth of hard, reflecting, layers, such as limestone. It is
widely used for undersea exploration
Magnetic, local variations in the intensity and direction of the earths magnetic
field show the distribution of the various rocks in the earths crust.
Drilling. The final test for oil bearing strata is drilling. Cores from the drill are
examined for fossil formation and evidence of porous or non-porous rocks.
When oil has been proved, drilling, with mud cooling, is continued until the
depth of the oil. Or oil bearing strata, has been ascertained.
EXERCISES
1.1 Skimming
Read quickly through the text. In this type of exercise you should out reading
time to the minimum. The aim is not to understand every word, or even every
sentence, but by locating topic sentences and keywords to gain a general grasp
of the subject matter.
Think of sub headings for

A. Oil composition
B. Oil reservoirs
And C. Methods of oil exploration
1.2 Scanning true or false?
In this type of exercise a more thorough reading is required. You are looking for
specific details for example, are the following statements true or false
according to the text?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)

Oil is made of animal and vegetable matter. T

Oil contains no oxygen. F
Oil is made from bacteria. T
Earth movements produce heat.
Coal is made mainly from vegetable matter. T
Oil deposits can change their location. T
Coal deposits sometimes migrate. F
Reservoir rock is porous. T
Cap rock is permeable. T
Gas is always found with oil deposits.

1.3 information transfer 1 Composition Chart

a) to e) are the components of oil, displayed in their relative proportions as a
schematic bar chart. Can you name them?

1.4 Information transfer 2 Formation Diagrams

Name these formations using information given in the text.
(a) Anticlinal dome

(b) Anticline formed by a salt dome

(c) Fault tramp

(d) Stratigraphic tramp

1.5 Word skills

These exercises are designed to build vocabulary, and teach you to recognize
(but not to be misled by) the formation of words; many words of similar shape,
e.g. composed and components. Are related, whilst others, e.g.
Estuaries and actuaries are not.
From the following, choose the closest in meaning to the word given as it used
in the text:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)

Debris (line3)
= deposits/detritus/depth
Accumulating (line 2)
= gathering/accommodating/exhumating
Decomposed (line 3)
= decayed/deformed/debris
Migrate (line26)
= mitigate/magnetize/move
Thrust (line42)
= truss/push/crust

1.6 Locating keywords.

Certain items are central to the meaning of a given point. For example, in the
following sentences. The Christmas trees were stripped at the close of
festivities and The Christmas trees were stripped at the close of production, the
last word in each case determines the meaning of the whole, and changes, or
affects our understanding of the other content words, Christmas trees, stripped
and close.
Look at section C of the text. Try to select keywords or key phrases (max.2
words) for each method.
Detection methods
a) Visual = Observation + Strata
b) Geological = Map + aerial photography
c) Geophysical (measurements)
1. Gravimetric = density +variation
2. Seismic = waves + depth
3. Magnetic = rocks + variation
d) Drilling = mud + petroleum