EXPLORATION FOR

HYDROCARBON
Yan Darmadi
BS Physics UI
MS Geophysics Texas A&M
Currently with ConocoPhillips

Energy Consumption & Sources

6%

5%
35%

23%

28%

A Brief History
8th century streets in Baghdad already paved with tar
9th century oil field exploited around area now known as

Azerbaijan. The field is described by Arab Geographer Abu alHasan al Masudi in 10th century.
1825 Imperial Russia produced 3,500 tons of oil
1858 1st commercial oil well, Oil Springs Ontario Canada
1920s many oil fields had been established in Canada, US,

Poland, Sweden, Peru, Venezuela, Ukraine

1947 Kerr McGee (now Anadarko) w/ Phillips Petroleum

(now ConocoPhillips) and Standolind Oil&Gas (now BP)

completed modern well

A Short History - Indonesia

1857 Jans Reerink heard oil seep at Mt. Ciremai flank,

Majalengka. He drilled a well. Dry.

1880 - A.Jans Zijklert (tobacco farmer) moved from East

Java to Sumatra Easts Coast. During the move, he found

locals use oils at surface. Jans raised money and drill 1st
well. Dry. Tried 2nd well at Pangkalan Brandan, North
Sumatra. Discover oil.

1912 American company SVPM started to explore. After

Indonesia Independence the company known as PT

Stanvac.
1960s PSC (Production Sharing Contract) Terms

The Starting Point: Oil Seeps

People found oil at surface

Start to drill shallow well with

conventional tools

Early Days Exploration Too Many Wells

Results => Too many wells were drilled

Too close in distance

Waste of resources damage to environment

 There was a need to develop concepts

and tools for more effective and

efficient hydrocarbon exploration
Hydrocarbon Prospecting

Contents
Review Important Concepts

Petroleum System
Exploration for Oil & Gas
Drilling basics
Unconventional Plays

Review of Important Concepts

Hydrocarbon: What Is

The Petroleum System

The Geological Time
The Earths Crust, Deformation Processes and

Sedimentary Rocks
Plate Tectonics
Mapping

Review of Important Concepts

Petroleum
Generation
Migration
Accumulation
Reservoir Rocks

Oil and Gas Traps

REVIEW OF IMPORTANT
CONCEPTS

Hydrocarbon
Crude Oil
Natural Gas
Condensate
Petroleum comes from Greek
Petro rock
Oleum oil

The Petroleum System

Geological Time
Precambrian ~4,500 - ~500

million years ago

Paleozoic ~500 250 million
years ago
Mesozoic ~250 65 million
years ago
Cenozoic ~65 million years
ago - today

Radioactives age dating

Relative Dating
Microfossils

The Earths Crust, Deformation Processes

and Sedimentary Rocks

The Earths Crust, Deformation Processes

and Sedimentary Rocks

The Earths Crust, Deformation Processes

and Sedimentary Rocks

Plate Tectonics

Tectonics Leads to Sedimentary Basins Formation

Mapping
Topographic
Geologic
Surface Condition
Outcrops
Mining
Subsurface Maps
Structure Map
Reservoir Isopach Map
Source Maturity Map
etc

PETROLEUM SYSTEM

Petroleum Geology
Or Geology of Petroleum
Geologic Concepts/Principles applied to practical use in

finding and exploiting petroleum deposits

The Petroleum System

Petroleum system
Petroleum accumulation requires

Mature source rock and expelled hydrocarbon

Migration of hydrocarbon from source rock to reservoir
Reservoir as a place for hydrocarbon to accumulate
Trap mechanism so that the hydrocarbon doesnt

went away
Seal an impermeable layer to prevent hydrocarbon
from moving vertically up of laterally away
Containment condition not to leak

Source Rock
Generation
Migration
Surface Condition
Outcrops
Mining
Accumulation
Structure Map
Reservoir Isopach Map
Source Maturity Map
etc

Origin of Oil/Gas
Oil is originated in the organic

material of fine-grained
sediments
The parent material consists of

aquatic and terrestrial debris of

living organism which undergo
partial/total chemical processes
into insoluble molecule called
Kerogen / Source Rock
Deep burial (Pressure &

Temperature) results in
maturation of kerogen
21/03/2014

April 23, 2001

26

Source Rock
Source rock is Sedimentary

rocks in which petroleum

generated and expelled
Typically source rock was

deposited in Marine / lacustrine

environment
Parameters for quality of source

rock
Organic content (TOC) 3 10%
Hydrogen index (HI)

Source Rock & Migration

Hydrocarbon is expelled from

the rock
The process of hydrocarbon

generation created microfractures in the source rock

Low API oil needs greater

saturation to expel compare to

high API needs less saturation
to expel

Source Rock & Migration

Secondary

migration is the
movement of oil
within the carrier
bed
Movement of

petroleum from
source rock to
permeable beds
Through open

faults or permeable
sedimentary layers

Reservoir Rock
Clastics
Carbonate

Naturally Fractured

Reservoir

The two principal properties required from a rock to be a viable reservoir are

porosity and permeability

The required tools to find and quantify reservoir are

seismic interpretation
well log analysis
core integration

Reservoir Rock: Porosity

Porosity is the main

characteristics we
are looking for
Clastics

Carbonates

It is the place to

store the
hydrocarbon
It is empty space

between rock grains

Fractured
Igneous

Reservoir
Permeable rock unit which

could contain petroleum

Could underwent

secondary porosity

Trap
Structural
Anticline
Monocline
Stratigraphic
Reef
Pinch-Out
Combination
Structural-stratigraphic

Trap
A geologic feature in

which petroleum
accumulate
Hydrocarbon move from

down dip in the geological

basin and moving up to
the trap and accumulate
Exploration is looking for

this hydrocarbon
accumulation

Trap
Trap types:
Structural Trap
StratigraphicTrap
Hydrodynamic Trap
Combination of at least
two of the above

EXPLORATION

Exploration: Geological
Petroleum Geology Requires other Geological Sub-

disciplines
Structural Geology
Stratigraphy & Sedimentology
Paleontology / dating
Minerals & rocks

Structural Geology
Study of deformation and

history of structural
formation timing
Requires understanding of
plate tectonics
It is used to establish
Location of Traps
Deformation history and

timing
Oil/Gas maturation, migration,
trapping mechanism

Stratigraphy / Sedimentology
Study of rock layers, their

depositional succession
and geographic distribution
It is used as a basic to

determine
Sediment provenance study
Distribution of reservoir body
Well planning target

Paleontology
Use of fossils to determine

ages of rock units

Radiometric dating
Combined with Structural
Geology and Stratigraphy,
Age is very important control
in reconstructing geological
history

Geological Techniques

Geological Field Mapping

Geologists went to the field to

gather informations of rock

types, bedding, stratigraphy,
structural deformation, rock age
(if possible) and other info
The objective is to present all

information in a Geologic Map

A geologic map is used as

analogue in interpretation of
subsurface data

Geology of southernEngland courtesy Ian West

Geological Field Mapping

Image on the left is an

example of integration
of surface and
subsurface data
Geologists combine

field mapping with

subsurface
interpretation from
subsurface data (e.g.
seismic)
Image courtesy Colorado Geological Survey

Well Log
Recorded data of rocks in

subsurface in the vicinity of

wellbore
Measures

Resistance
Conductivity
Radioactivity
Acoustic Waves
Of ROCKS

Core
A sample of reservoir rock

taken from the wellbore

The ground truth sampled
just a little, due to cost
Analyzed to know porosity
and permeability of reservoir
rock

Well Log & Core

Log and Core together

comprise the main (hard)

data to predict reservoir
parameters
Porosity
Reservoir Net / Gross
Permeability

In the vicinity of wellbore

Few inch laterally
10s of meters (or more)
vertically

Well Cross Section

Oil Seeps

Kotuku, New Zealand

Oil Seeps
Oil Seeps proved existence

of working Petroleum
System
Oil Seeps usually is related

to existing oil pool

Oil Seeps was used to

predict location of the real

oil pool

Oil Seeps : Nowadays

With the advance of

remote sensing
technology
Oil seeps could be

found using satellite

imagery

Plays and Trends

Play
Proven combination of existing mature source rock that expels
hydrocarbon to existing reservoir and trapped in a certain
mechanism and contained so it could economically be produced
Example: the Miocene Baturaja Carbonate Play

Trends
Area along which plays are existing
Example: the SE Fringe of the Basement High in South Sumatra Basin

(where baturaja carbonate growth)

Geological Techniques
Based on available field mapping, core and log data, a

petroleum geologist could infer

Source rock
Reservoir rock
Seal rock (vertical)

However the result is only localized around the wellbore

To make the interpretation works in wider subsurface

space, petroleum geologist works with petroleum

geophysicist to integrate interpretation and provide a
detail analysis of the petroleum system

Petroleum Geophysics
Potential Methods
Gravity
Magnetics
Seabed Logging

Seismic Methods
Reflection
Refraction
Wellbore Seismic

Log to Core to Seismic - Integration

Gravity & Magnetics

Reconnaissance Mapping by

Geophysical Methods :

Lithological boundaries

Limestone / marble outcrops and

karstic conditions

Averaged thickness of weathered

rock in urban / industrial terrains
and on slopes

Delineation of geological features

Not real structure

Gravity
Measures spatial

variation of gravitational
field caused by
difference in density of
rocks in the subsurface
To the right is an

example of a Bouguer
gravity anomaly map
The red circles are

igneous complexes

Magnetics
Measures strength or

intensity of earths
magnetic fields
Lateral variation of

magnetic susceptibility k
and remanence

Seismic Reflection
In a newly explored geological basin, regional 2D seismic

reflection data are used

In prolific geological basin, 3D regional seismic reflection

data usually available

Nowadays, 3D is a must-have in development phase

Seismic Reflection Usage

Defining Traps
Structural Model of Subsurface
Defining Stratigraphy Reservoir Body
Depositional Model of Subsurface
Guiding well-planning
Defining target

What is seismic?
They are waves
Reflected from the rock

layers in the subsurface

Recorded and processed
for interpretation
To extract geological
information
For oil & gas exploration

Seismic Reflection: How?

Seismic Reflection: Acquire

Seismic Acquisition
Is a set of activities to acquire/record seismic reflection data of the
targeted Area of Interest for HC exploration

Reflection Wave
Seismic wave

energy travels
through the different
geological layers
and:
reflected,
transmitted or
scattered

Recorded and

analyzed

Zoeppritz Equation
Zoeppritz equation is the

basic of all derivation for

seismic reflection methods

Seismic Acquisition (Onshore)

Seismic acquisition in

onshore requires ~1,000 s

km of cables, with ~100 s of
crews
Source: Dynamites
Receiver: Geophones
Months of massive works!
Advances: Vibroseis, Nodal

Seismic Acquisition (Offshore)

Seismic acquisition in offshore

is using seismic vessel / ship

Source: Air-gun
Receiver: Hydrophones
Less crew then onshore

acquisition
Advances: OBC, Coil Shooting

Epmag.com

Seismic Reflection: Processing

Seismic Processing
Is a set of activities to apply mathematical methods (&

many assumptions) to recorded seismic reflection data

so that the data is ready to extract information of the
subsurface condition

Seismic Processing
Flows

Challenges

Processing is where theory of

Noise vs. Data

reflection wave mostly applied (a bit

more math)
Months of processes

Mathematical assumptions
Terrabytes of data

Seismic Reflection: Analyze

Seismic Interpretation / Analysis
Is a set of activities to extract Geological information

from processed seismic reflection data to be used in

evaluation of hydrocarbon prospectivity

Exploration Case: 2D

2D seismic line for exploration

Evaluation of prospects
Defining trap
Reservoir presences
Economics evaluation
Drilling propose

2D 3D Seismic
3D Seismic

Now imagine we have many

lines and stacked them in a row

Modern Seismic in Development Case

Trap Definition
Reservoir model from

seismic attributes
Original HC in place
volumetrics
Economics Evaluation
How many wells are

needed?

Drilling execution

Seismic Reflection Usage: to Define subsurface Stratigraphy

Seismic Reflection Usage: Accurate Well-Planning

3D View of Integrated

Subsurface System
Stratigraphy
Define detailed
subsurface targets

Seismic Reflection Usage: To Detect Fluids & Stratigraphy

Seismic data drives interpretation of
stratigraphy and depositional
environment

geoseismic-asia.blogspot.com

Seismic data indicates presence of

fluid contact

Published in IPA: Maynard, 2003

Integration
The most important part of all is the integration of

all data available

To build a geologically sound interpretation of

subsurface condition
Evaluate possibility of producing hydrocarbon and good

investment returns

Exploration Risk
Outcome, eg
GIIP
P10
P50
Geologic
Failure

Risk is the chance of not

being able to get on a
prescribed distribution.

Geologic
Success
P90
50%

100%

Risk is commonly assessed under the following criteria.

Different companies use different criteria
Source Presence (Psource)
Migration (Pmigration)
Trap / Seal (Ptrap)
Reservoir (Pres)
Probability of Geologic Success (Pg) = Psource x Pmigration x
Ptrap x Pres
Ps is the chance of being able to achieve the minimum
pre-defined volume

mytwoandhalfcents.com

Next Step in Exploration Cycle

Economics / Discovery
PSC will continue with
evaluation followed by data
acquisition

Dry / Un-economics
Evaluate more? Drill another
exploration well?
Or

Seismic 3D

P&A well

Appraisal Wells

Post mortem analysis

More detailed evaluation

Drill more wells?
Ready for Development

Plan of Development
Development Wells
Depletion Plan

Return the block to

government

DRILLING - BASICS

An Introduction to Drilling
Following all the detailed

evaluation by geophysicist
and geologist a well drilling
is the key to validate the
result of hydrocarbon
prospecting
Geologist/geophysicist will

work on plan/program for

drilling and work together
with drillers who will
execute the plan

Oil Rigs

Different Environtment when Drilling

Arctic

Offshore

Desert

Example of Typical Oil Well

Example of Typical Oil Well

Well Types

Vertical

Horizontal

Slanted

Exploration well usually vertical

Development well (especially offshore): Slanted

Unconventional shale usually Horizontal