1.8.

1 Structural Traps
Fig. 1.10 Structural traps related to salt domes and anticlinal
(a) Anticlinal Domes folds. A basement high can also be a trap when it is covered by
a black shale (source rock). The basement may have some
porosity due to fractures or a thin sediment cover
Domes formed by diapirism or other processes may
form closures in all directions (four-way closure).

A simple anticline is not sufficient to trap oil.

Anticlines with an axial culmination are needed to
pro-vide four-way closure. This means that the fold
axis must be dipping in both directions (Fig. 1.9).
Anticlinal traps can form in association with fault-
ing. This is especially true in connection with growth
faults (roll-overs) (see below), but also with thrust
zones.

(b) Salt Domes

Salt domes are formed because salt (specific gravity

c.1.8–2.0) is lighter than the overlying rock, and the salt
therefore “floats” up due to buoyancy. The quanti-
tatively most important salt minerals are halite (NaCl –
3
density 2.16 g/cm ), gypsum (CaSO4. 2H2O – density
1 Introduction to Petroleum Geology 15

I Barrier
Clay sand island Lagoon Sand
Sea level
Ox
Red
Organic
matter

II Sea level
drop Clay

Sand

III Deposition of 2–3 km of sediments

Reservoir
rock (trap)

Migration of
hydrocarbons
>100°C
Source rocks
Water
Oil
Sand grains

Fig. 1.11 Examples of stratigraphic traps. A barrier island forms a separate accumulation of sand where the associated mudstones
(shales) may represent both source rocks and cap rocks

3 3
2.32 g/cm ). Anhydrite (CaSO4 – density 2.96 g/cm ) is this will be altered into anhydrite at about 1 km burial
too dense to contribute to the formation of diapers. depth, with a consequent 40% compaction and the
In order for the salt to move upwards and form a salt increase in density will remove the buoyancy relative
dome, a certain thickness of overburden is required and to the surrounding sediments. A comparable
the salt beds themselves must be at least 100–200 m expansion occurs when rising anhydrite comes into
thick. The upward movement of salt through the over- contact with groundwater and reverts to gypsum.
lying sequence, and the resultant deformation of the Traps may be created (1) in the layers above the
latter, is called halokinetics or salt tectonics. salt dome, (2) in the top of the salt dome (cap rock),
The rate of salt movement is extremely slow and a (3) in the beds which are faulted and turned up
dome may take several million years to form. against the salt structure and (4) through stratigraphic
Movements of the earth’s surface may, however, also pinch-ing out of beds round the salt dome. Reservoirs
be recorded in recent history as is the case onshore may form by solution and brecciation at the top of
Denmark. Salt may break right through the overly-ing salt domes.
rocks and rise to the surface, or form intrusions in Salt tectonics is of great importance in many oil-
younger sediments. If gypsum has been deposited, bearing regions where there are thick salt deposits in
16 K. Bjørlykke

(c) Growth Anticlines

Unconformity
These are dome-like structures formed when part of a
basin subsides more slowly than its surroundings,
Oil/gas
resulting in least sedimentation on the highest part.
The sediment thickness decreases towards the dome
centre, which also compacts less than the adjacent
Oil/gas
thicker sediments and thus contributes to the forma-
tion of an anticlinal structure. Growth anticlines form
contemporaneously with sediment accumulation, not
through later folding.
Growth anticlines can be formed above salt domes,
Oil/gas reefs or buried basement highs, through differential
compaction.

(d) Fault Traps

Oil/gas
In fault traps, the fault plane forms part of the struc-ture
trapping the oil and hindering its further upward
migration. The fault plane must therefore be sealing for
vertical flow in order to function as a barrier and a cap
rock for the reservoir rocks. If the reservoir rock is jux-
taposed against a sandstone or other permeable rocks the
Channel sand fault must also be impermeable for flow across the fault
plane. Most frequently, however, the reservoir rock is
Fig. 1.12 Combination of stratigraphic and structural traps. A faulted against a tight shale or mudrock and the fault is
reef forms a trap due to the primary relief and also due to later
compaction of the mud around the reef then in most cases sealing (Fig. 1.9). When there is
sandstone on both sides of the fault plane, the
permeability across it will amongst other things depend
on how much clay has been smeared along the junction.
the passive margin sequences of the South Atlantic At greater depths (>3–4 km) there may be diagenetic
and the Gulf of Mexico. In the eastern USA we find changes such as quartz cementation, which can make the
exten-sive tracts with Silurian salt, and in Texas and fault plane tighter.
New Mexico we have Permian salt. There are many different types of faults:
Salt layers are the ideal cap rock because of salt’s
low permeability and ductile properties, which Normal faults – often in connection with graben
prevent fracturing and leakage. (rift) structures.
Salt deposits are particularly common in the Strike-slip faults.
Permo-Triassic around the Atlantic. This is because Reverse faults formed by tectonic stress.
prior to the opening of the Atlantic there were vast Growth faults.
areas with fault-controlled basins (rifts) in the middle
of a super-continent (America + Europe, Asia and The displacement along faults can be both verti-cal
Africa) with little precipitation. We find similar (normal faults) and horizontal (strike slip faults).
conditions today around the Red Sea and the Dead Reverse faults are faults where the hangingwall is
Sea. The Permian Zechstein salt in Germany and moved upwards relative to the footwall below the
Denmark continues below the North Sea, and fault plane. These are typical of areas with high hor-
halotectonic movements have formed dome structures izontal stresses i.e. due to converging plate move-
in the Chalk, for example in the Ekofisk area. ments. Growth faults are driven by gravity-sliding
1 Introduction to Petroleum Geology 17

along curved (listric) fault planes and are typical of

sedimentary sequences such as deltas deposited with
relatively rapid sedimentation. The fault plane is often
(though not always) sealing and can stop oil and gas
from migrating further upward. However, oil traps are
equally often formed in anticlines on the upper side of
the fault plane. These are rollover anticlines. Because
the faulting is active during sedimentation, the layers on
the downthrown side will be thickest. The name growth
fault goes back to the early days of oil exploration
without seismic data. It was noticed that the layers had
“grown” in thickness in the wells on the downthrown
side of the fault. The displacement of the beds decreases
upwards along the fault plane. Smaller, antithetic faults Fig. 1.13 Natural oil seep at Carpenteria State Beach,
often develop in the opposite direction in the beds which California. Oil is flowing on land, on the beach and also
are turned inwards towards the main fault plane. Growth offshore on the sea floor
faults tend to have low permeability and may contribute
greatly to reduced porewater circulation in sedimentary
basins, and we often find undercompacted clay, which
(d) Traps related to unconformities. Sandstones or
can turn into clay diapirs in association with growth
other porous rocks may be overlain with an angu-
lar unconformity by shales or other tight sed-
faults.
iments, forming a trap underneath the uncon-
formity (Fig. 1.12). Topographic highs in the
basement overlain with shales can also provide
good traps in fractured basement rocks.
1.8.2 Stratigraphic Traps
Remember that oil can migrate upwards into
stratigraphi-cally lower rocks. In China there are
These are traps which are partially or wholly due to numerous examples of this type of trap.
facies variation or unconformities, and not primarily
the result of tectonic deformation. Porous and perme- Much of the oil generated in sedimentary basins has
able sands which pinch out up-dip in less permeable not been trapped in reservoirs but reached the surface on
rocks, e.g. shale (Figs. 1.11 and 1.12) are good exam- the seafloor or on land. There it is then broken down by
ples. Barrier islands often form stratigraphic traps bacteria and becomes heavy oil, which is not very toxic.
because they may be separated from the coast by fine- In California there are many examples of natural oil
grained lagoonal facies. The main types are: seeps which can be observed along roads, on the beach
(Fig. 1.13) and also offshore.
(a) Fluvial channel sandstones may be isolated and
surrounded by impermeable clay-rich sediments,
or they may be folded so that we obtain a
combina-tion of stratigraphic and structural traps 1.9 Other Types of Trap
(Figs. 1.9 and 1.10).
(b) Submarine channels and sandstone turbidites in More unusual kinds of trap can be encountered. If the
strata rich in shale. Here we will often find pinch- porewater in a sedimentary basin has sufficiently strong
out of permeable layers up-dip from the foot of the flow of meteoric water into the basin, the oil/water
continental slope. This will result in stratigraphic contact may diverge markedly from a hor-izontal plane
traps without any further folding being necessary. due to the hydrodynamic stresses. This has implications
(c) Reefs often form stratigraphic traps. A reef struc- for calculations of oil volumes within a structure, and in
ture projects up from the sea bed and often has some instances oil can accumulate without being sealed
shale sediments surrounding it, so that oil could in, within a so-called hydrody-namic trap. The
migrate from the shale into the reef structure. circulation of fresh (meteoric) water
18 K. Bjørlykke

down into oil-bearing rocks will, however, lead to ρs = ϕρf + ρm (1 − ϕ)

biodegradation and the formation of asphalt. Asphalt
can then become a tight cap rock for the oil. Well sorted, rounded sand grains are almost spheri-
At greater depths, beyond the reach of meteoric cal in shape. If we have grains of the same size, which
water, water movement is limited and any deflection are all quite well rounded and with a high degree of
of the oil/water contact is more likely to reflect sphericity, we will be able to pack the grains so as to get
pressure differences within the reservoir. Water will minimum porosity. Rhombic is the densest pack-ing,
also flow then because of the pressure gradient, but resulting in 26% porosity, but this can not be obtained
unless there are low permeability barriers the pressure naturally. Cubic packing, where the grains are packed
will soon equalise. Tectonic tilting will also tilt the directly one above another, results in about 48%
oil/water contact. porosity and this does not occur in nature either. Most
Reservoir Geology is not a well-defined discipline. well sorted sandstones have a porosity which lies
It includes many aspects of geology that are of spe- between these two values, typically around 40–42%.
cial relevance to the production of petroleum. It is Poorly sorted sand may have lower primary porosity and
also linked to engineering aspects of petroleum will also compact more at moderate burial depths. Clay-
production. Reservoir geophysics has in recent years rich sediments have a much greater porosity
become very important and is now well integrated immediately after deposition, typically 60–80%. This
with reservoir geology. means that immediately following deposition a sand bed
is denser than a bed of clay or silt. However, clay and
silt lose their porosity more rapidly with burial. Porosity
1.10 Porosity and Permeability may be classified into different types depending on its
origin.
Pore space between the primary sediment grains is
Any rock with sufficiently high porosity and perme- often referred to as primary porosity. Intergranular
ability may serve as a reservoir rock provided that porosity simply means porosity between the grains
there is a source of petroleum, a structure, and a tight whereas intragranular porosity means porosity inside
cap rock. the sediment grains. The latter may be cavities in fos-
Sediments consist of solid grains and of fluids sils, e.g. foraminifera, gastropods, molluscs, but also
which for the most part are water but may be oil and partly dissolved feldspar and rock fragments. Pore
gas. space formed by dissolution or fracturing of grains is
Porosity (ϕ) is an expression of the percentage (or called secondary porosity.
fraction) of fluids by volume (Vf) compared to the Cavities formed by selective solution of sediment
total rock volume with fluids (Vt), so that ϕ = Vf / Vt. grains or fossils are classified as mouldic porosity. A
Porosity is often expressed as a percentage, but in typical example is when dissolution of arago-nite
many calculations it is easier to express it as a fossils like gastropods leaves open pore spaces
fraction, for example 0.3 instead of 30% porosity. (moulds).
The void ratio (VR) is the ratio between pore Particularly in carbonates we may also have
volume (ϕ) and the volume of the grains (1–ϕ).
porosity on a large scale i.e. as caverns (karst) and in
reefs.
VR = ϕ/(1−ϕ) Pore space produced by fracturing is called
fracture porosity.
Void ratio is often used in engineering and it has Permeability is an expression of the ease with which
certain advantages in some mathematical expressions. fluids flow through a rock. It will depend on the size of
If we assume that we know the density of the min- the pore spaces in the rocks, and in particular the
eral grains, the porosity can be found by measuring connections between the pore spaces. Even thin cracks
the density of a known volume of the sediment. The
will contribute greatly to increasing the permeability.
density of the sediments (ρs) is the sum of the density
Permeability can be measured by letting a liquid or
of the grains, which are mostly minerals ρm, and the gas flow through a cylindrical rock sample under
density of the fluids (ρf).
pressure. The pressure difference P1 −P2 between the
1 Introduction to Petroleum Geology 19

two ends of a horizontal cylinder is P, the cylinder joints down to microscopic cracks which can barely
length L, and the flow rate of water (or another fluid) be seen in a microscope.
3
through the cylinder, is Q (cm /s). A is the cross- Rocks with low porosity and permeability may
section and μ the viscosity of the fluid frac-ture and sufficiently increase their porosity, and
partic-ularly permeability, to form large oil
Q = k· A· P reservoirs. This means that reservoirs may be good
L·μ producers despite relatively low porosity.
Occasionally we find petroleum in fractured meta-
where k is the permeability, which is expressed in morphic and igneous rocks but reservoirs normally
Darcy. consist of sedimentary rocks. Sandstones make up
The volume of water which flows through each about 50–60% of the reservoirs in the world and car-
sur-face unit in the cross-section A is thus equal to the bonate reservoirs may account for almost 40%. Many
3 2
flux F = Q/A. F can be measured in cm /cm /s or in of the reservoirs in the Middle East are carbonate
3 2 rocks but in the rest of the world the percentage of
m /m /s. This is equal to the Darcy velocity which is
m/s. carbonate reservoirs is lower.
Well-sorted sandstones may have a permeabili-ties The most important aspects of reservoir rocks
exceeding 1 Darcy and values between 100 and 1,000 include:
mD are considered to be extremely good. Permeabilities
of 10–100 mD are also considered to be good values for (1) The external geometry such as the thickness and
reservoir rocks. Permeabilities of 1–10 mD are typical of extent of the reservoir rock in all directions.
relatively dense sandstones and limestones, so-called (2) The average porosity, pore size and pore geometry.
tight reservoirs. There are also examples of rocks with (3) The distribution of permeability in the reservoirs,
even lower permeabilities being exploited commercially particularly high permeability conduits and low
for oil production, for example in the Ekofisk Field permeability barriers to fluid flow.
where the generally low permeability of a chalk matrix (4) Mineralogy and wettability of the pore network.
is enhanced by fractures which increase the overall
permeability. The properties of sandstones and carbonate reser-
In the great majority of rocks, the permeability dif- voirs are primarily linked to the depositional environ-
fers according to flow direction. In sedimentary rocks ment, the textural and mineralogical composition and
the permeability is much higher parallel to the the burial history. A good background in general sed-
bedding compared with normal to the bedding. imentology, facies analysis and sequence stratigraphy
Channel sand-stones can also have a marked is therefore important.
directional impact on the permeability. Nevertheless, many of the important properties of
In well-cemented sandstones and limestones, and reservoir rocks linked to changes in facies and
also in certain shales, the matrix permeability is smaller faults are below the vertical resolution of
extremely low and the effective permeability may be exploration seismic (15–30 m) and it is important to
mostly controlled by fractures if they are present. establish rela-tionships between facies models,
Claystones and shales have very low permeability diagenetic processes and reservoir properties. The
and can be almost completely tight. In the laboratory properties of faults are also very important factors
shale permeabilities as low as 0.01 nanodarcy have determining oil flow during production.
been measured. Samples from cores or outcrops can
contain minute fissures formed in response to unload-
ing during retrieval to the surface and these must be
closed to replicate the in situ permeability prior to
1.11 External Geometry of
unloading. Reservoir Rocks
Most rocks are far from homogeneous. We may
measure the porosity and permeability of a hand The external geometry of reservoir rocks is largely
specimen or core plug, but it is not certain that these are determined by the depositional environments, but
representative of a larger volume. Fractures occur at faulting and diagenesis may define the lateral or ver-
varying intervals, and range in size from large, open tical extent of a reservoir.
20 K. Bjørlykke

Fluvial sandstones typically represent point bar tends to be oriented perpendicular to the coastline. In
sequences in a meandering river system. The lateral some cases dipmeter logs could help to determine the
accretion of the point bar will deposit a sandstone orientation of cross-beddding and progradation
layer extending to the width of the meander belt in direction of sand bars.
the val-ley. The thicknesses of channel sandstones are Turbidites may be laterally very extensive, but
limited by the depth of the river. The primary may also be confined to narrow submarine channels.
thickness at the time of deposition is, however, In either case they may form very thick sequences
reduced by 10–30% or more by compaction. because there is ample accommodation space. We
The overbank muds will become tight shales which may have very thick sequences of stacked sandstone
will reduce the vertical permeability. Fluvial channels reser-voir rocks in slope and deepwater facies and
are characterised by fining-upwards sequences with the this may compensate for the lower porosity and
highest permeability near the base. This makes it more permeability compared to beach deposits.
likely that water will break through along the basal part Turbidites and fluvial sandstones form fining-
and the oil will be by-passed in the finer-grained upper upwards units while marine shoreface and mouth bar
part during production. sandstones are coarsening-upwards. This becomes
Braided stream facies will tend to have higher very significant during production because oil and gas
sand/shale ratios and will normally have better lateral will be concentrated in the upper part. Coarsening-
and vertical permeabilitites on a larger scale. upwards sandstones therefore have the best properties
The ratio between the intervals with high enough for flow of oil and gas during production.
porosity and permeability to be produced (net or pay),
and the total sequence (gross), will be mostly
determined by the primary facies relationships. The
net/gross ratio is often taken to be approximately
equal to the sand/shale ratio but even at moderate
1.12 Changes in Rock Properties
burial depths many sandstones are not reservoir During Burial and Uplift (Diagenesis)
rocks, due to poor sorting or carbonate cement.
Aeolian dunes also have specific external geome- The changes in properties are due to increased burial
tries and there are many different types. Here the and also to uplift. Both sandstone and carbonate
net/gross will be very high. Aeolian sand is often reser-voirs undergo diagenesis, which will cause a
reworked by transgressions, accumulating as marine reduction in porosity and permeability as a function
sediments in drowned topographic depressions (val- of increasing burial.
leys). The reduction in porosity (compaction) may be
Marine sandstones deposited as delta mouth bars, mechanical in response to increased effective stress from
shoreface accretion and barrier islands have thick- the overburden, or chemical as a result of the dissolution
nesses controlled by the wave energy (wave base and precipitation of minerals. The poros-ity of reservoir
depth). In protected environments, particularly inter- sandstones or carbonates may increase with depth in
distributary bays, the shoreface sandstones may be certain intervals, but this is because of the changes in the
very thin. Each shallow marine unit has a limited primary sediment composition. Each lithology has a
thickness controlled by fair-weather wave base. Local different porosity depth curve. In a uni-form primary
subsidence or transgressions can increase the lithology the porosity and the density will be reduced as
thickness of these sand deposits. a function of burial depth (tempera-ture and stress).
The tidal range is very important in determining the Overpressure causes reduced effective stress resulting in
thickness and the length of tidal channel sandstones. mechanical compaction. Near the surface, meteoric flow
Tidal channels and also fluvial channels in deltas tend to may cause dissolution and a net increase in the porosity
be oriented perpendicular to coastlines. in carbonates (karst) and even, to a certain extent, in
Drilling into shallow marine sandstones, it would be sandstones.
very important to determine whether it was a barrier In continuously subsiding basins, open faults and
island which would represent an elongated reservoir fractures will be rare because of the progressive com-
parallel to the coastline, or a tidal sandstone which paction processes.
1 Introduction to Petroleum Geology 21

During uplift and erosion (exhumation, unloading) Reefs can form long continuous barriers as in
the rocks will be subjected to extension, and exten- Australia (Great Barrier Reef). In the US much oil
sional fractures will be produced. The porosity will was found by following Jurassic and Cretaceous reef
not increase significantly but the extensional fractures trends around the Gulf of Mexico.
will increase the permeability and thus improve the High energy beach deposits on carbonate banks
reser-voir properties. Unfortunately the cap rock may may consist of well-sorted carbonate sand (grain-
also fracture during unloading, causing leakage from stones). Ooid sands (ooliths) are formed as beach and
the reservoir. shoreface deposits and may have limited verti-cal
To understand the properties of reservoir rock we thickness, reflecting the wave base. They may
need to integrate what we know about the sedimen- however stack up and form thicker sequences of such
tology (depositional environments) of reservoir rocks, rocks. Ooids may also be transported from the shelf
sediment composition (provenance), diagenesis and into deeper water as turbidites and other slope
the structural geology. deposits, but the sorting and reservoir quality is then
Prior to drilling exploration wells, nearly all our reduced.
knowledge about a reservoir is based on geophys-ical Ooids are rather stable mechanically during burial,
data. Even after data has been acquired from but at 2–3 km porosity may be strongly reduced by
exploration wells, and also from production wells, cementation in the intergranular pore space. The
prediction of the reservoir properties continues to be calcite cement may be derived by dissolution along
mostly based on geophysical methods and extrapola- stylolites. Stylolites have a thin layer of clay and
tion between wells. other minerals that are not soluble and may present a
Geophysical methods including 3D and 4D seis- barrier during oil migration and production.
mic now provide a much more detailed picture of the Carbonate muds are very fine grained and do not
reservoir than only 10–20 years ago. The methods for have high enough primary porosity and permeability
detecting fluid contacts, not only gas/water contacts to form reservoir rocks, but may gain porosity and
but also oil/water contacts, from seismic data have perme-ability by fracturing and become fractured
improved greatly. reservoirs. They can also have mouldic porosity from
dissolved aragonite fossils.

1.13 Carbonate Reservoirs

1.14 Drilling for Oil and Gas
Reefs stand up as positive structures and may be
draped by mud and form a stratigraphic trap deter- Drilling for oil is a costly process, especially off-
mined by the size of the reef structure. shore. The object of a well is to prove the presence of,
Carbonate reefs, and other carbonate deposits or produce, oil or gas. Sometimes wells are also
which can be reservoirs, form in a wide range of drilled to inject water, chemicals or steam into the
environ-ments but all require clear water without reservoir during production. Even a well which fails
much clay sedimentation. Reefs are deposited in high to find hydrocarbons (a dry well) is still of great
energy environments along coastlines exposed to high value, because of the information it provides about
wave energy. The Bahamas carbonate platform has the rocks in the area. This information forms part of
well-developed reefs on the exposed eastern side but the basis for the geological maps and profiles which
not on the more protected western side. Coral reefs are used in fur-ther exploration for oil and can be sold
◦
also require warm water (>20 C) and do not form or exchanged for data from other companies. This is
where cold water is upwelling, e.g. along the coast of the reason why oil companies wish to keep the
West Africa. geological results of oil drilling confidential for some
Reefs build up on the seafloor and may be buried years after a well has been completed.
beneath mud during transgressions. The reef then The first well in a new area is called a wildcat well,
becomes a perfect stratigraphic trap, often with good while appraisal wells are drilled to estimate the exten-
permeability both vertically and horizontally. sion of an oil field. They may also become production
22 K. Bjørlykke

wells. Stratigraphic wells are drilled mainly to obtain of the rocks which are being drilled, and their mineral-
stratigraphical information from the basin. ogy. Samples of cuttings are usually taken every 10–30
Oil drilling used to be carried out largely on land, ft drilled. More detailed analyses are carried out in the
but now offshore drilling takes place not only on our laboratory. The cuttings are often poorly washed and
continental shelves, but also in deep water (1–3 km). need extra cleaning to get rid of the drilling mud; in
This type of drilling is many times more costly than weakly indurated mudstones it may be difficult to sep-
drilling in shallow water or on land. This has led to arate the drilling mud from the soft cuttings. Organic
increased efforts to gain maximum information from additions to drilling mud may cause problems when
wells. The cost of analysing samples and logs is small analysing cuttings, and sometimes oil-based rather than
in relation to the cost of drilling the well. We shall water-based drilling mud is used, which confuses
not go very deeply into the technical aspects of analyses for oil. The fossil content of the rock frag-
drilling for oil here, but merely look briefly at some ments, largely microfossils, is used to determine the age
of the most important principles. of the strata (see Biostratigraphy).
When drilling commences at the surface, the diam- Not all the cuttings which come up with the drilling
eter of the well may be 20"–30" (50–75 cm), but mud have necessarily come from precisely the strata
decreases downwards to 3"–6" (7–15 cm) at great being drilled through at that time. There may also be
depths. Normally a roller bit is used, which crushes contamination due to the caving in of overlying strata
the rock into small pieces (about 2–5 mm) called into the rising drilling mud. This means we can find
cuttings. Core samples are only taken when drilling material from younger rocks with a different composi-
through especially important rock strata (usually tion mixed in with the formation being drilled, together
reser-voir rocks) where large intact samples are with younger fossils. This demands considerable care
needed for detailed examination. A circular diamond when making stratigraphic interpretations based on
core drill bit must then be used. This takes time and microfossils identified in cuttings. The safest way is to
costs a lot more per running metre, as the entire drill register the first occurrences of a species when pro-
string has to be recovered to get each core section to ceeding downwards from the top in the well. The last
the surface. Only the most critical sections are occurrence of a fossil may be the result of cave-ins from
therefore cored. younger strata.
Drilling mud is pumped down through the drill Since the pressure of the drilling mud is being
string into the well during drilling. This mud has sev- monitored and adjusted to prevent oil and gas from
eral functions. When one drills several hundred or a penetrating into the well, significant oil and gas
1,000 m down into rock, one encounters water, gas or occur-rences may be drilled through without being
oil which may be under high pressure. The drilling registered. This should be detected on the logs but it
mud acts as a counterweight to prevent the uncon- may be advis-able to carry out special tests in the
trolled gush of water or petroleum into the well and most promising strata to find out if there is petroleum
up to the surface in a blow-out. The pressure exerted present, and in what quantities.
by the drilling mud must exceed the pressure of oil As drilling proceeds, the well is lined with steel
and water in the surrounding formation. Heavy min- cas-ing to prevent rock and loose sediment falling
erals such as barytes are frequently added to increase into it, but prior to casing, each section of the well has
density; the main components of drilling mud are to be logged with different logging tools which
montmorillonite (smectite) containing clays, with a require physical contact with the wall of the well.
large number of different additives. The drilling mud Radioactive logs, however, can also be run after the
also serves to cool the drill bit, and cuttings are casing has been installed. It is useful to note when the
brought back to the surface suspended in the different cas-ings are installed, because that limits the
circulating mud. The cuttings are then washed out strata which could have “caved in” and contaminated
from the drilling mud onto a sieve (shale shaker) and the cuttings. If the well is going to produce oil, a
the mud can be used again. production pipe is used and installed running through
The cuttings are continuously analysed on the drilling the petroleum-bearing strata. It is then perforated by
platform by a geologist who logs the composi-tion of the shooting holes in the steel casing (in the oil column)
cuttings, making a preliminary description so that petroleum can flow into the well.
1 Introduction to Petroleum Geology 23

For an oil field to be capable of full production, that world production would peak in 2007 (see the
several wells are normally required. Peak Oil movement). There is, however, a great deal
Up to 1990–1995 most of the exploration wells of uncertainty in the estimation of reserves since this
and production wells were nearly vertical. Horizontal will depend on advancements in exploration
bar-riers due to changes in facies or faults could then technology as well as production efficiency.
be critical barriers during production. It was difficult The price of oil and taxation policies will also deter-
to produce oil from thin sandstones or carbonate beds mine which type of oil accumulations can be exploited
because of vertical flow of water from below or gas economically and thus reckoned as reserves.
from above. Onshore this could be compensated for At present the world reserves are estimated to be
by having a dense well spacing but offshore that 12 11 3
1.2 × 10 bbl 2 × 10 m and nearly 60% of this is
would be too expensive. Horizontal drilling has located in the Middle East. Europe has only got 1%
revolutionised oil production. and the whole of Asia about 3%.
It is now possible to follow thin oil columns lat- Canada had up to recently very small reserves but
erally and to make complex wells to drain different after the heavy oil and tar sand in Alberta was
compartments in the reservoir. Large oil fields with included it has now nearly 15% and is second only to
thin oil columns like the Troll field in the North Sea Saudi Arabia.
would have been difficult to produce without horizon- If oil shales were to be included, however, the
tal drilling. Horizontal and deviated wells may extend USA would be the country with the largest reserves.
8–9 km from the drilling platform, enabling The world consumes about 85 million bbl/day 85 ×
production from relatively small reservoir 6 6
10 bbl/day ; the US consumption (20.7× 10 bbl/day
compartments away from the platform. makes up nearly 25% of that.
Earlier, geophysics was used mainly to define The most important producers are Saudi Arabia
struc-tures but the quality of the seismic data was not 6 6
(10.2 × 10 bbl/day) and Russia (9.9 × 10 bbl/day).
good enough to provide much detail. 3D seismic 6
The US is also a major producer (7.5 × 10 bbl/day)
based on 50 m line spacing allows the construction of but this is still only about 37% of the country’s con-
a three-dimensional cube of geophysicial data, which sumption.
provides much more detailed information. China has become a major importer of oil with a
6
By repeating seismic surveys during production at consumption of 7.6 × 10 bbl/day, while their
2–5 year intervals, the effect of changes in the fluid 6
produc-tion is 3.9 × 10 bbl/day.
composition on the seismic data can be seen, thus It is clear that consumption of oil in Asia will rise
adding the time dimension to 3D seismics. 4D seis- and it will be very difficult to meet this demand.
mics has made it possible to follow the depletion of 3
Norway’s oil production was 122 million Sm in
an oil or gas field by monitoring the GWC and often 2008 and about the same amount of gas. This corre-
also the OWC during production. By this means, 6
sponds to 0.8 × 10 bbl or 2.1 million bbl of oil/day.
parts of a reservoir that have not been drained by the However since the domestic consumption is only
production wells can be detected. If the isolated about 10% of this (0.22 million bbl/day), Norway is a
reservoir compart-ments are large it may be economic major exporter.
to drill additional wells to drain them. It will probably be difficult to meet the demand for
conventional oil in the next decades. There are, how-
ever, very large reserves of fossil fuels in terms of
gas, heavy oil, tar sand and also coal. All these types
1.15 Oil Reserves – How Long Will
of fossil fuel can be used for heating and transport.
Conventional Oil Last? Particularly in North America there is much oil shale
and also gas shale. Gas in fine-grained siltstones and
In the last 40–50 years we have had a discussion about shales is expected to be a major source or energy in
how long the oil reserves will last and the famous the years to come.
geologist M. King Hubbert predicted in 1956 that oil In recent years coal methane and shale gas have
production would peak in the United States between become important sources of such energy. Gas in
1965 and 1970, and later Colin Campbell predicted solid form (gas hydrates) may also represent a future
24 K. Bjørlykke

source of hydrocarbons. There are, however, many The total amounts of calcite precipitated is equal to
environmental problems connected to the production ++
the amounts of Ca released by weathering of
and utilisation of these resources and this represents a silicate rocks (e.g. plagioclase) and transported into
great challenge, including for geoscientists. the ocean by rivers.
It will probably take a long time before fossil fuels
can be replaced by other sources of energy. As the
demand increases, oil exploration and production will
1.16 The Future of
become more and more sophisticated technologically
and also geologically. Petroleum Geoscience
A broader background in geological and engineer-
ing disciplines will also be required to reduce the Petroleum geoscience is geology and geophysics applied
environmental problems with the exploitation of to petroleum exploration and production. In this book
fossil fuels. we will try to show the wide range of disciplines that are
Storage of carbon dioxide requires expertise from relevant and useful for this purpose.
petroleum geologists. Many of the disciplines in the geosciences are highly
The exploitation and burning of fossil fuels releases specialised and there is often too little commu-nication
large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere which is an between the different fields. Most researchers naturally
addition to what is part of the natural carbon cycle (Fig. focus on a very small area because of the requirements
1.14). The CO2 in the atmosphere is dissolved in with respect to methods and analytical techniques, and
seawater to H2CO3 and then precipitated as carbonate. the demands of following the litera-ture. Petroleum
Another part is taken up by plants, including algae, and geoscience requires a broad overview of substantial
may be stored as reduced carbon. parts of geology and geophysics and

Geochemistry of carbonate minerals

CO2 Dissolution of
carbonate rocks

CO
Photosynthesis

CO Oxidation of
2 organic
matter

Transport of Delta
organic matter Addition of organic matter
by rivers + nutrients to the ocean
exchange
2 CO

Organic Photosynthesis
plant matter Breakdown
in delta of biogenic CO2
sediment carbonate
Oxidation of
organic matter
Deposition CO2
of carbonate
CO2 Ocean floor
Oxidation and
biological processing Deposition of
of organic material organic material
C
Kerogen in sediments

CO2

Carbon in
sedimentary rocks

++ ++
Fig. 1.14 Illustration of the carbon cycle. Carbon from organic is limited by the supply of Ca and Mg from weathering of
matter and carbonate rocks are the major sinks for carbon (CO2). silicate rocks brought in by rivers
The rate of precipitation of carbonate in the ocean by organisms
1 Introduction to Petroleum Geology 25
provides good training in the integration of very different types of data and models. These skills are also applicable in
many types of environmental research and when solving practical environment problems.
The petroleum industry employs a large percentage of the world’s geologists and geophysicists and funds
much of the research in this field.
Most of the obvious petroleum-bearing structures have already been found in the explored sedimentary basins
and there are now rather few areas that have yet to be explored seismically and by drilling. The large, easy-to-
find structures did not usually require very advanced methods and geological skills.
More and more sophisticated methods are therefore used in modern exploration. We are on a global basis not
finding enough new oil fields oil to replace the pro-duced oil. Global reserves have however not changed very much
because of higher estimates of recovery from existing fields and because unconventional oil like tar sand is now
included in the reserves.
There is a major challenge for geoscientists to develop ever better exploration methods and to opti-mise
production.
Even if the global production of conventional oil may be reduced there will be significant production for
many decades. This will mostly come from the tail production of giant fields and from small reservoirs, but it is
rather labour intensive. This is also the case with unconventional oil (tar sand and oil shale) and also tight gas
reserves and shale gas.
Until enough alternative sources of energy are developed it is necessary to extract fossils fuels from these
resources. This should be done with as little envi-ronmental damage as possible and this requires a new
generation of highly skilled geoscientists.