Properties of Oil and

Gas

Assistant lecturer:
Shaho Mohamedali

Chapter 1
 --First lecture--
Origin of petroleum
Over decades, scientists have proposed several theories regarding the origin of petroleum,
including organic, abiogenic, and cosmic. Based on field evidence, laboratory investigations,
mathematical modeling, and analyses, the organic origin of petroleum has been largely
accepted by the petroleum industry. In the following, the elements of petroleum reservoirs are
discussed in brief.

Deposition of sediments and organic matters: the process begins

The origin of petroleum is rooted in the transportation and deposition of sediments in marine,
shallow marine, deltaic, lagoon, swamps, mud, desert, and various other environments by the
natural forces of wind, water, ice, and gravity over long periods in ancient times. A typical
depositional process involving mountains, land, and sea shelf is depicted in Figure 1. The
depositional process continued through prehistoric ages. Deposited along with the sediments
was organic matter such as marine organisms and remnants of woody plant material, among
others. These organic resources ultimately led to the origination of oil and gas found in
present day reservoirs in a span of tens to hundreds of millions of years.

Figure 1. Typical depositional environment of sediments and organic matter in shallow and deep marine. The
accumulation of sand, shale, silt, clay, and carbonates depends on the location, available energy, and other natural
processes.

Types of sediments
Sediments are of clastic, biochemical, and chemical origin as in the following:
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• Clastic (detrital) rocks such as sandstone and siltstone are formed by the particles or grains
of pre-existing rocks, which in turn were created by the effects of weathering.
• Limestone and dolomite, referred to as carbonates, have a biochemical origin as these rocks
are based on the skeletal remains and shells of organisms that chiefly lived in shallow
marine environments. Certain limestones transform into dolomites following
postdepositional processes involving the evaporation of marine water, transformation of
calcium carbonate to magnesium carbonate, and recrystallization.
• Chemical sediments originate from minerals that precipitate from water. Examples of
chemical sediments are gypsum and calcite.

Geologic basins and occurrences of petroleum: an overview

Deposition, burial, and subsequent compaction of sediments that continued for very long
periods in a geologic time scale resulted in the creation of sedimentary basins. The geologic
time scale is presented in Table 1. Many petroleum basins extend over a large area and are
thousands of feet thick. Some basins have a depression or concavity toward the center and
rifts at the periphery, as depicted in Figure 1. Some other basins are gently sloping.
There are about 600 basins known to exist worldwide, of which 26 are significant producers
of oil and gas. It is estimated that about 65% of the world’s petroleum is concentrated in the
giant oil fields located in a relatively small number of sedimentary basins.

The geologic time scale

All numbers shown in Table 1 are approximate, and vary somewhat from source to source.
According to a 1991 study, over 50% of the world’s petroleum reservoirs date back to the
Jurassic and Cretaceous periods in the geologic time scale.
The formation of basins is associated with the geologic events related to plate tectonics,
which deals with the movement of the earth’s crustal plates. Interestingly, the depositional as
well as other geologic processes related to the origin of petroleum continue to this day in the
giant laboratory of the earth.

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 Table 1. Geologic time scale

Figure 1. Cross-sectional view of a typical petroleum basin showing multiple depositional

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Rock geochemistry: formation of kerogen
As the sediments are deposited, the following processes take place leading to the formation of
a dark and waxy substance called kerogen, which is the precursor to oil and gas:
• The sediments are buried to increasing depths with the continued discharge and overloading
of sedimentary particles in large quantities by the streams and rivers over long periods of
time.
• The unconsolidated sediments undergo a process called lithification, which involves
compaction and cementation of the sediments. Compaction occurs due to overloading
by massive amounts of sediment over time, which creates an enormous confining
pressure.
• Cementation occurs due to the work of certain minerals, such as silica and calcite, which
precipitate from water, form around the sediments, and finally create bonding between
the grains by cementation. The cementation process results in the formation of consolidated
rocks.
• Oil and gas are hydrocarbon compounds, generally believed to originate from the organic
matter that was buried along with the sediments. Due to the high pressure and temperature
in an oxygen deficient environment, the organic matter contained in rock transforms into
kerogen. It is insoluble in common solvents.
The types of kerogen, including various characteristics and associated depositional
environments, are listed in Table 2.

Table 2. Types and characteristics of kerogen

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Generation of hydrocarbons
Under subsurface conditions, the organic matter present in rock is subjected to intense heat.
As a result, kerogen is produced initially. Bitumen can also be produced to a lesser degree.
With increasing depth of burial, kerogen is exposed to further heat. As a result, it is thermally
cracked or degraded to produce oil and gas. The hydrocarbon compounds that are produced
have relatively less and less molecular weight and complexity as the heat intensifies and the
rock thermally “matures.” The thermal maturity of rock, indicated by vitrinite reflectance, is
an important parameter for source rock evaluation in unconventional reservoirs. The stages
associated with the thermal maturity of rock, namely, diagenesis, catagenesis, and
metagenesis, are described in Table 3.

Table 3. Stages of thermal maturity of rock

Figure 2. Oil and gas windows as a function of subsurface temperature in the y-axis

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Oil and gas generation depth
Since the depth of burial is correlated to subsurface temperature, oil and gas are produced at
particular depths where the temperature is conducive to petroleum generation. In petroleum
basins, heavy oil is typically found in shallower depths where the subsurface temperature is
relatively low. Light oil is found at further depths as the temperature increases. “Oil window”
refers to a depth interval, approximately ranging from few thousand feet to about 10,000 ft.,
where subsurface temperature supports oil generation by catagenesis (Figure 3). At further
depths, the temperature is higher, only gas is generated as a result. Hardly any hydrocarbon is
generated below 15,000 ft. due to the intensity of heat. It is noteworthy that the gas produced
in rocks can also be biogenic, which results from the work of bacteria present in the rock in
relatively low temperatures and at much shallower depths (Table 4)

Table 4. Generation of oil and gas

Figure 3. Vertical migration and accumulation of petroleum in conventional reservoirs.

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The petroleum system
Petroleum industry professionals view the entire process of hydrocarbon generation,
migration, and accumulation, including the geologic elements that play a part in the above, as
an integrated petroleum system. The system refers to the various elements and processes
dating back from the origin of petroleum basins in ancient times to the accumulation of oil
and gas in reservoirs that are explored and produced today. Note that a large petroleum basin
usually has multiple petroleum systems. In various parts of a basin, formation of source rock,
migration, and entrapment of petroleum into different reservoirs may occur millions of years
apart as the earth processes are continuous.
The elements of a petroleum system for conventional reservoirs are summarized as follows :
• Source rock – where oil and gas originates from the organic matters contained in the rock
under elevated temperature and pressure.
• Migration pathway – includes pore channels, microfractures, faults, and joints through
which oil escapes from the source rock to the reservoir rock; the principal driving forces are
pressure and buoyancy.
• Reservoir rock – where oil and gas are stored, and subsequently produced after discovery.
• Seal rock – an impervious geologic formation that deters the flow of oil and gas from the
reservoir.
• Trap formation – a geologic feature, either stratigraphic or structural or a combination,
which provides a trapping mechanism to store oil and gas. However, unconventional
reservoirs do not have a trap definition in the conventional sense.
• Overburden rock – imparts necessary pressure for compaction of organic-rich sediments
and geologic formations.
Petroleum system processes are as follows:
• Generation – petroleum is generated in source rocks under appropriate conditions, including
elevated pressure and temperature, over a long period in the geologic time scale.
• Migration – oil is eventually expulsed from source rock under pressure and migrates to the
reservoir by hydrodynamic and other forces. Oil and gas migration, however, are chiefly
associated with conventional reservoirs.
• Accumulation – petroleum fluids accumulate in present day reservoirs under a suitable
trapping mechanism where seal rock plays a critical role.

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Assignments
1. How did oil and gas originate? Discuss the natural processes leading to the formation of oil
reservoirs.
2. Why is the study of reservoir rocks, structures, and stratigraphy important?
3. Did various rocks deposit in the same environment? How are the rocks distinguished from
each other?
4. Why are unconventional shale reservoirs produced economically only in recent times?
5. How old are the petroleum reservoirs? Did the reservoirs potentially undergo any
subsequent changes in structure and characteristics?
6. Describe the significance of the oil window in the exploration of petroleum reservoirs.
7. What are the main differences between oil and gas with respect to their origin?
8. What is a petroleum system? What happens when any of the elements of a petroleum
system are not present in nature?
9. Is there any distinction between the origin of conventional and unconventional reservoirs?
10. Based on the literature, describe in detail the origin and formation of an offshore oil field.
Was the development and production of the reservoir influenced by its origin?