Chapter 1

Introduction to Petroleum Geology

Knut Bjørlykke

Petroleum geology comprises those geological dis- likely presence of source rocks with a high content of
ciplines which are of greatest significance for the organic matter, reservoir rocks and cap rocks. The
finding and recovery of oil and gas. Since most of the distribution and geometry of potential sandstones or
obvious and “easy to find” petroleum already has carbonate reservoirs requires detailed sedimentolog-
been discovered it is necessary to use sophis-ticated ical models, and sequence stratigraphy has been a
methods in the exploration of sedimentary basins. useful tool in such reconstructions.
These include advanced geophysical tech-niques and The biostratigraphic correlation of strata encountered
basin modelling. There is also much more emphasis in exploration wells is achieved by
now on enhanced recovery from the pro-ducing micropalaeontology (including palynology), a field
fields. Petroleum technology has made great progress developed very largely by the oil industry. Due to the
and many new tools and modelling pro-grams have small size of the samples obtained during drilling
been developed, both in exploration and production. operations one cannot rely on macrofossils; even in
core samples the chance of finding good macrofossils
It is however important to understand the geological is poor. By contrast a few grams of rock from the drill
processes which determine the distribution of cuttings may contain several hundred microfossils or
different sedimentary rocks and their physical palynomorphs. These also usually provide better
properties. This knowledge is fundamental to being stratigraphic resolution than macrofossils.
able to successfully apply the methods now available. Reservoir rocks are mostly sandstones and carbon-
It is difficult to know where to start when teach-ing ates which are sufficiently porous to hold significant
petroleum geology because nearly all the different amounts of petroleum. The composition and proper-
disciplines build on each other. ties of other rock types such as shales and salt are also
This introductory chapter will provide a short and important.
rather simple overview of some aspects of petroleum The sedimentary environments (sedimentary facies)
geology to introduce the subject and the problems. determine the distribution of reservoir rocks and their
Most of the other chapters will then expand on what primary composition. Sediments do, however, alter
is presented here to provide a better background in their properties with increasing overburden due to
relevant subjects. diagenesis during burial.
Since practically all petroleum occurs in sedimen-tary Diagenetic processes determine the porosity, per-
rocks, sedimentary geology forms one of the main meability and other physical properties such as velo-
foundations of petroleum geology. Sedimentological city, in both sandstone and limestone reservoirs.
models are used to predict the location of different facies Chemical processes controlling mineral reactions are
in the sedimentary basins, and from that the important.

K. Bjørlykke ( )

Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo,

Norway e-mail: [email protected]

K. Bjørlykke (ed.), Petroleum Geoscience: From Sedimentary Environments to Rock Physics, 1

DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-02332-3_1, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010
2 K. Bjørlykke

Organic geochemistry, which includes the study of Geophysical well-logging methods have developed
organic matter in sediments and its transformation equally rapidly, from simple electric and radioactive
into hydrocarbons, has become another vital part of logs to highly advanced logging tools which provide
petroleum geology. detailed information about the sequence penetrated by
Tectonics and structural geology provide an under- the well. Logs provide a continuity of informa-tion
standing of the subsidence, folding and uplift about the rock properties which one can seldom
responsi-ble for the creation and dynamic history of a obtain from exposures or core samples. This infor-
basin. The timing of the folding and faulting that mation makes it possible to interpret not only the
forms structural traps is very important in relation to lithological composition of the rocks and the variation
the migration of hydrocarbons. of porosity and permeability, but also the depositional
Seismic methods have become the main tool for environment. Image logs make it possible also to
mapping sedimentary facies, stratigraphy, sequence detect bedding and fractures inside the wells.
stratigraphy and tectonic development. Marine seis- Practical petroleum geology is not only based on many
mics recorded from ships have become very efficient different geological and geophysical disciplines. A good
and seismic lines are shot at only a few 100 m background in basic chemistry, physics, math-ematics
spacing or less. Because of the rapid improvement in and computing is also required, particularly for different
the qual-ity of seismic data processing techniques, types of basin modelling.
geological interpretation of seismic data has become
an entirely new and expanding field. Seismic and
other geophys-ical data are often the only information
we have, particularly for offshore exploration where 1.1 A Brief Petroleum History
drilling is very costly. Shooting seismic lines with a
close spac-ing allows high resolution 3D seismic There are many places where oil seeps out of the
imagery to be produced for critical parts of ground. Bitumen produced from such naturally occur-
sedimentary basins. By repeating a 3D reservoir ring crude oil has been collected and used since ancient
seismic survey during pro-duction, one can observe times, both for lighting and medicine, and by the Greeks
how the gas/oil and oil/water contacts move as the even for warfare. In some places, for exam-ple Germany
reservoir is depleted. This is called 4D seismic in the 1800s, small mines were dug to get at the oil.
because time provides the fourth dimension. Before 1859 oil was also recovered from coal for use in
Geophysical measurements may include gravimetry and kerosene lamps. It was not until Edwin Drake’s exploits
magnetometry; electromagnetic methods that were used in 1859 at Oil Creek near Titusville in West
mostly in ore exploration have also been applied to oil Pennsylvania that oil was recovered in any quan-tity
exploration. Electromagnetic methods have been used to from boreholes. He drilled a well about 25 m (70 ft)
detect sediments with low resistivity due to the presence deep which produced 8–10 bbl/day, a huge production
of oil instead of saline water. This method requires a few rate compared with anything earlier. A few years later
100 m of water and relatively shallow accumulation. there were 74 wells round Oil Creek, and the USA’s
Seismic surveys are more expensive on land than by annual production had risen to half a million barrels.
ship at sea because geophones have to be placed in a Outside the USA the calculated total production at that
grid, often on uneven and difficult land surfaces. time was maximum 5,000 bbl. In 1870 produc-tion had
Drilling on land, however, costs much less than from increased tenfold, with 5 million bbl from the USA, and
offshore rigs and a much denser well spacing can be 538,000 bbl from other countries. In south-ern
used during both exploration and production. California oil production started early in 1864 (in Santa
Indirect methods of mapping rock types employing Paula), but for many years oil was mined by driv-ing
geophysical aids are becoming increasingly impor- shafts into the oil-bearing strata because it was so heavy
tant in petroleum geology, but it is still necessary to and biodegraded that it would not flow in a well.
take samples and examine the rocks themselves. A In its infancy, oil exploration consisted largely of
petroleum geologist should have a broad geological looking for oil seepage at the surface and drilling in
training, preferably also from field work. the vicinity, which did not require much geological
knowledge. It was then realised that oil and gas occur
1 Introduction to Petroleum Geology 3

where layers of sedimentary rocks form domes or anti- seismic it was not possible to effectively explore deep
clinal structures since petroleum is less dense than water below the seafloor in sedimentary basins offshore. As
and a low permeability (seal) layer is needed to prevent long as there was an abundance of oil to be found in
the oil and gas from rising and escaping. This led to onshore basins there was little incentive to develop
extensive geological mapping of anticlines and domes costly drilling rigs for offshore exploration and plat-
visible at the surface, particularly in the USA. It was forms for production.
also found that oil fields had a tendency to lie along Since the 1970s an increasingly large share of inter-
structural trends defined by anticlines or faults and this national prospecting has taken place offshore, helped by
“rule” was used in prospecting. This is also often the improved seismic methods. Advanced well log
case with salt domes, which became important technology in particular made it possible to gain opti-
prospecting targets. mal information from each well. Before the develop-
Oil production developed rapidly up to the end of the ment of powerful computers, seismic recordings were
nineteenth century, and more systematic geological based on analogue methods which produced results very
principles for prospecting were gradually developed. far removed from the standard of modern seis-mic data.
The geological information which one obtains at the Recording of seismic data from ships is much less
surface is often not representative of the structures expensive than onshore where geophones have to be laid
deeper down. Structures which are not visible at the out manually. Onshore, extensive drilling may be
surface could be mapped by correlation between wells cheaper than expensive seismic mapping.
using logs and cuttings from the drilling. One method Rising oil prices and new technology have made
was to measure the depth of particularly characteristic exploration financially attractive in areas which pre-
strata through analysis of cuttings in different wells. viously were of little interest, including in very deep
Improved electrical measurements (logs) from wells, waters. High oil prices can also pay for more
developed during the 1920s and 1930s, made the whole enhanced hydrocarbon recovery from reservoirs.
effort much simpler because they provided continuous There are now relatively few sedimentary basins in
vertical sections through the rocks. The first logs were the world that have not been explored and it is getting
simple recordings of how well rocks conduct electri-cal increasingly difficult to find new giant fields (>500
currents (resistivity), and later also gamma logs recorded million bbl).
the gamma-radiation emitted by the different There is now increasing interest in heavy oil, tar sand
sedimentary rocks. and oil shale.
The USA maintained its position as the major world Oil shale is a source rock exposed near the sur-face. If
producer of oil and gas well into the twentieth the source rock (shale) is mature it will have a
century. Americans thus became leaders in the characteristic smell of hydrocarbons, but it may not be
development of oil technology, which today is mature so that hydrocarbons have not been gen-erated. If
strongly reflected in the industry’s terminology. USA the oil shale is mature much of the oil has escaped by
also rapidly became the world’s greatest consumer of primary migration. Since the hydrocarbons are
oil and gas, and now has to import at least 60% of its thoroughly disseminated in the fine-grained sedi-ment,
oil consumption despite still having a large home oil cannot be produced in the same way as from
production (8 million bbl/day). sandstone or carbonate reservoirs. The hydrocarbons can
The US consumption (21 million bbl/day) is a very only be obtained by breaking and crushing the shale and
large fraction of the total world consumption (90 heating to distill off the interspersed hydro-carbons.
million bbl/day) Shales can however contain gas which can be produced
It was first in the 1930–1940 period that the indus-try when there is a network of small frac-tures. Gas shale is
became aware of the vast oil resources of the Middle expected to be an important source of petroleum in the
East, which now account for about 60% of world years to come, particularly in the US. Very large
reserves. Since then this region has dominated oil amounts of fossil fuels are stored in organic-rich
production. mudstones or shales that have not been buried deeply
In the 1950s and 1960s prospecting for oil and gas enough for the organic matter to be con-verted to
was extended onto the continental shelves, opening petroleum. In this case very little hydrocarbon has
up new reserves. Until the development of modern excaped but these deposits must be mined and
4 K. Bjørlykke

◦ matter, it is important to understand how and where

heated to 400–500 C in ovens to generate petroleum
(pyrolysis). sediments with a high content of organic matter are
The Tertiary Green River Shale in Colorado, Utah deposited.
and Wyoming represents one of the largest petroleum The total production of organic material in the
reservoirs in the world. This is a lake deposit, and the 10
world’s oceans is now 5×10 tonnes/year. Nutrients
organic matter consisted mainly of algae. for this organic production are supplied by erosion of
Although very large quantities of petroleum can be rocks on land and transported into the ocean. The
produced from oil shale, production costs are at sup-ply of nutrients is therefore greatest in coastal
present too high compared to conventional oil. There areas, particularly where sediment-laden rivers
are also serious environmental problems involved in discharge into the sea. Plant debris is also supplied
produc-tion from oil shale, and the process requires directly from the land in coastal areas.
very large quantities of water, a resource which is not Biological production is greatest in the uppermost
always plentiful. 20–30 m of the ocean and most of the phytoplankton
The oil reserves in such deposits exceed conven- growth takes place in this zone. In clear water, sun-
tional oil reserves, but the expense and environmental light penetrates much deeper than in turbid water, but
issues involved with production from these types of in clear water there is usually little nutrient supply. At
reservoirs clearly limit their exploitation. This is par- about 100–150 m depth, sunlight is too weak for
ticularly true of production from oil shale. photosynthesis even in very clear water.
Phytoplankton provides nutrition for all other marine
life in the oceans. Zooplankton feed on phy-
toplankton and therefore proliferate only where there
1.2 Accumulations of Organic Matter is vigorous phytoplankton production. Organisms
sink after they have died, and may decay so that
It is well documented that oil accumulations are of nutrients are released and recycled at greater depths.
organic origin and formed from organic matter in sed- Basins with restricted water circulation will pre-serve
iments. Methane can be formed inorganically and is more organic matter and produce good source rocks
found in the atmosphere of several other planets, but which may mature to generate oil and gas (Fig. 1.2a,
inorganic methane from the interior of the earth is b).
likely to be well dispersed and thus not form major In polar regions, cold dense water sinks to great depths
gas accumulations in the earth’s crust. and flows along the bottom of the deep oceans towards
The organic matter from which petroleum is derived lower latitudes. This is the thermal conveyor belt
originated through photosynthesis, i.e. storage of transporting heat to higher latitudes and it keeps the
solar energy (Fig. 1.1). deep ocean water oxidizing. In areas near the equa-tor
Sunlight is continuously transformed into such energy where the prevailing winds are from the east the surface
on Earth but only a very small proportion of the solar water is driven away from the western coast of the
energy is preserved as organic matter and petroleum. continents. This generates a strong upwelling of
The oil and gas which forms in sedimen-tary basins nutrient-rich water from the bottom of the sea which
each year is thus minute in comparison with the rate sustains especially high levels of primary organic pro-
of exploitation (production) and consumption. In duction (Fig. 1.3). The best examples of this are the
practice petroleum must therefore be regarded as a coast of Chile and off West Africa.
non-renewable resource even though some petroleum Through photosynthesis, low energy carbon dioxide
is being formed all the time. and water are transformed into high energy carbo-
Most of the organic materials which occur in source hydrates (e.g. glucose):
rocks for petroleum are algae, formed by photosynthe-
sis. The zooplankton and higher organisms that are also
represented grazed the algae and were thus indirectly CO2 + H2O → CH2O (organic matter) + O2
dependent on photosynthesis too. The energy which we
release when burning petroleum is therefore stored solar The production of organic matter is not limited by
energy. Since petroleum is derived from organic carbon dioxide or water, but by nutrient availability.
1 Introduction to Petroleum Geology 5

Solar energy
173 000

Reflected Transformed
shortwave radiation to heat directly Longwave radiation

52 000 81 000

40 000
Wind, waves
370

Evaporation
40 000
Photosynthesis Tidal energy
Oxidation,
40 3

0.01–0.001%
of organic
production Crystal Hot springs
preserved heat
in sedimentary rocks flux
as kerogen, coal, 32 0.3
oil and gas.
12
Numbers in (10 w)
Fig. 1.1 Transformation of solar energy to fossil fuels by photo- oxidised. As a result very little organic matter is buried and
synthesis. Only a small fraction of the solar energy is used for stored in sedimentary rocks and very little of this is
photosynthesis and most of the produced organic matter is concentrated enough to become a potential source rock

Phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) are the most impor- burn hydrocarbons, e.g. while driving a car, energy is
tant nutrients, though the supply of iron can also be obtained by oxidation, again essentially reversing the
limiting for alga production. It is this process of photosynthesis equation quoted above. Oxidation of 100
photo-synthesis, which started 4 billion years ago, g glucose releases 375 kcal of energy. Carbohydrates
that has built up an atmosphere rich in oxygen while that are produced but not consumed by respiration can
accu-mulating reduced carbon in sedimentary rocks be stored as glucose, cellulose or starch in the cell walls.
as oil, gas and coal. Most of the carbon is Photosynthesis is also the biochemical source for the
nevertheless finely divided within sedimentary rocks, synthesis of lipids and proteins. Proteins are large,
for example shales and limestones, in concentrations complex molecules built up of condensed amino acids
too low to generate significant oil and gas. (e.g. glycine (H2NCH2−COOH)).
Energy stored by photosynthesis can be used directly Dried phytoplankton contains 45–55% carbon, 4.5–
by organisms for respiration. This is the oppo-site 9% nitrogen, 0.6–3.3% phosphorus and up to 25% of
process, breaking carbohydrates down into carbon both silica and carbonate.
dioxide and water again, so that the organisms gain Planktonic algae are the main contributors to the
energy. organic matter which gives rise to petroleum. Among
This occurs in organisms at night when there is no the most important are diatoms, which have
light to drive photosynthesis. Also when we amorphous silica (opal A) shells.
6 K. Bjørlykke

Deposition of source rocks

A

Photosynthesis
Sea level (algae)
CO2 + H2O CH2O + O2
Limestone OX P, N nutrients
Well sorted
Red sand, potential
Poorly
Organic
reservoir
mat. sorted sand rock
Grey mud
Black mud

B Sea level

Sea floor

Sediment

3–4 km Cap rock

Reservoir
rock
Cap rock
Oil
migration
120–150°C Fault

Fig. 1.2 (a) Depositional environments for potential source and source rocks into reservoir rocks after burial and maturation.
reservoir rocks. Depressions on the sea floor with little water The carbonate trap (e.g. a reef) is a stratigraphic trap, while the
circulation provide the best setting for organic matter to be accu- sandstone forms a structural trap bounded by a fault
mulated before it is oxidised. (b) Migration of petroleum from

Diatoms are most abundant in the higher latitudes and may be converted into lignite and bituminous coal. But
are also found in brackish and fresh water. Blue– such deposits are also a potential source of gas and oil.
green algae (cyanobacteria) which live on the bottom Plant matter, including wood, also floats down rivers
in shallow areas, also contribute to the organic and is deposited when it sinks to the bottom, usually in a
material in sediments. nearshore deltaic environment. When the trees rot they
In coastal swamps, and particularly on deltas, we have release CO2 and consume as much oxygen as the plant
extensive production of organic matter in the form of produced during the whole period when it was growing.
plants and trees which may avoid being oxidised by There is thus no net contribution of oxygen to the
sinking into mud or bog. The residues of these higher atmosphere. This also applies to the bulk of the tropical
land plants may form peat, which with deeper burial rainforests. Where trees and plants sink into
1 Introduction to Petroleum Geology 7

Land

Wind
Sea level
Photosynthesis
Organic 4 3
100 m Production
Organisms sink down into
4 00m
2
1 water and break down.
Phosphorus and other
5 nutrients are released.
Upwelling
Deposition of phosphate –rich sediment Crystallisation
of phosphate minerals (Apatite).

Fig. 1.3 Upwelling of water rich in nutrients on a continental margin with deposition of organic-rich mud

Trophic level 1 Trophic level 2 Trophic level 3 Trophic level 4

1,000 kg 100 kg 10 kg 1 kg
Phytoplankton Zooplankton Crustaceans Fish

black mud, preventing them from being oxidised, there This is the second lowest level within the marine food
is a net contribution of oxygen to the atmosphere and a chain. These zooplanktonic organisms are eaten by
corresponding reduction of CO2 in the atmosphere. crustaceans which themselves are eaten by fish.
All animal plankton (zooplankton) live on plant The total amount of organic matter that can be pro-
plankton, and in turn are eaten by higher organisms in duced in the ocean is dependent on the nutrient
the food chain. At each step in the food chain, which supply from rivers, but river water does not only
we call a trophic level, the amount of organic matter carry inor-ganic nutrients. It also contains significant
(the biomass) is reduced to 10%. amounts of organic matter, in particular humic acid
Ninety percent of the production of organic matter is compounds, lignin and similar substances formed by
therefore from algae. This is why algae and to some the break-down of plant material which are weakly
extent zooplankton account for the bulk of the organic soluble in cold water. When the river water enters the
material which can be transformed into oil. Larger sea, there is precipitation due to the increased pH and
ani-mals such as dinosaurs are totally irrelevant as lower surface temperature in the ocean.
sources of oil. Other plant materials, like waxes and resins, are more
The most important of the zooplankton which pro- chemically resistant to breakdown and are insol-uble
vide organic matter for petroleum are: in water. Such organic particles tend to attach
themselves to mineral grains and accompany
1. Radiolaria – silica shells, wide distribution, partic- sediment out into the ocean.
ularly in tropical waters. Most of the oil reservoirs which have been formed
2. Foraminifera – shells of calcium carbonate. since the Palaeozoic have been uplifted and eroded,
3. Pteropods – pelagic gastropods (snails) with a foot and over time vast quantities of oil have flowed
which has been converted into wing-shaped lobes; (seeped) out onto the land or into the sea. In this
carbonate shells. sense, oil pollution is a natural process. Only a small
8 K. Bjørlykke

proportion of the petroleum that has been formed in sulphate-reducing bacteria react with organic matter
source rocks has actually become trapped in a reser- as indicated below:
voir. One might expect this seepage to have provided
a source of recycled petroleum in younger sediments, + – –
2CH2O + 2H + SO 4 → H2S + 2CO2 + 2H2O
but petroleum breaks down extremely rapidly when
+
NH3 + H + SO2 → NO3 + H2S + H2O
subjected to weathering, oxidising to CO2, and the
nutrients (P, N) that were required to form the organic H2S is liberated, giving stagnant water and mud a
matter are released and may act like a fertilizer. strong smell. Through denitrification we get
On land, evaporation will remove the lighter com-
ponents while bacteria will degrade the heavier + –
5CH2O + 4H + 4NO 3 → 2N2 + 5CO2 + 7H2O
compo-nents. Fossil asphalt lakes consist of heavy
substances which neither evaporate nor can be easily When the rate of accumulation of organic matter
broken down by bacteria. In the ocean, the lighter exceeds the rate of oxygen supply the redox boundary
components will dissolve quite rapidly, while the will be in the water column, separating the oxidising
heavier asphalt frac-tion will sink to the bottom and surface water from the reducing bottom water.
be degraded and recycled. This is typical of basins separated from the deep
In uplifted sedimentary basins like the Ventura Basin ocean by a shallow sill, like the Black Sea and some
and the Los Angeles Basin in Southern California of the deep Norwegian fjords. Fresh or brackish sur-
there are abundant natural oils seeps both onshore and face water floating on more saline water also helps to
offshore. maintain a stable water stratification with little verti-
On the beaches from Santa Barbara towards Los cal mixing. Lakes may have good water stratification
Angeles there are many natural oil seeps. because warm surface water is less dense than the
colder bottom water. Black mud deposited at the bot-
tom of lakes may produce good source rocks. In cold
climates, however, the water in the lakes overturns in
1.3 Breakdown of Organic Matter the winter because the maximum water density is at
◦
4 C, preventing the stable stratification required to
Almost all (>99%) of the organic matter which is form source rocks.
produced on land and in the oceans is broken down
through direct oxidation or by means of microbiologi-
cal processes. If oxygen is present, organic matter 1.4 Formation of Source Rocks
will be broken down in the following manner:
All marine organic material is formed near the surface of
CH2O + O2 → CO2 + H2O the ocean, in the photic zone, through photosynthe-sis.
For the most part this is algae. Some phytoplankton are
Where oxygen is available, organic matter is oxi-dised broken down chemically and oxidised and some are
relatively rapidly both on land and in the sea. As eaten by zooplankton. Both types of plankton are eaten
organisms die, organic material suspended in seawa-ter by higher organisms which concentrate the indi-gestible
sinks through the water column consuming oxygen. If part of the organic matter into fecal pellets which may
water circulation is restricted due to density strati- be incorporated into sediments. Plankton is made up of
fication of the water column, the oxygen supply will be very small organisms which sink so slowly that they are
exhausted. Instead, the bound oxygen in sulphates or in most cases almost entirely degraded (oxidised) before
nitrates is used by sulphate-reducing and denitrify-ing they reach the bottom. Pellets, on the other hand, are the
bacteria which decompose organic material in an anoxic size of sand grains and sink more rapidly, and this
environment. The first few centimetres below the seabed organic matter is more likely to be preserved in the
are usually oxidised, while reducing con-ditions prevail sediments.
5–30 cm below the sea floor. Below this redox boundary On the bottom, organic matter will be subjected to
where there is no free oxygen, breakdown by micro-organisms (bacteria). It will
1 Introduction to Petroleum Geology 9

also be eaten by burrowing organisms which live in the Atlantic experienced stagnant bottom conditions
the top portion of the sediments. The activity of these during such periods.
organisms contributes to reducing the organic content Limited water circulation in semi-enclosed marine
of the sediments because most of the organic matter is basins due to restricted outflow over a shallow thresh-
digested when the sediment is eaten. Bioturbation old is a common cause of stagnant water bodies (Fig.
also stirs up the sediments, exposing them more to the 1.2a). The Black Sea is a good example. In response
oxygen-bearing bottom water. However, if the bottom to an abundant freshwater supply from rivers and a
water is stagnant, the lack of oxygen and the toxicity relatively low evaporation rate, a low salinity sur-face
of H2S will exclude most life forms. The resultant layer leads to density stratification in the water
lack of bioturbation will thus preserve more organic column and a consequent reduction in circulation. In
mat-ter in the sediment together with perfect, basins with little precipitation and where there is net
undisturbed, lamination. Stagnant, or anoxic, evaporation, the surface water will have higher salin-
conditions are defined by an oxygen content of <0.5 ity and density than the water below it, and will sink
ml/l water. Sulphate-reducing bacteria, however, can down. This circulation brings with it oxygen from the
use a good deal of organic matter and precipitate surface and can give oxidising bottom conditions with
sulphides (e.g. FeS2). If the sediments contain little chance for organic matter to survive to form
insufficient soluble iron or other metals which could source rocks.
precipitate sulphides, more sulphur will be Lakes or semi-enclosed marine basins often have a
incorporated in the organic matter and will eventually temperature- or salinity-induced density stratification
be enriched in the oil derived from such source beds. so that oxygenated surface water does not mix with
Except where the water is completely stagnant, slow water in the deeper part of the basin. This leads to
sedimentation rates will result in each sediment layer anoxic conditions and a high degree of preservation
spending longer in the bioturbation and microbiolog- of the organic matter produced in the surface waters.
ical breakdown zones, and consequently less organic This aspect is therefore of considerable interest in
matter will be preserved in the sediment. Rapid sed- explo-ration for petroleum in freshwater basins,
imentation leads to more of the deposited organic particularly in Africa and China. The open oceans
matter being preserved but from the outset it will be have normally had oxygenated water, but during the
highly diluted with mineral grains. Consequently an Cretaceous most of the Atlantic Ocean is believed to
intermediate sedimentation rate in relation to organic have been stag-nant during so-called “anoxic events”,
production (10–100 mm/1,000 years) results in the and substantial amounts of black shale were deposited
best source rocks. in the deeper parts of the ocean during these periods.
As we have seen, the net accumulation of organic matter
in sediments is not so much a function of the total
productivity, but rather of the relationship between
productivity and biogenic breakdown and oxi-dation. In
areas with powerful traction currents, most organic
1.5 Early Diagenesis of Organic Matter
matter will be oxidised. An important source of oxygen-
rich water in the deep ocean is the cold sur-face water Microbiological breakdown of organic matter in sedi-
which sinks to the bottom of the ocean in polar regions ments is due to the activity of bacteria, fungi, protozoa,
and flows along the ocean floor towards equatorial etc. and under oxidising conditions these are extremely
regions. This flow balances the surface flow to higher effective. However, the porewater quickly becomes
latitudes like the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic. reducing if the oxygen is not replenished. In relatively
These bottom flows are of considerable magni-tude coarse-grained sediments (sand), oxygen may diffuse to
during glacial periods, when large amounts of cold depths of 5–20 cm below the seabed, while in clay and
water are sinking near ice sheet peripheries. In warm fine-grained carbonate mud the boundary between
periods, for example during the Cretaceous, the poles oxidising and reducing water (redox boundary) may be a
were probably ice-free and there was much less cold few millimetres below the seafloor. The pores in the
surface water available to sink down and drive the sediments here are so small that water circulation and
ocean conveyor system. The deeper parts of diffusion are insufficient to replace the original oxygen
10 K. Bjørlykke

in the porewater as it gets used up by oxidation of Kerogen consists of very large molecules and is a kind
organic matter. Clay-rich sediments soon become a of polymer. When it has been exposed to suffi-cient time
rel-atively closed system, and the downward diffusion and temperature these large molecules will crack into
of oxygen from the seabed is very slow in fine- smaller molecules, mostly petroleum. When the
grained sediments. ◦
temperature is about 100 C a long period of geo-logical
Aerobic breakdown is therefore much more effec-tive in time is required. In rapidly subsiding basins the
coarse-grained sediments than in fine-grained ones. In exposure time is shorter and oil generation may only
anaerobic transformation bacteria use organic matter, ◦
start at about 140–150 C. In the North Sea basin the “oil
e.g. short carbohydrate chains. Cellulose is broken down
◦
by fungi, and finally by bacteria. The end products are window” may typically be between 130 and140 C.
methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Methane,
however, is the only hydrocarbon produced in any 1.7 Migration of Petroleum
quantity at low temperatures by bac-teria close to the
surface of the sediment. Gas occur-ring at shallow
depths (shallow gas) therefore consists largely of Petroleum migrates from low permeability source
methane (dry gas) unless there has been addition from rocks into high permeability reservoir rocks from
much deeper strata. Biogenic gas may form commercial which the petroleum can be produced (Fig. 1.2b).
accumulations, as in Western Siberia and also in the The main driving force for petroleum migration is
shallow part of the North Sea basin. The presence of buoyancy because it is less dense than water. The
abundant shallow gas may represent a hazard in the form forces acting against migration are the capillary
of blowouts and fire during drilling. Gas occurring at forces and the resistance to flow though rocks with
shallow depth may also have a deeper source generated low permeabilities
from a gas-prone source rock (coaly sediments) or by Migration of oil and gas will therefore nearly always
cracking of oil, but such gas has a very different isotopic have an upwards component.
signature than biogenic gas. We distinguish between primary migration, which is
the flow of petroleum out of the source rock and sec-
ondary migration, which is the continued flow from
the source rock to the reservoir rock or up to the
surface (Fig. 1.4).
1.6 Kerogen Oil and gas may also migrate (leak) from the reser-
voir to a higher trap or to the surface. Hydrocarbons
As organic material becomes buried by the accu- are relatively insoluble in water and will therefore
mulation of overlying sediments, water is gradually migrate as a separate phase. Solubility varies from as
expelled during compaction. little as 24 ppm for methane to 1,800 ppm for
Complex organic compounds like proteins are bro- benzene. Other compounds, such as pentane, are even
ken down into amino acids, and carbohydrates into less soluble (2–3 ppm). However, solubility increases
simpler sugar compounds. These are able to recom- markedly with pressure. Many hydrocarbons have
bine to make larger compounds, for example by solubilities of less than 1 ppm in water
amino acids reacting with carbohydrates (melanoid It is difficult to envisage oil being dissolved in water
reaction). As this type of polymerisation proceeds, the and transported in an aqueous solution, both because
propor-tion of simpler soluble organic compounds of the solubility and the low flow rates. It would also
diminishes at depths of a few tens of metres down in be difficult to explain how the oil would come out of
the sediment. It is these newly-formed complex solution in the reservoirs (traps).
organic structures which are called kerogen. Gas, in particularly methane, has a fairly high sol-ubility
Kerogen is a collective name for organic material that in water, especially under high pressure. If methane-
is insoluble in organic solvents, water or oxidising saturated water rises to lower pressures, large quantities
acids. The portion of the organic material soluble in of methane can bubble out of a solution.
organic solvents is called bitumen, which is It is therefore necessary to assume that oil is mostly
essentially oil in a solid state. transported as a separate phase. Oil is lighter than
1 Introduction to Petroleum Geology 11

Pleistocene

Cenozoic sediments

Cretaceous mudstones and shales

.
Fm .
Brent Fm
Statfjord

Triassic and Permian

sediments

Reservoir sandstone with gas Migration of gas and oil from Upper Jurassic
source rocks (Kimmeridge shale) into
Middle and Lower Jurassic reservoir
Reservoir sandstone with oil sandstones (Brent and Statfjord formations).

Upper Jurassic source rock

Fig. 1.4 Schematic illustration of primary migration (expul- Sea where rifting in Upper Jurassic time produced good condi-
sion) of petroleum from a source rock and secondary migration tions for the formation of a source rock and also traps on the
into a reservoir (trap). This example is from the northern North uplifted fault blocks

water, and oil droplets would be able to move through Oil can therefore not migrate as small discrete
the pores in the rocks but the caplliary restance is droplets, but moves as a continuous string of oil
high for separate oil drops in a water-wet rock (Fig. where most of the pores are filled with oil rather than
1.5). In order to pass through the narrow passage water (highly oil-saturated). The pressure in the oil
between pores (pore throat), the oil droplets must phase at the top is then a function of the height of the
overcome the capillary forces. When the pores are oil-saturated column (string) and the density
sufficiently small in a fine-grained sediment, these difference between oil and water.
forces will act as a barrier to further migration of oil. The rate of migration is a function of the rate of
The small gas molecules, however, can diffuse petroleum generation in the source rocks. This is a
through extremely small pores and thus escape from function of the temperature integrated over time (Fig.
shales which form tight seals for oil. 1.6).
12 K. Bjørlykke

H2 O The temperature history is a function of the burial

Sand grain depth and the geothermal gradients.
Deep burial over long time will cause all oil to be
decomposed (cracked) into gas.
Oil flows
Oil through The degree of alteration of organic matter can be
reservoir rocks measured in different ways. Plant material is altered
from a dull material to a material which becomes
more shiny with increasing temperature. This can be
quan-tified by measuring the amount of light reflected
from a piece of plant material (vitrinite) under the
micro-scope. A vitrinite reflectivity of 1.2 indicates
that the source has generated much of the oil that can
be gener-ated. We will say that the source rock is in
Water flows
through reservoir the middle of the “oil window” (Fig. 1.7). Values
rocks below 0.7–0.8. are found in source rocks which have
not been heated enough (immature source rocks).
Vitrinite reflectivities close to 2.0 and above indi-cate
that the source rock has generated all the oil and can
Oil
generate only gas.
Fig. 1.5 Most sandstones are oil-wet and have a thin layer of The Upper Jurassic Kimmeridge shale (Fig. 1.8) is
water around the grains. A continuous oil phase will flow eas- the main source rock for the North Sea basin but it is
ily if the permeability is relatively high and the pore throats not mature at its outcrop at Kimmeridge Bay in
between the pores are relatively wide. Isolated droplets of oil
Dorset, south England.
will, however, be prevented from moving by capillary forces

Photosynthesis
CO2+H2O Oxidation
CO2+H2O +(N,P)
CHO+O CH2O+O2+(N,P)
2 2 Time
20C
Burning of oil
and gas

Oil
3–4 km – 100C Gas

6–8 km – 200C Burial curve

Rate of petroleum generation from
organic matter (kerogen) follows an
Depth (temperature) arrhenius function: K = Aexp(-E/RT)
E - activation energy. R - gas const.
T - temperature

Fig. 1.6 Burial curve for source rocks determining the transformation of kerogen to oil and gas depending on time and
temperature (burial depth)
1 Introduction to Petroleum Geology 13

Burial
depth Vitrinite
km Temperature (C) reflectivity

1 30° Diagenesis
Sub-bituminous coal,
Kerogen Lignite
0.5
2 60°

3 90° Bituminous
Katagenesis coal
Oil
4 120° 1.2

5 Gas 150° 2.0

Metagenesis Anthracite

Fig. 1.7 Alteration (maturation) of organic matter and genera-tion have higher reflectivity with increasing temperature. The depth
of oil and gas as a function of temperature. The maturation is also a (temperature) range where oil is generated is called the “oil
function of time and this can be determined by measuring the win-dow”. At higher temperatures oil will be altered into gas
vitrinite reflectivity. Coals become more shiny and by cracking
Fig. 1.8 Kimmeridge Clay (Upper Jurassic) unconformably overlain by the lower Chalk (Upper Cretaceous). This is a very good
source rock and equivalent shales are the main source rocks for oil and also much of the gas in the North Sea basin and also further
North in mid Norway (Haltenbanken) and the Barents Sea. A layer of red Chalk marks the transition from black shale facies to
carbonate facies. From South Ferriby, Yorkshire, England