Petroleum System Definition

The essential elements and processes and all

genetically-related hydrocarbons that occur in
petroleum shows, and accumulations whose
provenance is a single pod of active source rock.

Elements Processes
Source Rock Generation
Migration Route Migration
Reservoir Rock Accumulation
Seal Rock Preservation
Trap
Deer-Boar Petroleum System
at Critical Moment
250 Ma
Raven

A Marginal
A’
Owens
Teapot

k
oc
ir R
rvo
Pod of Big Oil

se
Active Just

Re
Hardy Lucky
Source
Rock
David

Immature Source Zero Edge of

Rock Reservoir
Rock
Magoon and Dow, 1994
Petroleum System at Critical Moment
Critical Moment = Time of Expulsion/Migration

GEOGRAPHIC EXTENT OF PETROLEUM SYSTEM

A Trap 250 Ma Trap Trap A’

STRATIGRAPHIC
EXTENT OF
PETROLEUM SYSTEM t
en
s em
Ba
Essential Overburden

Sedimentary
elements of

basin-fill
Seal
POD OF ACTIVE petroleum
SOURCE ROCK system Reservoir
Source
Petroleum accumulation Underburde
Top of oil window n
Bottom of oil window
Location for burial history chart

Magoon and Dow, 1994

Present-Day Petroleum System

GEOGRAPHIC EXTENT OF PETROLEUM SYSTEM

Present-Day
A Trap Trap Trap A’

STRATIGRAPHIC
EXTENT OF
PETROLEUM SYSTEM

e nt
sem
Ba
Overburden
Seal
Petroleum accumulation Reservoir
Top of oil window
Source
Bottom of oil window
Underburden

Magoon and Dow, 1994

Oil and Gas Fields of
Deer-Boar Petroleum System
Inventory of Accumulations

API Cumulative oil Remaining

Field Date Reservoir Gravity production reserves
Name discovered rock ( oAPI) (x106 bbl) (x106 bbl)

Big oil 1954 Boar Ss 32 310 90

Raven 1956 Boar Ss 31 120 12
Owens 1959 Boar Ss 33 110 19
Just 1966 Boar Ss 34 160 36
Hardy 1989 Boar Ss 29 85 89
Lucky 1990 Boar Ss 15 5 70
Marginal 1990 Boar Ss 18 12 65
Teapot 1992 Boar Ss 21 9 34

Magoon and Dow, 1994

Burial History Chart
400 300 200 100

Overburden
Depth (Km)

Reservoir
Lithology

Source
Rock

Seal
Paleozoic Mesozoic Cen.
Unit
D M P P TR J K P N

Thick 1
Fm
Generation

2
Placer Fm
George Sh
Top oil window Boar Ss
Top gas window Deer Sh 3
Elk Fm
Magoon and Dow, 1994
Critical Moment
Time of Expulsion and Migration. (Trap must already exist)
Petroleum System Events Chart
Timing of Elements and Processes
400 300 200 100 Geologic Time
Scale
Paleozoic Mesozoic Cenozoic
Petroleum
D M P P TR J K P N System Events

Rock Units

Source Rock

Elements
Reservoir Rock

Seal Rock
Overburden Rock

Processes
Trap Formation
Gen/Migration/Accu
m
Preservation

Critical Moment

Magoon and
Critical Moment
Dow, 1994
Time of Expulsion and Migration. (Trap must already exist)
Petroleum System
Petroleum System Elements
Elements

Anticlinal Trap
Top Seal Rock
(Impermeabl
e)
Reservoir Rock
(Porous/Permeab
Potential le)
Migration Route

Source Rock
(Organic Rich)

24803
Petroleum System
Elements????????
• Source Rock - A rock with abundant hydrocarbon-prone
organic matter
• Reservoir Rock - A rock in which oil and gas accumulates:
-Porosity - space between rock grains in which oil
accumulates
- Permeability - passage-ways between pores through which
oil and gas moves
• Seal Rock - A rock through which oil and gas cannot move
effectively (such as mudstone and claystone)
• Migration Route - Avenues in rock through which oil and gas moves
from source rock to trap
• Trap - The structural and stratigraphic configuration that
focuses oil and gas into an accumulation
The Origin of Petroleum

Organic-rich
Source Rock
Thermally Matured
Organic Matter Oil
Source Rock for Petroleum
Organic- Thin
Rich Laminae Measured
Values
Total
Organi Hydroge
c n
Carbon Index
3.39 378

Pyrolyticall
In-Place y
Petroleum Generated
S1 Petroleum
S2
2.24 12.80
1 Inch LOMPOC Quarry Sample
Monterey Formation, CA
Kerogen Types

TOC 2.12 WT. TOC .38 WT.

% %
Types of Petroleum

Oil and gas are formed by the thermal

cracking of organic compounds buried
in fine-grained rocks.

Algae = Hydrogen rich = Oil-prone

Wood = Hydrogen poor = Gas-prone

Reservoir Sandstone
Good Porosity = Lots of Space for Petroleum

Pores
(blue)
Reservoir Sandstone
Pore-Filling Cement Reduces Quality

Cement
(pink)

= Less Space for

Petroleum
Traps

• Anticlinal - Rock layers folded into a dome

• Stratigraphic - Rock layers changing from a
good reservoir to non-reservoir due to
change in rock type (pinch-out), reservoir
quality (diagenesis), or removal
(erosional unconformity)
• Fault - Offset of rocks such that oil and gas
accumulates in reservoir rock
Hydrocarbon Trap Types

Anticlin
e
Fault
Salt
Dome
Pinchout

Unconformi
ty

American Petroleum Institute,

1986
East Texas Oil Field (1930)
UnconformityTrap
West East

Sea Level
1,000 Reservoir
2,000 Seal
Seal unconformity
3,000

120°F

•Largest “lower-48” field Kitchen

M
• ore than 5 billion barrels recoverable
American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 1990
PrudhoeBay
Prudhoe BayOilOil Field
Field (1968)
(1968)
Anticlinal/Unconformity
Anticlinal Trap
Combination Trap
South North
Brooks Beaufort
Range Sea

Sea Level

10,000
Seal
unconformity Reservoir
20,000 120°F
Barrow
Arch
30,000
Kitchen

• Largest North American field

• More than 8 billion barrels recoverable
American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 1990
24803
Seismic Imaging of Anticline
Vibrator Truck
Recording (Energy
Source) Geophone
Truck (Receivers)

Returning
Sound Waves

American Petroleum Institute,

1986
Seismic Image of Anticline

1000
Milliseconds

2000

3000
1
km
Petroleum System Processes
Petroleum System Elements
Petroleum System Elements

Gas
Cap
Oil
Accumulation
Entrapment Water Seal Rock
Reservoir
Rock

Migration
120° F
Source
Rock 350° F
Generation
24803
Petroleum System Processes
• Generation - Burial of source rock to temperature and
pressure regime sufficient to convert organic matter into
hydrocarbon
• Migration - Movement of hydrocarbon out of the source
rock toward and into a trap
• Accumulation - A volume of hydrocarbon migrating into
a trap faster than the trap leaks resulting in an
accumulation
• Preservation - Hydrocarbon remains in reservoir and is
not altered by biodegradation or “water-washing”
• Timing - Trap forms before and during hydrocarbon
migrating
Thermal Maturation History
Less Hydrogen More Hydrogen

Diagenesis K Kerogen

Ro = 0.5% Onset of Oil

Generation
K

Oil Ga
Burial to s
K
Greater Catagenesi
1

Oil Ga
and s s
K
Hotter 2

Oil Ga
Depths s
K
3
Oil Phase- Con Ga
Ro = 2.0% Out d s
K
4

Ga
Metagenesi s
s
Horsfield and Rullkotter, 1994
Petroleum System Events Chart
North Slope, Alaska
400 300 200 100 Geologic
Time-Scale
Paleozoic Mesozoic Cenozoic
Petroleum
D M P P TR J K P N System
Events
Source Rock
Reservoir Rock
Seal Rock
Overburden
Trap Formation
Generation, Migration,
and Accumulation

Preservation
1. Western North Slope
2. East-central North Slope 1 2 Critical
Moment Bird, 1994
Petroleum System: Timing is Critical
Trap Must Be Available Before/During Migration
Trap

Processes: Generation Migration Accumulation and

Preservation

Elements: Source Migration Reservoir

Rock Avenue and Seal
Petroleum System
A Dynamic Entity
1) Early Generation Spill Point
Spill Point

Seal Rock
Reservoir Rock (Mudstone)
Migration from (Sandstone)
‘Kitchen’
Gas beginning to
2) Late Generation displace oil

Displaced oil
accumulates
Gas displaces all
oil
Petroleum System, Play Definition, and
Risk Trap
Play Maps
Source
Seal Extent Timing Sheets
Extent
Generation and Migration Time Present
Components
HC Charge
Reservoir
Extent Preservation

Critical Reconstruction

Present Past
Jeff Brown, Mobil, 1999