AAPG Slide Resources: The Basics of Prospecting by Fred Schroeder.

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Visiting Geoscientist
Fred W. Schroeder. Downloads Resources Lecture Files | Exercise Files

The notes for each Lecture Slides PPT How to Run For Students Request Solutions

slide are printed next
to each thumbnail.
Below each
Printing Instructions:
thumbnail are
“A Quick-Look Evaluation”
download links for
one document, 3 pages, letter size, color (may be OK in B&W)
the individual slide.
Supplies:
Right-click on a link
Pen or a pencil (for taking notes); Colored pencils: red, yellow, blue, green and #2 (graphite); Eraser
to save the file to
your hard drive. To
preview the full-size Slide 1
slide image, click on
the thumbnail. Introductory slide with some ‘eye candy’
To download the 4 vibrator trucks collecting land seismic data
entire presentation Offshore drilling platform
right-click and save View of seismic + a horizon and some faults (upper right)
the appropriate link. Seismic horizon color-coded by 2-way time cut by a fault
(lower left)
Two people working data on paper

Download: full size image | PPT slide

Slide 2

In exploration there are 4 questions – as listed

HC = hydrocarbon
Risk = (1 – chance of success) or chance of success = (1 – Risk);
e.g. a proposed well may have a 75% chance of success, which

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AAPG Slide Resources: The Basics of Prospecting by Fred Schroeder.

can also be stated as a 25% risk – 1 out of 4 chance of failure

Download: full size image | PPT slide

Slide 3

Rube Goldberg drew complicated contraptions to do simple tasks –

like the board game Mouse Trap
First thing you need is a kitchen...
Then you need a container...
Usually the kitchen and container are not connected, so you need
plumbing...
Next you need to place the well in the right location
If you miss the container – a dry hole and no money
But if everything ‘works’ – you get oil out of the ground and money
in the bank
Download: full size image | PPT slide Being a bit more technical, we need
Source – rock rich in organic carbon that has the right
temperature & pressure conditions so that the kinetics
transform organic matter into oil & gas molecules
Reservoir rock with a trapping geometry capped by a
sealing rock
Migration pathways that allow the oil & gas molecules to
move from the source to the trap on a geologic time scale

Slide 4

The kitchen is where organic matter dispersed within a source

interval has undergone the temperature/pressure history necessary
for oil and gas to be generated and expelled
Source intervals are organic rich. They are rated based on
Their organic carbon content (TOC = total organic carbon)
and
Their richness (HI = hydrogen index which controls oil vs.
gas)
Most source intervals are shales
The best source rocks were deposited under reducing conditions
Download: full size image | PPT slide with TOC over 12% carbon by weight (can be as high as 18%)

Slide 5

A reservoir is a rock with enough porosity (pore space) and

permeability (connectiveness) that we can produce (extract) oil and
gas out of it
Most reservoirs are in clastic units of sand-size or larger
particles (sandstones, conglomerates) or in coarse
carbonates (e.g., reefs)
A trap is a 3D configuration in the subsurface that allows oil/gas to
pool in significant quantities
Traps resulting from faults or other structural features are
called structural traps – they are the easiest to recognize
Download: full size image | PPT slide Traps resulting from the wedging out of a reservoir-quality
rock, either due to depositional thinning or post-
depositional erosion, are called stratigraphic traps
Seals are rock layers that prevent leakage of HCs from the trap
The most common seals are shales and evaporites

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AAPG Slide Resources: The Basics of Prospecting by Fred Schroeder.

Top seal prevents leakage up through the top of a reservoir

To have a trap, we also need lateral seals so that HCs
don’t leak out of the sides of a trap (usually more critical
with stratigraphic traps).

Slide 6

HC migration is the process of moving droplets of oil and gas from

the source to the reservoir
Primary migration is getting the HC out of the source
interval
Secondary migration is moving the HC in carrier beds and
up faults/fractures to the reservoir
Migration parallel to the depositional units occurs in sand and silt
beds that serve as carrier beds
Migration from one stratigraphic level to another is called cross-
stratal migration
Download: full size image | PPT slide It commonly occurs via faults and fractures
Most cross-stratal migration is in an upward direction
(buoyant forces) but depending on pressure gradients HCs
can move down into carrier beds if the pressure gradient is
downward.

Slide 7

Here is a cross-section through a sedimentary basin

The ‘granite’ pattern represents non-sedimentary (basement) rocks
There are ~12 major depositional unit (layers)
Someone, a basin modeler, has predicted the depths at which:
Mostly oil would be generated – the ‘oil window’
Only gas would be generated – the ‘gas window’
Where no more HC would be generated – below the gas
window
Now all we have to do is:
Figure out where the source rocks are.
Download: full size image | PPT slide Identify potential reservoir units
Locate potential traps that are capped by a sealing lithology
And hypothesize HC migration pathways
Then we can predict where there are oil and gas fields just
waiting to be discovered – simple!
If we are working a basin in which fields have been discovered, we
can ‘reverse engineer’ the HC system
For example, if we know oil is in the shallow reservoir on
the right, we know HC migrated into it somehow
As shown by the blue arrow, we might call upon HC
migration up the fault
This would connect our ‘kitchen’ to our known field
Of course we have to consider the 3D basin geometry – not
a single cross-section

Slide 8

There are other elements to consider for the HC System

Timing – did the trap exist when HC migration occurred
Obviously if HC migration occurred before the trap existed,
the trap will be empty or severely under-filled
Fill & Spill – if the trap volume is small compared to the volume of
generated HC, then the trap has been overfilled and excess HC
has spilled
Since free gas displaces oil, an overfilled trap may hold gas
while spilling oil
The spilled oil could be trapped further up the overall
Download: full size image | PPT slide migration path
We’ll see a cartoon example of this on the next slide
Preservation – if oil is trapped, there are conditions that can
degrade the oil with time
If the reservoir gets too hot, the oil can be cooked (cracked)
to gas
If the reservoir is shallow and cool, bacteria can feed off the
oil and spoil (degrade) it

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AAPG Slide Resources: The Basics of Prospecting by Fred Schroeder.

Slide 9

This slide illustrates some basic concepts about HC fill and spill
Trap A is closest to the kitchen and will fill first
It has a synclinal spill point on the right
HCs spilled from Trap A will migrate up to Trap B
Trap B has a fault leak point
Early charge from an oil-prone source consists of oil with a minor
amount of gas
Trap A starts to fill with oil and dissolved gas
As time passes, significant oil with a large proportion of gas
reaches Trap A
Download: full size image | PPT slide If there is more gas than can be dissolved in the oil, then a
free gas cap forms
The gas cap will displace oil, so only oil (with some
dissolved gas) will spill
Eventually the source will become over-mature, only generating
gas
If enough gas reaches Trap A, it will become entirely filled
with gas – all the oil being displaced (spilled)
Trap B now has a free gas cap and an oil leg, with oil
spilling out of Trap B at the fault leak point
Perhaps there is a Trap C further up the migration path where oil
spilled from Trap B is collecting
A good explorationist would start to search for more traps
up the migration pathway

 
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