PETROLEUM MIGRATION, FAULTS AND OVERPRESSURE, PART I: CALIBRATING BASIN MODELLING USING PETROLEUM IN TRAPS — A REVIEW

This paper considers the principles of deciphering basin-scale hydrocarbon migration patterns using the geochemical information which is present in trapped petroleum. Petroleum accumulations in subsiding basins can be thought of as "data archives" within which stored information can help us to understand aspects of hydrocarbon formation and migration. This information can impart a time-resolved picture of hydrocarbon migration in a basin in response to processes associated with progressive burial, particularly in the context of the occurrence and periodic activity of faults.
This review, which includes a series of tentative models of migration-related processes in the extensional Halten Terrace area, offshore mid-Norway, illustrates how we can use information from the migrating mobile hydrocarbon phase to improve our knowledge of the static geological system. Of particular importance is the role of sub-seismic heterogeneities and faults in controlling migration processes. We focus on how the secondary migration process can be enhanced in a multi-source rock basin such as the Halten Terrace, thereby increasing prospectivity.     

塔河油田奥陶系油气地球化学特征与油气运移

通过对塔河油田奥陶系油气地球化学特征与油气运移关系的研究,认为:a)油气物理性质可以宏观地反映油气运移的方向;b)原油轻烃、生物标记物和含氮化合物可以较好地反映油气运移方向,饱和烃生物标记化合物反映了相对轻质原油的油气运移方向,含氮化合物则主要反映了相对早期原油的运移方向;c)塔河油区存在着早期由南向北、晚期由南向北、由东向西的油气运移充注过程.      

PETROLEUM SYSTEMS MODELLING IN A FOLD‐AND‐THRUST BELT SETTING: THE INVERTED CAMEROS BASIN,NORTH‐CENTRAL SPAIN

The Mesozoic Cameros Basin, northern Spain, was inverted during the Cenozoic Alpine orogeny when the Tithonian – Upper Cretaceous sedimentary fill was uplifted and partially eroded. Tar sandstones outcropping in the southern part of the basin and pyrobitumen particles trapped in potential source rocks suggest that hydrocarbons have been generated in the basin and subsequently migrated. However, no economic accumulations of oil or gas have yet been found. This study reconstructs the evolution of possible petroleum systems in the basin from initial extension through to the inversion phase, and is based on structural, stratigraphic and sedimentological data integrated with petrographic and geochemical observations. Petroleum systems modelling was used to investigate the timing of source rock maturation and hydrocarbon generation, and to reconstruct possible hydrocarbon migration pathways and accumulations. In the northern part of the basin, modelling results indicate that the generation of hydrocarbons began in the Early Berriasian and reached a peak in the Late Barremian – Early Albian. The absence of traps during peak generation prevented the formation of significant hydrocarbon accumulations. Some accumulations formed after the deposition of post‐extensional units (Late Cretaceous in age) which acted as seals. However, during subsequent inversion, these reservoir units were uplifted and eroded. In the southern sector of the basin, hydrocarbon generation did not begin until the Late Cretaceous due to the lower rates of subsidence and burial, and migration and accumulation may have taken place until the initial phases of inversion. Sandstones impregnated with bitumen (tar sandstones) observed at the present day in the crests of surface anticlines in the south of the basin are interpreted to represent the relics of these palaeo‐accumulations. Despite a number of uncertainties which are inherent to modelling the petroleum systems evolution of an inverted and overmature basin, this study demonstrates the importance of integrating multidisciplinary and multi‐scale data to the resource assessment of a complex fold‐and‐thrust belt.     

江汉盆地西南缘油气运移及其成藏模式

对江汉盆地西南缘的油源对比和流体势分析表明,北部地区的原油主要来自梅槐桥—牛头岗洼陷高成熟度烃源岩,南部地区的原油与本地的低成熟度烃源岩具有亲缘关系,中部地区的原油则具有混源特征.该区的油气明显具有运移距离短、近源聚集的特点;其分布与聚集受到断层和圈闭类型等因素的影响.断层活动使上升盘储层与下降盘烃源岩对接,是新生古储型油气藏成藏的关键;断层的封闭性上部要优于下部,控制着油气富集的层位.圈闭类型以断鼻和断块为主,断鼻油气藏主要分布在断层的下降盘,而断块油气藏主要分布在断层的上升盘.根据油气聚集特点和储集层位的差异,将本区的油气藏划分为自生自储、新生古储和下生上储3种成藏模式.     

塔里木盆地塔河油田水离子组合及参数的平面分布与油气运移

通过对塔河油田水离子组合及其参数的平面分布图的编制来推断油田水系统的形态、分布,并根据其参数变化梯度分析了油气运移方向。研究表明:塔河油区油田水参数的平面分布总体具有南北分块、东西分带的特征;其中,塔河1、2区三叠系油田水主要呈东西向分布,而塔河3、4、6区具有南北条状带向分布,但东西分异、南部平台区则为近东南-北东-南西向分布;7区西北部和8区可能呈南北向分布。同时,油田水分布局部呈洞穴状、桶状和其它不规则孤立或封闭流体系统;出现水动力相对强或弱的交替带或滞后区带;其离子及组合参数均指示油气运移的主导方向是自南、西南向北、北东方向。     

MATURITY AND PETROLEUM SYSTEMS MODELLING IN THE OFFSHORE ZAMBEZI DELTA DEPRESSION AND ANGOCHE BASIN,NORTHERN MOZAMBIQUE

Petroleum systems analysis and maturity modelling is used to predict the timing and locations of hydrocarbon generation in the underexplored offshore Zambezi Delta depression and Angoche basin, northern Mozambique. Model inputs include available geological, geochemical and geophysical data. Based on recent plate‐tectonic reconstructions and regional correlations, the presence of Valanginian and Middle and/or Late Jurassic marine source rock is proposed in the study area. The stratigraphy of the Mozambique margin was interpreted along reflection seismic lines and tied to four wells in the Zambezi Delta depression. Thermal maturity was calibrated against measured vitrinite reflectance values from these four wells. Four 1‐D models with calibration data were constructed, together with another five without calibration data at pseudo‐well locations, and indicate the maturity of possible source rocks in the Zambezi Delta depressions and Angoche basin. Two 2‐D petroleum systems models, constrained by seismic reflection data, depict the burial history and maturity evolution of the Zambezi Delta basin. With the exception of the deeply‐buried centre of the Zambezi Delta depression where potential Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous source rocks were found to be overmature for both oil and gas, modelling showed that potential source rocks in the remaining parts of the study area are mature for hydrocarbon generation. In both the Zambezi Delta depression and Angoche basin, indications for natural gas may be explained by early maturation of oil‐prone source rocks and secondary oil cracking, which likely began in the Early Cretaceous. In distal parts of the Angoche basin, however, the proposed source rocks remain in the oil window.     

塔里木盆地克拉2气藏流体包裹体与油气充注运移期次

在薄片观察和成岩作用研究的基础上,对我国目前最大的气藏克拉2气藏储层中的流体包裹体进行测试分析,得出了与有机包裹体伴生的盐水溶液包裹体的捕获温度、盐度等参数以及有机包裹体的物理参数和成分数据,从而确定流体包裹体形成的先后序次,用线性回归法计算出上白垩统不同成岩期次的古地温梯度,分析了克拉2气藏油气的充注期次、演化运移特征和资源潜力.     

有机包裹体在油气运聚研究中的应用——以苏北盆地高邮凹陷为例

根据储层有机包裹体分布、相态类型、荧光及同期盐水包裹体均一温度等资料研究了苏北盆地高邮凹陷上、下两套含油气系统的油气成熟度、油气运移期次;通过有机包裹体地球化学成分分析对上、下两套含油气系统的油源及性质进行了对比研究,并利用有机包裹体中的生物标记物参数对SN地区的下含油气系统油气运移方向及成藏机理进行了研究,其结论与含氮化合物资料分析结果相吻合,从而为该区油气运聚提供了更直接的微观证据和研究手段。这一成功研究实例表明,随着流体包裹体测试技术的提高,有机包裹体分析在含油气盆地油气运聚方面的研究具有更广阔的应用前景。      

PETROLEUM SYSTEMS OF THE WEST IBERIAN MARGIN: A REVIEW OF THE LUSITANIAN BASIN AND THE DEEP OFFSHORE PENICHE BASIN

The relatively well‐studied Lusitanian Basin in coastal west‐central Portugal can be used as an analogue for the less well‐known Peniche Basin in the deep offshore. In this paper the Lusitanian Basin is reviewed in terms of stratigraphy, sedimentology, evolution and petroleum systems. Data comes from published papers and technical reports as well as original research and field observations. The integration and interpretation of these data is used to build up an updated petroleum systems analysis of the basin. Petroleum systems elements include Palaeozoic and Mesozoic source rocks, siliciclastic and carbonate reservoir rocks, and Mesozoic and Tertiary seals. Traps are in general controlled by diapiric movement of Hettangian clays and evaporites during the Late Jurassic, Late Cretaceous and Late Miocene. Organic matter maturation, mainly due to Late Jurassic rift‐related subsidence and burial, is described together with hydrocarbon migration and trapping. Three main petroleum systems may be defined, sourced respectively by Palaeozoic shales, Early Jurassic marly shales and Late Jurassic marls. These elements and systems can tentatively be extrapolated offshore into the deep‐water Peniche Basin, where no exploration wells have so far been drilled. There are both similarities and differences between the Lusitanian and Peniche Basins, the differences being mainly related to the more distal position of the Peniche Basin and the later onset of the main rift phase which was accompanied by Early Cretaceous subsidence and burial. The main exploration risks are related to overburden and maturation timing versus trap formation associated both with diapiric movement of Hettangian salt and Cenozoic inversion.     

准噶尔盆地结构构造与油气田分布

准噶尔盆地是晚古生代以来多期形成的复合叠加前陆盆地。原型盆地的成盆期包括：晚石炭—二叠纪碰撞造山期的碰撞前陆盆地;三叠纪—早、中侏罗世与北天山、西准噶尔山、阿尔泰山、博格达山复活有关的前陆盆地,这两个阶段有多个沉积—沉降中心;与北天山均衡活动有关的晚侏罗世—白垩纪—早第三纪前陆盆地;晚第三纪—第四纪与北天山强烈复活有关的前陆盆地。每个坳陷由褶皱—冲断带、陡坡带、沉降中心、缓坡带和前隆组成。三个隆起为叠加的前隆。部分前隆因后期改造已不明显。克拉玛依坳陷是最有利的生油气坳陷,北天山山前侏罗纪前陆坳陷次之,潜力巨大。克拉美丽山前石炭—二叠纪坳陷、博格达山前二叠纪坳陷后期改造强烈,对油气破坏较大。北天山山前三叠纪坳陷也有一定的生烃条件。乌伦古坳陷后期沉降较小,成熟度较低,难于形成中型以上规模的油气田。     

准噶尔盆地腹部油气生,运,聚及成藏特征分析

准噶尔盆地腹部可划分出５凸、６凹１０个二级构造带；存在３套可信的烃源岩层：下二叠统风城组、上二叠统下乌尔禾组和侏罗系煤系，确定了其空间分布和热演化史；分析了油气二次侧向运移的聚散规律，指出油气聚集的有利地区并定量计算了油气聚集量，最后，探讨了该区油气藏的形成条件和特征。     

塔里木盆地塔河油区原油生物标志化合物在运移方面的应用探讨

塔河油区奥陶系原油的成熟度较高,且受生物严重降解.不同的生物标志化合物成熟度参数仅对有机质生成原油的不同阶段起到标尺作用,需优选既能较好地抗生物降解且适用于较宽的成熟度范围的指标来分析塔河油气运移的可能途径.三环萜烷/17α(H)-藿烷、重排甾烷/规则甾烷及Ts/(Ts+Tm)的比值是比较适用于塔河油区这种特殊性质的原油的生物标志化合物.根据研究,奥陶系原油油气存在两个注入通道,早期主要是由南向北方向运移,油气成熟度相对较低,成藏较早;晚期由东向西运移,原油成熟度相对于早期的较高,原油成藏稍晚.     

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY OF THE NOGAL BASIN AND SURROUNDING AREA,NORTHERN SOMALIA,PART 2: HYDROCARBON POTENTIAL

Seismic reflection profiles and well data show that the Nogal Basin, northern Somalia, has a structure and stratigraphy suitable for the generation and trapping of hydrocarbons. However, the data suggest that the Upper Jurassic Bihendula Group, which is the main source rock elsewhere in northern Somalia, is largely absent from the basin or is present only in the western part. The high geothermal gradient (～35–49 °C/km) and rapid increase of vitrinite reflectance with depth in the Upper Cretaceous succession indicate that the Gumburo Formation shales may locally have reached oil window maturity close to plutonic bodies. The Gumburo and Jesomma Formations include high quality reservoir sandstones and are sealed by transgressive mudstones and carbonates. ID petroleum systems modelling was performed at wells Nogal‐1 and Kalis‐1, with 2D modelling along seismic lines CS‐155 and CS‐229 which pass through the wells. Two source rock models (Bihendula and lower Gumburo) were considered at the Nogal‐1 well because the well did not penetrate the sequences below the Gumburo Formation. The two models generated significant hydrocarbon accumulations in tilted fault blocks within the Adigrat and Gumburo Formations. However, the model along the Kalis‐1 well generated only negligible volumes of hydrocarbons, implying that the hydrocarbon potential is higher in the western part of the Nogal Basin than in the east. Potential traps in the basin are rotated fault blocks and roll‐over anticlines which were mainly developed during Oligocene–Miocene rifting. The main exploration risks in the basin are the lack of the Upper Jurassic source and reservoirs rocks, and the uncertain maturity of the Upper Cretaceous Gumburo and Jesomma shales. In addition, Oligocene‐Miocene rift‐related deformation has resulted in trap breaching and the reactivation of Late Cretaceous faults.     

PETROLEUM SYSTEMS OF THE BONGOR BASIN AND THE GREAT BAOBAB OILFIELD,SOUTHERN CHAD

The Bongor Basin in southern Chad is an inverted rift basin located on Precambrian crystalline basement which is linked regionally to the Mesozoic – Cenozoic Western and Central African Rift System. Pay zones present in nearby rift basins (e.g. Upper Cretaceous and Paleogene reservoirs overlying Lower Cretaceous source rocks) are absent from the Bongor Basin, having been removed during latest Cretaceous – Paleogene inversion-related uplift and erosion. This study characterizes the petroleum system of the Bongor Basin through systematic analyses of source rocks, reservoirs and cap rocks. Geochemical analyses of core plug samples of dark mudstones indicate that source rock intervals are present in Lower Cretaceous lacustrine shales of the Mimosa and upper Prosopis Formations. In addition, these mudstones are confirmed as a regional seal. Reservoir units include both Lower Cretaceous sandstones and Precambrian basement rocks, and mature source rocks may also act as a potential reservoir for shale oil. Dominant structural styles are large-scale inversion anticlines in the Lower Cretaceous succession whilst underlying “buried hill” -type basement plays may also be important. Accumulations of heavy to light oils and gas have been discovered in Lower Cretaceous sandstones and basement reservoirs. The Great Baobab field, the largest discovery in the Bongor Basin with about 1.5 billion barrels of oil in-place, is located in the Northern Slope, a structural unit near the northern margin of the basin. Reservoirs are Lower Cretaceous syn-rift sandstones and weathered and fractured zones in the crystalline basement. The field currently produces about 32,000 barrels of oil per day.     

塔里木盆地塔河油区奥陶系原油中性含氮化合物特征与运移研究

塔河油区具多期成藏的特点,重质油与轻质油并存。重质油中,无论是中性含氮化合物的绝对浓度或是其比值指标都降低,严重影响了原油运移途径的判别。轻质油中,中性含氮化合物指示原油具有自南向北、自东向西的运移特点,其咔唑(CA)绝对浓度由高变低,甲基咔唑系列(MCA)与二甲基咔唑系列(DMCA)比值逐渐增大,苯并咔唑系列的[a]/([a]+[c])比值则随运移距离增加而降低。在塔河3区断裂带附近,咔唑(CA)绝对浓度较高,甲基咔唑系列(MCA)与二甲基咔唑系列(DMCA)比值较低,苯并咔唑系列的[a]/([a]+[c])比值较大,显示断裂沟通了源岩及主力油气输导层,油气运移距离短,晚期油气活跃,油质总体优于塔河4、6区。     

MASS BALANCE CALCULATIONS FOR DIFFERENT MODELS OF HYDROCARBON MIGRATION IN THE JEANNE D'ARC BASIN,OFFSHORE NEWFOUNDLAND

Basin and petroleum systems modelling is a powerful tool in petroleum exploration, but uncertainties remain in terms of the evaluation of a petroleum accumulation's size and quality, even when the petroleum system is well known and the latest modelling technology is applied. In order to interpret the results of a modelling exercise, it is necessary to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the various possible approaches used to assess petroleum migration and accumulation. This paper attempts to compare the influence of different migration modelling techniques – the flowpath, Darcy “hybrid” and invasion percolation approaches – on basin‐wide mass balance calculations for a temperature‐ and pressure‐calibrated, numerical four‐dimensional basin model. The study was performed using PetroMod® software. The study area is the well‐known Jeanne d'Arc Basin located offshore Newfoundland, eastern Canada. Model predictions were verified against pre‐existing data including the quantity and quality of discovered hydrocarbons in the basin. Modelling results showed that the Darcy method produced substantially different results compared to the other migration techniques and this was due to the high accumulation efficiency. The flowpath method, and a combination of flowpath and Darcy methods (referred to as the “hybrid” method) yielded similar results; furthermore, the hybrid method predicted the petroleum composition quite accurately. The invasion percolation method gave similar results to the hybrid approach, but little or no variation in API and GOR across the basin was predicted. The adsorption model initially applied did not adequately reproduce the natural behaviour of source rocks with respect to petroleum expulsion efficiency. Therefore a revised model was implemented in which the adsorption capacity was reduced with increasing maturity. This revised adsorption model led to more realistic volumes of hydrocarbons being retained within the source rock. The application of this approach had only a minor impact on the volume and quality of the petroleum present in the reservoir units.     

IMPACT OF MAGMATISM ON PETROLEUM SYSTEMS IN THE SVERDRUP BASIN, CANADIAN ARCTIC ISLANDS, NUNAVUT: A NUMERICAL MODELLING STUDY

Numerical modelling is used to investigate for the first time the interactions between a petroleum system and sill intrusion in the NE Sverdrup Basin, Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Although hydrocarbonexploration has been successful in the western Sverdrup Basin, the results in the NE part of thebasin have been disappointing, despite the presence of suitable Mesozoic source rocks, migrationpaths and structural/stratigraphic traps, many involving evaporites. This was explained by (i) theformation of structural traps during basin inversion in the Eocene, after the main phase ofhydrocarbon generation, and/or (ii) the presence of evaporite diapirs locally modifying the geothermalgradient, leading to thermal overmaturity of hydrocarbons. This study is the first attempt at modellingthe intrusion of Cretaceous sills in the east‐central Sverdrup Basin, and to investigate how theymay have affected the petroleum system. A one‐dimensional numerical model, constructed using PetroMod9.0®, investigates the effectsof rifting and magmatic events on the thermal history and on petroleum generation at the DepotPoint L‐24 well, eastern Axel Heiberg Island (79°23′40″N, 85°44′22″W). The thermal history isconstrained by vitrinite reflectance and fission‐track data, and by the tectonic history. The simulationidentifies the time intervals during which hydrocarbons were generated, and illustrates the interplaybetween hydrocarbon production and igneous activity at the time of sill intrusion during the EarlyCretaceous. The comparison of the petroleum and magmatic systems in the context of previouslyproposed models of basin evolution and renewed tectonism was an essential step in the interpretationof the results from the Depot Point L‐24 well. The model results show that an episode of minor renewed rifting and widespread sill intrusionin the Early Cretaceous occurred after hydrocarbon generation ceased at about 220 Ma in theHare Fiord and Van Hauen Formations. We conclude that the generation potential of these deeperformations in the eastern Sverdrup Basin was not likely to have been affected by the intrusion ofmafic sills during the Early Cretaceous. However, the model suggests that in shallower sourcerocks such as the Blaa Mountain Formation, rapid generation of natural gas occurred at 125 Ma, contemporaneous with tectonic rejuvenation and sill intrusion in the east‐central Sverdrup Basin.A sensitivity study shows that the emplacement of sills increased the hydrocarbon generation ratesin the Blaa Mountain Formation, and facilitated the production of gas rather than oil.     

GEOCHEMICAL EVALUATION OF CRUDE OILS FROM THE CARACARA AND TIPLE AREAS,EASTERN LLANOS BASIN,COLOMBIA: PALAEO BIODEGRADATION AND OIL MIXING

This study presents an organic geochemical characterization of heavy and liquid oils from Cretaceous and Cenozoic reservoir rocks in the Tiple and Caracara blocks in the eastern Llanos Basin, Colombia. Samples of heavy oil were recovered from the Upper Eocene Mirador Formation and the C7 interval of the Oligocene – Miocene Carbonera Formation; the liquid oils came from these intervals and from the Cretaceous Guadalupe, Une and Gachetá Formations. The heavy oil and most of the liquid oils probably originated from multiple source rocks or source facies, and showed evidence of biodegradation as suggested by the coexistence of n‐alkanes and 25‐norhopanes. The results indicate a close genetic relationship between the samples in the Carbonera (C7 interval), Mirador and Guadalupe Formation reservoirs. These petroleums are interpreted to result from at least two separate oil charges. An early charge (Oligocene to Early Miocene) was derived from marine carbonate and transitional siliciclastic Cretaceous source rocks as indicated by biomarker analysis using GC/MS. This initial oil charge was biodegraded in the reservoir, and was mixed with a later charge (or charges) of fresh oil during the Late Miocene to Pliocene. A relatively high proportion of the unaltered oil charge was recorded for heavy oil samples from the Melero‐1 well in the Tiple block, and is inferred to originate from Cenozoic carbonaceous shale or coaly source rocks. Geochemical parameters suggest that oils from the Gachetá and Une Formations are similar and that they originated from a source different to that of the other oil samples. These two oils do not correlate well with extracts from transitional siliciclastic source rock from the Upper Cretaceous Gachetá Formation in the Ramiriqui‐1 well, located in the LLA 22 block to the north. By contrast, one or more organofacies of the Gachetá Formation may have generated the heavy oil and most of the liquid oil samples. The results suggest that the heavy oils may have formed as a result of biodegradation at the palaeo oil‐water contact, although deasphalting cannot entirely be dismissed.