:Facts about this course

Credits: 10

Teaching This course was

semester: given for the last
GEO3210 - time autumn 2005.
Introduction to Language of English
instruction:
petroleum geology
Administrated Department of
and -geophysics by: Geosciences
Course content - Learning outcomes
 
- Admission - Prerequisites -
Teaching - Exam information - Other Detailed course information -
information - Contact information Current and previous semesters:
 Autumn 2005
Course content  Autumn 2004

The principles of petroleum geology,  Autumn 2003

including the petroleum system
comprising hydrocarbon play concept, source rocks, maturation, migration,
reservoirs, traps, and seals. Outline of exploration and production techniques
in the petroleum industry. The principles related to evaluating potential
reservoirs and the environmental and economical impact of the utilisation of
the fossil fuels and the possible alternative fuel resources.

Learning outcomes
This course aims to build upon some of the fundamental geology developed
earlier and apply this knowledge in an understanding of petroleum geology.

Applied Petroleum Geology for Engineers

August 4-
8 , 2008
This course
is offered in
cooperation
with
The
Internationa
l Petroleum
Technology
Institute of
The
American
Society of
Mechanical
Engineers.

 
WHO SHOULD ATTEND THIS COURSE:
This course is designed for early career professionals, particularly degreed engineers with little or no formal
training in geology.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
We will build on your existing science and engineering background in order to enhance your professional
growth in those areas of geology related to petroleum exploration and development. This applied course will
be centered around the concept of a Petroleum System - an integrated understanding of hydrocarbon
source, migration, reservoir, trap, seal and timing.

COURSE FORMAT:
The course will be conducted informally, with lectures interspersed with discussions by all participants.
Exercises will reinforce introduced concepts, with attendees working as two-person teams. Enrollment will
be limited to 36 participants.

The course will include a daily continental breakfast, afternoon snack and beverages. Students are
responsible for their own lunch.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

You will gain a basic understanding of:

 Factors that control hydrocarbon generation and accumulation,

 Procedures used to find and produce hydrocarbons,
 Data collection and interpretation techniques,
 The roles and skills required of exploration and development professionals, and
 The worldwide occurrence of hydrocarbon deposits.

REGISTRATION AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

To register or for more course information visit the ASME-IPTI website.

COURSE TOPICS:

The Petroleum System

Sedimentary Basins
Generation of Hydrocarbons
Primary and Secondary Migration
Traps and Seals
Sandstone Reservoirs
Carbonate Reservoirs
Shale Gas Reservoirs
Coalbed Gas Reservoirs
Reservoir Characterization - From Core to Seismic Scale
Stratigraphic Correlation
Formation Evaluation
Applied Geologic Mapping
Prediction of Compartments and Flow Units
Subsurface Pressure and Temperature Considerations
Reservoir Mechanics
Risk and Resources
Exploration and Production Strategies
Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists - How to ask the right questions

INSTRUCTOR:
For a photo and biographical sketch of the instructor, Dr. John Curtis, click here.

LOCATION:
The course will be held in the RAC-Houston Training Facility, 1880 S. Dairy Ashford, Building II, Suite 220,
Ashford Crossing II , Houston, Texas.

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Petroleum "rock oil" is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock

formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of
various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds.

Composition
The proportion of hydrocarbons in the mixture is highly variable and ranges
from as much as 97% by weight in the lighter oils to as little as 50% in the
heavier oils and bitumens.

The hydrocarbons in crude oil are mostly alkanes, cycloalkanes and various
aromatic hydrocarbons while the other organic compounds contain nitrogen,
oxygen and sulfur, and trace amounts of metals such as iron, nickel, copper
and vanadium. The exact molecular composition varies widely from formation
to formation but the proportion of chemical elements vary over fairly narrow
limits as follows:[2]

Carbon 83-87%
Hydrogen 10-14%

Nitrogen 0.1-2%

Oxygen 0.1-1.5%

Sulfur 0.5-6%

Metals <1000 ppm

Crude oil varies greatly in appearance depending on its composition. It is

usually black or dark brown (although it may be yellowish or even greenish).
In the reservoir it is usually found in association with natural gas, which being
lighter forms a gas cap over the petroleum, and saline water, which being
heavier generally floats underneath it. Crude oil may also be found in semi-
solid form mixed with sand, as in the Athabasca oil sands in Canada, where it
may be referred to as crude bitumen.

Chemistry

Octane, a hydrocarbon found in petroleum, lines are single bonds, black spheres
are carbon, white spheres are hydrogen

Petroleum is a mixture of a very large number of different hydrocarbons; the

most commonly found molecules are alkanes (linear or branched),
cycloalkanes, aromatic hydrocarbons, or more complicated chemicals like
asphaltenes. Each petroleum variety has a unique mix of molecules, which
define its physical and chemical properties, like color and viscosity.

The alkanes, also known as paraffins, are saturated hydrocarbons with

straight or branched chains which contain only carbon and hydrogen and
have the general formula CnH2n+2 They generally have from 5 to 40 carbon
atoms per molecule, although trace amounts of shorter or longer molecules
may be present in the mixture.

The alkanes from pentane (C5H12) to octane (C8H18) are refined into gasoline
(petrol), the ones from nonane (C9H20) to hexadecane (C16H34) into diesel fuel
and kerosene (primary component of many types of jet fuel), and the ones
from hexadecane upwards into fuel oil and lubricating oil. At the heavier end
of the range, paraffin wax is an alkane with approximately 25 carbon atoms,
while asphalt has 35 and up, although these are usually cracked by modern
refineries into more valuable products. Any shorter hydrocarbons are
considered natural gas or natural gas liquids.

The cycloalkanes, also known as napthenes, are saturated hydrocarbons

which have one or more carbon rings to which hydrogen atoms are attached
according to the formula CnH2n. Cycloalkanes have similar properties to
alkanes but have higher boiling points.

The aromatic hydrocarbons are unsaturated hydrocarbons which have one

or more planar six-carbon rings called benzene rings, to which hydrogen
atoms are attached with the formula CnHn. They tend to burn with a sooty
flame, and many have a sweet aroma. Some are carcinogenic.

These different molecules are separated by fractional distillation at an oil

refinery to produce gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, and other hydrocarbons. For
example 2,2,4-trimethylpentane (isooctane), widely used in gasoline, has a
chemical formula of C8H18 and it reacts with oxygen exothermically:[7]

The amount of various molecules in an oil sample can be determined in

laboratory. The molecules are typically extracted in a solvent, then separated
in a gas chromatograph, and finally determined with a suitable detector, such
as a flame ionization detector or a mass spectrometer[8].

Incomplete combustion of petroleum or gasoline results in production of toxic

byproducts. Too little oxygen results in carbon monoxide. Due to high
temperatures and high pressures involved exhaust gases from gasoline
combustion in car engines usually include nitrogen oxides which are
responsible for creation of photochemical smog.

[edit]

Formation
Petroleum is formed by kerogen pyrolysis, in a variety of mostly endothermic
reactions at high temperature and/or pressure. [9]

Kerogen is is a mixture of organic material occur in sedimentary rocks. When

heated to the right temperatures in the Earth's crust, (oil window ca. 60°-
120°C, gas window ca.120°-150°C) some types of kerogen release crude oil
or natural gas, collectively known as hydrocarbons (fossil fuels). When such
kerogens are present in high concentration in rocks such as shale, and have
not been heated to a sufficient temperature to release their hydrocarbons,
they may form oil shale deposits.

[edit] Biogenic theory

crude oil and natural gas are products of compression and heating of ancient
organic materials over geological time.

Oil is formed from the preserved remains of prehistoric zooplankton and algae
which have been settled to the sea (or lake) bottom in large quantities under
anoxic conditions.

Terrestrial plants, on the other hand, tend to form coal. Over geological time
this organic matter, mixed with mud, is buried under heavy layers of sediment.

The resulting high levels of heat and pressure cause the organic matter to
chemically change during diagenesis, first into a waxy material known as
kerogen which is found in various oil shales around the world, and then with
more heat into liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons in a process known as
catagenesis.

Geologists often refer to an "oil window" [10] which is the temperature range that
oil forms in—below the minimum temperature oil remains trapped in the form
of kerogen, and above the maximum temperature the oil is converted to
natural gas through the process of thermal cracking. Though this happens at
different depths in different locations around the world, a typical depth for the
oil window might be 4–6 km. Note that even if oil is formed at extreme depths,
it may be trapped at much shallower depths where it was not formed (the
Athabasca Oil Sands is one example).

Abiogenic theory

The idea of abiogenic petroleum origin is held by an extreme minority of

petroleum geologists and engineers. It was championed in the Western world
by astronomer Thomas Gold based on thoughts from Russia, mainly on
studies of Nikolai Kudryavtsev in the 1950s. Gold's hypothesis was that
hydrocarbons of purely inorganic origin exist in the planet Earth. Since most
petroleum hydrocarbons are less dense than aqueous pore fluids, Gold
proposed that they migrate upward into oil reservoirs through deep fracture
networks. Although biomarkers are found in petroleum that most petroleum
geologists interpret as indicating biological origin, Gold proposed that
Thermophilic, rock-dwelling microbial life-forms are responsible for their
presence.

This hypothesis is accepted by only a small minority of geologists and

petroleum engineers. [13] Methods of making hydrocarbons from inorganic
material have been known for some time, but no substantial proof exists that
this is happening on any significant scale in the earth's crust for any
hydrocarbon other than methane (natural gas).

Types of Kerogen
Kerogen can be classified on the basis of Carbon Hydrogen ratio to the
following types:

Type I
 containing alginite, amorphous organic matter, cyanobacteria, freshwater
algae, and land plant resins (AMO)
 Hydrogen:Carbon ratio > 1.25
 Oxygen:Carbon ratio < 0.15
 Shows great tendency to readily produce liquid hydrocarbons.
 It derives principally from lacustrine algae and forms only in anoxic lakes
and several other unusual marine environments
 Has few cyclic or aromatic structures
 Formed mainly from proteins and lipids

Type II
 Hydrogen:Carbon ratio < 1.25
 Oxygen:Carbon ratio 0.03 to 0.18
 Tend to produce a mix of gas and oil.
 Several types: exinite, cutinite, resinite, and liptinite
o Exinite: formed from the casings of pollen and spores
o Cutinite: formed from terrestrial plant cuticle
o Resinite: formed from terrestrial plant resins and animal
decomposition resins
o Liptinite: formed from terrestrial plant lipids (hydrophobic molecules
that are soluble in organic solvents) and marine algae

They all have great tendencies to produce petroleum and are all formed from
lipids deposited under reducing conditions.

Type II-Sulfur
 Similar to Type II but high in sulfur.
Type III
 Hydrogen:Carbon ratio < 1
 Oxygen:Carbon ratio 0.03 to 0.3
 Material is thick, resembling wood or coal.
 Tends to produce coal and gas
 Has very low hydrogen because of the extensive ring and aromatic systems

Kerogen Type III is formed from terrestrial plant matter that is lacking in lipids
or waxy matter. It forms from cellulose, the carbohydrate polymer that forms
the rigid structure of terrestrial plants, lignin, a non-carbohydrate polymer
formed from phenyl-propane units that binds the strings of cellulose together,
and terpenes and phenolic compounds in the plant.

Most of the biomass that eventually becomes petroleum is contributed by the

bacteria and protists that decompose the primary matter, not the primary
matter itself. However, the lignin in this kerogen decomposes to form phenolic
compounds that are toxic to bacteria and protists. Without this extra input, it
will only become methane and/or coal.

Type IV (residue)
 Hydrogen:Carbon < 0.5

Type IV kerogen contains mostly decomposed organic matter in the form of

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. They have no potential to produce
hydrocarbons.