Petroleum Geoscience: From Sedimentary Environments to Rock Physics

Petroleum Geoscience: From Sedimentary Environments to Rock Physics

Petroleum Geoscience: From Sedimentary Environments to Rock Physics With contributions from Per Avseth, Jan Inge Faleide, Roy H. Gabrielsen, Nils-Martin Hanken, Kaare Høeg, Jens Jahren, Martin Landrø, Nazmul Haque Mondol, Jenø Nagy and Jesper Kresten Nielsen. 123

Department of Geosciences University of Oslo 0316 Oslo Blindern Norway knut.bjorlykke@geo.uio.no ISBN 978-3-642-02331-6 e-isbn 978-3-642-02332-3 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-02332-3 Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2010921863 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover design: deblik, Berlin Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)

Preface Petroleum geology is not a well-defined academic subject. It includes many different aspects of the Earth sciences which are used in petroleum exploration and production. Nearly all types of insight can in some cases be useful in petroleum exploration, but there are some disciplines that are most relevant. Since petroleum is formed and hosted in sedimentary rocks, sedimentology is critical. Palaeontology is important for dating rocks and carbonate reservoirs may consist mostly of fossils. Structural geology and basin analysis are also vital for reconstructing the migration and trapping of petroleum. Geochemistry and petroleum chemistry are also important. Geophysical methods are essential for logging and seismic exploration, and recently electromagnetic methods have also been used in exploration and production. Most universities do not offer specific courses in petroleum geology/geophysics and only a few have a Masters or PhD programmes in this field. Oil companies therefore recruit many geologists with little training in these subjects. In this book we have tried to give a basic introduction to disciplines relevant to petroleum exploration and we have also included some aspects of petroleum production. Since so many different disciplines are included in this book it is clear that it has not been possible to make in-depth treatments of each of these. This book provides a relatively condensed and precise presentation of the basic facts in each subject and it was therefore necessary to limit the number of field examples and cases. We have attempted to write a book which requires only a limited background in geology and geophysics. Some of the chapters are therefore relatively basic, but others are more advanced and we have then included more discussions and references to original research papers. The reference to the original literature had to be limited because of the wide range of disciplines. In the past textbooks often included very extensive lists of references which were very useful when searching for relevant literature. With the electronic data bases available now it is easy to search for relevant references and new textbooks. In this textbook we want to bridge the gap that often seems to exist between geophysical and geological disciplines and there is an emphasis on sediment compaction, fluid flow and rock physics. The skills required from a petroleum geologist have changed greatly over the years. Traditionally the main task was to identify reservoir rocks, structures with closure and the proximity of a mature source rock. We are running out of the easy to find and easy to produce oil and gas, and exploration and production technology is becoming more advanced. Production of unconventional oil (tar sand, oil shale) and also tight gas reservoirs and gas shale, requires a stronger background in mineralogy, chemistry and physics. v

vi Preface The geophysical methods have become increasingly sophisticated and it is now often possible to detect the presence of gas and oil prior to drilling based on seismic data. Electromagnetic methods that were primarily used in mineral prospecting are also used to find oil. As conventional oil is becoming more scarce more geologists are becoming involved with exploration and production of heavy oil, oil shales and shale gas. This requires a stronger background in the chemistry and physics of petroleum and also in mineralogy and rock mechanics (rock physics). Physical and chemical modelling is also very important. Even if alternative sources of energy are being developed the world will require fossil fuels for several decades. It is a great challenge to limit the environmental consequences of such production. Although I have the main responsibility for this book, it includes separate contributions from: Per Avseth (Rock Physics), Odin Petroleum, Bergen, Norway. Jan Inge Faleide (Regional Petroleum Geology mainly from offshore Norway), University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway Nils-Martin Hanken (Carbonate Rocks), University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway Roy Gabrielsen (Structural Geology), University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway Martin Landrø (4 D Seismics), NTNU Trondheim, Trondheim, Norway. Nazmul Haque Mondol (Exploration Geophysics), University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway Jenø Nagy (Stratigraphy), University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway Kaare Høeg (Rock Mechanics), Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway Jens Jahren (Sandstone Reservoirs), Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway Jesper Kresten Nielsen (Carbonate Sedimentology), SINTEF, Trondheim, Norway. Adrian Read has been of great assistance as Text Editor in the preparation of this book. Several of our PhD students have helped out with illustrations etc: Tom Erik Maast Øyvind Marcussen Olav Blaich Brit Thyberg Delphine Croizé, Masaoki Adachi and Jon Reierstad have made many of the figures in the book and Jan Petterhold and Tove Midthun have produced illustrations for Chapter 5. Olav Walderhaug has kindly made useful comments to Chapter 4 (sandstone reservoirs and clastic diagenesis). Statoil has provided funding which has helped the preparation of this book, and we are grateful for this support. Fugro Geoscience Division has kindly provided good seismic data from offshore Norway and also from other parts of the world. Oslo, Norway March 2010

Contents 1 Introduction to Petroleum Geology... 1 2 Introduction to Sedimentology... 27 3 Sedimentary Geochemistry... 87 4 Sandstones and Sandstone Reservoirs... 113 and Jens Jahren 5 Carbonate Sediments... 141 Nils-Martin Hanken,, and Jesper Kresten Nielsen 6 Shales, Silica Deposits and Evaporites... 201 7 Stratigraphy... 213 Jenø Nagy and 8 Sequence Stratigraphy, Seismic Stratigraphy and Basin Analysis... 235 9 Heat Transport in Sedimentary Basins... 253 10 Subsurface Water and Fluid Flow in Sedimentary Basins... 259 11 Introduction to Geomechanics: Stress and Strain in Sedimentary Basins... 281, Kaare Høeg, and Nazmul Haque Mondol 12 The Structure and Hydrocarbon Traps of Sedimentary Basins... 299 Roy H. Gabrielsen 13 Compaction of Sedimentary Rocks Including Shales, Sandstones and Carbonates... 329 14 Source Rocks and Petroleum Geochemistry... 339 vii

viii Contents 15 Petroleum Migration... 349 16 Well Logs: A Brief Introduction... 361 17 Seismic Exploration... 375 Nazmul Haque Mondol 18 Explorational Rock Physics The Link Between Geological Processes and Geophysical Observables... 403 Per Avseth 19 4D Seismic... 427 Martin Landrø 20 Production Geology... 445 21 Unconventional Hydrocarbons: Oil Shales, Heavy Oil, Tar Sands, Shale Gas and Gas Hydrates... 459 22 Geology of the Norwegian Continental Shelf... 467 Jan Inge Faleide,, and Roy H. Gabrielsen Subject Index... 501

Contributors Per Avseth Odin Petroleum, Bergen; NTNU, Trondheim, Norway, pavseth@yahoo.com Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, knut.bjorlykke@geo.uio.no Jan Inge Faleide Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, j.i.faleide@geo.uio.no Roy H. Gabrielsen Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, roy.gabrielsen@geo.uio.no Nils-Martin Hanken University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway, Nils-Martin.Hanken@uit.no Kaare Høeg Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, Kaare.Hoeg@geo.uio.no Jens Jahren Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, jens.jahren@geo.uio.no Martin Landrø NTNU Trondheim, Trondheim, Norway, martin.landro@ntnu.no Nazmul Haque Mondol Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo; Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI), Oslo, Norway, nazmul.haque@geo.uio.no Jenø Nagy Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, jeno.nagy@geo.uio.no Jesper Kresten Nielsen SINTEF, Trondheim, Norway, jesper.nielsen@sintef.no ix