Structural Geology in

Petroleum Exploration

Topics:

Petroleum System
Traps
Exploration Methods (seismic)
Maui Field Example
Salt Tectonics

Reading:

1. Outline in website
2. Pdf file: Geology for Petroleum Exploration, Drilling, and
Production by Norman J. Hyne, 1984, pages 173-197.
3. Salt Structures- Ch. 19 of Fossen

Factors required to make a

conventional Oil Deposit

A Sedimentary Basin with:

Source rock- rich in organic matter

Burial heating maturation
Reservoir rock- porous and permeable
Trap

structural trap
stratigraphic trap

Oil Exploration Strategy:

Petroleum system

Find the Traps

The most common traps are structures
Cant see the oil ahead of the drill
So exploration often targets the structures in
hopes of finding oil

Origin of Petroleum

Oil forms from the decay and

transformation of dead organisms (algae)
buried in sedimentary rocks

% Total Organic Content

Maturation of Organic Matter

Source Rocks

At about 60o C transformation of kerogen begins

Liquid hydrocarbons begin to form
Above 140o C only gas is produced

Black organic-rich marine

shales
Organic matter is preserved
in low-oxygen water
Restricted marine basins
and zones were water rises
from the deep

Migration of oil

Oil is less dense than water

Oil will move up by buoyancy
Oil needs a permeable bed to move
It will stop when it reaches an impermeable bed

Migration

Oil Reservoirs

Eastern
Venezuela

Western
Canada

Permeable reservoir bed

Impermeable seal
Sandstone

Porosity
Open
space!

Trap Types

Stratigraphic Traps

3D Structural Closure, Cooper Basin (Australia)

Triassic

Cooper Basin

Permian

Structural
Traps

Triassic Inerval
Toolachee Fm
Roseneath Shale
Epsilon Fm
Murteree
Fm

Carboniferous

Patchawarra

Tirrawarra Fm

Merrimelia Fm

Merrimelia Fm:

- Starts the Cooper Basin

- Waxing and waning of glacial sediments

Trap Terminology

Fault
Traps

Gullfaks
GullfaksField
FieldNorth
NorthSea
Sea

Gullfaks Field North Sea

Fossen, 2010

Map of the
Murre Field

Compressional Traps

Newfoundland

Traps in Strike-Slip settings

Positive Flower Structures

How to see in the subsurface?

Seismic Acquisition

Drilling
Structural Interpretation
Seismic Reflection Imaging
Send sound into the rock, and collect the
echoes

Seismic shot
gatherEvery vertical
squiggle is from
one geophone

3D Seismic Image

Salt

3D Geological Model

Offshore Platform

Maui Field, New Zealand

Major
Hydrocarbon
Provinces in
North
America
Sedimentary Basins

Gulf of
Mexico
Salt

Gulf of Mexico

Salt moves driven by buoyancy

Salt density= 2 g/ cm3
Salt undergoes no compaction
Shale Density is initially 40% water
Initial Density = 1.8 g/

Halite, NaCl

cm3

Water expelled during compaction

Final Density = 2.4 g/ cm3
Gypsum,
Ca(SO4).2H20

Sequential Stages
of a Salt Diapir

Salt Traps

Seismic Image of a Salt Dome

Rootless Salt- Gulf of Mexico

AAPG Explorer, 2013

3D Seismic Interpretation of Salt

Structures

Relationship between Salt Movement and

Sedimentation
Syncline

Initial
syncline
are now
anticlines

Sandbox Experiment
Relationship between diapirism and normal faulting

Extension Above Salt Diapir

Salt Domes Pierce the Strata

Fractures around Salt Domes

Ant-Tracking
displaying radial
fracture pattern
around salt domes

8km

Salt Structures vs. Tectonic

Structures
Caused by movement of salt, not by plate boundary
stresses
Often linked to sedimentation
Often localized by tectonic structures
Both upwards movement of salt and salt withdrawal
cause deformation