Discuss the factors that need to be considered when deal with a “petroleum

system” in relation to modeling.

Petroleum system have mainly focused on the research and exploration of conventional oil and gas
accumulations. A petroleum system comprises a pod of active source rock and the oil and gas
derived from it as established by geochemical correlation. On this basis, it was proposed that a
petroleum system consists of such essential elements as source rock, reservoir, seal, and
overburden rocks, and such processes as petroleum generation, migration, accumulation, and
entrapment (Magoon and Dow 1994).

Modeling also provides a framework for the input and processing of many kinds of data essential
in resource assessment. Therefore, these factors are considered when the modeling is built up.
These factors including (1) petroleum system elements such as reservoir, seal, and source rock
intervals; (2) timing of depositional, hiatus, and erosional events and their influences on petroleum
systems; (3) incorporation of vertical and lateral distribution and lithologies of strata that compose
the petroleum systems and (4) calculations of pressure-volume-temperature (PVT) histories. As
digital data on petroleum systems continue to expand, the models can integrate these data into by
building and displaying, through time, areas of petroleum generation, migration pathways,
accumulations, and relative contributions of source rocks to the hydrocarbon components.

The concept embodies all of the geologic elements and processes needed for oil and gas to
accumulate. These elements and processes must occur in the proper order for the organic matter in
a source rock to be converted into petroleum and then to be stored and preserved. If a single
element or process is missing or occurs out of the required sequence, a prospect loses viability
Each of these elements is evaluated in a particular way to determine the potentiality of the system.
From the above scheme it is clear that at least 25 different elements play a role in assessing a
prospect, or basin. Also the petroleum system forms a chain. If the chain misses a link, the
prospect is doomed. The five main elements are essential to make a viable prospect.

Elements

The source rock is a subsurface sedimentary rock unit(s) which contain precursors of hydrocarbon
formation, organic matters (from decays of ancient biological species) through high temperature
for longtime to made of shale or limestone. The source rock host the processes that involve in the
formation oil and gas until they start to immigrate toward the upper or nearer rock(s) named
reservoir due to the fluidity of oil and gas. The source rock is evaluated using the geochemistry
methods.

Reservoir rock is a subsurface volume of rock that has sufficient porosity and permeability to
retain the immigrating oil and gas from source rock. Oil and gas usually accumulate on the top of
water and they are always there relatively to their difference of densities.

Seal is a lithological unit(s) with low permeability which restricts hydrocarbons to escape from
the reservoir. It is made of chalks, shale or evaporites. Its analysis bases on assessing the extent
and thickness to know how much cap rock is efficient to oil and gas retention. According to
lithological deformation that might have been happen, the cap rock may be found in various types.
The tectonic movements the crust experiences cause the anticline and syncline seals and the matter
of consequences of their shapes; the convex form is more enjoyable to petroleum exploration than
concave one.

The trap is structural or stratigraphic feature that ensures a fixed and firm position of seal and
reservoir which avoids the escape of oil and gas.

Process

One petroleum system process that includes the generation and movement of petroleum from the
pod of active source rock to the petroleum show, seep, or accumulation. The time over which this
process occurs is the age of the petroleum system.

Migration is the process of moving oil and gas from the source rock to the reservoir pores when it
is trapped after its generation. The main factors of the oil and gas migration are compression,
buoyancy, chemical potential; thermal expansion, topography, maturation (increase in volume with
time), and gravitational separation of hydrocarbons and water from each other. 

An important concept in process timing is the “critical moment.” This is the time of generation,
migration and accumulation of most of the hydrocarbons in a petroleum system. The critical
moment occurs in the range of 50 to 90% transformation ratio (TR), which is the relative
conversion of source-rock organic matter to hydrocarbons. The selection of the time within this
range is at the discretion of the modeler. The absolute age of each layer in the basin and petroleum
system model is an important parameter for determining the timing of the processes that generate,
move and trap petroleum. Age information may be available from paleontologic data, radiometric
dating, fission-track dates and magnetic-reversal tracking. In many basins, known petroleum
source rocks have been assigned to global geologic periods based on geo-chemical and
biostratigraphic determinations.16Identification of the lithology and depositional environment of
each stratigraphic unit is crucial. For example, classifying the depositional environment, and thus
properties, such as porosity and permeability, of coarse grained sediments helps identify their
potential as reservoir or carrier rocks that facilitate migration of petroleum from source rock to
reservoir. Characterizing the source-rock depositional environment helps predict the probable
petroleum product generated through kerogen maturation. Fine-grained sediments deposited in
deep marine basins, on continental shelves and in anoxic lakes all contain different types of
kerogen, leading to different petroleum outputs. 

Basin and petroleum system modeling brings together several dynamic processes, including
sediment deposition, faulting, burial, kerogen maturation kinetics and multiphase fluid flow. These
processes may be examined at several levels, and complexity typically increases with spatial
dimensionality. The simplest, 1D modeling, examines burial history at a point location. Two-
dimensional modeling, either in map or cross section, can be used to reconstruct oil and gas
generation, migration and accumulation along a cross section. Three-dimensional modeling
reconstructs petroleum systems at reservoir and basin scales and has the ability to display the
output in 1D, 2D or 3D, and through time.

Backstripping is a technique to assess the geologic history of rock layers through the use of
geologic cross sections or seismic sections, and involves the progressive removal of sediment
loads, incorporating the isostatic and sediment decompaction responses to this unloading.

Petroleum system modeling is an iterative process with many interrelated steps, each of which is a
scientific discipline in itself.