Oil and Gas:

Characteristics and
Occurrence

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 Oil and Gas

Oil and gas are naturally

occurring hydrocarbons
Composed of hydrogen and
carbon
Methane – 1 carbon, 4 hydrogen
Ethane – 2 carbon, 6 hydrogen
Propane – 3 carbon, 8 hydrogen

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 Oil and Gas

Natural gas is mostly methane

As the number of carbon atoms
increase, it becomes oil
Very heavy oils are tars

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 Reservoir Rocks

Oil and gas are

trapped in the pore
spaces of rock
Porosity is an
indication of how
much empty space
there is in rock

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 Reservoir Rocks

Permeability is a
measure of how
well the pore
spaces are
interconnected
Permeability
allows fluid to
flow through the
rock

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 Petroleum Traps

Petroleum will
accumulate in
traps
Oil and gas
floats so it
collects in
high points

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 Petroleum Traps

Structural
traps form
because of
deformations
in the rock
such as a
fault or
anticline

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 Petroleum Traps

Stratigraphic
traps are
formed when
other beds
seal the
reservoir bed
or
permeability
changes
within the
reservoir bed
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 Petroleum Traps

Stratigraphic
traps can be
extremely
varied

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 Petroleum Traps

Combination traps have both

structural and stratigraphic
attributes

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 Exploration

Use seismic
data to
image the
formations
Sound
waves are
reflected
back to the
surface

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 Exploration

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 Exploration

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 Exploration

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 Exploration

The
reflected
energy is
plotted
versus time
(depth) to
give a
picture of
what the
formations
look like

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 Types of Wells

Exploratory wells
Commonly called wildcat
Drilled to find out if petroleum is
present
Drilling in an unknown environment
Cost more and requires better
planning

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 Types of Wells

Confirmation wells
Drilled to determine the size of a
discovery
A discovery usually requires several
confirmation wells

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 Types of Wells

Development wells
Once a reservoir is determined to be
economically viable, multiple wells
are drilled to develop the reservoir
When reducing the acreage per well,
they are called infill wells
Wells near the boundary are called
step-out wells

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