DISTRIBUTION OF HYDROCARBONS IN

SEDIMENTARY BASINS
The importance of temperature

Research & Technology

Memoir No. 7
2 MEMOIR SERIES

MEMOIR SERIES
This R&D Memoir Series summarizes cumulative achievements made by Statoil
researchers and their associates in key technical areas: care is thus taken to
differentiate between achievements made by Statoil alone and those resulting from
external cooperation. The intended readership is anyone with a technical overview of
the petroleum industry. No specialist knowledge of the subject is required.

CONTENT

Introduction 3
Hydrocarbon traps
Heat, pressure and diagenesis
Confronting conventional wisdom

Porosity, permeability and hydraulic fractures 6

Porosity and permeability evolution in sandstones and shales
Hydraulic fracture mechanisms
Summary

The Golden Zone concept and its implications 10

Thermal zonation
Practical implications
Denouement

Selective bibliography 14

AUTHORS’ NOTE
The key to reducing exploration risk is the combining of geological and geophysical approaches. The
Golden Zone concept must therefore be seen as an exciting, yet somewhat provocative addition to the
overall exploration toolkit.

Ongoing research may also reveal unforeseen modifications or even chip away at some of the basic
tenets. Nevertheless, if exploration geoscientists are persuaded to pay more attention to the importance
of temperature in predicting the global occurrence of hydrocarbon accumulations, the authors have done
their job.

The text has been deliberately simplified to clarify the concept, and the line drawings, although based on
a wealth of genuine information, are likewise idealized models of reality.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The research summarized in this memoir was carried out by co-authors Per Arne Bjørkum, Paul Nadeau,
Olav Walderhaug and associates, partly before but mainly after they were employed by Statoil. They
would like to thank the following experts for helpful discussions on specific diagenetic aspects: Knut
Bjørlykke, Stephen N Ehrenberg, Eric H Oelkers and Nils E Aase. Statoil publication was sanctioned by
Ingve R Theodorsen, Bill Maloney, Tim Dodson, Morten Rye-Larsen and John Reidar Granli. Knut Georg
Røssland kindly undertook a detailed review of the penultimate manuscript and Tony Boassen provided
the ESEM/backscattered electron images.

AWARD
Paul Nadeau received the 2000 Schlumberger Medal “in recognition of scientific excellence in mineralogy
and its applications”. The award was presented at a meeting of the Mineralogical Society on the 4th of
January 2001 in the Great Hall of Durham University (UK).

Antony T Buller (series author), Per Arne Bjørkum*, Paul Nadeau* & Olav Walderhaug*
Designer: Bente Lie, GTS, Statoil Research Centre
Publisher: Statoil ASA
Printer: Netprint
Publication date: August 2005

*Contact for further information.


INTRODUCTION
Statoil researchers have laid the foundation for a paradigm shift in exploration thinking
that transforms perceived geological complexity into a global pattern of elegant
simplicity.
Hydrocarbon traps
A trap requires a charge system, reservoir
rocks and an effective seal
Now that many of the world’s largest fields have
been accounted for, explorers are increasingly
turning their attention to finding subtle traps in
mature basins and opening up challenging frontier
areas, such as the Arctic and ultra-deep water
Atlantic margins.
The time is therefore ripe to introduce a step
change in the industry’s understanding of how
hydrocarbon accumulation works, starting with a
summary of the basic principles.
Simply stated, the entrapment of oil and gas
depends on the timely coincidence and fortuitous
arrangement of three geological components: a
petroleum charge system; high quality reservoir
rocks; and an effective seal.
The charge system consists of organic-rich source
rocks1 that are capable of generating and expelling
hydrocarbons.
As source rocks are buried deeper and exposed to
Cap rock
Gas-oil contact
Oil-water contact
Shale
increasingly higher temperatures, their kerogen
content is chemically broken down and converted
into hydrocarbons. Oil generation may start at
about 110 °C (and continue to about 140 °C),
followed by gas generation at about 120 °C (or
higher).
During this process, the hydrocarbons move
(migrate) through the source rock and are
eventually expelled into the overlying sediment
column where some of them may accumulate in
reservoir rocks.
Accumulation, however, does not guarantee
preservation. This depends on the sealing capacity
of the overlying cap rock sequence, which is
normally a low permeability mudrock or shale.
If the cap rock becomes fractured, some of
the escaping hydrocarbons may accumulate in
reservoir rocks higher up in the sedimentary
succession – a process known as re-migration.
The trick, of course, is to find present-day traps
whose cap rocks are intact, and whose reservoir
rocks are (i) sufficiently porous2 to contain
commercial quantities of hydrocarbons and (ii)
sufficiently permeable2 to allow them to flow fast
enough towards production wells.
Oil leg
Shale
Vertical
closure one
andst
S
Spill point
Shale
INTRODUCTION 3
1
Source rocks normally consist of fine-
grained sediments (mudrocks and shales)
that are rich in organic matter derived
from marine or lacustrine algae and
land plants. The organic matter has to
be insoluble to ensure its preservation
during burial, and must therefore have
been originally deposited in wet, muddy
environments devoid of oxygen. This
insoluble material is known as kerogen.
2
Porosity is expressed as the percentage
bulk pore volume of a rock, irrespective
of whether pores are interconnected or
isolated. Permeability is a measure (in
milliDarcies, mD) of the relative ease with
which fluid flows through a porous rock.
The prerequisites of hydrocarbon
entrapment and standard
descriptive terms. Although there
are many trap configurations, the
one shown here – an anticlinal
fold – is perhaps the simplest.
The single-headed arrow depicts
the primary migration of oil and
gas from a maturing source rock
into an overlying sandstone
reservoir.
Gas
Oil
Water
Source rock
4 INTRODUCTION
Heat, pressure and diagenesis
The predominant dynamic controls on
hydrocarbon distribution are heat, diagenesis
and fluid pressure
Heat is largely derived from deep in the earth’s
crust and flows upwards through conductive,
sediment-filled basins. The deeper one drills, the
hotter the rocks and their contained fluids become.
This phenomenon is expressed by geothermal
gradients, which define the average, linear rate
of increase in temperature per kilometre depth of
burial.
Geothermal gradients can range from over 80 C o 4
per kilometre in hot basins (e.g. the Bombay basin)
to less than 20 oC per kilometre in cold basins (e.g.
in parts of the Gulf of Mexico).
The global average for sedimentary, oil-bearing
basins is about 30 oC per kilometre, which is slighly
less than that encountered on the Norwegian
continental shelf (NCS).
Pressure also increases with depth, but in a less
obvious fashion. With reference to the figure,
hydrostatic pressure is that imposed by a static,
unbroken column of formation water held in the
pores. This implies that if the water were free to
rise in a borehole it would reach the surface. The
curve to the right shows the lithostatic pressure
gradient, which represents the total load of the
overlying water-saturated sediments – the
overburden.
These two curves define the limits between which
the pressure of pore fluids in a sediment column
normally varies.
Initially, the pore pressure closely follows the
hydrostatic boundary, but at a certain depth in a
given basin it swings towards the lithostatic limit.
From the point of departure, a state of overpressure
is said to exist. In other words, at and beyond the
overpressure ‘ramp’ the fluid pressure at a given
depth is considerably greater than the hydrostatic
pressure.
(Photos: Øyvind Hagen.)
Statoil geologists studying Jurassic
The difference between the normal hydrostatic
sandstone and shale sequences in
pressure and that approaching the lithostatic
East Greenland. These rocks are
limit is thus a matter of fluid containment, and is
very similar to hydrocarbon-bearing
therefore related to the hydraulic conductivity or intervals encountered in sedimentary
overall permeability of a sedimentary succession. basins beneath the Norwegian Sea.
1
2 Generalized depth plot of subsurface
Lit
pressure regimes on the Norwegian
ho
continental shelf.
sta
ict
Depth (km)
3
pre
Note that the pore pressure ramp marks
ssu
a departure of the pore fluid pressure
re
gra
Hydro
Ram curve away from the hydrostatic
die
p
pressure gradient towards the lithostatic
nt
static
pressure gradient.
5
press
This is accompanied by a build up
ure g
of overpressure and a reduction
6
of effective stress (the difference
radien
between lithostatic and pore water
t
7 pressure).
50 100 150
Pressure (M Pa)
Pore water pressure
Overpressure
Effective stress
The depths at which overpressure ramps occur in
nature vary considerably from basin to basin.
Both pressure and heat control diagenesis – the
process by which unconsolidated sediments are
converted with time and burial into sedimentary
rocks through physical consolidation and
compaction (mechanical compaction) and the
chemical precipitation of new minerals (chemical
compaction). New minerals, which may occur
as grain coatings, pore linings or pore fills, often
tend to cement and thereby strengthen the rock
framework.
All of these phenomena alter the geometries, sizes
and interconnections of pores, which usually lead
to a loss in porosity and permeability. Reductions
in pore space also result in the expulsion of vast
quantities of formation fluids from the rocks,
which flow upwards through the sediments.

Confronting conventional
wisdom
Deep diagenesis results from thermo-chemical
reactions
Subsiding sedimentary basins are therefore
dynamic entities when viewed over geological
time.
However, certain present-day geological features,
such as the stratigraphic framework3 and the
superimposition of tectonic and structural
disturbances4, can be indirectly – if somewhat
coarsely – determined by using geophysical
techniques and information from wells that happen
to be in the vicinity of an enticing prospect5. But
the crucial aspects of hydrocarbon expulsion,
migration and accumulation, which commonly
take place over tens of millions of years, have to
be predicted.
Up until now, quantitative models of porosity,
permeability and pressure evolution in sedimentary
basins have mainly been based on mechanical
compaction. Porosity (and hence permeability)
loss is thus thought to be controlled by effective
stress; that is, the total pressure exerted on
sediment grain contacts by the overburden minus
the fluid pressure. This physically pushes loose sand
grains, silt particles and clay minerals ever closer
and harder together while the interstitial water is
Deposition
Mechanical compaction
(Images: Tony Boassen and Per Arne Bjørkum.)
squeezed out. This mechanism works well for the
early stages of burial; however, it has been widely
assumed that the same process (effective stress)
controls the precipitation of mineral cements at
deeper burial.
The validity of using effective stress as the
controlling parameter for porosity loss at depth is
hereby challenged, not least because the effective
stress is at a minimum below overpressure ramps
and may thereafter remain low and almost
constant. Porosity loss and permeability reduction
should therefore come to a halt, which is far from
the truth.
After 15 years of studying the diagenesis of
sandstones6 and shales7 on the NCS, Statoil
researchers argue that beyond a certain depth
the main controlling force behind the diagenetic
reduction of porosity and permeability is
temperature – not effective stress. Deep
diagenesis consequently results from time-
temperature controlled (thermo-chemical)
reactions, which generate overpressure because
the fluids are unable to escape fast enough
through the rock matrix as porosity is reduced.
As will be seen, this empirically verifiable, yet
controversial theory helps to transform perceived
geological complexity into a global pattern of elegant
simplicity, and has important consequences on
our understanding of hydrocarbon migration and
accumulation.
Chemical compaction
Quartz grain
Quartz cement
Feldspar grain
Porosity
Clay mineral
INTRODUCTION 5
Examples of sandstone compaction,
ranging from a shallowly buried, high
porosity, un-cemented sample (left) to
a deeply buried, extremely low porosity,
quartz cemented sample (right).
Compaction stages are schematically
illustrated in the cartoon below.
3
The distribution and arrangement of
sedimentary strata.
4
Tectonic and structural disturbances are
manifested as folds, faults and fractures. A
fault is a plane or zone of weakness along
which rock masses break and whose sides are
significantly displaced relative to one another.
A fracture is a small-scale rupture that may
or may not involve displacement.
5
A prospect is a potential hydrocarbon trap
judged worthy of detailed evaluation.
6
Unless otherwise stated, sandstones are
medium-grained sedimentary rocks that
consist mainly of sand-sized grains of the
mineral quartz (SiO2).
7
Shales originate as watery mud and
mudrocks that become harder during burial
as the interstitial water is squeezed out.
They often contain about 70% or more
clay-sized minerals.
Cartoon illustrating the
mechanisms and thinning of
sedimentary rocks during
burial as a result of mechanical
and chemical compaction.
The initially loose framework
or packing configuration of
freshly deposited sand grains
(left) is initially compacted
by mechanical forces (centre)
and thereafter by the chemical
precipitation of quartz cement
(right).
6 POROSITY, PERMEABILITY AND HYDRAULIC FRACTURES
POROSITY, PERMEABILITY AND HYDRAULIC
FRACTURES
New approaches point to a common basis for describing all processes instrumental
in reducing porosity and permeability in siliciclastic1 sediments, and predicting their
impact on pressure development, fluid migration and hydrocarbon entrapment.
Porosity and permeability
evolution in sandstones and
shales
Studies on the Norwegian continental shelf
suggest that porosity and inter-dependent
permeability loss are mechanically driven
during early burial and thermo-chemically
driven during deeper burial
It has long been known that diagenetic changes in
deeply buried NCS sandstones and shales involve
widespread chemical compaction. However, there
has been a divergence of opinion as to how this
takes place.
Sandstones
One view was that the source of the silica needed
for quartz cementation – the main cause of
sandstone porosity loss – is largely external to the
rock; that is, the silica is sourced from the upward
flow of formation water squeezed out from below.
It was also believed that chemical diagenetic
processes cease in the presence of hydrocarbons,
because hydrocarbons block the flow of water.
An alternative view was that the chemical
processes take place in a closed system (i.e. in
the rock itself) and that the flow of water from
beneath has little or no effect. This requires that
the silica is sourced from the in-situ dissolution
of the quartz grains themselves, and depends on
the effective stress exerted at the points or areas
of contact of the quartz grains – a phenomenon
known as pressure solution.
In a seminal series of published papers (see pp.
14 to 15), Statoil authors and their co-workers
agree that the source of quartz cement is indeed
internal. However, they differ radically by asserting
that dissolution is governed by a pressure-
insensitive chemical catalytic process, which takes
place at the interfaces2 between quartz grains
and the minerals mica and/or illite3. The concept
of pressure solution as a mechanism for providing
the source of the cement is therefore contested.
What’s more, they argue that the process is
time-temperature controlled, as in any chemical
reaction.
0.5 mm
Quartz cementation is therefore described as a
three-stage process: quartz grain dissolution,
followed by diffusion of the dissolved products
and precipitation – the latter being the slowest of
the three reactions.
The rate of deep porosity loss is thus controlled by
the rate of thermo-chemical quartz precipitation
and the available area of the quartz grains over
which quartz cement coatings (overgrowths) can
be attached.
All that is needed to predict porosity loss in a
sandstone with a certain quartz surface area is a
relatively straightforward estimate of temperature
history.
50.0 μm
1
A collective term for silica-dominated
sandstones and shales.
A micro-stylolite (outlined in
red) weaving its way between
interpenetrating (dissolving) quartz
grains. Remnant pore spaces are
blue. (Photo: Olav Walderhaug.)
2
The interfaces are micro-stylolitic;
i.e. they consist of microscopic zigzag
surfaces between interpenetrating
(dissolving) quartz grains. They are made
visible by insoluble residues of illitic clay
minerals, micas and iron oxides.
3
Micas are sheet silicates, which break
up into thin elastic laminae and range
in colour from transparent to silver and
black. Illite is the name of a group of
mica-like clay minerals.
Pore-filling quartz cement in the form
of small quartz overgrowths, displaying
well-developed crystal faces.
(Image: Tony Boassen.)

These conclusions have been built into a commercial
software modelling package, EXEMPLAR™4. At
temperatures below about 70 oC, the traditional
principle of mechanical compaction is used because
porosity loss is a function of effective stress. This
is easily determined because the pore pressure is
approximately hydrostatic.
At temperatures above about 60 to 80 oC,
porosity loss is modelled as a function of thermo-
chemical reactions.
This greatly simplifies matters because it is no
longer necessary to use effective stress as an
input parameter, which at these temperatures is
highly uncertain.
Further simplification is achieved by refuting the
idea that porosity reduction stops in the presence
of hydrocarbons5.
25
20
Quartz cement volume (%)
15
10
5
0 0
40 60 80 100
Temperature (0C)
Simplified graph of the percentage of sandstone
quartz cement and sandstone porosity loss versus
temperature for the Norwegian continental shelf.
Note the exponential increase in quartz cement and
the rapid drop in porosity as temperature increases,
especially above 120 oC.
Other significant results are that: (i) at
temperatures above 70 oC the rates of porosity
loss due to quartz cementation – and therefore
fluid expulsion – increase exponentially; and (ii)
at temperatures above 120 oC porosity loss is
sufficiently rapid to generate hard overpressures
where drainage is limited (i.e. where there is no
POROSITY, PERMEABILITY AND HYDRAULIC FRACTURES 7
The photograph on the left, taken with transmitted
light, shows a quartz sandstone whose porosity has
largely been destroyed. Without additional evidence,
it may be thought that the porosity was lost through
mechanical compaction and/or grain dissolution.
However, the photograph on the right, taken with
cathodoluminescence, reveals that the porosity has
been obliterated by quartz overgrowths coating the
host sand grains.
0.2 mm 0.2 mm (Photos: Olav Walderhaug.)
opportunity for the pressure to be reduced 4
EXEMPLAR™ was developed by
by fluids migrating through highly permeable Geologica (now Aceca Geologica) in
Stavanger, Norway, based on concepts
rocks). Hard overpressure in sealed NCS pressure by co-authors Walderhaug and Bjørkum
compartments starts at about 120 oC. during their earlier tenure at Rogaland
Research, and has been purchased by
many oil companies and universities for
Shales reservoir quality prediction. It has also
Broadly similar conditions apply to shales, which been incorporated in Aceca Geologica’s
commonly undergo a widespread diagenetic basin modelling program, Fobos Pro,
which predicts overpressure build up due
mineral reaction that starts gradually at 60 oC to temperature-controlled diagenetic
when even minute quantities of the clay mineral reactions.
smectite are converted to iIlite. 5
This statement is based on sound
scientific grounds, which are too complex
Traditionally, this reaction has been ascribed to to deal with here.
a process involving the in-situ replacement of
smectite by illite, accompanied by an increase in
the amount of free water and the concomitant
development of overpressure.
As illite has a smaller surface area than smectite, it
was thought that shale permeability would slightly
increase. In practice, however, permeability
decreases. Neither this nor the observed increase
30
in pore pressure was ever satisfactorily explained.
This paradox, however, was resolved by co-
author Nadeau (prior to joining Statoil) and
Sandstone porosity (%)
his associates at the Macaulay Institute. They
convincingly showed that: (i) the precipitated
15
illite occupies considerable volumes of pore
spaces around dissolving smectite minerals (not
in-situ replacement); (ii) the growth habit of the
MICRO-DARCY SHALE
NANO-DARCY SHALE:
120 140 160 180 Prone to overpressure
Smectite
dissolution
Smectite
Smectite
Smectite-illite transition. The smectite dissolution products are re-precipitated as pore-bridging
fibrous illite throughout a considerable volume of pore spaces in the vicinity of the dissolving
smectite mineral. This causes a dramatic reduction in permeability but has little effect on porosity.
Illitization commences at a temperature of about 60 oC, thereafter increasing rapidly.
8 POROSITY, PERMEABILITY AND HYDRAULIC FRACTURES

500.0 μm 50.0 μm 10 μm

precipitated illite is fibrous; and (iii) pervasive Hydraulic fracture Examples of diagenetic fibrous illite
cement are shown here in two sandstone
fibrous illitization leads to such intense subdivision
of pore spaces that shale permeability is mechanisms samples, because its minutness in
shales is impossible to photgraph.
dramatically reduced, thus rendering the affected
The central image shows a detail from
shales (and hence the deeper parts of basins) the image on the left (within frame),
Thermo-chemical driven porosity loss at
prone to overpressure development. where fibrous illite cement has been
depth sheds new light on the generation
precipitated in a pore bounded by a
At temperatures above 100 to 120 oC,
of hydraulic fractures and their role in corroded feldspar grain (left) and a
hydrocarbon migration quartz grain (right). The right-hand
permeability may theoretically be further reduced
image (of another sample) shows the
to levels as low as 10-9 Darcies due to the illitization extremely delicate growth habit of
of the clay mineral kaolinite6 – a condition that is Conventional thinking also suggests that fibrous illite, which strongly reduces
obviously conducive to the onset of extremely hydraulic fractures7 are triggered by overpressure permeability but has little effect on
hard overpressure. development in the pore fluids of those sediments porosity. (Images: Tony Boassen.)
that are unable to expel their fluids fast enough.
The classical inter-dependency between shale Once fracturing has occurred, it is thought
porosity and permeability loss in the mechanical that the pressure rapidly normalizes and then
compaction regime therefore breaks down when gradually builds up again. The leakage of water or
temperatures exceed 60 oC. This is due to the hydrocarbons through fractures would thus occur
precipitation of fibrous illite, which causes a in fairly regular, intermittent bursts.
dramatic reduction in permeability but has little 6
Kaolinite is a common clay mineral
effect on porosity. However, this idea is untenable in the light of formed by the weathering or alteration
Statoil’s claim that thermally-driven porosity and of feldspars and other aluminous silicate
minerals.
permeability loss is the controlling factor for fluid
100 expulsion. If so, the thermally controlled ‘chemical 7
A similar situation may pertain where
pump’ will continue to work, irrespective of the pre-existing tectonic zones of weakness
are (re-)activated.
pore pressure it generates, until the permeability
80 is so low that the pump is forced to create its own
permeability in the form of open fractures. The
fractures will typically remain open for several
Illite in clay fraction

60 million years as long as the amounts of fluid to be

expelled are greater than the amounts that can
escape via the pore network.
40

This mechanism differs radically from previous

thinking, even though the fundamental rock
20 mechanical principles of hydraulic fracturing are
unchanged.

0
40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 Cap rock integrity and re-migration
Temperature ( C) 0 Furthermore, the textbook view of what
constitutes a good cap rock is that it should
be as impermeable as possible or have the
Thermal interval of illite formation
mechanical strength to withstand fracturing.
However, this diametrically opposes the view
that low permeability is the prime cause of hard
Idealized graph of the diagenetic illite content in
the clay fraction of Norwegian continental shelf
overpressure and cap rock fracturing.
sandstones versus temperature. The sharp increase
in the percentage of illite corresponds to the thermal Again conventional wisdom is contested by suggesting
zone of illite formation between 120 and 150 oC. that ‘good cap rocks’ are fracture-prone!

Turning to re-migration, it is an incontrovertible
fact that hydrocarbons almost always lie
uppermost in traps, simply because they are more
buoyant than water. They are therefore in direct
contact with the overlying cap rock shale and will
be the first fluids to leave a trap once the cap rock
seal has been breached.
As a hydrocarbon trap subsides and eventually
becomes subjected to temperatures over 120
°C, severe porosity reduction and associated pore
pressure elevation may lead to the generation of
fractures propagating upwards through the cap
rock.
Initially, the permeability of the fractures will be
small. However, as the permeability of the shale
matrix decreases over time, the permeability of the
fracture will increase. The volume and discharge
rate of hydrocarbons leaving the reservoir through
fractures will therefore increase.
This means that hydrocarbons probably remain
trapped for only short periods of geological time
before escaping to a lower temperature zone in
which they may re-accumulate in more porous
and permeable traps.
Prospects will therefore become increasingly
separated from their ‘parent’ source rocks, and
may no longer depend on primary migration
but on vertical migration from one sandstone
body to another via lengthy fractures formed in
intervening shales.
The important point is that once hydrocarbons have
been generated, they can sequentially re-migrate
vertically through the overlying sediment column long
after a source rock has ceased expelling significant
volumes.
The notion that most present-day traps have to
be directly charged from active source rocks is no
longer the single most important issue. Moreover,
POROSITY, PERMEABILITY AND HYDRAULIC FRACTURES 9
Shale
Hydraulic
fractures
e
120 0C
on
dst
San
Shale
Conceptual illustration of re-
e
Gas dst
on migration showing the transference
San of hydrocarbons to higher level
Oil
traps via vertical hydraulic fractures
passing through intervening
Water shales.
the belief that thermally mature source rocks will
convert oil-prone basins into gas-prone basins
no longer holds true, because the oil may simply
have been transferred to higher levels.
Summary
1. Where subsurface temperatures are less than
60 oC, porosity and related permeability losses
arise from mechanical compaction by squeezing
out the interstitial formation water. Pore water
pressures are either identical with or very close
to hydrostatic. This conforms to conventional
thinking and is easily simulated in predictive
models.
2. Where subsurface temperatures are greater
than 60 oC, there is a gradual transition from a
mechanical compaction regime to a thermally-
driven chemical compaction regime. At and
above these temperatures, chemical compaction
is largely caused by internally sourced quartz
cement in sandstones and the precipitation
of diagenetic clay (illite) in shales – the latter
dramatically reducing permeability. At about 120
o
C, shale permeability loss is so extreme that
the accompanying loss in porosity triggers the
development of hard overpressures and hydraulic
fractures.
3. Widespread hydraulic fracturing may result in: (i)
vertical fractures in shales serving as hydrocarbon
conduits directly linking source rocks to overlying
sandstones reservoirs; (ii) the fracturing of cap
rocks whose properties were formerly regarded
as favourable; and (iii) extensive re-migration of
hydrocarbons to progressively shallower traps via
intervening shales. These phenomena are largely
related to the chemical compaction regime.
Everything therefore points to the existence of a
general, process-based zonation of hydrocarbon-
bearing sedimentary basins founded on
temperature rather than pressure.
10 THE GOLDEN ZONE CONCEPT AND ITS IMPLICATIONS

THE GOLDEN ZONE CONCEPT AND ITS

IMPLICATIONS
The Golden Zone concept is an empirically verifiable theory showing that
hydrocarbons in siliciclastic sedimentary basins of the world generally occur in
a predictable manner controlled by temperature. The impact of this theory on
exploration practice is potentially profound.

Thermal zonation by combining the above results with the revised

The world’s siliciclastic basins can be modelled
using an idealized thermal zonation scheme
in which about 90 per cent of the world’s oil
and gas resources are found between the 60
and 120 oC isotherms1
The assertion that overpressure development is
controlled by temperature rather than effective
stress is easily tested by plotting pore water
pressure profiles in various worldwide basins
against depth and temperature. As seen in the
idealized figure, typical overpressure ramps occur
at significantly different depths but combine when
plotted against temperature. Temperature is thus
the controlling factor. What’s more, overpressure
can typically start developing at about 60oC and
reach near-lithostatic fracture pressures at about
120 oC.
processes summarized in the previous chapter.
The conceptual model consists of a threefold,
thermal zonation scheme.
The basal zone, which is bounded by the
200 oC and 120 oC isotherms, is where most
hydrocarbons are generated from source rocks.
Even so, only a minor percentage of the oil and 1
Isotherms: lines of equal temperature.
gas is entrapped here. This strongly suggests that
the greater majority of hydrocarbons have been
expelled to lower temperature intervals. The zone
is therefore named the expulsion zone, and is
characterized by low permeabilities and (hence)
high pore pressures capable of hydraulically
fracturing the rock. This is the realm of intensive
2
The data have been assembled in a
global database containing information
thermo-chemical compaction, powered by a from a variety of industrial, government
thermo-chemical ‘pump’. and academic sources. The greater
majority of them have been derived from
producing fields. All of the data have been
According to this model, much oil and gas will thus taken at face value, as it is impossible
migrate upwards through hydraulically formed to undertake an independent quality
fractures into the zone above where the greater control.

Another general pattern emerges when the

volumes of some 120 000 proven accumulations
of oil and gas are cumulatively plotted against Basin A
temperature2: about 90 per cent of the world’s Basin B
1 Basin C 30 Basins A, B and C
oil and gas resources occur in a zone bounded
by the 60 oC and 120 oC isotherms – the Golden
Lit
Lit

Zone of Statoil. Above and below these isotherms, 2 60

ho
ho

hydrocarbon volumes fall off dramatically.

sta
sta

tic
tic

pre
pre

Temperature (0C)

What makes this result so remarkarble is that this 3 90

ssu
ssu
Depth (km)

re

global pattern is independent of location, basin

re

gra
gra

Hydro

type, geological age, sedimentation rate, subsidence

die
die
Hydro

4 120
rate, geothermal gradient, hydrocarbon volumes
nt
nt

static

and the sizes of various fields. In other words, the

static

perceived geological complexity of subsurface

pre

5 150
pre

‘plumbing’ in general has been reduced to a well

ssure g
ssure g

organized system dominated by just one parameter

radien

– temperature. 6 180
rad
ient

If one knows the geothermal gradient, it is possible

to predict the depth interval in any prospective
basin in which the majority of hydrocarbons are
likely to be found.
An idealized global model of fluid migration and
hydrocarbon accumulation can also be constructed
Pressure Pressure
Three idealized pore water pressure profiles plotted versus depth (left) and temperature (right).
Note that the overpressure ramps occur at different depths but coincide at the same temperature
interval. The ramps start at temperatures of about 80 to 90 oC and reach hydraulic fracture
pressure at about 120 oC.
 THE GOLDEN ZONE CONCEPT AND ITS IMPLICATIONS 11

majority of them reside. This is appropriately 3

It is thought that about 5% of
named the accumulation zone, which corresponds hydrocarbons in the Golden Zone will
have migrated upwards via traditional fill/
to Statoil’s Golden Zone (as defined above)3. Here, spill mechanisms. These will occur where
hydrocarbon-charged reservoir sandstones will laterally extensive sandstones are gently
act as combined pressure relief and separation deformed but have not been subdivided
into non-communicating, pressure-
tanks, sealed by relatively impermeable cap rock 30
sealed compartments.
shales that present insurmountable capillary
barriers to the hydrocarbons but allow formation
60
water to pass through them.

Temperature (oC)
Sandstone porosities and permeabilities in this GOLDEN
90 ZONE
zone are still quite high because the volume of
quartz cement is normally insufficient to fill more
than a part of the available pore space. The upper 120
limit of major entrapment – the 60 oC isotherm –
is where hydraulic fractures are generally thought
to peter out, simply because shale permeability is 150
insufficiently low for them to propagate through
the rock matrix.
180
The accumulation zone is a zone of transition
between the thermo-chemical compaction
regime of the expulsion zone and the overlying
mechanical compaction regime of the so-called Oil (%) Gas (%)
'sealing' zone. Here, at temperatures below 60 oC, Idealized distributions of oil and gas volumes plotted against temperature. Note that about 90
hydrocarbon volumes are low because the sealing % of the world’s oil and gas resources fall within the 60 to 120 oC isotherms – the Golden Zone
zone is largely beyond the influence of vertical, of Statoil. The volumes fall off rapidly above and exponentially below this zone where the pore
fracture-controlled re-migration. pressure is close to or exceeds the hydraulic fracture pressure.

Those hydrocarbons that are present, apart bacteria consume the lighter oil fractions, leaving 4
Biogenic gases are formed by the
from local biogenic gas4, have probably migrated behind a viscous mass of heavier oil fractions. This physiological activities of organisms
upwards from the underlying accumulation zone is a common phenomenon in oil reservoirs where (bacteria).
through laterally extensive sandstone or siltstone temperatures are less than 80 oC. Indeed a plot 5
High API (American Petroleum Institute)
‘carrier’ beds. of ‘heavy’ oil accumulations (API gravities < 25)5 values characterize light, hydrogen-
against temperature (not illustrated) reveals that rich deposits, whereas low API values
It is also widely known that oil in this zone is vulnerable over 80 per cent occur at temperatures of less characterize heavy, carbon-rich deposits
to bacterial degradation (biodegradation). The such as heavy oil.
than about 60 to 80 oC.

30 ‘Sealing’ zone
Temperature (oC)

60

Accumulation zone
GOLDEN
90 ZONE

Ram
p
120
Lith
Hydrost

ost
atic

150
pre
atic pres

ssu
re g
rad
sure grad

180
ien
t

Expulsion zone
ient

Pressure (M Pa) Oil (%) Gas (%) Characteristic processes Terminology

Composite thermal zonation model for siliciclastic basins.

12 THE GOLDEN ZONE CONCEPT AND ITS IMPLICATIONS

Practical implications hot Bombay Basin where thermal exploration

The Golden Zone theory not only indicates
where the greatest potential hydrocarbon
volumes may be found but also contributes
to reducing exploration drilling costs and
improving safety
As the Golden Zone illustration shows (p.11) the
global totals of hydrocarbon volumes describe a
normal distribution when plotted as percentages,
with the highest volume concentrations
corresponding to the 90 oC isotherm. This, of
course, is a grand statistical average. Nevertheless,
it is reasonable to assume that hydrocarbon
resources in certain individual prospective basins
will follow a similar pattern once all possible
hydrocarbon accumulations have been accounted
drilling efficiency is estimated to be only about 10
per cent. Here the Golden Zone is only about one
kilometre thick, and the largest accumulation – the
giant Mumbai High oil field – is encountered just
1.4 kilometres below the surface. The reservoir
temperature is 112 oC!
Comparison of Golden Zones in hot
Drilling unnecessarily below the Golden Zone may
(high geothermal gradient) and cold
not only be risky in terms of the potential reward, (low geothermal gradient) basins. In
but it is also expensive because exploration a hot basin (left), the Golden Zone
drilling costs increase exponentially the deeper appears closer to the surface and is
one goes. thinner than in a cold basin (right).
1 1
2 2

Lith
Lith

for. If so, a normal distribution can be used as a

Depth (km)

ost
ost

3 3

atic
atic

predictive tool.

pre
pre

ssu
ssu
Hydrost

Hydrost
4 4

re g
re g

For example, when entering basins that have only

rad
rad
atic pres

been partly explored, one could anticipate that the

atic pres

ie
ien

nt
5 5
t

distribution of discovered hydrocarbon volumes

sure grad

sure grad
might deviate from the norm (i.e. they would 6 6
be skewed). Comparing the skewed distribution
ie

ient
nt

with a normal distribution may therefore yield

important information about the potential of Pressure Oil (%) Pressure Oil (%)

neighbouring temperature intervals. Basin A Basin C

At the other extreme, when entering unexplored

frontier areas it would be wise to target prospects
corresponding to the 90 oC isotherm. If subsequent Uplift and erosion
drilling shows that they are all dry (i.e. they do not So far, attention has been implicitly focused
contain hydrocarbons), continued exploration in on sedimentary basins undergoing continual
the basin should be questioned. subsidence and sedimentation throughout their
geological history. Some of them do, but many
Golden Zone depths and thicknesses are subject to one or more periods of tectonic
Another potential outcome of the concept concerns upheaval, resulting in the uplift and possible
the depths and thicknesses of Golden Zones. In erosion of significant sediment masses.
hot basins, which are subject to extremely high
geothermal gradients, Golden Zones should be
relatively close to the surface and cover relatively DEPOSITION DEPOSITION DEPOSITION
thin depth intervals of about one to two kilometres.
Conversely, in cold basins, which are subject to ‘Sealing’ zone ‘Sealing’ zone
‘Sealing’ zone
extremely low geothermal gradients, Golden Zones
Temperature (0C)

60
should be deeper and may extend vertically over
Accumulation zone Accumulation zone Accumulation zone THE
three to four kilometres. GOLDEN
ZONE
HC HC HC
120

With this in mind, it is instructive to examine

Expulsion zone Expulsion zone Expulsion zone
exploration drilling practices in both types of basin
180
by comparing the (vertical) depths to the bases
SUBSIDENCE
of proven hydrocarbon reservoirs with the total (Depleted zone)

(Depleted zone)
(vertical) depths of exploration wells.
SUBSIDENCE

In the North Sea, ‘thermal exploration drilling Time

efficiency’ is estimated to be about 60 per cent,
which means that about 40 per cent of exploration
wells have been drilled below the Golden Zone
where the chances of discovering significant
hydrocarbons are much reduced.
The picture is considerably worse in the exceptionally
SUBSIDENCE
During continuous deposition and basin subsidence, sedimentary intervals progressively
pass downwards through the various temperature windows (zones) as they become more
deeply buried (dashed arrow). The greater majority of hydrocarbons, however, will always be
concentrated in the Golden Zone, because subsiding hydrocarbon traps entering the expulsion
zone will continually release their charge upwards due to hydraulic fracturing and re-migration
(thin, vertical arrows).

In general, uplift and erosion will contribute to
the partial switching off of thermally-driven, fluid
dynamic processes, because the sediments will
gradually be moved closer to the surface where
the temperatures are lower. In these situations, the
properties of the former zonation may essentially
Temperature (0C)
be ‘frozen’.
The amount of vertical displacement will obviously
depend on how much a basin has risen and how
much is eroded off the top. If the former 60 oC
isotherm has been moved to the surface (i.e.
the entire sealing zone has been swept away),
the accumulation zone will start eroding and
prospectivity will drop. If the former 120 oC
isotherm ends up at the surface, few hydrocarbons
will be left in the basin.
The advantage of uplift and erosion is that the
depths to potentially viable prospects are less,
thus reducing drilling costs. The main disadvantage
is the risk of biodegradation in those reservoirs
that were originally relatively hot to start with,
and therefore initially hostile to oil-consuming
bacteria.
Drilling safety and the environment
Our ability to roughly calculate pore pressure
curves in advance of drilling (using geothermal
gradients) may also significantly improve safety
and lower environmental risks, both during
exploration and production drilling operations.
A recommended practice in new areas is to identify
the depth at which the 60 oC isotherm is likely to
occur and design drilling programmes accordingly.
In this way, drillers will be well prepared to
manage the increased probability of penetrating
overpressured, hydrocarbon-bearing sandstones,
thereby diminishing the chance of potentially
dangerous pressure ‘kicks’ (or blowouts).
Be aware, however, that overpressured reservoirs
in the accumulation zone may be encountered
in otherwise normally pressured sedimentary
intervals.
The reason for this is that reservoirs are often
broken into a number of compartments by
impermeable (sealing) faults, and thus lack
the means of relieving their pressure by lateral
drainage.
Reservoir quality
Another implication is that the idea of an ‘economic
basement’ is devalued. The term refers to the common
assumption that commercially viable reservoir rocks
– i.e. those with adequately preserved porosity and
permeability – may be found as long as temperatures
around 150 °C are not exceeded. This may be so, but
it is unlikely that they will be hydrocarbon-bearing
because (as already stated) the development of
hard overpressure and hydraulic fracturing begins
around 120 °C.
THE GOLDEN ZONE CONCEPT AND ITS IMPLICATIONS 13
DEPOSITION EROSION EROSION
‘Sealing’ zone Former 120 0C isotherm
‘Sealing’ zone Former accumulation zone
60 Deactivated expulsion zone
Former 120 0C isotherm
Accumulation zone
120 HC Deactivated expulsion zone
(Depleted zone)
Expulsion zone
200
(Depleted zone)
UPLIFT
(Depleted zone)
UPLIFT
SUBSIDENCE Time
Uplift and erosion will lift a former accumulation zone (Golden Zone) to shallower depths and
lower temperature intervals. As seen on the right, a former accumulation zone may be partly or
completely removed by severe erosion.
The main implications are: (i) drilling to depths
where temperatures greatly exceed 120 °C is
probably unproductive; and (ii) exploration thinking
should consider dispensing with reservoir quality
as a crucial factor in favour of the thermally-
controlled likelihood of encountering hydrocarbon
accumulations.
Denouement
The Golden Zone concept has essentially evolved
from new approaches to the established theories
and descriptions of two key processes: the
evolution of sandstone and shale porosity during
burial; and the evolution of shale permeability.
This has led to a radical shift in thinking away from
the mechanical approach to modelling basinal
fluid processes to a more self-regulatory system,
involving thermo-chemical actions and reactions.
Siliciclastic basins can thus be examined from
an entirely new angle now that temperature is
recognized as the overarching control.
What have emerged are two, simple, empirically
verifiable global patterns – one for pore pressure
profiles and one for volumetric hydrocarbon
accumulations.
The fluid dynamics of siliciclastic basins and
their hydrocarbon systems are therefore more
predictable and self-organized than previously
thought, and seem to act fundamentally in
similar ways. Statoil’s paradigm is thus helping to 6
Temperature control – a very important
transform geological complexity into a uniformity observation. November 2004. ASPO
that was hitherto unrecognized. Newsletter, 47, p.10. ASPO is the
Association for the Study of Peak Oil &
Gas – a network of scientists affiliated
As an ASPO website article6 puts it: “It is impossible with European institutions and universities
to exaggerate the importance of (this) discovery having an interest in determining the date
and impact of the peak and decline of the
in terms of evaluating world oil and gas resources world’s production of oil and gas (www.
and the status of depletion”. peakoil.net).
14 SELECTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY

SELECTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY

A selective list of Statoil-authored and co-authored publications from 1981 to

2005, ranging from the theory of fundamental clay particles to the empirical
verification of the Golden Zone concept.

Bjørkum, P.A. 1996. How important is pressure in causing dissolution of quartz in sandstones? Journal of Sedimentary Research, 66(1),
147-154.

Bjørkum, P.A. & Nadeau, P.H. 1998. Temperature controlled porosity/permeability reduction, fluid migration, and petroleum exploration in
sedimentary basins. APPEA Journal, 38, 453-464.

Bjørkum, P.A., Walderhaug, O. & Nadeau, P.H. 1998. Physical constraints on hydrocarbon leakage and trapping revisited. Petroleum
Geoscience, 4, 237-239.

Bjørkum, P.A., Walderhaug, O. & Nadeau, P.H. 2001. Thermally driven porosity reduction: impact on basin subsidence. In: Shannon,
P.M., Haughton, P.D.W. & Corcoran, D.V. (eds), The Petroleum Exploration of Ireland’s Offshore Basins. Geological Society, London, Special
Publications, 188, 385-392.

Bjørkum, P.A., Oelkers, E.H., Nadeau, P.H., Walderhaug, O. & Murphy, M.W. 1998. Porosity prediction in quartzose sandstones as a
function of time, depth, temperature, stylolite frequency, and hydrocarbon saturation. AAPG Bulletin, 82 (4), 637-648.

Ehrenberg, S. N. 1990. Relationship between diagenesis and reservoir quality in sandstones of the Garn Formation, Haltenbanken, mid-
Norwegian continental shelf. AAPG Bulletin, 74, 1538-1558.

Ehrenberg, S. N. 1993. Preservation of anomalously high porosity in deeply buried sandstones by grain-coating chlorite: examples from the
Norwegian continental shelf. AAPG Bulletin, 77, 1260-1286.

Ehrenberg, S.N. & Nadeau, P.H. 1989. Formation of diagenetic illite in sandstones of the Garn Formation, Haltenbanken area, mid-Norwegian
continental shelf. Clay Minerals, 24, 233-235.

Nadeau P.H. 1985. The physical dimensions of fundamental clay particles. Clay Minerals, 20, 499-514.

Nadeau P.H. 1987. Relationship between the mean area, volume and thickness for dispersed particles of kaolinites and micaceous clays and
their application to surface area and ion exchange properties. Clay Minerals, 22, 351-356.

Nadeau, P.H. 1998. Fundamental particles and the advancement of geoscience: Response to ”Implications of TEM data for the concept of
fundamental particles”. Canadian Mineralogist, 36, 1409-1414.

Nadeau, P.H. 1998. An experimental study of the effects of diagenetic clay minerals in reservoir sands. Clays and Clay Minerals, 46, 18-
26.

Nadeau, P.H. 1999. The fundamental particle model: A clay mineral paradigm. In: Kodama H., Mermut A.R. & Torrance J.K. (eds.), Clays for
our future. Proc. 11th Int. Clay Conference, Ottawa, Canada, 1997, pp. 13-19. Pub. ICC97 Org. Comt., Ottawa. 809 p.

Nadeau P.H. & Bain, D.C. 1986. Composition of some smectites and diagenetic illitic clays and implications for their origin. Clays & Clay
Minerals, 34, 455-464.

Nadeau P.H. & Reynolds, R. C. 1981. Burial and contact metamorphism in the Mancos Shale. Clays and Clay Minerals, 29, 249-259.

Nadeau P.H. & Reynolds, R. C. 1981. Volcanic components in pelitic sediments. Nature, 294, 72-74.

Nadeau, P.H., Bjørkum, P.A. & Walderhaug, O. 2005. Petroleum system analysis: Impact of shale diagenesis on reservoir fluid pressure,
hydrocarbon migration and biodegradation risks. In: Doré, A. G. & Vining, B. (eds), Petroleum Geology: North-West Europe and Global
Perspectives - Proceedings of the 6th Petroleum Geology Conference, 1267-1274. Petroleum Geology Conferences Ltd., published by the
Geological Society, London.

Nadeau, P.H., Peacor, D.R., Yan, J. and Hiller, S. 2002. I/S precipitation in pore space as the cause of geopressuring in Mesozoic mudstones,
Egersund Basin, Norwegian Continental Shelf. American Mineralogist, 87, 1580-1589.
 SELECTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY 15

Nadeau P.H., Tait, J.M., McHardy, W.J. & Wilson, M.J. 1984. Interstratified XRD characteristics of physical mixtures of elementary clay
particles. Clay Minerals, 19, 67-76.

Nadeau P.H., Wilson, M.J., McHardy, W.J. & Tait, J.M. 1984. Interstratified clay as fundamental particles. Science, 225, 923-925.

Nadeau P.H., Wilson, M.J., McHardy, W.J. & Tait, J.M. 1984. Interparticle diffraction: a new concept for the interstratification of clay
minerals. Clay Minerals, 19, 757-769.

Nadeau P.H., Wilson, M.J., McHardy, W.J. & Tait, J.M. 1985. The nature of some illitic clays from bentonites and sandstones: implications
for the conversion of smectite to illite during diagenesis. Mineralogical Magazine, 49, 393-400.

Nordgård Bolås, H. M., Hermanrud, C. & Teige G.M.G. 2004. Origin of overpressures in shales: constraints from basin modelling. AAPG
Bulletin, 88 (2), 193-211.

Oelkers, E.H., Bjørkum, P.A. & Murphy, W.M. 1992. The mechanism of porosity reduction, stylolite development and quartz cementation
in North Sea sandstones. In: Kharaka, Y.K. & Maest, A.S. (eds), Water-Rock Interaction, 1183-1186, Balkema, Rotterdam.

Oelkers, E.H., Bjørkum, P.A. & Murphy, W.M. 1996. A petrographic and computational investigation of quartz cementation and porosity
reduction in North Sea sandstones. American Journal of Science, 296, 420-452.

Walderhaug, O. 1990. A fluid inclusion study of quartz-cemented sandstones from offshore mid-Norway – possible evidence for continued
quartz cementation during oil emplacement. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 60 (2), 203-210.

Walderhaug, O. 1994. Temperatures of quartz cementation in Jurassic sandstones from the Norwegian Continental Shelf – evidence from
fluid inclusions. Journal of Sedimentary Research, A64 (2), 311-323.

Walderhaug, O. 1994. Precipitation rates for quartz cement in sandstones determined by fluid-inclusion microthermometry and
temperature-history modeling. Journal of Sedimentary Research, A64 (2), 324-333.

Walderhaug, O. 1996. Kinetic modelling of quartz cementation and porosity loss in deeply buried sandstones reservoirs. AAPG Bulletin,
80(5), 731-745.

Walderhaug, O. 2000. Modeling quartz cementation and porosity in Middle Jurassic Brent Group sandstones of the Kvitebjørn field, northern
North Sea. AAPG Bulletin, 84 (9), 1325-1339.

Walderhaug, O. & Bjørkum, P.A. 2003. The effect of stylolite spacing on quartz cementation in the Lower Jurassic Stø Formation, southern
Barents Sea. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 73 (2), 146-156.

Walderhaug, O., Oelkers, E.H. & Bjørkum, P.A. 2004. An analysis of the roles of stress, temperature, and pH in chemical compaction
– discussion. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 74 (3), 447-450.

Walderhaug, O., Bjørkum, P.A., Nadeau, P.H. & Langnes, O. 2001. Quantitative modelling of basin subsidence caused by temperature-
driven silica dissolution and reprecipitation. Petroleum Geoscience, 7,107-113.

Walderhaug, O., Lander, R.H., Bjørkum, P.A., Oelkers, E.H., Bjørlykke, K. & Nadeau, P.H. 2000. Modelling quartz cementation and
porosity in reservoir sandstones: examples from the Norwegian continental shelf. Spec. Publs Int. Ass. Sediment., 29, 39-49.

Aase, N. E. & Walderhaug, O. In press. The effect of hydrocarbons on quartz cementation – diagenesis in the Upper Jurassic sandstones of
the Miller Field, North Sea, revisited. Petroleum Geoscience, II (3).

Aase, N.E., Bjørkum, P.A. & Nadeau, P.H. 1996. The effect of grain-coating microquartz on preservation of reservoir porosity. AAPG
Bulletin, 80 (10), 1654-1673.
The following material is also available:

Milestones 2001
Milestones 2002
Milestones 2003
Milestones 2004

R&T Memoir 1 – Flow Assurance (2002)

R&T Memoir 2 – Offshore Geophysical Methods (2002)
R&T Memoir 3 – Offshore Produced Water Management (2003)
R&T Memoir 4 – Geological Reservoir Characterization (2003)
R&T Memoir 5 – Carbon Dioxide Capture, Storage and Utilization (2004)
R&T Memoir 6 – Liquefied Natural Gas: Snøhvit Process and Plant (2004)
R&T Memoir 7 – Distribution of Hydrocarbons in Sedimentary Basins (2005)
R&T Memoir 8 – Gas-to-liquids (GTL) Technology (in prep.)

Hard copies: contact ‘Ktj Servicesenter’, Trondheim, + 47 51992010. E-mail: ktjmn@statoil.com

Electronic versions: Statoil Intranet: http://intranet.statoil.no/tek. (Statoil employees only)
Also see: www.statoil.com/Technology

Statoil ASA
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Tel: +47 51990000
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