Analytical approach for multivariate exploration planning via secondary migration modelling

Abstract

Identifying potential petroleum traps in petroleum basins is one of the key challenges in petroleum exploration. Specifically, it is the identification of probable petroleum traps within a set of stratigraphic traps of a particular location of source rock and carrier bed. One solution lies in understanding the behaviour of hydrocarbon flow during secondary migration, and the evaluation of the probability of successful transport from the source rock to the trap. Modern reservoir simulators rely on numerical methods to model the oil/gas secondary migration. Using numerical simulators is, however, cumbersome and requires high volumes of data and computation time, which affects successful decision-making in exploration planning. Yet, analytical models are fast and allow for multivariant analysis of hydrocarbon secondary migration requiring only a moderate amount of geological data. This study presents the analytical modelling of hydrocarbon buoyant transport in petroleum basins by including the (i) areal variation of stringers’ cross-section, (ii) chemical reactions including oil biodegradation and (iii) hydrological water flow. The explicit formula is provided for the first and last moments of hydrocarbon arrival at the trap, describing the dynamics of filling of the trap. Field data from Australian and Chinese basins are used to investigate the effects of the above-mentioned parameters on the first and last moments of hydrocarbon arrival at the trap.