Understanding Oil and Gas Shows and Seals in the Search for Hydrocarbons

About

This book explains in detail how to use oil and gas show information to find hydrocarbons. It covers the basics of exploration methodologies, drilling and mud systems, cuttings and mud gas show evaluation, fundamental log analysis, the pitfalls of log-calculated water saturations, and a complete overview of the use of pressures to understand traps and migration, hydrodynamics, and seal and reservoir quantification using capillary pressure. Also included are techniques for quickly generating pseudo-capillary pressure curves from simple porosity/permeability data, with examples of how to build spreadsheets in Excel, and a complete treatment of fluid inclusion analysis and fluid inclusion stratigraphy to map migration pathways. In addition, petroleum systems modeling and fundamental source rock geochemistry are discussed in depth, particularly in the context of unconventional source rock evaluation and screening tools for entering new plays. The book is heavily illustrated with numerous examples and case histories from the author’s 37 years of exploration experience. The topics covered in this book will give any young geoscientist a quick start on a successful career and serve as a refresher for the more experienced explorer.

Content

1-45Introduction to the Oil Industry and Oil Show Evaluation: A Personal Retrospective
47-90The Basics of Traps, Seals, Reservoirs and Shows
91-143Drilling, Mud-Logging, Wireline Logs and Cores
145-232Understanding Seals, Pressures and Hydrodynamics
233-314Quantifying Seals and Saturations: Capillary Pressure, Pseudo-capillary Pressure and Quantitative Show Assessment
315-347Basic Log Analysis, Quick-Look Techniques, Pitfalls and Volumetrics
349-383Using Fluid Inclusion Data in Exploration
385-449Shows and Geochemistry: Extracting More Information from Source Rocks and Hydrocarbons
451-464Building and Testing Migration Models