Abstract: Prediction of Hydrocarbon Migration and Accumulation: Central Chukchi Sea, Northwest Alaska

Jianchang Liu, China Leonard, Marshall Titus, Charles James

Quantitative prediction of hydrocarbon migration and accumulation in sedimentary basins is an attractive tool for the explorationist in both frontier and developed regions; nevertheless, many factors influence the modeling of oil and gas migration. A precursor to the prediction of reservoir charge is hydrocarbon generation which, in turn, is affected by the basin's burial and thermal histories. The varieties of structural and stratigraphic evolution and the dependence of the physical and chemical properties of hydrocarbons on the evolving geologic conditions complicates the modeling procedures. In order to comprehensively study the hydrocarbon migration and accumulation processes in a basin, it is necessary to combine all these factors into one coupled dynamic model.

A two-dimensional, dynamic burial, thermal, and hydrocarbon generation model, which provides necessary information such as sediment compact ion, pore pressure evolution, temperature distribution and hydrocarbon generation, builds the framework for migration simulation and makes it possible to model the migration of hydrocarbons under various controlling factors.

Coupled with the two-dimensional dynamic burial, thermal, and hydrocarbon generation model, the hydrocarbon migration model applies information such as pore pressure, temperature, formation permeability, fault activity, capillary pressure, buoyancy pressure, relative permeability, and viscosity of hydrocarbons, as well as the solubility between the different fluid phases.

Because of the apparent differences in the physical properties of gas and oil and the difference in their migration and accumulation behaviors, it is necessary to treat the gas and oil in separate phases instead of a single petroleum phase. The model simulates oil, gas, and water migration and accumulation history dynamically.

The central Chukchi Sea basin, northwest Alaska, was chosen as the testing area to show the gas, oil, and water migration and accumulation in the basin's history.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90986©1994 AAPG Annual Convention, Denver, Colorado, June 12-15, 1994