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AAPG Hedberg Conference, The Evolution of Petroleum Systems Analysis

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Using Oil Tracers to Model Petroleum Previous HitMigrationNext Hit

Constantin Sandu1, Ibrahim Al Atwah2, and Khaled Arouri3


1Aramco Services Company: Aramco Research Center ‐ Houston, 16300 Park Row Dr., Houston, TX 77084, USA
2Chevron Basin Modeling Center of Research Excellence, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77845, USA
3Geology Technology Team, EXPEC Advanced Research Center, Saudi Aramco, Dhahran 31311, Saudi Arabia


March 4-6, 2019 – AAPG Hedberg Conference, The Evolution of Petroleum Systems Analysis, Houston, Texas

Posted: August 22, 2019

Abstract

Understanding the characteristics of oil Previous HitmigrationNext Hit through the subsurface after oil has been generated in the kitchen area is vital for predicting potential hydrocarbon accumulations or to quantify the volumes of known ones. We present a numeric model based on a set of hydrocarbon tracers that is designed to calculate the Previous HitmigrationNext Hit distance and timing for the oil flowing from the source to the reservoir accumulation. The tracers we are using for numeric simulation are a family of molecular markers naturally present in crude oil, such as carbazole and its derivatives. These markers are nitrogen‐based aromatic compounds that are generated with the oil and are specific to each source rock. The hydrocarbon tracers modeled continuously change their absolute and relative composition along a Previous HitmigrationNext Hit pathway due to processes including generation, partition, diffusion, and adsorption. The model calculates the distribution in space and time of tracer concentrations and then converts the distribution to Previous HitmigrationNext Hit distance. In the first step, the model determines the initial concentration of tracers before the oil Previous HitmigrationNext Hit starts. This is achieved by using a set of kinetic Previous HitparametersNext Hit, specific to each tracer, in a generation module designed to estimate the original tracer composition present in the generated oil. Laboratory experiments were performed to infer the kinetic Previous HitparametersNext Hit for specific source rocks. To test our model, we used the tracer model to estimate the potential for oil accumulation in a reservoir structure. Using the calculated Previous HitmigrationNext Hit distance and timing, we determined the filling sequence of accumulations. From this sequence, we conclude that the closure probably received charge via a spill from an adjacent accumulation. The concentration of multiple tracer components from the known accumulations were used to calibrate the model. The tracer model offers a method to calibrate basin simulations and map‐based analyses for the Previous HitmigrationNext Hit distance and timing when tracer measurements are available anywhere within the basin being explored. The calibration would enable an improvement in the accuracy of the predicted Previous HitmigrationTop path and accumulation spilling sequence.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90349 © 2019 AAPG Hedberg Conference, The Evolution of Petroleum Systems Analysis: Changing of the Guard from Late Mature Experts to Peak Generating Staff, Houston, Texas, March 4-6, 2019