SOMFAI, ATTILA, Miskolc University, Miskolc, Hungary, and ARPAD SZALAY and ATTILA SOMFAI, JR., Hungarian Oil and Gas Co., Budapest, Hungary

ABSTRACT: Three-Dimensional Modeling of Secondary Hydrocarbon Migration: Principles and Experiences in the Pannonian Basin

Secondary migration is important, but because of its complexity, it is rarely studied in modern basin analysis even though it is a primary condition of successful hydrocarbon exploration.

The purpose of the three-dimensional model for secondary hydrocarbon migration is to show the regularity, path, direction, and amount of the migrating hydrocarbon from the petroleum source rocks so we can predict the volume of oil and gas that are available to a trap.

The method is quantitative, which constructs the hydrocarbon source map and the map of the potential migrational path. Also, we can use "hydrocarbon loss maps," to construct hydrocarbon flux maps, which show the amount of hydrocarbons that flowed at each point of the migration surface that is the amount of accumulated hydrocarbon in different areas. A fundamental thesis is that even the best traps can be productive only if they are on a migration path; otherwise, they are "empty."

The Geological Institute of the Miskolc University and the Hungarian Oil and Gas Co. have collaborated since 1988 to develop this method and the program. According to model calculations in the Pannonian basin, this method appears to be effective because almost all of the known hydrocarbon fields could have been predicted. Also, we could identify several promising, but so far unexplored, areas.

The first prospect that was selected for drilling on this basis was an oil discovery.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90990©1993 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, The Hague, Netherlands, October 17-20, 1993.