Print this pageAAPG ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION
Making the Next Giant Leap in Geosciences
April 10-13, 2011, Houston, Texas, USA
Recognition and Meaning of Hydrocarbon Seeps
(1) Pangean Resources LLC, Denver, CO.
This collection deals with different aspects, observations, and implications of natural hydrocarbon manifestations colloquially known and referred to as seeps. There is tremendous variation seen in seeps- their fluids, gasses, setting, associations, and they are not very easy to characterize. Yet they speak directly to the prospector and are a wonder of nature. With the increased resolution power of many geophysical methods, we are seeing direct evidence of seeps on a wide variety of data, not just seismic.
An active seep is a live indication of at least a partially functioning Petroleum System. If a seep could be confirmed at or near a prospect, Source Presence, Maturity and Migration risks could all be reasonably assigned a zero risk, eliminating an entire risk category. There is little in the Explorationist’s toolkit that can achieve that level of risk reduction.
This volume is designed and organized to help answer some key questions that workers may develop from working field data. 1) What do seeps look like in various perspectives, data types, and environments? 2) What kind of methodologies may be used to detect and measure seeps? 3) What does the seep tell me about the prospect or area Hydrocarbon system and associated risks?