HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF

PETROLEUM GEOLOGYPRESENTED TO:

DR. ANWAR QADIR

PRESENTED BY: TALHA MALIK/01-161122-036HAIDER IMAM/01-161122-011

MUHAMMAD SARMAD/01-161121/029

CONTENTS:

• INTRODUCTION• THE PRE-GEOLOGICAL YEARS(1842-1901)• FROM 1901 TO 1925• THE GEOLOGICAL YEARS(1925-1945)• FROM 1945-1960• THE 1960S AND AFTER

INTRODUCTION

• OVER VIEW OF OIL INDUSTRY FROM ITS START TO 1980S AND EVOLUTION OF PETROLEUM INDUSTRY

• HOW THE PRACTICE OF EXTRACTING PETROLEUM BECAME A SCIENCE

• THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF PETROLEUM GEOLOGY, FROM ITS START TO ITS PRESENT STATUS FALLS INTO FIVE MAJOR PERIODS

1. THE PRE-GEOLOGICAL YEARS(1842-1901)

• BEFORE 1900, THERE WAS NO SUBJECT AS “PETROLEUM GEOLOGY”

• OIL WAS DISCOVERED AND EXTRACTED BY THE “SEEPAGES”

• IN NORTH AMERICA OIL WAS EXTRACTED FROM APPALACHIAN AND GREAT LAKES (PALEOZOIC STRATA) REGIONS AND ALSO FROM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (TERTIARY STRATA)

• IN RUSSIA OIL WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BAKU AND GRONZYY REGIONS OF RUSSIAN CAUCASUS, ALSO FROM PLOESTI IN ROMANIA, DIGBOI IN ASSAM, SANGA SANGA IN EASTERN BORNEO, AND TALARA IN PERU.

BAKU OILFIELD IN 1890

CONT…

• THERE WERE TWO OBSERVATIONS WITH THE LACK OF GEOLOGIC CONTRIBUTION, IN EARLY OIL ERA.

1: ANTICLINAL THEORY: FIRST NOTICED BY WILLIAM LOGAN IN 1842, IN CANADA. ACCORDING TO THIS THEORY THE CREST OF ANTICLINES SHOULD BE THE SIDES OF FRACTURES, THAT WOULD ALLOW THE SUB-SURFACE OIL AND GAS TO REACH THE SURFACE.

2: PRE-DRILLING RECOVERY OF OIL, I-E FROM HAND-DUG PITS, TRENCHES(BURMA, CHINA, PERU)

OIL SEEPAGEHAND DUG PITS

2. FROM 1901-1925

• OIL WAS CONTINUOUSLY EXTRACTED FROM ANTICLINAL STRUCTURE SUCCESSFULLY.

• DIFFERENT MORE OILFIELDS WERE DISCOVERED, DURING WORLD WAR 1, WHICH INCLUDE CUSHING AND GLENNPOOL FIELDS IN OKLAHOMA, THE SALT CREEK FIELD NEARBY TEAPOT DOME; TEXAS PANHANDLE; ILLIONS AND CALIFORNIA, AND ALSO IN MARACAIBO BASIN OF VENEZUELA, IN TRILAND, SOUTHERN ARGENTINA, THE DUTCH EAST-INDIES, EASTERN BORNEO, BURMA, MASJID-E-SULEIMAN IN PERSIA

• FIVE MAJORS OIL PROVINCES IN AMERICA WERE THE

OKLAHOMA(1910-25)

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY OF CALIFORNIA(BEFORE 1920)

LOS ANGELES BASIN(1910-25

TRINIDAD(1912-20)

TAMPICO REGION OF MAXICO(1908-20)

CONT…

• THE PRODUCTION OF OIL WAS GOING VERY FAST ESPECIALLY IN AMERICA, WHICH WAS MUCH MORE THAN THE NON-AMERICAN STATES

• AT THE END OF 1940S VENEZUELA REACHED 25 % OF AMERICA’S OIL PRODUCTION.

• IN 1917 TWO MAIN EVENTS OCCURS, 1. DISCOVERY OF BOLIVAR COASTAL FIELD, ON EAST SHORE OF LAKE MARACAIBO IN

VENEZUELA2. ESTABLISHMENT OF AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PETROLEUM GEOLOGIST(AAPG)

•

LAKE MARACAIBO,1920

3. THE GEOLOGICAL YEARS(1925-1945)

• THE NON-ANTICLINAL TRAPS

• CARBONATE OILFIELD DISCOVERIES

• INNOVATION IN PETROLEUM EXPLORATION

• INTRODUCTION OF TWO MAJOR DISCIPLINES

• WORLD PETROLEUM CONGRESS

• REGIONS DOMINATING WORLD OIL PRODUCTION

THE NON-ANTICLINAL TRAPS:

• FIRST GREAT FIELD IN A HOMOCLINAL, STRATIGRAPHIC TRAP HAD BEEN DISCOVERED IN 1917 IN WESTERN VENEZUELA, BUT BASED ON SEEPAGE DRILLING.

• IN 1930, EAST TEXAS DISCOVERY WAS A MAJOR DISCOVERY OF HOMOCLINAL TRAPS, WHICH IS BASED ON THE SIZE NOT THE SEEPAGE DRILLING OR ANTICLINAL THEORY.

• THE RECOGNITION OF NON-ANTICLINAL TRAPS SPURRED OF RASH OF OILTRAP CLASSIFICATIONS

CARBONATE OILFIELD DISCOVERIES

• BEFORE 1925 ONLY SANDSTONE WAS CONSIDERED TO BE THE RESERVOIR, ONLY OF PALEOZOIC AGE

• IN 1922, AN IMPORTANT OILFIELD DISCOVERED, SMACKOVER FIELD IN ARKANSAS WHICH IS OF JURASSIC AGE LIMESTONE

• OUTSIDE USA, MANY OTHER FIELDS DISCOVERED IN MEXICAN GOLDEN LANE, OF CRETACEOUS AGE ROCKS, TURNER VALLEY FIELD OF CALGARY IN CANADA AND MASJID-I-SULEIMAN OF TERTIARY AGE ROCKS.

CONT…

• SEVERAL MORE CARBONATE RESERVOIRS DISCOVERED ,WHICH WERE MUCH LARGER THAN ANY DISCOVERED BEFORE

• LA PAZ IN VENEZUELA(1925), YATES IN TEXAS(1926), KIRKUK IN IRAQ(1927) AND POZA RICA IN MEXICO(1930)

• A NEW HYPOTHESIS WAS GENERATED, BY DISCOVERIES OF CARBONATE ROCKS RESERVOIRS THAT OIL AND GAS WERE OF BIOGENIC RATHER THAN INORGANIC ORIGIN

INNOVATION IN PETROLEUM EXPLORATION

• GEOPHYSICAL INNOVATION:

• EVALUATION OF GRAVITY WHICH WAS DONE BY TORSION BALANCE WAS REPLACED BY GRAVITY METER. THIS LED TO MANY DISCOVERIES IN SALT DOME TRAPS, IN 1930S AND 1940S

• REFLECTION SEISMOLOGY, WHICH WAS STARTED IN 1927 ALSO LED TO MANY DISCOVERIES, ESPECIALLY IN SOUTHERN USA

Improved torsion balance machine The first torsion balance field measurement in

1891 on Ság Hill (in Hungary)

CONT…

• TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION:

• ELECTRIC WELL LOG, WHICH WAS INTRODUCE IN 1930S, LED TO REVOLUTION IN FLUID EVOLUTION IN WELLS AND LITHOLOGICAL CORRELATION PROCEDURES

• ROTARY DRILLING RIGS BEGAN TO DISPLAYED IN 1920S, BY THOSE ROTARY RIGS WELLS DRILLED TO MORE THAN SHALLOWER DEPTH, 3000M(1931), 4500M(1938), AND 5000M(1945)

Electrical well logging, 1931

CONT…

• RE-EVALUATION OF GEOLOGICAL THEORIES

• INTRODUCTION OF ELECTRIC WELL LOGGING AND DEEPER DRILLING PROCESS WITH THE HELP OF ROTARY DRILLING BROUGHT THE GEOLOGIST NEW UNDERSTANDING OF BASIN STRUCTURES

• DUE TO DEVELOPMENT MENTIONED ABOVE, THEY RE-EVALUATE THE THEORIES CONCERNING POROSITIES AND FLUID BEHAVIOR

• ALSO THE APPRECIATION OF SIGNIFICANCE OF EVAPORITES INCREASED

INTRODUCTION OF TWO MAJOR DISCIPLINES

• DURING 1930S AND 1940S BEGINNING OF PETROLEUM GEOCHEMISTRY TOOK PLACE, PIONEERS OF GEOCHEMISTRY LIKE BENJAMIN BROOKS, W.F. SEYER, A.P. VINOGRADAV

• MICROPALEONTOLOGY WAS ALSO DEVELOP AS A SUBJECT WHICH HELP IN CO-RELATION AND HORIZON IDENTIFICATION

• THE MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH IN MICRO PALEONTOLOGY WAS ZONATION OF STANDARD TERTIARY SUCCESSION BY PLANKTONIC FORAMINIFERA

WORLD PETROLEUM CONGRESS

• WORLD PETROLEUM CONGRESS HELD ITS FIRST SESSION IN 1933 IN LONDON AND SECOND IN 1937 IN PARIS

• INTERRUPTED BY WORLD WAR II, JOINT SESSION WAS RESUMED IN 1951

• IT LED TO IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION IN LITERATURE IN PETROLEUM GEOLOGY E.G THE FIRST TWO VOLUME OF STRUCTURE OF TYPICAL AMERICAN OIL FIELDS ISSUED BY AAPG IN 1929 AND THE FIRST SIX VOL OF THE SCIENCE OF PETROLEUM, PUBLISHED BY OXFORD PUBLIC PRESS IN 1938

REGIONS DOMINATING WORLD OIL PRODUCTION

• SEVEN SMALL REGIONS WERE DOMINATING WORLD OIL PRODUCTION AT THAT TIME, I.E. :1. SOUTH EASTERN CALIFORNIA2. MID CONTINENT REGION(VENEZUELA)3. EASTERN MEXICO4. BAKU IN THE CAUCASUS5. THREE GIANT FIELDS OF MASJID-I-SULEIMAN6. HAFT KEL7. KIRKUK IN IRAN-IRAQ FOOTHILLS BELT

4: FROM 1945-1960

THIS ERA IS DIVIDED INTO FOLLOWING PARTS I.E. :

• GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THIS ERA

• OFF-SHORE DRILLING

• DEVELOPMENT IN SEDIMENTOLOGY

• CARBONATE RESERVOIRS AND MIGRATION MECHANISM

• GAS AND OIL AS DISTINCT PRODUCTS

GENERAL OVERVIEW

• USA PRODUCED HALF OF WORLD’S OIL UNTIL 1950

• THERE WAS SHIFTING OF PRODUCTION OF OIL AFTER 1950’S, ESPECIALLY TOWARDS EASTERN HEMISPHERE

• EXTENSIVE DRILLING IN THIS ERA(50,000 WELLS ONLY IN AMERICA), GAVE A LOT OF INFORMATION TO THE DRILLERS WHICH RESULTED INTO INFLUENTIAL TEXTBOOK I.E. SUBSURFACE GEOLOGIC METHODS IN 1949

• USE OF LEWIS METHOD(PUBLISHED IN 1949) WAS USED WIDELY IN AMERICA BY GEOLOGISTS, IN WHICH AVERAGE EXPECTED YIELD WAS GIVEN OF BASINS.

• ELEVATION OF PRODUCING REGIONS OF TWO PALEOZOIC BASINS OF RUSSIAN PLATFORM(URAL-VOLGA BASIN) AND WESTERN CANADA

OFF-SHORE DRILLING

• BY END OF 1940’S, EXPLORATORY DRILLING HAD BEEN EXTENDED TO SHALLOW MARINE

• EARLY OFF SHORE DRILLING WAS ALWAYS SITUATED ADJACENT TO ON SHORE PRODUCTION

• SOUTHERN LOUISIANA SEGMENT OF GULF OF MEXICO WAS ALSO ONE OF VERY FIRST SITES TO EXPERIENCE OFF SHORE DRILLING.

• GEO-PHYSICIST WERE ADAPTING THE OFF-SHORE ENVIRONMENT BY DEVISING NEW ENERGY SOURCES AND CHANGING OTHER METHODS FOR ADJUSTING TO OFF-SHORE ENVIRONMENT.

One of the first off-shore rigs in California

DEVELOPMENT IN SEDIMENTOLOGY

• SEDIMENTOLOGY WAS RECOGNIZED AS DISCIPLINE OF PETROGRAPHY

• SEDIMENTARY ROCKS WERE GIVEN IMPORTANCE AS IGNEOUS ROCKS WERE GIVEN IMPORTANCE BEFORE

• IN 1950, LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS BY KUENEN AND MIGLIORINI WERE PERFORMED AND ESTABLISHED THE MECHANISM FOR EMPLACEMENT OF COARSE SANDS IN DEEP WATER WHICH LED TO THE RECOGNITION OF TURBIDITE FACIE

• THIS DEVELOPMENT WAS APPLIED TO RESERVOIR ROCK BY MANLEY NATLAND IN 1952

CARBONATE RESERVOIRS AND MIGRATION MECHANISM

• DIFFERENT TYPES OF CARBONATE RESERVOIRS WERE RECOGNIZED IN THIS ERA

• RECOGNITION OF CLASTIC CARBONATE TYPES WAS ONE OF THE TRIGGERING FACTORS FOR STUDYING THE TYPES OF CARBONATE RESERVOIR

• KING HUBBERT AND GILMAN HILL DEVELOPED THE RELATION AND DEPENDENCE OF HYDROCARBON MIGRATION AND ACCUMULATION WITH LAWS OF FLUID DYNAMICS, IN 1950’S

GAS AND OIL AS DISTINCT PRODUCTS

• RECOGNITION OF SEDIMENTARY BASINS WHICH GAVE ONLY GAS NOT OIL

• BEFORE THIS DISCOVERY, IT WAS BELIEVED THAT BOTH ARE PRODUCED BY SAME MECHANISMS

• AFTER THIS DISCOVERY, OIL AND GAS WERE RECOGNIZED AS DISTINCT PRODUCTS WHICH WERE RESULTS OF DISTINCT PROCESSES NOT THE SAME

5: FROM 1960 AND AFTER• EROSION OF PRICES AND THEIR IMPACT

• CHANGE IN LEADING OIL PRODUCERS

• DEVELOPMENT IN SEDIMENTOLOGY

• GEOPHYSICAL ADVANCEMENTS

• IMPACT OF GEO-PHYSICAL ADVANCEMENTS

• ADVANCEMENT IN OFFSHORE DRILLING

• MOST IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES OF THIS ERA

EROSION OF PRICES AND THEIR IMPACT

• FROM 1960-1967, THE OIL PRODUCTION WAS SUBSTANTIAL SURPLUS • EXCESSIVE OIL PRODUCTION HAD NEGATIVE EFFECTS ON GEO-SCIENTIST’S JOBS

• IT WAS THOUGHT THAT EXPLORERS WILL ALWAYS EARN HANDSOME AMOUNT AND THIS IDEA WAS SHATTERED BY EROSION OF PRICES

CHANGE IN LEADING OIL PRODUCERS

• CENTRE OF GRAVITY OF OIL PRODUCTION MOVED TOWARDS EASTERN HEMISPHERE

• AFTER 1960S, SPECTACULAR SUCCESS WAS GAINED IN LIBYA AND ALSO A GREAT DISCOVERY IN NIGERIA

• ON THE OTHER HAND, MANY GIANT OILFIELDS WERE DISCOVERED IN SIBERIA DURING SAME PERIOD OF TIME

• MOST OF THE PRODUCING OILFIELDS WERE PRESENT IN “THIRD WORLD” OR COMMUNIST COUNTRIES

• DUE TO DISCOVERY OF VERY LARGE OIL FIELDS, TERM “GIANT” AND “SUPER GIANT” FIELDS WERE INTRODUCED

DEVELOPMENT IN SEDIMENTOLOGY

• GREAT EMPHASIS WAS LAID UPON SEDIMENTOLOGY OF CARBONATE ROCKS

• GEOLOGIST WERE RESEARCHING ON PROVENANCE, DEPOSITIONAL MECHANICS AND DIAGENETIC PROCESSES OF SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

• ELECTRON MICROSCOPE HELPED A LOT IN UNDERSTANDING SANDSTONE RESERVOIRS

• DUE TO THESE DEVELOPMENTS, SEARCH FOR OIL AND GAS BECAME CONCENTRATED UPON “SUBTLE AND OBSCURE TRAPS”

GEOPHYSICAL ADVANCEMENTS

• HUGE STRIDES WERE MADE IN THE ACQUISITION, PROCESSING, RESOLUTION AND INTERPRETATION OF SEISMIC DATA

• THE USE OF MAGNETIC TAPE AND DIGITAL RECORDING, MADE THE GATHERING OF DATA MORE EFFICIENT

• INTRODUCTION OF NEW SOURCES(LAND AND MARINE) OF SEISMIC ENERGY MADE FASTER AND MORE DEEPER PENETRATION OF THE ROCK SECTION

• OTHER GEOPHYSICAL METHODS LIKE LOGGING TECHNIQUES AND BOREHOLE GRAVITY METER WERE REFINED AND COMPUTERIZED

IMPACT OF GEO-PHYSICAL ADVANCEMENTS

• TWO GREAT IMPACT ON EXPLORATION DUE TO GEO-PHYSICAL ADVANCEMENTS WERE:

1. INCREASED RELIABILITY IN THE DETECTION OF SUBTLE OR COMPLEX TRAPPING MECHANISM

2. INCREASED ASSURANCE OF DISCOVERING THE LARGE ACCUMULATION EARLY IN THE FIRST EXPLORATION PHASE OF A BASIN’S HISTORY

ADVANCEMENT IN GEO-CHEMISTRY

• UNDERSTANDING OF HYDROCARBON GENERATION, MATURATION AND MIGRATION INCREASED DUE TO ADVANCE RESEARCHES IN ORGANIC GEO-CHEMISTRY

• THESE DEVELOPMENTS IN ORGANIC GEO CHEMISTRY CAME FROM SOVIET UNION AND WESTERN EUROPE

• QUANTITATIVE LABORATORY TECHNIQUES FOR SOURCE AND RESERVOIR EVALUATION BECAME WIDELY USED AND UNDERSTOOD

ADVANCEMENT IN OFFSHORE DRILLING

• FROM 1967, MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS WERE MADE IN ALL FORMS OF OFFSHORE PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY, ESPECIALLY IN EXPLORATORY DRILLING, SEAFLOOR SERVICES AND GATHERING SYSTEM

• IT LED TO GEOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING OF CONTINENTAL SHELF AND UPPER SLOPES

MOST IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES OF THIS ERA

• REMOTE IMAGERY AND PLATE TECTONICS WERE MOST IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES

• THESE DISCOVERIES REPRESENT TRUE REVOLUTION IN THE WAY EARTH SCIENTISTS VIEW THEIR SUBJECT EARTH

• UNTIL THIS ERA, PLATE MARGINAL BASINS WERE STILL UNEXPLORED

• DUE TO THIS LAGGING IN EXPLORING PLATE MARGINAL BASINS, UNDERSTANDING OF EXPLORATION IN PLATE MARGINAL BASINS WAS NOT THAT MUCH AS COMPARED TODAY

CONCLUSION:

• INDUSTRY EMERGED IN SIMPLE WAY BUT EVOLVED VERY RAPIDLY BECAUSE OF ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE

• GAINED SPECIAL ATTENTION AFTER WORLD WARS AND ACTED AS DECISIVE FACTOR IN WORLD WARS

• DIFFERENT SUBJECTS OF SCIENCE(ESPECIALLY OF EARTH SCIENCE) EMERGED IN RESULT OF THIS INDUSTRY

• HISTORY HAS WITNESSED THE RAPID DEVELOPMENT IN COUNTRIES WHICH WERE RICH IN OIL RESERVES E.G. ARAB COUNTRIES