INDONESIAN PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION (IPA)

REGULAR COURSE, SHERATON LAMPUNG, 26-30 AUGUST 2013

18.
Preservation, Degradation &
Destruction of Accumulation

by: Awang Harun Satyana

Preservation of Petroleum
Further deformation may breach petroleum traps. In this case,
petroleum will re-migrate to surface becoming HC seeps or to other
traps.
Changes may take place in the physical and chemical properties of
petroleum while it is in the trap. These changes may have an
important impact on the recoverable fraction and commercial value of
HC accumulation.
Processes causing in-reservoir alteration include :

biodegradation
thermal degradation
water washing
CO2 pollution
etc.

Bissada et al. (1992)

Blanc and Connan (1994)

Blanc and Connan (1994)

In-Reservoir Alteration
Biodegradation: bacterial alteration of crude oils; attack firstly light nalkanes, branched (iso) alkanes, cyclo-alkanes, finally aromatics; occurs
at low reservoir temperatures < 80C; need supply of fresh, nutrient-rich,
oxygenated water.

Thermal degradation: thermal cracking of oil into gas. Heavy compounds

are replaced by progressively lighter ones, until only dry gas methane is
present. At high temperatures (> 160 C), oil cracking reaction proceed so
rapidly that an oil accumulation may be destroyed within a geologically
short period of time.
Water washing: to occur in association with biodegradation if the
reservoir temperature is too high ( > 70 C) or if other condition for
microbial attack are not met. Light alkanes and low boiling point aromatics
(benzene, toluene) are the most soluble and preferentially removed. The
net result is anomalously heavy oil though not biodegraded.

In-Reservoir Alteration
Gas souring: production of H2S in deep, hot carbonate/ evaporite
reservoirs via reaction of methane with gypsum. With increasing
temperature (> 150 C), proportion of H2S increases.
CO2 pollution: during diagenesis, fermentation reactions as well as
oxidation by bacteria liberate CO2; during thermal maturation of
organic matter CO2 is liberated via decarboxylation of e.g. fatty acids
or esters in kerogen. Other possibilities, only viable at high
temperatures (> 150 C), are thermal decomposition of inorganic
carbonates and out-gassing of the earths mantle. Production of CO2
from organic matter is thought to be the most significant mechanism
for contributing CO2 to reservoirs.

In-Reservoir Alteration
Gas deasphalting: a process whereby the precipitation of the
heavy asphalthene compounds in a crude oil takes places as
a result of the injection of light C1-C6 hydrocarbons. This may
occur when an oil accumulation experiences a later gas
charge as its source kitchen becomes highly mature.
Gravity segregation: in high petroleum columns of reservoir,
various hydrocarbons vary systematically with depth due to
gravity. Denser high molecular weight components tend to be
more concentrated at the bottom of the reservoir.

Jobson et al. (1972)

Hunt (1996)

Waples (1985)

Waples (1985)

Hunt (1996)

Biodegradation changes
regular 25-hopane to 25norhopane

Clayton and Fleet (1991)

Clayton and Fleet (1991)

Palmer (1994)

Blanc and Connan (1994)

Clayton and Fleet (1991)

Blanc and Connan (1994)

Palmer (1994)

Phase Changes in Oil and Associated Gas

Retrograde condensation: single-phase dense-gas
system. When the pressures reduced, it converts to a twophase system of free gas over oil. Such reservoir have
GORs 3000-150,000 ft3/bbl. The gravities of the separated
liquids usually range from 40-60 API. Retrograde
behavior is generally observed at pressures above 2500
psi.

Phase Changes in Oil and Associated Gas

Evaporative fractionation: as oil matures, it generates
increasing amounts of gas. In addition, gas from deeper
maturing oils and source rock can pass through a carrier bed or
reservoir, picking up light HC (gas stripping). As reservoir
pressure build up, the trapped gas escapes, carrying with it
some dissolved oil. The oil condenses out at successively
shallower levels up the section as the pressures and
temperatures decrease. This results in the non-biodegraded,
shallower oils having higher API gravities than deeper oils. This
is in contrast to thermal condensates that usually show the
general trend of increasing API gravities at greater depths.

Hunt (1996)

Degradation-Destruction of Accumulation:
Conclusions
Among the factors influencing petroleum composition, secondary
alteration processes that occur after oil entrapment are most important,
as they can lead to considerable changes in both the composition and
quality of the oil.
Knowledge of conditions and mechanisms of degradation processes
are needed for petroleum exploration, not only for economic reasons
but also because multidisciplinary approaches must be developed to
improve already established techniques and to create new techniques.
Presently, molecular chemistry is a useful tool that is able to recognize
incipient biodegradation, to detect oil gravity segregation, and likely to
discriminate a pyrobitumen from a precipitated asphaltene, whereas
bulk analyses are currently inaccurate.