The Formation of Oil and Gas
The term petroleum refers to a family of
organic substances consisting of molecules
composed of hydrogen and carbon atoms. As a
result of their chemical composition, oil and gas
are also commonly referred to as hydrocarbons.
Most hydrocarbons exist either as a vapor or a
liquid although some deposits of solid petroleum
do exist The liquid form of petroleum is known
as crude oil while the gaseous form is called
natural gas. Solid petroleum is found in tar sand,
gilsonite, and oil shale deposits.
Geologists believe that petroleum is the end
result of a process that began many years ago.
Commercially viable petroleum reservoirs are
believed to have originally been areas rich in
biological activity such as the near-shore region
of inland seas. Areas with substantial biological
activity are required to provide the raw materials
(hydrogen and carbon) needed to eventually
form petroleum. However, substantial biological
activity by itself is insufficient. Many marine
environments are oxygen rich which leads to
aerobic decay of the organic matter before the
rest of the steps in petroleum formation have
occurred. For this reason oil and gas deposits are
not as widely spread as the marine environments
that support abundant biological activity.
For petroleum formation to occur, the organic
matter must accumulate in an anaerobic
environment such as when biological remains
are buried under sediment (Fig. 1A) In this
environment the organic matter is subjected to
gradual decay through bacterial and chemical
action while sediment continues to accumulate
above. This accumulation creates pressure and
when heat between 160 and 300 degrees
Fahrenheit is introduced, the organic matter
begins to cook which breaks down the
complex biological molecules into simpler
hydrocarbon chains (Fig. lB and Fig. 2).
Unlike the organic matter from which they are
formed, the newly-created hydrocarbons are
mobile. Petroleum is gradually squeezed from
the compacted mud-rich shales, into adjacent
permeable beds such as sandstones, where
openings between the sediment grains are larger
(Fig. 1C). The rock layers containing the oil and
gas are generally saturated with water, and since
they are not as dense as water, oil and gas tend
to migrate upward through the water-filled pore
spaces of the enclosing rocks (Fig. 3). Unless a
barrier is in place to halt this upward migration,
the fluids will eventually reach the surface.
A geological environment that allows for the
accumulation of economically significant
amounts of oil and gas is called an oil trap. (Fig.
1D) There are three classes of traps:
stratigraphic, structural, and a hybrid of the two.
Stratigraphic traps result from changes in
lithology such as reduced porosity or
permeability, either because the reservoir rock
itself changes porosity or permeability
characteristics, or because the reservoir rock is
surrounded by impermeable layers. Structural
traps are formed by the folding or faulting of the
earths crust so that reservoir rocks abut
impermeable rocks.
Although there are many variations of
geologic structures that may act as a trap, all
must have two basic conditions in common:
a porous, permeable reservoir rock that
will yield petroleum in sufficient quantities;
and a cap rock that will prove
impermeable to oil and gas (Fig. 4). The cap
rock keeps the petroleum from escaping to
the surface and tends to concentrate the
hydrocarbons together such that a well can
be drilled and the oil and gas extracted in an
economical manner.
References:
Brostuen, Erling, Petroleum: A Primer for North
Dakota, North Dakota Geological Survey, 1981.
Grand Rapids, North Dakota
Field Tour, Spindle and Wattenburg Fields,
Amoco Production Company, 1982, Denver,
Colorado.
North, F.K., Petroleum Geology, Allen &
Urwin, Inc., 1985
Oil and Gas and Other Resources of the Wind
River Basin Wyoming, Wyoming Geological
Association Special Symposium, Pioneer
Printing, 1993. Cheyenne, Wyoming.
 Figure 1
Diagrams showing the origin of petroleum.
From: Brostuen
 Figure 2
Generalized scheme for oil and gas generation as a function of the thermal maturity of source rocks.
From: Wyoming Geological Association
 Figure 3
Intergranular and vugular porosity.
From: Amoco
 Figure 4
Basic reservoir traps in cross section.
From: Amoco