Houston Geological Society

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HGS Petroleum Exploration Methods
What Geologists and Geophysicists do to find oil
and gas
Cerro Azul 4 blow-out, Veracruz, Mexico
February 1916
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HGS Petroleum Exploration Methods
Part I What is petroleum and where is it
found?
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What is Petroleum?
A natural, yellow-to-black, flammable, liquid
hydrocarbon found beneath the earths surface
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The Origin of Petroleum
Organic-rich Source Rock
Thermally Matured Organic Matter
Oil
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Kerogen Types
TOC 2.12 WT.
TOC .38 WT.
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Types of Petroleum
Oil and gas are formed by the thermal cracking of
organic compounds buried in fine-grained rocks
Algae Hydrogen rich Oil-prone Wood
Hydrogen poor Gas-prone
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What is Petroleum?
What is it used for?
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What is Petroleum?
More Than 3,000 Products

• Detergents - Cosmetics
• Fertilizers - Weed Killers
• Medicine - Antiseptics - Anesthetics
• Plastics - Synthetic Fibers
• Synthetic Rubber
• Rust Preventatives
• Liquid Petroleum Gas

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PetroleumWhere is it found? Basins are
containers for sediment
Earths basins contain sediment/rocks, air, or
water
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Basins Forces that shape the earths crust
Plate Tectonics
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Basins Forces that shape the earths crust
Basins form in response to subsidence caused by
movement of the crust and grow due tectonic
loading
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Basins Forces that shape the earths crust
Basins form in response to subsidence of
the crust and grow due loading of sediment
deposited in them
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Basins Sedimentary rocks accumulate in basins
Basins may contain petroleum source rocks,
reservoir rocks and seal rocks