Petroleum Exploration & Field Management

There are some requirements to meet a petroleum reservoir:

• Source rock
• Reservoir rock
• Hydrocarbon trap

Source rock maturity for the petroleum reservoir depends on pressure and temperature during the lithification process, time, and a chemical reaction between carbon and hydrogen.

The maturity of the source rock is very important to whether the reservoir can be produced or not. Limestone and shale are the major type of source rocks. Coal may also be considered as a source rock, even though it is present in relatively small quantities within the earth. The concept of reservoir rock is a storage that contain hydrocarbon gas, hydrocarbon liquid, and salt water. The hydrocarbon fluids is less dense than the salt water. So, when it meets salt water, the hydrocarbon fluids will force salt water to migrate downward below. This migration is controlled by rock’s permeability and porosity.