Mass Balance Calculations for Different Models of Hydrocarbon Migration in the Jeanne d'ARC Basin, Offshore Newfoundland

Abstract

Basin and petroleum systems modelling is a powerful tool in petroleum exploration, but uncertainties remain in terms of the evaluation of a petroleum accumulation's size and quality, even when the petroleum system is well known and the latest modelling technology is applied. In order to interpret the results of a modelling exercise, it is necessary to understand the advantages and disadvantages of the various possible approaches used to assess petroleum migration and accumulation. This paper attempts to compare the influence of different migration modelling techniques – the flowpath, Darcy “hybrid” and invasion percolation approaches – on basin‐wide mass balance calculations for a temperature‐ and pressure‐calibrated, numerical four‐dimensional basin model. The study was performed using PetroMod® software. The study area is the well‐known Jeanne d'Arc Basin located offshore Newfoundland, eastern Canada. Model predictions were verified against pre‐existing data including the quantity and quality of discovered hydrocarbons in the basin. Modelling results showed that the Darcy method produced substantially different results compared to the other migration techniques and this was due to the high accumulation efficiency. The flowpath method, and a combination of flowpath and Darcy methods (referred to as the “hybrid” method) yielded similar results; furthermore, the hybrid method predicted the petroleum composition quite accurately. The invasion percolation method gave similar results to the hybrid approach, but little or no variation in API and GOR across the basin was predicted. The adsorption model initially applied did not adequately reproduce the natural behaviour of source rocks with respect to petroleum expulsion efficiency. Therefore a revised model was implemented in which the adsorption capacity was reduced with increasing maturity. This revised adsorption model led to more realistic volumes of hydrocarbons being retained within the source rock. The application of this approach had only a minor impact on the volume and quality of the petroleum present in the reservoir units.

Evolution of petrophysical properties of oil shales during high-temperature compaction tests: Implications for petroleum expulsion

“…The high expulsion efficiencies derived from the experimental data may be accentuated by the short migration distances due to samples size and flow rates due to higher experimental temperature compared to nature. Several field and basin modelling studies have reported similar expulsion efficiencies for liptinite-rich source rocks (see also Cooles et al, 1986;Littke et al, 1988;Leythaeuser et al, 1988;Rullkötter et al, 1988;Baur et al, 2011).…”

“…Measurements from field and laboratory data suggest that finegrained rocks have low permeability coefficients ranging from 10 À18 to 10 À24 m 2 (Jones, 1981;Sandvik and Mercer, 1990;Deming, 1994;Nygard et al, 2004). Porosity and its evolution with burial are commonly correlated to intergranular permeability in numerical basin models (Aplin and Vasseur, 1998;Nygard et al, 2004;Baur et al, 2011). Porosity in fine-grained rocks shows tremendous variations with depth as evidenced by data collated by Yalcin et al (1997).…”

Madbi-Biyadh/Qishn (!) petroleum system in the onshore Masila Basin of the Eastern Yemen

“…To assess the burial/thermal histories of the potential source rock, we used 1D Basin Modeling software (PetroMod), developed by the Schlumberger Information Solutions (SIS). Basin modelling has been successfully applied to some important petroliferous basins in world, such as the Masila Basin in Yemen by Hakimi et al (2010b), Shoushan Basin in Egypt by Shalaby et al (2011), the Jeanne D'Arc Basin, offshore Newfoundland by Baur et al (2011).…”

Petroleum Source Rocks Characterization and Hydrocarbon Generation

“…These diagrams were adapted to perform numerical modeling of burial, erosion, and thermal histories in sedimentary basins, e.g., [33,30,34,35]. This method has become an important tool and successfully applied to search for new petroleum plays or for the evaluation of exploitable oil and gas accumulations around the world (e.g., [31,36,37]). In this chapter, quantitative one-dimensional basin modeling is performed for evaluating the thermal histories and timing of hydrocarbon generation and expulsion of the Nayfa, Madbi, and Shuqra source rocks in the Sayun-Masilah basin.…”