文档介绍：Organic Geochemistry 33 (2002) 5–36
geochem
Review
Applications of petroleum geochemistry to exploration
and reservoir management§
Ken E. Petersa,*, Martin G. Fowlerb
aExxonMobil Upstream pany, Box 2189, Houston, Texas 77252-2189, USA
bGeological Survey of Canada, 3303 33rd Street NW, Calgary, Alberta T2L 2A7, Canada
Received 23 May 2001; accepted 8 October 2001
(returned to author for revision 25 August 2001)
Dedicated to Dr. John M. Hunt1
Abstract
Petroleum geochemistry improves exploration efficiency by accounting for many of the variables that control the
volumes of crude oil and natural gas available for entrapment, including source-rock distribution, richness and quality,
thermal maturity, and the timing of generation-migration-accumulation relative to trap formation. It is most powerful
when used with other disciplines, such as seismic sequence stratigraphy and reservoir characterization. Four key technology
milestones form the basis for most modern applications of geochemistry to exploration. These are the concepts and appli-
cations of (1) petroleum systems and exploration risk, (2) biomarkers, stable isotopes, and multivariate statistics for ic
oil-oil and oil-source rock correlation, (3) calibrated three-dimensional thermal and fluid-flow modeling, and (4) controls
on position by secondary processes. Petroleum geochemistry offers rapid, low-cost evaluation tools to aid in
understanding development and production problems. Some technology milestones in reservoir geochemistry include (1)
assessment of vertical and lateral fluid continuity, (2) determination of proportions mingled production from mul-
tiple zones and leaky casing, (3) prediction of oil quality in reservoir zones, and (4) prediction of gas/oil and oil/water
contact locations. As described in the conclusions, future research will continue a trend toward predictive geochemistry.
Examples of predictive tools that draw major research support include piston-core survey