Occurrence of Petroleum:

Mud volcanoes, seepages

Mode of occurrence:
1. Surface occurrence
Seepages, outcrops, wells, woks
2. Sub-surface occurrence
Minor showing
Live
Dead
Commercial deposits
Pool
Field
Province

When near the reservoir, minor

showing are seen in the drilling. But it is not
necessary that if minor showing are present, a
reservoir may not be present.

Indicates the presence of commercial

deposits or source rock

11th May, 2010

A simplest unit of commercial occurrence is

the pool. It is defined as the body of oil or gas
or both occurring in a separate reservoir and
under a single pressure system. A pool maybe
small underlying only a few acres or it may be
extended over many square miles. Its content
may be entirely gas or it may entirely be oil or
a combination of both.
Field same geological environment
Combination of pools (lateral or
vertical)
When several pools are related to a single
geological feature, either structural or
stratigraphic, the group of pools is termed as a
field. Individual pools comprised in a field
may occur at various depths one above another
or they may be distributed laterally throughout
the geological feature.
Province combination of pools and fields
Almost same geological environment
A petroleum province is a region in which a
number of oil and gas pools & fields occur in a
similar or related geological environment.

Pool small reservoir / same geological field

Small pressure system
Either oil or gas or combined
Production = 50MMcf

Page | 1

12th May, 2010

Surface occurrence the oil which occurs at

the surface
Active or Live
- Continuous movement of oil onto
the surface

Seepage

Gas

Dead or Solid
- Oil and gas are not coming onto
the surface

Cracks

Oil

Water

Active or Live
Seepage / Spring
- Faults or some passage is created
from the reservoir to the surface
- Shale also has some permeability
(though low)
- If reservoir is near surface, the oil
and gas comes onto the surface
- Reservoirs are discovered near to
the seepage
Water spring source by which water comes
onto the surface from the subsurface (natural
occurring) e.g. geysers, springs etc.
- Oil is sometimes associated with
this water and comes onto the
surface
- Occurs because of eroding of
layers

Mud volcanoes
- Due to eruption of plastic plate
- Clays erupt
- Higher pressure breaks upper
layers and erupts onto the surface
- Temperature is low compared to
that of magma
- Not
necessary
that
any
hydrocarbons come with a mud
volcano
- Hydrocarbons comes when it
flows
through
hydrocarbon
seepage
- = few feet to hundreds of kms
h = few feet to hundreds of metres
- Occurs in remote areas of
Balochistan
- Gas occurs mostly

Erosion
Aquifer

Spring Types:
i.
ii.
iii.

Seepage spring also called filteration spring; small movement of water through the
pore spaces
Fracture spring upward movement through faults, fracture or joint
Tubular spring due to movement of water, caving takes place. When this water
reaches the surface it is called tubular spring.
Page | 2

Dead or Solid
Disigiminated (separated) occurrence
- Heavy hydrocarbons (asphalts) are
present in the pore spaces
i. Inspissated occurrence
- Dry hydrocarbons from previous
pools
Due to erosion, the upper layer erodes
and the pool exposes to the surface
- Gases are released and the volatile
matter
moves.
The
heavy
hydrocarbons remain behind.

18th May, 2010

Dykes and Veins

- Shape taken by the heavy
hydrocarbons when they move.
This has NO relation with the
intrusive structures
Veins horizontal
Dykes vertical

ii. Mixture of sediments and oil

- At the time of deposition, the
fossils converted into heavier
hydrocarbons

Page | 3