Geology Basics

Primary – Secondary – Tertiary –

• Plate Tectonics; types of Plate • Structure of the Earth; • History of Geology.
Boundary, Passive Margins Lithosphere, Asthenosphere, • Archbishop Ussher
• Geologic Structures; Faults, Mantle, Crust etc. • Neptunists v Plutonists
Folds and Unconformities • Names of Plates • Other way up indicators
• Uniformitarianism; The present • James Hutton and the origin of • Absolute ages of Geological Eras
is the key to the past, Six uniformitarianism • Key fossil groups and their time
Principles • Way-up Indicators; Dunes, ranges
• Original Way Up Graded Bedding, Channel cuts • Names and characteristics of key
• What is Palaeontology • Names of Geological Eras and mineral groups
• What is Stratigraphy their time order • Boundary conditions for
• Rocks v Minerals • Basic Mineral Identification, deposition of varying sediment
• Rock Classes; Igneous, Quartz, Feldspars, Mica, Clay grain sizes
Sedimentary, Metamorphic Minerals
• Use of the Wentworth grain size • Igneous rock classification
scale • Metamorphic rock classification
• Clastic, Carbonate and Evaporite
rock classifications

1. How to use these notes GL5033

Geological Cycle
Primary – Secondary – Tertiary –
• Relative v Absolute Ages of • Methods of Absolute Aging • Active processes at Convergent
rocks • Ranges of Fossil Groups Margins
• Superposition • Relationship between Plate • Active processes at Divergent
• Cross-cutting Relationships Tectonic Boundaries and Margins
• Unconformities Earthquakes and Volcanoes • Active processes at Transform
• Fossil Succession • Stages in Rifting Margins
• Rock Cycle • Global location of modern
• Wilson (Supercontinent) Cycle Convergent, Divergent and
• Rifting Transform plate boundaries
• Passive Margins
• Continental Collision

1. How to use these notes GL5033

Petroleum System
Primary – Secondary – Tertiary –
• Source Rocks • Carbon Cycle
• Controls on TOC • TOC %
• Productivity • Importance of Sulphur
• Importance of Anoxia • Boundary values indicative of oil
• Geological Settings with Low and gas production in Vitrinite
Oxygen Conditions Reflectance, TAI, CAI etc
• Measuring response to heat • PI, HI, OI
• Elements used in Van Krevelen • Thermal boundaries for cracking
analysis and pseudo Van and biodegradation
Krevelen • Impacts of igneous intrusions
• Rock Eval and Tmax
• Importance of Time
• Deriving Thermal Gradient
• Maturition History
• Migration
• Biodegradation
• Value impacts of altering
hydrocarbons in the reservoir

1. How to use these notes GL5033

Seismic Acquisition & Processing
Primary – Secondary – Tertiary –
• Sources of Seismic Energy • Understanding of Rayleigh, Love • Refraction Seismic Data
• Understanding of P and S waves and other interference waves • Deconvolution
• Source-Receiver geometries • Improving Signal to Noise by • Post-Stack Depth Migration
• Initial Field records – Shot Stacking • Pre-Stack Depth Migration
Gathers • Correcting for Statics • Ray-Modelling
• Identifying direct arrivals v • 2 stage 3D migration • Demultiple techniques
subsurface reflections
• Binning data – Common Mid-
Point Gathers
• Velocity picking and Normal
Moveout correction
• Stacking traces
• 2D Migration of Stacked Data
• Causes of multiples
• Calculating Impedance
• Minimum resolvable thickness

1. How to use these notes GL5033

Plate Tectonics & Hydrocarbons
Primary – Secondary – Tertiary –
• Plate Tectonic Controls on Uplift • Boundary depths of • Absolute rates of plate
(sediment sources) and Lithospheric/Asthenospheric movement
subsidence (depositional basins) Units • Movement of one or more
• Sediment source area controls • Hypsographic curve sedimentary basins through
on mineralogy of sediments • Positions of current major time
• Concept of absolute and relative sedimentary basins
plate movement • Location of Island Arc systems at
• Movement of plates through the present day
time
• Impact of sediment source area
on reservoir quality

1. How to use these notes GL5033

Clastic Reservoirs
Primary – Secondary – Tertiary –
• What are Clastic rocks • Aluvial deposition • Differences between braided
• Key depositional settings • Fluvial deposition and meandering fluvial settings
• Proximal versus Distal • Aeolian deposition • Aeolian bedforms
• Grain size response to energy of • Lacustrine deposition • Migration of point-bars
system • Shallow Marine deposition • Varves, seasonality and organic
• Well data • Deep Marine deposition components in Lacustrine rocks
• Well descriptions • Long-shore drift and tidal • Delta growth and response to
currents sediment load, wave action ansd
• Continuous deposition versus tides
event beds • Turbidity currents and Mass
Transport Complexes

1. How to use these notes GL5033

Diagenesis
Primary – Secondary – Tertiary –
• Mechanical Compaction • Changes in grain packing in • Types of Quartz cement
• Chemical Compaction response to compaction • Opal-CT conditions
• Changes in pressure and • Pressure dissolution • Carbonate compensation
temperature with depth • Differing impacts upon fine- • Glauconite deposition
• Impact of residence time grained and coarse-grained • Impact of Chlorite cement
• Porosity variation with depth clastic rocks • Overgrowths
• Permeability variation with • Minus Cement Porosity • Polarisation of minerals
depth • Carbonate Doggers • Oxidised/reduced iron cements
• Clay minerals in diagenesis • Impact of Feldspar minerals • Impact of water salinity
• Secondary porosity • Sources of cement minerals in • Changes in global clay
• Fracture Porosity fluids mineralogy through time
• Impact of acidic waters
produced during early burial of
potential source rocks
• Illite – Smectite – Kaolinite
• Diagenetic sequence plots
• Mudstone diagenesis and water
expulsion

1. How to use these notes GL5033

Carbonate Reservoirs
Primary – Secondary – Tertiary –
• Proportion of Oil/Gas Resources • Reef v Shelf v Deep Carbonates • Calcite (LowMg & HighMg) –
in Clastic/Carbonate Reservoirs • Organic secretion and chemical Aragonite – Dolomite chemistry
worldwide precipitation • Temperature controls on
• Present Day distribution of • Photic zone carbonate production in marine
Carbonate Production • Classes of significant carbonate waters
• Carbonate Depositional producing organisms • Carbonate producing organisms
Mineralogy • Biofacies through geological time
• Optimum conditions for • Sources of various skeletal grains • Understanding of Folk and
production of Carbonate rocks • Sources of various non-skeletal Dunham classification systems
(Carbonate Factory) grains • Dolomitization and possible
• Pelagic v Benthic production • Basis of Folk and Dunham volumetric implications
• Classification systems classification systems
• Relationship with evaporites • Controls, settings and styles of
• Carbonate diagenesis carbonate platforms
• Impact of secondary porosity • Sabkha systems
• Porosity classification • Impact of temperature, pressure
• Porosity - Permeability and water salinity on diagenesis
relationship • Stylolites

1. How to use these notes GL5033

Production geology
Primary – Secondary – Tertiary –
• Team composition • Growth in roles and • Stage Gate process
• Data volume requirement for effective • Relative importance of uncertain
• Field Life Cycle communication inputs to volumetric calculations
• Appraisal Planning • Exponential growth in data • Strategies for reservoir property
• Avoiding linear trends in drilling • Transitions through : Play-Idea- modelling.
• Play element importance in Lead-Prospect-Discovery- • Kriging
Appraisal Appraisal-Development-Harvest- • Definitions of 1P, 2P, 3P Reserves
• Resources v Reserves Abandon and 1C, 2C and 3C Resources
• Uncertainty • Sources of uncertainty,
• Compartmentalisation strategies to minimise
• Hydrocarbons Initially In Place • Allen diagrams
• Field Production Profiles • Well correlations
• Impact of advances in drilling • Reserve Additions
and production technology • Deferring abandonment
• Enhanced Oil Recovery • Production mechanisms
• Formation Damage
• 4D Seismic

1. How to use these notes GL5033

Statistics, Probability and Risking
Primary – Secondary – Tertiary –
• Definitions of Statistical terms • Understanding of more complex • Value of Information calculations
• Normal, Log-Normal, Uniform, distributions
binomial and Triangular • Truncations to distributions
Distributions • Hydrocarbon/Geoscience
• Adding events and multiplying parameters with Normal or Log-
events Normal distributions
• Adding or summarising • Monte-Carlo analysis
distributions • Bayes theorem
• Use of Normal and Log • Building Decision Trees
probability plots
• Swanson’s Mean
• Deterministic volumetric
approach
• Probabilistic volumetric
approach
• Value of unknown information
• Decision Trees
• Risking Exploration Prospects
• Peer Review & Post-Well Review

1. How to use these notes GL5033

Unconventional Hydrocarbons
Primary – Secondary – Tertiary –
• Definition • Pore sizes in Shales • Case studies of other
• Global Location • Fracture networks Unconventional Plays
• Differences with “Conventional” • Exploration objectives in Shales • Awareness of current production
• Crucial Factors in Success • Components of Fracking fluids and drilling trends
• Tar Sands • Micro-seismic analysis of
• History fracking operations
• What is Shale • Calculation of connected
• Shale Porosity systems volumes for Reserves
• Microfractures • Case Study of Bakken and
• Hydraulic Fracturing Haynesville
• Multi-stage Fracking
• Production Profiles

1. How to use these notes GL5033