Petrel Exploration Geology

Advanced geological workflows for exploration

The Petrel platform provides comprehensive exploration capabilities, from regional evaluations to prospect generation.

• Evaluate key uncertainties in a play: trap, reservoir, charge (source rock maturity; hydrocarbon migration) and seal
• Perform rapid initial exploration screening
• Build petroleum systems models; evaluate results of PetroMod simulations
• Assess play risk—directly connected to data and interpretations
• Generate prospects—with chance of success estimates and probabilistic reward volumes
• Understand potential prospect failure factors
• Identify parameters with greatest influence on volumetric uncertainty

The Petrel exploration geology workflow

Uncertainty evaluation
Petroleum Systems Quick Look enables fast calculation of key exploration risk components, uncertainty evaluation and screening in the Petrel environment.

• Quickly simulate and compare geological scenarios through maps of source rock maturation, hydrocarbon generation, location of accumulations, and hydrocarbon migration pathways
• Investigate uncertainty in velocity variations, sedimentary burial rates, basin thermal conditions, lithology variation, and kerogens
• Determine seal integrity comparing fluid-buoyancy pressure with capillary-entry pressure
• Estimate impact of fault sealing on hydrocarbon migration

Calculation of play chance maps and risked volumes
Play to Prospect Risk processes support calculation of play chance maps and risked volumes to objectively choose prospects for the exploration drilling program.

• Physical property maps of play elements are transformed to chance-of-success maps, and combined to provide an overall chance of success
• Prospect assessment uses Monte Carlo simulation for in-place and recoverable hydrocarbon volumes factors with geological and economic success chance
• Play chance and prospect volume results are linked to data and interpretations—throughout play assessment and prospect generation
• Decision makers can dive deeper into prospect evaluations to understand factors that cause prospects to fail and which parameters give rise to uncertainty in potential reward volumes

Petroleum systems modeling

Construction of geocellular models for dynamic forward modeling of geological processes in sedimentary basins over geological time spans. 

• Detailed stratigraphic tables, lithologies, and source rock kinetics developed for simulation with PetroMod petroleum systems modeling software
• Results support greater understanding of source rock and hydrocarbon flow-path migration processes
• Update initial play chance mapping and prospect assessment screening
• Simulated geomechanical properties, fluid and rock stresses, and pore pressures are evaluated in the Petrel platform