Exploration of hydrocarbon

Multispectral remote sensing is an emerging technology for the oil & gas industry.  Since its first application, Earth Observation has seen an enormous breakthrough in a brand-new field such as geosciences for hydrocarbon exploration: both the awareness of the microseepage phenomenon and data processing methods for its detection have greatly improved in the last years.  This paper describes a case study of microseepage signals detection in the East Africa Rift System, onshore of Lake Albert, using multi-sensor satellite time series.  Results clearly show that the spectral anomalies identified from satellite are closely related to the known oilfields and that the microseepage maps can provide new high-quality data to reduce exploration risk.

Doğu Akdeniz havzası stratejik konumu nedeniyle tarih boyunca önemini korumuş ve her daim bölgesel ve küresel aktörlerin ilgisini çekmiştir. Bu bağlamda araştırmanın konusu, bölge aktörlerinden İsrail’in ve Güney Kıbrıs Rum Yönetimi’nin (GKRY) hidrokarbon konusunda izlediği politikanın Türkiye’ye muhtemel etkilerinin ne olabileceğinin incelenmesidir. Ele alınan konunun amacı ise bölgeye yönelik enerji politikalarının İsrail ve GKRY’yi nasıl etkilediğini göstermek ve ortaya çıkabilecek sonuçların Türkiye’nin enerji politikası açısından değerlendirmesini yapmaktır. Buna göre bölgenin önemli aktörlerinden olan İsrail’in 2009 yılında Tamar’da ve 2010 yılında Leviathan’da gerçekleştirdiği keşifler, Doğu Akdeniz jeopolitiğini yeniden şekillendirmiştir. İsrail’in Tamar’da üretime geçmesi ve GKRY’nin Kıbrıs çevresinde Münhasır Ekonomik Bölge ilan etmesi, bu iki aktörü işbirliği yapmaya sevk etmiştir. Bu işbirliği, zaman içinde bölgedeki dengeleri değiştirebilecek niteliktedir. Özellikle İsrail’in ürettiği, GKRY’nin ise üretmek istediği hidrokarbon kaynaklarını uluslararası piyasalara arz etme çabası, Doğu Akdeniz jeopolitiğinde önemli kırılmalara neden olacaktır. Dolayısıyla her iki ülkenin izlediği politika, Doğu Akdeniz’in önemli bir aktörü olan ve izlediği politikalarla enerji geçiş terminali veya dağıtım merkezi olmayı hedefleyen Türkiye’nin stratejisi için fırsat doğurabilecektir. Buna bağlı olarak Türkiye’yi kuzey-güney ve doğu-batı yönünde enerji geçiş güzergâhı veya Ceyhan’ı enerji dağıtım terminali haline getirebileceği kuvvetle muhtemeldir. Ancak Türkiye karşıtı izlenebilecek politikalarla, Türkiye’nin enerji politikaları sekteye uğrayabilecek ve ciddi sıkıntıların yaşanmasına neden olabilecektir. Bu minvalde Türkiye’nin bölgedeki enerji politikalarını stratejik amaçlar doğrultusunda gözden geçirerek, İsrail’in ve GKRY’nin hamlelerine cevap verebilecek politikalar geliştirmek ve stratejik eylem planları hazırlamak zorunda kalacağı açıktır.

Cyprus is among the most important oil and gas regions of the world in terms of geographical location and geological features. However, a limited number of oilwells has been drilled in Cyprus so far for hydrocarbon exploration. Even though the hydrocarbons were found in Türkyurdu-1 oilwell in Northern Cyprus, their amount in this well has not been evaluated as an economic discovery. This well indicates that petroleum has occurred onshore in Northern Cyprus, and there may be oil and/or gas fields to be economically produced if the wells are drilled at the correct locations. The main reason for the lack of economic oil and gas fields onshore in Northern Cyprus is the insufficient exploration activities which are required to contain geochemical analysis, geophysical survey, and drilling. In this study, the potential target areas and exploration methods that may be assessed for economically viable oil and gas discovery onshore in Northern Cyprus are suggested in the light of the existing geological and geophysical data.

Keywords: Northern Cyprus, oil and gas exploration, hydrocarbon exploration targets, hydrocarbon exploration methods, TPH in water analysis, oil in water analysis

In this study, importance of structures formed by strike-slip movement in hydrocarbon exploration is emphasized. Seismic data is the main tool to enlighten underground geology in hydrocarbon exploration. Therefore, recognition of strike-slip faults on seismic sections is of prime importance. Interpreter should think that he is probably dealing with strike-slip fault if the faults: interpreted from seismic section, is vertical or near vertical and cut through the basement, if the thickness of horizons on both sides of the fault changes, if throw of the fault changes from one line to other, if seismic reflections wedge and sudden unconformities seen, and if there exist positive and negative flower structures on seismic section. If the above conditions above exist, mapped horizon should show structural displacement along the fault.

Off-shore features can be identified using various image processing techniques, utilizing the currently available dense satellite altimeter data with ~ 3.33 km spatial resolution, giving a detailed view of the marine gravity field. Satellite
geoid/gravity images are generated from sea surface heights as obtained from altimeter tracks after performing a number of atmospheric, instrumental and geophysical corrections,
and stacking and averaging. These data are then converted to a corresponding image for further processing. In the present work, we have attempted to apply various image processing techniques to the gravity image for
enhancement of subsurface features using convolution and Fast Fourier Transforms over a part of the western Indian offshore and correlate with known tectonic features. In addition, detailed studies have been carried out for the
undulating free-air gravity anomaly surface data and correlated with subsurface structures. A few tectonic blocks, such as the Bombay High block, the Diu block, the Panna block, the Tapi–Daman block, the Shelf Margin block
and the Ratnagiri block, could be identified clearly and may be further explored for hydrocarbons. Such studies of image processing techniques are essential for thorough interpretation of the gravity data as well as for the
interpretation of the tectonic scenarios of the Arabian basin over various geological periods, because various extracted structural features may further be collated with other geoscientific data such as magnetic/seismic profile date for
evolution of tectonics of the basin.

Salt formations exist in Kızılırmak Graben (Central Anatolia, Turkey), which consists of volcano-sedimentary units, and it was stated in previous studies that these formations have a diapiric structure. The adjacent basin, Ayhan Basin, contains bituminous shale and operated coal deposits. For this reason, in this study, it is aimed to investigate the oil and gas potential of the Kızılırmak Graben by conducting TPH (Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons) analysis on the samples taken from natural cold-water resources by making use of the thought that hydrocarbon generation may come into existence from those units in the Ayhan basin. As a consequence of the analyses performed, hydrocarbons have been brought into the open in all the water samples. The organic geochemical methods have been used to find out the source of hydrocarbons determined in the water resources. The disclosed n-alkane hydrocarbons are the mature petroleum hydrocarbons derived from peat/coal type organic matter (Type III kerogen, gas-prone). These mature hydrocarbon-rich waters can be regarded as evidence for the availability of a working hydrocarbon system associated with possible salt diapir identified by using gravity and magnetic data obtained from the investigation area.

Keywords: Kızılırmak Graben, Reservoir-targeted petroleum exploration, TPH in water analysis, Hydrocarbon-rich water, Salt dome

In this paper, simulations are performed to reaffirm the relationship between the resistivity and the thickness of the Hydrocarbon reservoir by considering double layers of Hydrocarbon in seabed logging application. In order to establish this correlation, various simulation models are carried out using Computer Simulation Technology (CST) tool and the results obtained from each simulation is plotted as graphs using MATLAB. The simulations are performed, by varying the resistivity and thickness of the second Hydrocarbon layer at various target depths. The results obtained from the simulations, illustrate that the resistivity and the thickness of the Hydrocarbon have a direct relationship by a factor of 1 and that the electric field strength is affected by considering multiple layers of Hydrocarbons, so as to know that the electromagnetic waves transmitted reach the bottom layer of Hydrocarbon and not just only the first upper layer of the Hydrocarbon reservoir under the seabed floor.

Basement rock reservoirs are a special type of oil and/or gas reservoir, which has been usually neglected until recently as a target for exploration. In this study, it is aimed to investigate the hydrocarbon potential of Niğde Massif. The n-alkane hydrocarbons found in the water samples collected are the mature petroleum hydrocarbons, which are the geochemical evidence for a working petroleum system in the study area. The dom structures in which they are suitable to be entrapped and protected for hydrocarbons in a predominantly SW-NE orientation, where metamorphic rocks in which granite has been located in its center have formed, is the possible hydrocarbon reservoir in the study area. The geochemical exploration methodology used in this study may be a new method that can eliminate the discovery of hydrocarbons in the metamorphic massif and granitic rocks by chance.

Keywords: Basement rock, Metamorphic rock, Granite, Reservoir-targeted oil and gas exploration, Hydrocarbon-rich water