Purchase textbook

Elements of Petroleum Geology,

Edition 3

Editors: By Richard C. Selley and Stephen A. Sonnenberg

Publication Date: 13 Nov 2014

Educator ancillaries

0 Reviews

No accessibility information available.

This Third Edition of Elements of Petroleum Geology is completely updated and revised to reflect the vast changes in the field since publication of the Second Edition. This book is a usefulprimer for geophysicists, geologists, and petroleum engineers in the oil industry who wish to expand their knowledge beyond their specialized area. It is also an excellent introductory text for a university course in petroleum geoscience.

Elements of Petroleum Geology begins with an account of the physical and chemical properties of petroleum, reviewing methods of petroleum exploration and production. These methods include drilling, geophysical exploration techniques, wireline logging, and subsurface geological mapping. After describing the temperatures and pressures of the subsurface environment and the hydrodynamics of connate fluids, Selley examines the generation and migration of petroleum, reservoir rocks and trapping mechanisms, and the habit of petroleum in sedimentary basins. The book contains an account of the composition and formation of tar sands and oil shales, and concludes with a brief review of prospect risk analysis, reserve estimation, and other economic topics.

Key Features

Updates the Second Edition completely
Reviews the concepts and methodology of petroleum exploration and production
Written by a preeminent petroleum geologist and sedimentologist with decades of petroleum exploration in remote corners of the world
Contains information pertinent to geophysicists, geologists, and petroleum reservoir engineers
Updated statistics throughout
Additional figures to illustrate key points and new developments
New information on drilling activity and production methods including crude oil, directional drilling, thermal techniques, and gas plays
Added coverage of 3D seismic interpretation
New section on pressure compartments
New section on hydrocarbon adsorption and absorption in source rocks
Coverage of The Orinoco Heavy Oil Belt of Venezuela
Updated chapter on unconventional petroleum

About the author

By Richard C. Selley, Professor Emeritus, Imperial College London, UK and Stephen A. Sonnenberg, Professor and Charles Boettcher Chair in Petroleum Geology, Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, USA

1. Introduction
1.1. Historical Review of Petroleum Exploration
1.2. The Context of Petroleum Geology

2. The Physical and Chemical Properties of Petroleum
2.1. Natural Gases
2.2. Gas Hydrates
2.3. Crude Oil

3. Methods of Exploration
3.1. Well Drilling and Completion
3.2. Formation Evaluation
3.3. Geophysical Methods of Exploration
3.4. Borehole Geophysics and 4D Seismic
3.5. Subsurface Geology
3.6. Remote Sensing

4. The Subsurface Environment
4.1. Subsurface Waters
4.2. Subsurface Temperatures
4.3. Subsurface Pressures
4.4. Subsurface Fluid Dynamics

5. Generation and Migration of Petroleum
5.1. Origin of Petroleum: Organic or Inorganic
5.2. Modern Organic Processes on the Earth's Surface
5.3. Formation of Kerogen
5.4. Petroleum Migration
5.5. The Petroleum System

6. The Reservoir
6.1. Porosity
6.2. Permeability
6.3. Capillary Pressure
6.4. Relationship between Porosity, Permeability, and Texture
6.5. Effects of Diagenesis on Reservoir Quality
6.6. Reservoir Continuity
6.7. Reservoir Characterization
6.8. Reserve Calculations
6.9. Production Methods

7. Traps and Seals
7.1. Introduction
7.2. Nomenclature of a Trap
7.3. Distribution of Petroleum within a Trap
7.4. Seals and Cap Rocks
7.5. Classification of Traps
7.6. Structural Traps
7.7. Diapiric Traps
7.8. Stratigraphic Traps
7.9. Hydrodynamic Traps
7.10. Combination Traps
7.11. Traps: Conclusion

8. Sedimentary Basins and Petroleum Systems
8.1. Basic Concepts and Terms
8.2. Mechanisms of Basin Formation
8.3. Classification of Sedimentary Basins
8.4. Cratonic Basins
8.5. Troughs
8.6. The Rift-Drift Suite of Basins
8.7. Strike-Slip Basins
8.8. Sedimentary Basins and Petroleum Systems

9. Nonconventional Petroleum Resources
9.1. Introduction
9.2. Plastic and Solid Hydrocarbons
9.3. Tar Sands
9.4. Oil Shales
9.5. Tight Oil Reservoirs
9.6. Coalbed Methane
9.7. Shale Gas
9.8. Tight Gas Reservoirs

10. Conclusions
10.1. Prospects and Probabilities
10.2. Reserves and Resources

ISBN: 9780123860316

Page Count: 528

Retail Price (USD) :

Lake, Reservoir Characterization, v2, 1991, 9780124340657, $72.95
Lerche, Basin Analysis: Quantitative Methods, v2, 1990, 9780124441736, $93.95
Lerche, Basin Analysis: Quantitative Methods, v1 1989, 9780124441729, $72.95
Lerche, Geological Risk and Uncertainty in Oil Exploration, 1997, 9780080507286, $210.00
Berkowitz, Fossil Hydrocarbons, 1997, 012091090X, $180.00

Access to teacher/student resources is available to registered users with approved review copies or confirmed adoptions. To review this material, please request a review copy.