Lecture Notes: Exploration at Tallow Oil

Introduction to Oil Exploration

• Finding oil akin to searching for a needle in a haystack.
• Well drilling: small point on a potentially vast map.
• Focus on extracting large volumes of light, commercial oil safely and cleanly.
• Emphasizing the importance of geologists' and engineers' contributions.

Basics of Oil Formation

• Oil and gas creation: involves marine organisms falling to sea/lake floor.
• Conditions: low oxygen and sediment deposition needed.
• Source rock formation: rock that generates oil.
• Heating: Source rock must be heated to around 100 degrees Celsius to generate oil.
• Oil migration: requires a reservoir rock (sponge/sugar cube analogy) and a cap rock to trap oil.
• Without a cap rock, oil would reach the earth's surface.

Geological Conditions for Oil Trapping

• Plate tectonics: Key to forming conditions for oil traps.
• Rift basins: Formed by drifting continental plates, drop-down fault blocks.
• Example of a rift play: Sedimentary rocks against a basin-bounding fault create perfect traps.
• Reservoir rocks analogized to food items (e.g., sandwich layers, sugar cubes).
• Warm tropical seas create carbonate reservoirs crucial for trapping oil and gas.
• Evaporation of isolated salt basins creates impermeable salt which traps hydrocarbons.
• Lava lamp analogy for salt's behavior over geological time.

Exploration Techniques

• Use of analogues above ground due to inability to see rocks below ground.
• Example: Clare Basin as an analog for turbidites.
• Formation of stratigraphic traps through sedimentary processes (e.g., underwater avalanches creating turbidites).
• Need for seismic and gravity data to plan exploration.
• FTG (Full Tensor Gradiometry) used for detailed geological studies, originally from US military navigation.
• Surveying: From aerial data to ground seismic data collection.

Planning and Collaboration

• Plays conferences: Multidisciplinary meetings to spark ideas and incubate oil play concepts.
• Emphasis on teamwork and idea generation, similar to a rugby game analogy.
• Communication key to minimizing breakdowns and moving quickly.
• Importance of risk assessment and cost evaluation in planning wells.

Preparing for Drilling

• Gathering hard evidence and modern techniques minimizing failure.
• Detail planning: Seismic data guides where to drill wells.
• Data interpretation: Building maps and identifying targets for drilling.
• Physical and commercial viability assessments before drilling.
• Continuous monitoring and adjustment during drilling.
• Key risk: Managing pressure in the well.

Conclusion

• Drilling operations: The final test of geological and engineering theories.
• Potential impact: Success benefits local population, host country, and Tallow Oil.