- Records indicating the use of oil by man date back as far as the 6th century B.C. The early uses of oil were for such things as the waterproofing of boats via the use of tar, for lighting in the form of torches or oil lamps, and of course, as weapons, where fireballs were created to hurl at one's enemies. Those hydrocarbons were found in the form of seeps where oil came to the surface of the Earth due to a lack of a subsurface trap. The early issues of drilling for oil was invented by the Chinese in about 340 A.D. They used bamboo pipes to both drill and produce hydrocarbons from the subsurface. The first modern oil company was created in 1863 with Rockefeller's Standard Oil. But at that time, oil had a limited use. Then came Henry Ford's first commercially produced, gas-powered motor vehicle, or car and the need for oil increased dramatically. It was then further enhanced by the advent of oil-powered, rather than coal-powered ships, tanks, and airplanes associated with the first World War. Early exploration depended on the mapping of subsurface features, known as inclines, based on surface features, which would be hills, and also the production of seeps. Now today, we have many sophisticated methods for both identifying subsurface features, subsurface accumulations, and producing those hydrocarbons. As I just mentioned, methods for defining subsurface accumulations of oil and gas have made many great advances but the basics of what we're looking for have not changed. This presentation will define the key geologic factors associated with the successful conventional oil or gas play. In this podcast, I will review five factors that are considered key geologic elements for successful conventional oil or gas play. But before getting into these five factors, I first need to define why it is I'm using the term conventional. The other major category is, you may have guessed, unconventional. Conventional plays are those that have sufficient permeability in the reservoir that they require some form of trap to hold, or trap, those hydrocarbons in that reservoir. Hydrocarbons in conventional reservoirs also have to migrate to the reservoir from the source. In unconventional plays, the source rock and the reservoir are the same formation so no migration takes place. In these unconventional reservoirs, there is very, very low permeability so no trap is required. Now, I've used several terms thus far source, migration, trap, that you may not be familiar with as they're used in the oil and gas industry. It's hoped that by the end of today's presentation all those terms will make much more sense. So, today's presentation will review the following five key factors: First, source. This is a formation where the hydrocarbons are actually generated and is sometimes referred to as the kitchen. Second, migration. The hydrocarbons, after being generated, must migrate from the source rock, or kitchen, into the reservoir. Reservoir. This is a formation that has sufficient porosity and permeability, such that sufficient quantities can be produced, can be stored, and sufficient rates can be realized to make that reservoir a viable target. Trap. The trap is a particular geologic geometry such that hydrocarbons, after migrating into the reservoir, can be trapped or held in that reservoir. And timing. As you can imagine, the four mentioned elements must either be in place or take place in such an order that the hydrocarbons will be realized in the reservoir. This is known as time.