Petroleum and Basin Evolution

This book has been prepared by the collaborative effort of two somewhat separate technical groups: the researchers at the Institute for Petroleum and Organic Geochemistry, Forschungszentrum Jii­ lich (KFA), and the technical staff of Integrated Exploration Systems (IES). One of us, Donald R. Baker, from Rice University, Houston, has spent so much time at KFA as a guest scientist and researcher that it is most appropriate for him to contribute to the book. During its more than 20-year history the KFA group has made numerous and significant contributions to the understanding of petroleum evolution. The KFA researchers have emphasized both the field and laboratory approaches to such important problems as source rock recognition and evaluation, oil and gas generation, maturation of organic matter, expulsion and migration of hydrocarbons, and crude oil composition and alteration. IES Jiilich has been a leader in the development and application of numerical simulation (basin modeling) procedures. The cooperation between the two groups has resulted in a very fruitful synergy effect both in the development of modeling software and in its application. The purpose of the present volume developed out of the 1994 publication by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists of a collection of individually authored papers entitled The Petroleum System - From Source to Trap, edited by L. B. Magoon and W. G. Dow.

Petroleum and Basin Evolution This book is a mosaic of important building blocks bringing together the evolution of petroleum and the dynamic geological framework of sedimentary basins. Both basin modeling and organic geochemistry serve important roles in this context. Geochemical data and interpretation results, such as on source rock maturity and petroleum generation and expulsion, can now be extended in their application from only single boreholes to entire regions by means of basin modeling. Earth scientists in general will be attracted by the philosophy and approach presented in this book. It paves the way for combining the insight and views into the subsurface from modern seismic's advanced interpretation and visualization, with the understanding and results from an interactive basin modeling capability.