Petroleum system size

Exploring for Oil and Gas Traps
Series	Treatise in Petroleum Geology
Part	Traps, trap types, and the petroleum system
Chapter	Petroleum systems
Author	Leslie B. Magoon, Edward A. Beaumont
Link	Web page
Store	AAPG Store

The size of a petroleum system includes the total volume of all recoverable hydrocarbons that originated from a single pod of active source rock. This total volume is used to compare against other petroleum systems and to determine the generation–accumulation efficiency.

Volume of petroleum

The discovered hydrocarbons include shows, seeps, and accumulations of oil and gas. The size of a petroleum system is determined using a table such as the following for the fields in the Deer-Boar(.) system, with reserves of approximately 1.2 billion barrels (bbl).

Field Name	Discovery Date	Reservoir Rock
Big Oil	1954	Boar Ss	32	310	90
Raven	1956	Boar Ss	31	120	12
Owens	1959	Boar Ss	33	110	19
Just	1966	Boar Ss	34	160	36
Hardy	1989	Boar Ss	29	85	89
Lucky	1990	Boar Ss	15	5	70
Marginal	1990	Boar Ss	18	12	65
Teapot	1992	Boar Ss	21	9	34
Total				811 +	415

Generation-accumulation efficiency

Generation–accumulation efficiency is the ratio (expressed as a percentage) of the total volume of trapped (in-place) petroleum in the petroleum system to the total volume of petroleum generated from the pod of active source rock.

See also

• The petroleum system concept
• Identifying a petroleum system
• Naming a petroleum system
• Petroleum system: geographic, stratigraphic, and temporal extent
• Mapping a petroleum system

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barrels