IFP : Innovating for energy

The division is also involved in numerous teaching programs in support of the Training and Education business unit and each year it supervises several university placement students.

110 researchers work within the division, in 4 departments of a similar size. These researchers work with 2 principal objectives in mind:

• to replenish reserves by contributing to the discovery of new fossil hydrocarbon resources. The aim is to delay the time when oil and gas start to run out, in order to ensure that there is enough time for a smooth transition towards replacement energies and renewable energies,

• to define the quality and capacity of geological reservoirs in order to, on the one hand, store greenhouse gases (manage CO₂ storage) and, on the other hand, accumulate other energy sources such as heat or hydrogen.

The Geology-Geochemistry-Geophysics Division consists of 4 departments :

Structural Geology Department The structural geology department is involved in all research projects aimed at characterizing the architecture of sedimentary basins and the evolution of deformation over the course of their geological history. This scales involved range from microscopic to the basin, or even to the mountain chain.   Geochemistry Department Organic geochemistry Mineral geochemistry   Sedimentology-Stratigraphy Department Description and quantification of heterogeneities Digital modeling and simulations   Geophysics Department Acquisition and processing of data for temporal well monitoring Well seismics Quantitative reservoir characterization techniques: stratigraphic inversion modeling Analysis and interpretation of seismic data in petrophysical terms

 

Structural Geology Department

The structural geology department is involved in all research projects aimed at characterizing the architecture of sedimentary basins and the evolution of deformation over the course of their geological history. This scales involved range from microscopic to the basin, or even to the mountain chain.

The goals of research conducted in this department are:
- to increase the success rate of exploration in zones that are tectonically complex (principally deep offshore, accretionary prisms and foothills).
- to optimize oil and gas recovery and CO₂ storage in reservoirs where faults and fractures exert a degree of control over fluid flows.

The results of such research generate:
- summaries on the assessment of the oil and gas potential of basins (especially the major sedimentary basins in France and ocean margins),
- concepts, methods and tools to analyze and interpret surface and subsurface data,
- software prototypes which can be used to interpolate and predict the structural characteristics of rocks in zones that have yet to be recognized by drilling operations.

The structural geology teams have acquired expertise in several tectonic contexts such as:

• rift zones (The North Sea, the Suez Rift),
• passive margins (West Africa, for example),
• piedmont compression zones (the Andes, Alps, Zagros, peri-Mediterranean chain, the Barbados accretionary prism, the Makran accretionary prism).

This knowledge has been built up around 4 professional areas of expertise supported by a body of disciplines: structural, oil and regional geology, geophysics, geochemistry, rock mechanics and the analysis of flows in deformable porous media.

 

• Structural ground description, from thin section to basin scale

This area of expertise enables the department’s engineers to employ methods and tools aimed at understanding and describing the deformations of geological objects.
It relies on:

• traditional structural geology methods:
  
  • mapping and GPS georeferenced geological survey,
  • log survey,
  • microtectonics,
  • measurement and analysis of fracture networks,
  • microstructural sample analysis, structural analysis of cores.
• the use of specific tools:
  
  • core cutters,
  • electronic compass,
  • differential GPS,
  • sclerometer,
  • optical microscopy laboratory.

More recently, the department has developed expertise in the microstructural analysis of thin sections (MSA, automatic image analysis of thin sections) used to gain a better understanding of and better characterize:

1. changes in porous networks as a function of the structural evolution of basins and reservoirs,
2. their impact on the physical properties of tectonized rocks.

 

• Structural characterization of basins and oil systems

This particular field of expertise consists in handling, interpreting and synthesizing data of varying origins in order to understand how sedimentary basins behave:

• satellite imaging and mapping,
• 2D-3D seismic,
• potential data,
• well data (pressure/constraints, logs, cores, thin sections),
• geochemistry and thermicity-related data (diagenesis, paleothermometers).

These data are generally synthesized when producing balanced cross-sections and/or constructing basin models. The department’s engineers are thus able to develop regional expertise in the major oil provinces. This field of expertise is associated with know-how in the use of:

• seismic interpretation stations,

• 3D geomodelers,
• image processing software,
• mapping and Geographic Information System (GIS) management tools and structural cross section construction tools (Locace, Thrustpack, Kine3D),
• basin fluid flow modeling tools (Temis line).

 

• Characterization and structural modeling of reservoirs

The domains developed here relate to the use and development of tools that improve the characterization of reservoirs or storage sites. They relate to:

• the structural interpretation of 3D seismic data,
• well imaging interpretation (fracture and/or constraint),
• structural geomodeling,
• rock deformation mechanism description on all scales,
• the use and development of statistical and geostatistical tools,
• the development of stochastic fault and fracture network modeling algorithms.

This field of expertise is associated with know-how relating to the use of:

• 3D seismic interpretation tools,
• well imaging analysis tools,
• 3D geomodelers,
• restoration software (Kine3D for 3D restoration),

• FRACA^Flow software for fractured reservoir characterization,

• geological reservoir evolution mechanical modeling software.

In order to integrate this work into the reservoir characterization chain, the research is backed up by the analysis of petrophysical and dynamic data in close collaboration with teams working in the Reservoir Engineering Division.

 

• Geodynamic and oil modeling of basins and reservoirs

The fields of expertise developed here relate to:

• designing and interpreting reduced physical models analyzed using an X-ray scanner,
• the development and use of basin modeling tools (Temis-Ceres: fluid flows in deformable porous media and chemical reactions),

• the development of constitutive laws adapted to the modeling of rock evolution over broad time scales. This field of expertise is heavily dependent on “the microscopic characterization of tectonized rocks” and the “characterization of basin evolution" fields of expertise,
• the development and use of mechanics software adapted to geological object simulation.

The aim of the work carried out in these fields of expertise is to produce models that can more accurately forecast the geological evolution of basins and reservoirs.

Human Resources

21 research engineers
6 technicians including computer graphics experts
 

Equipment

Analogical physical modeling laboratory with 2 deformation robots for X-ray scanner analysis.

 

Geochemistry Department

 

• Organic geochemistry

For almost 40 years, IFP has played a decisive role in:

• studying the origin of fossil hydrocarbons,
• identifying and formalizing the chemical processes that lead to the formation of oil and gas in sedimentary basins.

In particular, it is analysis of the cracking of organic matter (kerogen) contained in source rocks and determination of the kinetic parameters governing this reaction that make it possible to study oil systems using digital simulations.
 

- Diagram of the cracking of organic matter

In order to improve the constraint of kinetic equations, a significant focus has been placed on determining their parameters for matter with a highly complex chemical structure. Molecular modeling comes into its own in this field and numerous partnerships have been developed with university institutions such as Caltech in California.

Today, “compositional” mapping of fluids has led to the development of the new generation of digital basin models (Temis), thereby giving IFP an indisputable technological advantage.
 

- The biodegradation of hydrocarbons

Oil expelled from the source rock migrates to diverse geological environments before accumulating in a trap or returning to the reservoir surface. While this migration is taking place and the reservoir is filling, oil can, under certain conditions, be subject to a process of biodegradation that will reduce its commercial value by:

• changing the oil’s composition,
• increasing its viscosity,
• increasing its acidity level (organic acids, sulfur compounds),
• increasing its biogenic gas content (methane, H₂S).

The effects of biodegradation on oil quality as well as the kinetic parameters governing them are still not fully understood. The methodological tools and the compositional kinetic equations that form the focus of current research projects will ultimately be integrated into IFP’s basin modeling software, in order to forecast the biodegradation risk on a regional scale.
 

- Crude oil acidity

Current research and development efforts in the field of basin fluids also relate to crude oil acidity. In this context, the identification and quantification of organic acids in biodegraded oils has become a major issue in terms of:

• forecasting the quality of reserves (basin modeling),
• the bringing into production of a field (reservoir engineering and the dimensioning of surface equipment).

Heavy crude oils production, which is unprofitable using traditional production methods (primary production) due to the inadequate recovery rate, relies principally on assisted recovery techniques. These are often based on raising the reservoir temperature by steam injection, which, in addition to an increase in fluidity, leads to cracking of the hydrocarbons and the production of undesirable gases (H₂S, CO₂). Laboratory techniques are being developed in the Geochemistry Department to predict and quantify the risk of H₂S production using kinetic models for cracking of the oils present (figures below).

 

- Rock-Eval Developments

In addition, the Rock-Eval pyrolyzer developed at IFP – a world-renowned system used in geochemistry to quantify the degree of maturity of organic matter in sedimentary basins – has seen its scope of application broadened to include, for example, polluted ground, unburned engine gases, organic residue on catalysts, etc.

- Natural tracers

Here, knowledge is being developed about the physicochemical geological processes affecting fluids (oil, gas water) in sedimentary rocks on a basin and reservoir scale, through the development and crossed use of several families of natural geochemical tracers. This research means that new tools can be developed for large and small-scale oil and gas exploration, but also for the production of hydrocarbons and natural gas storage.

Research in the field of these tracers has included intensive work to determine the isotopic relationships of hydrocarbon gases, rare gases and trace and ultra-trace metal elements in oils.

These parameters enable calibration of digital basin models in terms of the maturity of source rocks, migration, biodegradation and contamination with mantle fluids.

These same analytical tools may also see their application extended to monitoring the geological storage of sour gases and greenhouse gases as well as developments for new energy technologies (hydrogen production and storage, Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbon synthesis).

 

• Mineral geochemistry

Using laboratory and digital simulation approaches, mineral geochemistry enables the long-term behavior of a mineral matrix in relation to its physicochemical environment to be forecast. This information helps to better determine the structure of very deeply buried reservoir rocks, as well as the impermeability of covers for reservoirs and the geological storage of greenhouse gases. To carry out this type of research, mineral geochemistry deals with minerals and their transformations.

Current research in the field of mineral geochemistry fall within the framework of IFP’s new strategic priorities focusing on the replenishment of reserves and CO₂ storage. As far as the replenishment of reserves is concerned, research is theory-based, in order to gain a better understanding of oil systems, but it has also focused on the development of predictive digital tools for concrete applications. This type of research is often conducted within partnerships with the oil industry.

For the storage of greenhouse gases, the Geochemistry Department conducts research on the physicochemical reactions between CO₂ and the cover-reservoir system, particularly argillaceous, carbonated and gravelly rocks. The aims of this research are:

• to identify mineralogical transformations by using XRD (X-ray diffraction) and FTIR (Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy) techniques,
• to observe the textural consequences of these transformations thanks to mineralogical mapping using microprobes (see figure below),
• to tie results in with those of other departments (petrophysics, mechanics, etc.),
• to incorporate the phenomena observed into predictive digital models such as the Coores code (CO₂ Reservoir Environmental Simulator) developed by IFP.

 

Human Resources

18 research engineers
7 technicians
 

Equipment

1 XRD
1 GCC-IRMS gas isotope ratio mass spectrometer
1 GCC Elementary Analyzer Isotopic Ratio Mass Spectrometer
1 Magnetic mass spectrometer and “rare gas” preparation line
1 “Rare gas” benchtop mass spectrometer
1 Benchtop GCMS spectrometer
2 Topler lines
10 Chromatographs
2 RockEval 6
1 MPLC
Autoclave ovens (Temperature: 100-600°C; Pressure: 50-6000°bars)
Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer
2 thermobalances
1 S2 analyzers
13 Kerogenatrons
1 distillation column
2 microGC including 1 connected to 1 RockEval 6
 

	Oil & Gas Science and Technology - Revue de l'IFP THEMATIC DOSSIER: "Insights into Petroleum Geochemistry" Download the articles free of charge

 

 

Sedimentology-Stratigraphy Department

Research carried out in the Sedimentology-Stratigraphy Department helps improve reservoir characterization through the development of concepts, methods and tools to:

• describe and quantify reservoir heterogeneities of all origins (sedimentological, diagenetic) using outcrop, drilling and seismic data,
• understand the stratigraphic organization of reservoirs, the diagenetic phenomena that affect them, interactions between deformation, diagenesis and sedimentation,
• model these heterogeneities using digital simulation methods, on the basis of physical, genetic and/or geostatistical approaches.

The results of this research provide:

• reservoir characterization studies in various geological contexts,
• concepts, tools and methods to analyze and interpret surface and subsurface data in terms of the environment and sedimentary and diagenetic heterogeneities,
• software tools and prototypes that can be used to simulate and reproduce the distribution of heterogeneities, the lithological content of sedimentary units and to take into account geological, seismic or dynamic constraints in these simulations.

The sedimentology-stratigraphy teams have acquired recognized regional (Paris Basin, Middle East, Iran, North Africa, Algeria, the North Sea, Basins of the South East, Brazilian Margin, etc.) and thematic expertise in a broad variety of environments and geological eras:
 

- clastic:

• deltaic, fluvio-deltaic:
  
  • Ravenscar (mid-Jurassic in Yorkshire, UK),
  • Tunu and Peciko (Mahakam delta, mid-Miocene, Indonesia),
  • Mesa Verde (Cretaceous, Colorado, U.S.A),
  • Terra-Nova (Upper Jurassic, Canada),
  • Paradise Hill (MacMurray Formation, Albian stage, North Eastern Alberta, Canada),
  • ElBorma (Triassic, Tunisia),
     
• fluvial:
  
  • Soings (Keuper formation, Upper Triassic, France),
  • Bongkot (Oligocene to mid-Miocene, Gulf of Thailand),
  • Chaunoy ((Keupe formation, Triassic, Paris Basin, France),
  • Christina Lake (MacMurray Formation, Albian stage, North Eastern Alberta, Canada),
  • Berkine ((Triassic, Algeria),
  • ElBorma (Triassic, Tunisia),
     
• fluvio-lacustrine:
  
  • Cajigar (Upper Eocene, Lower Oligocene, Spain),
  • Permien (Utah, U.S.A),
     
• eolian, glacial, mixed.
   

- carbonate and mixed-carbonate:

• Paradox Basin (Pennsylvania, Colorado and Utah, United States),
• Oman (Natih formation, Cenomanian/Turonian), Gachsaran (Iran) ;
   

- turbiditic:

• Grès d'Annot (Upper Eocene, Oligocene, France),
• Namorado (Albian stage and Cenomanian of the Campos Basin, Brazil) ;
• Pab Range (Maastrichian, Pakistan).
   

The Sedimentology-Stratigraphy Department conducts numerous projects in collaboration with partner universities (UPMC-Paris 6, Marseille 1, Lille, Bordeaux-III, Rennes-Geosciences, Louvain, Burgundy, Montpellier, Ecole des Mines de Paris, IPGP, ENS Lyon) and manufacturers through JIPs (Dionisos, Berkine Gas, MEC, Asmari, PAB, Grecale) and collaborative projects.

 

Description and quantification of heterogeneities

The department has solid experience and recognized expertise in the characterization of stratigraphy, diagenesis and deposit environments:

• on various scales,
• in various geological, clastic and carbonate environments.

This expertise concerns the acquisition of data relating to terrain (outcrop, cores), and the establishing of conceptual geological models based on correlations. The purpose of these models is to gain a better understanding of the spatial and temporal evolution of reservoirs being studied by highlighting the factors that control the distribution of sedimentary facies and their petrophysical properties. In these descriptions, the characterization of petrophysical properties and reservoir flow remains the ultimate objective (interactions between diagenesis and fracturation, characterization of vacuolar media, etc.).

These detailed descriptions and analyses are based on conventional methods employed in sedimentology (mapping, the use of GPS, photo panels, survey of sedimentological cross sections) and the use of specific tools and laboratory analyses with cutting-edge equipment for the purposes of petrographic studies and diagenetic characterization, especially in carbonate and karstic reservoirs.
Tools to aid interpretation in seismic stratigraphy are also being developed for the automatic recognition of seismic facies.

Research conducted in the department has led to the development of a high-resolution correlation methodology using concepts from sequential stratigraphy. These interpretations are based on terrain analogs and regional syntheses.

 

Digital modeling and simulations

Another aspect of the activities developed in the department concerns the digital modeling of processes and sedimentary objects to:

• have a "laboratory" of digital geological blocks enabling new concepts, approaches and hypotheses to be tested and validated,
• reproduce sedimentary processes digitally and analogically and provide quantitative reservoir images.

The department also has recognized experience in this field and offers innovative methods to integrate professional constraints into the models.
The methods and tools developed are based on different approaches, which may be combined or used in a complementary manner.
 

Stratigraphic modeling, Dionisos

Dionisos (DIffusion Oriented Normal and Inverse Simulation Of Sedimentation), a software developed at IFP, is used to provide a 3D simulation of the paleogeographic evolution of a basin in order to predict the average geometry and the average lithological content of sedimentary units, working with significant space and time scales (tens of hundreds of km, millions of years). The model is based on the interaction of 3 major process types:

• the creation of available space for sedimentation,
• sedimentary contribution,
• the transport of sediments based on a law of diffusion.

Using the model enables in situ carbonate production, coastal currents, turbiditic flows, etc. to be taken into account.

Random genetic modeling, CATS

The aim of the CATS (Cellular Automata for Turbidite Systems) project is to understand and characterize the 3D sedimentary architecture of turbidite reservoirs using sedimentary process modeling techniques with cellular automata.

Analogical modeling

Experimental sedimentation modeling also forms part of the panoply of tools used in the department to facilitate the understanding of constitutive laws in some complex sedimentary environments.
 

Geostatistical modeling, filling module

Collaborative work conducted with the Geostatistics Centre of the École des Mines de Paris has led to the development by IFP and GP teams of internationally recognized methods. The development of digital reservoir characterization and modeling tools using geostatistical approaches mean that reservoir heterogeneities with a direct impact on fluid flows and production calculations can be realistically reproduced. The tools are constantly evolving to enable a better integration of professional constraints (constraint map defined using seismic attributes, petrographic data) and better quantification of the associated uncertainties.
 

Human Resources

15 research engineers
3 technicians including 1 computer graphics expert
 

Equipment

Thin section laboratory
Optical microscopy laboratory, cathodoluminescence, fluid inclusions.

 

Geophysics Department

The Geophysics Department conducts research to improve exploration and seismic sub-soil characterization methods. These methods largely focus on "quantitative" imaging of reservoirs and their geological covers. They are also used to highlight variations in media properties over time, either by active seismic experiments, or by passive monitoring of microseismic activity. There is a particular emphasis placed on estimating and predicting lithological and petrophysical properties, and the degree of fracturation of the targets being studied. Research focuses on oil reservoirs, as well as deep saline aquifers potentially useful for CO₂ storage. The department’s activities are split between methodological research, the writing of industrial calculation codes and their applications to real data.

In order to conduct its research effectively, the department works closely with national and international oil companies, geophysical service companies, other public bodies (ANDRA, BRGM, IFREMER, INERIS, etc.) and university laboratories, particularly through ANR projects, European projects, bilateral partnerships, joint industry projects and research agreements. The department is also supported internally by the division’s other departments (Structural Geology and Sedimentology and Geochemistry), as well as the Technology, Computer Science and Applied Mathematics Divisions (instrumentation, signal processing, scientific computing), the Applied Mechanics Division (geomechanics), and the Reservoir Engineering Division (petrophysics, transfers in porous media).

The department’s research activities principally relate to the following themes:
 

Acquisition and processing of data for temporal well monitoring

Research conducted in this field involves developing and testing new seismic data acquisition concepts. It also involves developing adapted signal processing methods. The principal objective is to improve a system of permanent sources implemented in drilling wells to monitor and understand the temporal evolution of gas stores in underground reservoirs.
 

Well seismics

Besides their importance for the understanding of the well’s geological environment and its impact on wave propagation, seismic data acquired in drilling wells are crucial for the calibration and interpretation of seismic data recorded at the surface. In difficult cases, detailed analysis of the seismic profiles of wells recorded with sensors with 3 or 4 components (including a hydrophone) is sometimes the only way of obtaining reliable information on reflectors, their inclination and their orientation in space.

Quantitative reservoir characterization techniques: stratigraphic inversion modeling

These techniques are designed to estimate underground elastic impedances using potentially multi-component seismic wave forms, prestack or poststack. The inversion of the signals collected at the surface, calibrated by data gathered in drilling and supplemented by additional advance information on the parameters sought, provides quantitative values for the impedances. This procedure improves both the resolution and the signal/noise ratio of the reconstructed images. The methods developed make considerable use of seismic wave propagation modeling tools. Current efforts relate to consideration of increasingly realistic media in terms of geometry, rheology and seismic response. This approach includes:

• wave propagation in three dimensional structures,
• the anisotropy properties of propagation media,
• the incorporation of multiple reflections and wave conversions in algorithms,
• consideration of the relations linking elastic properties with relevant parameters in reservoir engineering (porosity, permeability, fluid content).

In all cases, estimation of the uncertainties associated with predicted quantitative models is essential: this difficult problem is central to our research efforts today.

Analysis and interpretation of seismic data in petrophysical terms

The department has developed significant expertise in the use of statistical and geostatistical techniques that are then employed to analyze and interpret data in seismic facies. These methods consist in extracting relevant seismic features with a view to improving reservoir description in terms of external and internal architecture, lithology, petrophysics and fluid content. Today fracture characterization is a major research issue given the importance of fractured reservoirs for exploration-production.

Human Resources

23 research engineers
5 technicians including 1 computer graphics expert
 

Equipment

Terrestrial seismic acquisition laboratory