Abstract
Much silica precipitation in oil reservoirs occurred in the presence of hydrocarbons, evidenced by the entrapment of oil fluid inclusions in quartz. Also, silica in sedimentary basins is commonly precipitated at oil-window temperatures. This spatial and temporal relationship between oil and quartz precipitation aids the entry of oil into fractured reservoirs, including fractured basement. Where quartz is precipitated as fracture linings, the fractures are propped open by bridging quartz crystals, creating high fracture porosity and permeability. Evidence from fossil fractured reservoirs shows a large proportion of oil residue is in such propped open fractures.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 343-347 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Terra Nova |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 18 Mar 2019 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 2019 |
Bibliographical note
MB is in receipt of a postgraduate studentship from PTDF (Nigeria). Skilled technical support was provided by M. Baron and J. Still. Two reviewers made valuable criticisms that improved the paper.
Access to Document
- Accepted Manuscript
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Baba, M, Parnell, J, Bowden, SA. Naturally propped fractures caused by quartz cementation preserve oil reservoirs in basement rocks. Terra Nova. 2019; 31: 343– 347., which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/ter.12385. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.