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Research

BPSM Scientists and Graduate Students work on a variety of problems in basin and petroleum system modeling. These problems are organized here by research topic and by geographic area. A research topic covers themes both broad and specific in scope that can be applied to many modeling scenarios in different geographic areas. Most of these research topics are placed in their sedimentary basin and petroleum system context in the geographic area section to determine their applicability to other settings. A geographic area is a sedimentary basin or tectonic setting where a research topic is applied to a basin and petroleum system modeling case study.

Petroleum System Characterization of Terrebonne Mini-Basin Gas Hydrates in NW Walker Ridge Area, Gulf of Mexico

Gas hydrates hold vast volumes of methane and affect a wide range of scientific interests including drilling hazards, potential future energy resource, global carbon cycling, geohazards, and climat

Gas Hydrates
Gulf of Mexico

Geochemically distinct oil families in the Middle Magdalena Valley, Colombia

I determined the geochemically distinct oil families in the Middle Magdalena Valley, Colombia, based on the chemometric analysis of source-related biomarker and isotopic ratios.

Geochemical Studies
Middle Magdalena Valley, Colombia

Gulf of Mexico: Mississippi Canyon

Combining Basin Modeling with Seismic Reservoir Characterization Workflows in the Deep-water Gulf of Mexico
Theoretical Studies
Gulf of Mexico

Sur Basin, California

The Sur Basin (informally called the Partington Basin) is an ~1800 km2, asymmetric, structural basin offshore of the southern part of the central California margin, bounded to the south by the Sa
Theoretical Studies
Sur Basin, California

Vallecitos Syncline

The Vallecitos Syncline is a westerly structural extension of the western San Joaquin Basin, a prolific oil and gas province in central Californa.
Geochemical Studies
San Joaquin Basin, California

Silica phase transitions

Porcelanite and chert originate from marine diatoms as diatomite, which undergoes diagenetic conversion of amorphous opal (opal-A) to cristobalite and tridymite (opal-CT) and finally quartz.
Laboratory Studies
San Joaquin Basin, California

Salinas Basin, California

The Salinas basin is a Cenozoic strike-slip basin in the Coast Ranges of central California.
Faulting Studies
Salinas Basin, California

Piceance Basin, Colorado

The Piceance Basin is an asymmetrical sedimentary basin in the northeast part of the Colorado Plateau.
Theoretical Studies
Pieceance Basin, Colorado

Gulf of Mexico: Ship Shoal

The study area in the Gulf of Mexico is located off the coast of Louisiana in the Ship Shoal and South Timbalier area.
Pore Pressure Studies
Gulf of Mexico

East Coast Basin, New Zealand

The East Coast Basin (ECB) is a petroliferous Neogene forearc basin located on the eastern margin on the North Island, New Zealand.
 
Pore Pressure Studies
East Coast Basin, New Zealand

Understanding petrophysics of shale to calibrate regional basin models

Second-year Masters student Minh Tran works at the intersection of basin and petroleum system modeling and rock physics, under the guidance of BPSM Principal Scientist Tapan Mukerji.

Petrophysical Studies
Alaska North Slope

Unravelling hydrocarbon charge history of the Shublik Formation, Central North Slope of Alaska

The Middle to Upper Triassic Shublik Formation is one of the key source rocks for hydrocarbons in Arctic Alaska and the greater Prudhoe Bay field area, the largest field in the North America.
Geochemical Studies
Alaska North Slope

Multi-point geostatistical method

Basin and Petroleum System Modeling covers a large spatial and temporal interval. Many of the input parameters are highly uncertain.
Theoretical Studies

Generalized sensitivity analysis

Basin and Petroleum System Modeling (BPSM) covers a large spatial and temporal interval. Many of the input parameters are highly uncertain.
Theoretical Studies

Kinetics module in PetroMod

BPSM Scientists Ken Peters and Oliver Schenk, along with graduate student Danica Dralus, built a prototype module in commercially available petroleum system modeling software to determine the depth

Theoretical Studies
San Joaquin Basin, California

Kinetic studies

The phase transitions from opal-A to opal-CT to quartz plays an important role in hydrocarbon trapping in regions with siliceous deposits, particularly where structural traps are absent.
Laboratory Studies
San Joaquin Basin, California

Biomarker analysis of the Vallecitos Syncline, San Joaquin Basin

The geochemical work for this project by graduate student Meng He comprises two components.
Geochemical Studies
San Joaquin Basin, California

Combined geochemical study and traditional system modeling of the Salinas Basin

Graduate student Tess Menotti is combining traditional basin and petroleum system modeling of the Salinas basin, California, described here, with a geochemical study of the area.
Geochemical Studies
Salinas Basin, California

Links with seismic data

Linking a basin and petroleum system (BPSM) with seismic attributes has many potential applications. Calibrating basin models is crucial to building credible models that honor existing data.
Pore Pressure Studies
Gulf of Mexico

Complex fault histories

Structural extension and shortening can play a significant role in basin and petroleum system development.
Faulting Studies
East Coast Basin, New Zealand

Benchmark basin model

Classically, basin modeling is done with the intention of modeling oil and gas generation and migration for a specific existing basin of interest.
Theoretical Studies

Pore pressure prediction in tectonically active basins

Pore pressure prediction is important for both real-time drilling to optimize field safety conditions, and for paleo-modeling to provide a framework for development of the basin and petroleum syste

Pore Pressure Studies
East Coast Basin, New Zealand

Incorporating strike-slip faulting in BPSM

Three-dimensional (3D) basin modeling is often over-simplified in tectonically and structurally complex sedimentary basins, neglecting structures that are potentially critical to understanding hydr

Faulting Studies
Salinas Basin, California