Regional Hydraulic Function of Structural Elements and Low-Permeability Formations in Fluid Flow Systems and Hydrocarbon Entrapment in Eastern-Southeastern Hungary
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REGIONAL HYDRAULIC FUNCTION OF STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS AND LOW-PERMEABILITY FORMATIONS IN FLUID FLOW SYSTEMS AND HYDROCARBON ENTRAPMENT IN EASTERN-SOUTHEASTERN HUNGARY by Brigitta Czauner M.Sc. Geology Dissertation submitted to the Geology and Geophysics Ph.D. program of the Doctoral School of Earth Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Earth Sciences Chair of the Ph.D. School: Gyula Gábris, D.Sc. Chair of the Ph.D. Program: Andrea Mindszenty, D.Sc. Supervisor: Judit Mádl-Sz őnyi, Ph.D., Associate Professor Eötvös Loránd University Budapest, Hungary 2012 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study was well supported personally, financially, and technically as well, thus I have very many to thank. First of all, I wish to thank Dr. Judit Mádl-Sz őnyi, my supervisor, for set me going on the fascinating way of hydrogeology, than offer me the research topic that I have been working on since my graduate studies. I am also grateful to her for generating and patronizing the R&D project with the MOL Plc., and my partial Ph.D. education at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada), as well as for providing me the possibility to participate at several memorable conferences in Hungary and abroad too. Eventually, I am very thankful for her continuous personal and professional support, as well as for the acquaintance with Prof. József Tóth. I would like to very thank to Prof. Tóth for his honouring friendship, and for introducing me into the gripping world of hydraulics and petroleum hydrogeology. My study followed in his track in the hydraulic investigation of the Great Hungarian Plain, while he partly managed my work as well. I am also grateful to him for proposing and supporting my year-long (2009-2010) partial Ph.D. education at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada) where I studied among others petroleum hydrogeology, and I also had the opportunity to work together with Prof. Tóth on my research project. This study was supported by data and also financially by the MOL Hungarian Oil & Gas Company Plc., through a Research and Development (R&D) project came off between the MOL Plc. and the Eötvös Loránd University for 2009-2011 (supervisor: Dr. Judit Mádl- Sz őnyi). I would like to personally thank András Király (International Exploration and Production Director, INA – Industrija nafte, MOL Group) for the recognition of the hopefulness of this research, as well as the initiation of the R&D project. I am also grateful to Viktor S őreg (Director, Eurasian Exploration Projects, MOL Plc.) for carrying on the project, professionally supporting the study, and permitting the presentation of the results. I wish to thank Károly Kiss (Senior Exploration Expert, Project Manager; Unconventional Exploration Projects, MOL Plc.) for managing the project, providing me the data, and consulting with me from that I benefited a lot regarding the handling of data and the cognition of the Study Areas. I also would like to thank Béla Lakos (New Technologies and R&D Senior Expert, MOL Plc.) for his support and efforts around the R&D project. Eventually, I am grateful to all employees of the MOL Plc., who assisted my work by data collection or professional advices. I am grateful to the Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) (Budapest, Hungary) for providing me a three years-long Ph.D. fellowship (2008-2011), then a ‘TÁMOP’ (Social II Renewal Operational Programme) predoctoral employment (02-09/2012) in order to finish my dissertation. I wish to thank the past and present Head of the Department of Physical and Applied Geology (ELTE), Prof. Andrea Mindszenty and Prof. József Pálfy for providing me the work conditions and technical background at the Department. I am also grateful to all of my colleagues and friends at the Department. Particular thanks to Dr. Anita Er őss and Dr. Szilvia Simon who supported me professionally, personally, and patiently as well, and to Klára F. Nagyné Gulyás for the indispensable administrative assistance. Eventually, also the water well data collecting efforts of past and present students of the Department are very much appreciated. I wish to thank the staff of the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada) for providing me the opportunity to study there and from them. I am especially grateful to Dr. Ben J. Rostron for my admission into the hydrogeology group. Also thanks to Dr. László Lenkey (associate professor, ELTE Department of Geophysics and Space Science) and Dr. István Almási (president, Dome GeoConsulting Inc.) for their temperature and hydrostratigraphic data, respectively. Grateful thanks to my “in-house” rewievers, Dr. Szilvia Simon (assistant lecturer, ELTE), Dr. György Pogácsás (associate professor, ELTE), and Viktor S őreg (MOl Plc.) for carefully reading of the first version of my manuscript; their advice and suggestions also significantly improved the quality of the final product. Finally, I am most grateful to my parents, József Czauner and Brigitta Czaunerné Ádám, for their love, patience and trust with which they fundamentally support my life, my studies, and the completion of this dissertation. Cheers to Zsé for her sisterhood and encouragement. Thanks to my beloved Péter Zentai for his befriending and the relaxing moments. Eventually, I am very grateful to all of my relatives and friends who rooted for me and was waiting for me a lot. III ABSTRACT The results of a regional scale hydrogeological research conducted in the Eastern- Southeastern Great Hungarian Plain (Pannonian Basin, Hungary) in order to investigate the hydraulic role of faults and low-permeability formations in subsurface fluid flow systems and hydrocarbon entrapment are presented. Study Areas (~10,400 km 2) were chosen based on their differing geological characteristics, thus a regional scale Pre-Neogene basement high (Battonya High), and two regional scale depressions (Derecske Trough, Békés Basin) were studied. During data analysis and interpretation, first the hydrostratigraphical build-up of the Study Areas was determined. Afterwards, hydraulic data of 3629 (water and hydrocarbon) wells were interpreted in order to map the groundwater flow systems, because moving groundwater as a geologic agent determine the distribution of temperature, salinity, hydrocarbon accumulations, etc. Thus the primary objectives of the subsequent temperature and hydrochemical data analysis considering their reliability as well were the support of the hydraulic interpretations and the examination of their anomalies. As a result, regional characterization of the Study Areas revealed that the overpressure dissipation from the Pre- Neogene basement strata through the Pannonian sedimentary fill of the basin towards the unconfined and approximately hydrostatic Great Plain Aquifer is controlled by the structural and sedimentological heterogeneities of the regionally extensive aquitard units. These heterogeneities usually coincide with fluid-potential, geothermal, and hydrochemical anomalies, as well as hydrocarbon occurrences. Consequently, diagnostic relationships were recognized among these phenomena, while in their relation system the way of overpressure dissipation proved to be the primary controlling factor defined by the geological build-up. Accordingly, seven regions were distinguished within the Study Areas that can be characterized by seven basic types of pressure-elevation profiles traced back to the differences in the geological build-up and consequently in the way of overpressure dissipation. Finally, based on the exploration of the diagnostic relationships among these issues and the deduced pressure-elevation type-profiles, a hydrogeology-based methodology was worked out, which can be usable directly or indirectly for initial reservoir prognosis in areas with differing data supply during groundwater, geothermal, or hydrocarbon exploration, or field data-based preparation for hydrodynamic modeling. Important segments of the method development were the improvement of pressure-elevation profile interpretation, the determination of the average groundwater density values being typical of the Study Areas, as well as the correction of hydraulic calculations in case of pressure data measured in gas columns. IV HUNGARIAN ABSTRACT – ÖSSZEFOGLALÁS Doktori disszertációm témája a vet ők és alacsony permeabilitású képz ődmények felszínalatti folyadék áramlási rendszerekben és szénhidrogén csapdázódásban betöltött szerepének hidrogeológiai tanulmányozása regionális léptékben. A kelet és délkelet alföldi kutatási területek (~10.400 km 2) kiválasztása geológiai különböz őségeik és hasonlóságaik alapján történt, így egy pre-neogén aljzatmagaslatot (Battonyai-hát), és két regionális depressziót (Derecskei-árok, Békési-medence) vizsgáltam. Az adatelemzés és értelmezés során els őként a vizsgálati területek hidrosztratigráfiai felépítését határoztam meg. Ezt követ ően 3629 (víz és szénhidrogén) kút hidraulikai adatait dolgoztam fel a felszínalatti vízáramlási rendszerek feltérképezése céljából, mivel földtani hatótényez őként ezek határozzák meg többek közt a h őmérsékletnek, a víz sótartalmának, és a szénhidrogén felhalmozódásoknak a felszínalatti eloszlását is. Következésképpen, a további h őmérsékleti és vízkémiai adatfeldolgozás els ődleges célja az értékek eloszlásában mutatkozó anomáliák vizsgálata, valamint – tekintve az adatok megbízhatóságát is – a hidraulikai értelmezés alátámasztása volt. A kutatási területek ily módon elvégzett regionális