Petroleum System Analysis

A petroleum system is a cell that comprises a coherent package of mature source rocks and any existing and/or former primary hydrocarbon accumulations generated. The Basin database describes the space/time relationship of the stratigraphic elements essential to the generation and entrapment of these accumulations (such as source rocks, carrier beds, reservoir rocks, seals and overburden) and the attendant geological processes of trap formation, migration, accumulation and preservation.

For example, by analyzing the timing of expulsion, secondary migration and accumulation, you can identify any possible seal failure and tertiary migration and evaluate the amount of hydrocarbons that could have been lost to the system.


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For better understanding petroleum systems in frontier areas or to map extensions of existing play fairways, knowledge about the existence of a working petroleum system is critical in exploration. Petroleum seeps are a good indicator for such active systems. NPA Satellite Mapping is the leading provider of offshore seeps data. To deliver the most comprehensive data set possible for basin analysis, IHS offers its Basin and Exploration data combined with NPA’s Global Offshore Seeps Database.