Aspects of petroleum migration modelling

Significant recent progress has been made in modelling multi-phase hydrocar bon migration processes in sedimentary basins: while 2D and map-based tools have been available for some time, the first commercial full 3D applicatio ns have now been released and the method has rapidly reached a degree of ap plicability and processing efficiency that enables it to be used for analys es of quite complex problems. While various modelling methods are being app lied, all of them must be able to handle certain basic aspects of petroleum systems modelling. These aspects can be subdivided into two key groups: th e dynamics of the processes, and the scaling of the data and models. The ke y criteria are therefore: (a) how well does a method take the dynamics of t he processes into account, and (b) how well can a method handle the typical scaling problems in basin models? In the presentation, several migration-m odelling techniques are reviewed and each one is related to the key criteri a of dynamics and scaling according to their current development stage and potential. Hybrid methods which combine various migration modelling techniq ues are then introduced, and their current status, benefits, limitations an d perspectives are discussed using case histories. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scienc e B.V. All rights reserved.