FLOGEN Logo
In Honor of Nobel Laureate Dr. Aaron Ciechanover

SIPS 2025 logo
SIPS 2025 takes place from November 17-20, 2025 at the Dusit Thani Mactan Resort in Cebu, Philippines

Honoree Banner

More than 400 abstracts submitted from over 50 countries
Abstracts Still Accepted for a Limited Time



Featuring many Nobel Laureates and other Distinguished Guests


Back

APPLICATION OF PALEONTOLOGY IN THE DISCOVERY OF OIL AND GAS RESERVOIRS
Laura Garzon1; Abdollah Esmaeili1
1Federal University of Pará, Belem, Brazil

PAPER: 204/Energy/Regular (Oral) OS
SCHEDULED: 16:25/Thu. 20 Nov. 2025/Benjarong-Phuket

ABSTRACT:

Paleontological data,  particularly derived from microfossils such as foraminifera, are crucial in biostratigraphy, paleoenvironmental reconstructions, and hydrocarbon exploration. Fossils provide high-resolution chronostratigraphic markers and act as sensitive proxies for depositional environments, recording changes in paleoceanographic conditions and diagenetic processes in sedimentary basins, which are essential factors in identifying potential petroleum systems.  The mineralogical composition of bioclasts -calcite, aragonite, or phosphate-makes them sensitive to taphonomic alteration and diagenetic changes such temperature, pressure, and pore fluid chemistry, serving as indirect indicators of subsurface thermal maturity and potential hydrocarbon generation zones. 

The quality of reservoir rocks often correlates with the taphonomy and morphometry of the microfossils present in the deposits. By example, large benthic foraminifera, characterized by coarse, perforated, robust, well-calcified test, are commonly associated with high-energy, high-porosity, and high-permeability facies, shallow marine environments, and, consequently, good reservoir quality. On the other hand, fine-grained assemblages dominated by small, fragile or agglutinated tests, densely packed may indicate tight, low-energy, low-porosity, and low-permeability zones, often reflecting distal or deeper depositional settings. 

Furthermore, advances in geochemical and isotopic proxies (δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O, Sr/Ca) from foraminiferal tests provide improved resolution in paleoenvironmental interpretations, including kay parameters as salinity, productivity, thermal gradients, and others, refining sequence stratigraphy and reservoir prediction models. In summary, integrating morphogroup analysis, taphonomic signatures, and geochemical data offers a powerful, multidimensional approach to refining the stratigraphic framework, guiding drilling strategies, and improving the characterization of heterogeneities in oil reservoirs, particularly in complex depositional settings such as mixed siliciclastic-carbonate systems.