What is Petroleum reservoir and how does it stores oil?

The natural subsurface reservoir is a container of oil, gas, and water where they can move, and its
shape is determined by the relationship between the reservoir rock and its surrounding poorly
permeable rocks. The subsurface reservoir as only that part of the reservoir rocks where the oil and
natural gas can form an accumulation. The natural reservoir remains as such regardless of the type
of the contained fluids, or even if it is dry. A comparison can be made with the overpressure. The
presence of fluids is necessary for the overpressure. No fluids of different densities, no surplus
pressure. As for the reservoirs, they possess two important attributes: spatial limitation (which
determines the volume and boundaries of the reservoir), and an internal structure that defines the
type and nature of inter-reservoir migration. Indeed, these properties should be included in any
definition of the reservoir as well as in the classifications being developed. Some attempts have
been made to classify the oil and gas reservoirs on the basis of their relative size (local, zonal,
basin-wide, regional, etc.) or their absolute size.
Three types of reservoir limitations can be identified: reservoir roof lateral, and reservoir base. The
reservoir roof (top) may cover the reservoir
In normal stratigraphic succession.
With some depositional hiatus.
May change its age along the strike.

It is improbable but not impossible that a reservoir may be capped by the surface of an
impermeable over-thrust. It should be kept in mind the selectivity toward different fluids by
caprock and a possibility of its transformation into a reservoir rock during epigenesis.
Consequently, it is always important to indicate the exact nature of the fluid. The transformation of
the caprock into a reservoir rock results in either disappearance of the reservoir or its conversion
into a new reservoir (if there is another caprock above). Lateral limitations are caused by
lithologic alterations (including cementation) and the permeability. Small accumulations may be
laterally limited by faults. This is possible, but not typical, for the larger reservoirs, because the
fault zones in their evolution can become migration paths for various fluids (oil, water, or gas).
Fault zones are actually "communication windows" with the other reservoirs. The importance of
the presence of the base (bottom) as a necessary reservoir component was not always clearly
recognized, because it was believed that the accumulations were formed exclusively by the
buoyancy (Archimedes forces). One must always keep in mind that the reservoir is an inseparable
part of the hydrodynamic system. This system may be open or with a restricted communication to
the surface (artesian), or of "elision" type (with an inverse pattern of hydrostatic pressure). It is not
possible for such energy system to exist without a base (bottom). Reservoir rock is a rock capable
of containing oil and gas and yielding them during production. The reservoir rock is characterized
by: rock type; permeability type (intergranular, fracture, and/or combination of the two); the total,
intercommunicating, and effective porosity; specific surface area; wettability of rock (oil-wet
versus water-wet); fracture type (width, etc.); and fracture distribution. Reservoir is a natural
subsurface container for oil, gas, and water. Its existence is predicated on the relationships
between the reservoir rock and associated poorly permeable rocks. Reservoir is characterized by
reservoir-rock type, relationship with impermeable rocks, reservoir capacity, its hydrodynamic
conditions, reservoir energy, and structure. Trap is part of the subsurface reservoir where an oil or
gas accumulation can form and be preserved. Its parameters include the reservoir type, reservoir-
rock type, conditions of its formation, structure, and capacity. In a special case where the reservoir
is lithologically limited from all directions, its parameters may coincide with those of the trap (the
entire reservoir is represented by a single trap).
The following features are used in describing a reservoir:
Type of the reservoir rock comprising the reservoir.
Relationship between the reservoir and the surrounding impermeable rocks.
Reservoir capacity.
Depositional environment.

In terms of the relationship between the reservoir and its surrounding impermeable rocks, there are
three major types of the reservoirs: bedded, massive, and lithologically limited in all directions.
Bedded reservoir is a reservoir that is restricted at its top and base by low permeable rocks. The
reservoir rock thickness in such a reservoir is more or less or at the edge of the reservoir
development, which may result in a pinch-out of the reservoir rock. The reservoir rocks in bedded
reservoirs are usually lithologically continuous, but may have a more complex nature. A bedded
reservoir may have a single hydrodynamic system. Reservoir energy in bedded reservoirs is
distributed in accordance with the hydrostatic or hydrodynamic environment of the artesian
basins. However, reservoirs with that kind of energy distribution are typical only for the
uppermost portion of the sediment cover. As a result of subsidence and sediment compaction and
various secondary geochemical processes, reservoirs may be separated into diverse portions as a
consequence of previously described phenomena. Leaving aside changes in the sediment
composition, drastic changes occur in the major reservoir-rock properties (porosity and
permeability). Even if prior to subsidence the reservoir rocks were reasonably uniform in terms of
porosity and permeability, subsequent to subsidence non-uniformities appear between various
portions of reservoir so that they may turn out to be totally separated from one another. An
indication of such a change may be a change in a hydrodynamic drive from artesian to "elision"
type and the appearance of abnormally high pressure. The beginning of the process involves (1)
lateral fluid migration, and (2) gradual change in the reservoir energy. Potential energy of the
accumulations relative to the total energy of the reservoir is small. As the sheet-type reservoir
differentiates, lateral migration becomes increasingly more obstructed, with formation of
numerous hydraulic fractures. Fluid migration from the reservoir to other favorable zones (if they
are available) may become prevalent. An increase in the elastic potential energy is observed
(Abnormally-High Formation Pressure, AHFP). Energy distribution becomes discrete. The
difference in potential energy between the accumulations and the reservoir as a whole becomes
smaller, and within some zones (blocks) they become identical. Thus, it is reasonable to recognize
a separate type, i.e., differentiated sheet-type reservoir, which under certain circumstances
becomes a bedded reservoir. Massive reservoir is a thick permeable sequence overlain at the top
and restricted from the sides by low-permeable rocks. Its bottom may be at a depth that has not yet
been penetrated by wells (Tengiz Field, Kazakhstan). Reservoir rocks comprising massive
reservoirs may be homogeneous or heterogeneous. Homogeneous massive reservoir rocks may be
carbonates and metamorphic or volcanic rocks. Their porosity and permeability is due to the
presence of vugs and fractures. Porous and permeable zones in massive reservoir rocks are not
stratigraphically related. Isolated high-porosity and high-permeability zones cutting through
stratigraphic surfaces within a body of a massif are common. Buried reefs are often assigned to
this reservoir type. Among the best examples are the Ishimbay group of fields in Bashkortostan,
Russia, and Rainbow Oilfield in Alberta, CANADA. Usually, the thickness (height) of massive
reservoirs is greater than the width. The length of possible vertical fluid migration is similar or
greater than the lateral migration within the beds. The flanks of the reservoir and its contacts with
the contemporaneous sediments are steep (thus, the biostromes should be classified as the sheet-
type (bedded) rather than the massive-type reservoirs). In as much as the bioherms are very similar
to reef buildups, they should be considered as massive reservoirs. To form a trapping mechanism,
beside the caprock, the massive reservoirs require isolating steep lateral limitations. As an
example, numerous present-day coral reefs in the Indian Ocean do not form subsurface reservoirs
not only because of the absence of caprock, but also due to the absence of lateral barriers (lateral
isolation). Fresh water accumulating within such bodies floats on the surface of heavier seawater.
The hydrodynamic system of the massive reservoirs is poorly studied. It is possible that they
communicate at depth with the bedded (sheet-type) reservoirs and are, in effect, just a veriety of a
sheet-type reservoir. Reservoirs lithologically limited from all directions include all types of
reservoirs where the liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons present from the time of formation of the
reservoir are surrounded from all directions with practically impermeable rocks. Fluid movement
within such reservoir is limited by its size. There is some superficial similarity between the
massive reservoirs and the differentiated sheet-type reservoirs. The similarity is in the limitation
(lithologic isolation). The difference is in the timing of the emergence of the latter. The massive
reservoir is a result of depositional processes, whereas the differentiated sheet-type reservoir is a
result of stresses during the basin subsidence. The former type is originally small (certainly, any
bed is a large lens, but this approach is not used here). The latter type is a separate portion of a
previous, possibly large hydrodynamic system. Prevalent elastic energy is typical for both, but the
latter type of reservoirs has a greater stress level. The capacity of any type of reservoir is defined
by its size and reservoir-rock properties. Energy of a reservoir is associated with its capacity, and
the energy is what is important for the extraction of oil and gas (and associated water). The
identification of the above four reservoir types is tentative, because such well rooted concepts as
reservoir rock and caprock (fluid barrier) are also tentative. Even in the same state, the same rock
may be a fluid barrier to one fluid and a reservoir rock to the other, depending on the
physiochemical properties of fluids and rocks (especially, wettability), and on the subsurface
temperature and pressure. For instance, a prominent projection of a massive reservoir may be just
a complication of a regional sheet-type reservoir and be a part of the same hydrodynamic system.
This phenomenon is especially common in carbonate sequences. It is possible to imagine a
conversion of a sheet-type differentiated (block) reservoir into a massive reservoir if the caprock
loses its sealing properties over a fault or flexure. The hydrocarbon accumulation may then occur
underneath another, shallower caprock