***<center>Greetings friends and supporters of the education community and all those who support academic and educational content.</center>***

<div class="text-justify">Continuing with my thematic series: "Oil Engineering and Education", this time I want to share with you the characteristics that the oil rocks have, from an approach where not only the most important characteristics of the oil rocks will be described but also the importance of the study and description of these characteristics for the advance and development of the drilling of wells and the oil industry in general will be explained under different approaches. 

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As scientists, academic experts and engineers in oilfield operations learned from the configurations that were adapted from the results obtained as the wells were drilled deeper, all this led to a set of learnings where many questions that were unknown at the time from a geological and subsurface point of view began to be answered.

![image.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZkyf4cBy5KvcYr5wLf4onPYr7gttG2841tJrHdSkWHQC/image.png)
<center><sup>[Image Source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rocas_Sedimentarias.JPG)</sup></center>

Being able to start with the study of the characteristics of the oil rocks gave way to the origin of how the rocks that gave rise to the oil were transported, this origin also led to other questions such as the composition and physical characteristics of the rocks that participated in the formation of the oil.

<center>![image.png](https://images.hive.blog/DQmW9oEX7xcdE75nkmECNyPdkG2sDB2UEUyGYwECM81N1dc/image.png)</center>
<center><sup>[Image Source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Migracion_petroleo.svg)</sup></center>

In general, we could say that the study of the rocks that influenced the origin and formation of oil could be developed by drilling wells, since when rotary drilling was implemented, in which the drilling fluid transported the cuttings to the surface, the way in which the vegetable and animal matter could have been transformed in the formation of hydrocarbons began to be appreciated through analysis of the rock. It was also possible to identify aspects that in the end were able to demonstrate the agents that were influential on the deposition of sediments and strata that in the end even gave rise to the geological stratification studies that are quite helpful today in identifying the prospective oil-containing strata.

<center>![image.png](https://images.hive.blog/DQmcPpHNr3DV3ugiGg4aZziD5AX3DoF4kozTYtgBepPF1aH/image.png)</center>
<center><sup>[Image Source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Petroleum_Reservoir-es.svg)</sup></center>

### ***What important contributions could be obtained from the study of the characteristics of the oil rocks?***

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When it was possible to establish rotary drilling using new technologies such as the implementation of the topdrive as the fundamental equipment to rotate the drill string, I believe that many geologists and experts in describing the characteristics of the oil rocks knew that a new era was opening up where the description of the oil rocks would not only allow certain enigmas associated with the formation of oil to be solved, but would also allow schemes and structures to be established that would reveal the different geological ages in which the different geological formations that are crossed during drilling are described and where the hydrocarbon can be found. 


![image.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmTPao8PbPHPJRZtG3bqdfUx1mzgQj1oXCBRV5A2Dh5m97/image.png)
<center><sup>[Image Source](https://pixabay.com/es/photos/gas-natural-b%C3%BAsqueda-863229/)</sup></center>


After geological studies were carried out to study and describe the rock cuttings that came from the subsoil and were obtained from the drilling process, it was possible to assert with greater certainty that the oil came not only from a single geological age, but that its origin could be from different geological ages. As a very interesting coincidence product of the contributions referring to the descriptive study of the petroleum rocks is that it has been possible to find oil in different parts of the world in formations that coincide with the same geological age, for this case the geological age is that of the Palaeozoic, where its study has also led to the development of the exploitation of petroleum deposits that have had high volumes of gas and oil.     


### ***What kind of oil rocks is the oil engineer's study focused on?***

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Before being able to speak of some specific classification of the types of rocks, it would be important to speak first of the existing universe in the classification of the rocks, for it can be mentioned that this universe in the classification of the rocks is conformed by the following rocks:

- Igneous.

- Metamorphic.

- Sedimentary.

It is important to emphasize that for the petroleum engineer, geologists and petrophysicists it is important to have to study these three rocks since the three conform the totality of existing rocks in the planet, nevertheless specifically to cover the necessities of the knowledge for the exploration and production of petroleum and natural gas the engineers of petroleum and other professionals involved in this business only we are interested in studying the properties and characteristics of the sedimentary rocks. 

Next I want to present a representative image of a type of sedimentary rock that is of great interest in the search for oil, since oil fields containing this rock are prospective to contain oil, this type of sedimentary rock is sandstone: 

<center>![image.png](https://images.hive.blog/DQmP5QLHQ5ceH5fSQwczFCU2sPVrzz4EnCRiGtrzqwqdWTk/image.png)</center>
<center><sup>[Image Source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SandstoneUSGOV.jpg)</sup></center>
 
***Why are sedimentary rocks of great importance to oil tankers and study in the search for oil?***

There are several reasons why they are of great importance to oil tankers. First of all, it is necessary to explain that sedimentary rocks originate from igneous and metamorphic rocks, but due to the processes of disintegration and sedimentation of igneous and metamorphic rocks by the action of wind, water, change in temperature and chemical changes caused by water with other chemicals, they have originated what we know as sedimentary rocks.  Taking into account that this process of sedimentation is the cause of the origin of the sedimentary rocks, then we must extrapolate this situation and conclude that the oil having the same origin in the formation process we can have an indication that the oil is found in the sedimentary rocks, it is also important to mention that the sedimentary rocks of great value with respect to their geological study and interpretation for their oil study are.

- Conglomerates.

- Sandstone.

- Clay.

- Lutita.

- Limestone.

- Dolomite.

With the development that is currently taking place in the exploitation and production of oil, it can be established and affirmed with all the severity of the case that the sedimentary rocks are the most important from the oil point of view, since the large oil fields are formed by sedimentary rocks, From all the geological study of which we have experience as a result of the processes of drilling wells, we can conclude that the sedimentary rocks are very important when studying and classifying certain characteristics that make them important to place within the types of rocks that have a high oil storage capacity, among which the sandstones, limestones and dolomites stand out, without detracting from the potential that other sedimentary rocks have in other parts of the world, such as they are:  fractured shales and basalt.

### <center>***Conclusion and contributions of this publication***</center>

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1] The oil activity that has mainly contributed to the development and contribution in the study of the characteristics of the oil rocks is the drilling of wells, with the drilling of wells that have been successful in the sense that oil has been obtained it has been possible to collect samples of cuttings of rocks belonging to the producing fields, and in this way to be able to guarantee that the study in the characteristics of the oil rocks can help the development in the processes of exploration and search of the hydrocarbon.  



![image.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmX9JQR2BUDEWUWDVC2GFh1S4BQiaYfXefcSSYNkBiZSbc/image.png)
<center><sup>[Image Source](https://pixabay.com/es/photos/gas-natural-b%C3%BAsqueda-863223/)</sup></center>

2] It is usually motivating for the scholars of science to be able to achieve in the study of petroleum rocks the perfect environment to be able to strengthen the organic theories in the origin and formation of petroleum, of course all this is based on the formation and transport of igneous and metamorphic rocks until they are transformed into sedimentary rocks. 

3] This content is oriented to students at the university level who are beginning to form in the area of petroleum engineering, geology or any branch of hydrocarbons, all with the sense that they develop the idea of the importance of descriptive study to identify and analyze the characteristics of petroleum rocks for the search, exploration and production of oil and natural gas. 

### <center>***Reference consulted and recommended***</center>

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<center> [Download PDF of the book: Illustrated well 4th edition](https://www.academia.edu/38468208/PDVSA_1998_._El_Pozo_Ilustrado_4th_ed._PDVSA_)</center>

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