Hydrocarbon migration and accumulation methods and systems

A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing one or more instructions of a computer-implemented method for simulating hydrocarbon (HC) migration and accumulation in a subsurface formation, the one or more instructions executable by a computer system to perform operations comprising:

• determining a plurality of HC mass associated with a plurality of grid cells representing the subsurface formation;
• determining a plurality of HC mass outflow magnitudes for one or more grid cells in the plurality of grid cells, the HC mass outflow magnitude for each of the one or more grid cells having an upper bound value based on the HC mass in that grid cell;
• updating the HC mass of the plurality of grid cells based on the plurality of HC mass outflow magnitudes;
• determining that a set of grid cells in the plurality of grid cells contain an excess mass of HC;
• in response to determining that a set of grid cells contain an excess mass of HC, performing an accumulation process to model filling of a trap associated with the set of grid cells;
• generating accumulation output data based on the accumulation process;
• and
• generating at least one flow control equipment command based on the accumulation output data.

A computer-implemented, parallel-processing system for simulating hydrocarbon (HC) migration and accumulation in a subsurface formation, the system comprising:

• a computer memory;
• and
• a hardware processor interoperably coupled with the computer memory and configured to perform operations comprising:
• determining a plurality of HC mass associated with a plurality of grid cells representing the subsurface formation;
• determining a plurality of HC mass outflow magnitudes for one or more grid cells in the plurality of grid cells, the HC mass outflow magnitude for each of the one or more grid cells having an upper bound value based on the HC mass in that grid cell;
• updating the HC mass of the plurality of grid cells based on the plurality of HC mass outflow magnitudes;
• determining that a set of grid cells in the plurality of grid cells contain an excess mass of HC;
• in response to determining that a set of grid cells contain an excess mass of HC, performing an accumulation process to model filling of a trap associated with the set of grid cells:
• generating accumulation output data based on the accumulation process;
• and
• generating at least one flow control equipment command based on the accumulation output data.