Systems and methods for identifying gas migration using helium

A system for identifying migration direction of natural gases from source to reservoir in a petroleum exploration environment, the system comprising a network of 4He gas sensors and a migration monitoring hub, wherein:

• the network of 4He gas sensors are positioned at a plurality of reservoir wells in the petroleum exploration environment and are operable to identify a 4He concentration in gas samples at the reservoir wells;
• the migration monitoring hub is in communication with the network of 4He gas sensors and comprises a processor in communication with the network of 4He gas sensors;
• and
• the processor is operable to determine a direction of increasing 4He concentration between selected ones of the reservoir wells based on the identified 4He concentration at the reservoir wells and map increasing 4He concentration in the petroleum exploration environment based on the direction of increasing 4He concentration between selected ones of the reservoir wells.

A method for identifying migration direction of natural gases from source to reservoir in a petroleum exploration environment, the method comprising:

• isolating a target portion of the petroleum exploration environment;
• detecting gas samples from a network of 4He gas sensors positioned at a plurality of reservoir wells in the target portion of the petroleum exploration environment;
• identifying a 4He concentration in the gas samples at the plurality of reservoir wells;
• and
• determining a direction of increasing 4He concentration in the gas samples between the plurality of wells in the target portion of the petroleum exploration environment.