Editing Petroleum geology (section)

===Critical moment===
The critical moment is the time of the generation, migration, and accumulation of most hydrocarbons in their primary traps. The migration and accumulation of hydrocarbons occur over a short period in relation to geologic time. These processes (generation, migration, and accumulation) occur near the end of a duration of a petroleum system. The duration being the time crucial elements of the petroleum system are being accumulated.

The critical moment is crucial since it is based on the burial history of the source rock when it is at maximum burial depth. This is when most of the hydrocarbons are generated. Approximately 50%-90% petroleum is made and expelled at this point. The next step is the hydrocarbons entering the oil window. The oil window has to do with the source rock being the appropriate maturity, and also being at the right depth for oil exploration. Geoscientists will be need this to gather stratigraphic data of the petroleum system for analysis.