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Originally appeared in aPRIL 2013 issue, pgs 163-168. Posted with permission.
pores can comprise an appreciable com- provide a full wellbore profile of trapped bearing intervals within kilometers of
ponent of trapped fluid in mature, organ- fluids that document trapped petroleum petroleum reservoirs, and produce dif-
ic-rich rocks.2 Destructive bulk analysis distribution within the stratigraphic sec- fusion halos centered on these deposits.4
of trapped organic and inorganic fluids tion, the chemistry of migrated or locally Within unconventional reservoirs, FIS
is accomplished via the Fluid Inclusion generated petroleum, the location and can infer sweet spots, calculate likely pro-
Stratigraphy (FIS) technique.3 Samples effectiveness of seals and evidence of duced-fluid characteristics and help dis-
are crushed in a vacuum system, and proximal charged reservoirs that may not tinguish poor completions from poorly
liberated fluids are analyzed via direct have been penetrated by the borehole. placed laterals. FIS provides a convenient
quadrapole mass spectrometry for C1- The latter application relies on entrap- geochemical screening tool for follow-up
C13 petroleum species, and inorganic ment of water-soluble organic species petrographic and microthermometric
volatiles (e.g., CO2, H2S, He). Mass spec- such as acetic acid and benzene. These work. These techniques help identify spe-
tra and depth profiles of critical species compounds are concentrated in water- cific hydrocarbon charge events, quan-
titative API gravities, saturation state of
Fig. 1. Static image from an interactive software program that allows mud gas hydrocarbon fluid, and salinities for log
compositions, rock and fluid chemical data, electric logs and rock images to be viewed calculations of water saturation.5
and manipulated. Elemental analysis. XRF of rock ma-
terial has been shown to have a number of
invaluable applications to petroleum ex-
ploration, with more recent focus toward
unconventional systems.6,7 XRF analyzers
determine the chemistry of a sample by
measuring the spectrum of the character-
istic fluorescence X-rays emitted by the
different elements in the sample when it
is illuminated by X-rays of sufficient en-
ergy. The data provide information that
can be related to rock and cement type
via computer programs,8 although quan-
titative analysis also benefits from spot
analyses via additional techniques (e.g.,
XRD, QEMSCAN).9 Historically, chemi-
cal stratigraphy via XRF and ICP-MS has
been used to correlate monotonous strati-
graphic intervals with unclear or variable
lateral extent and thickness, particularly in
the absence of sufficient biostratigraphic or
lithostratigraphic markers. Trends in ele-
Fig. 2. Selected XRF and FIS data from a horizontal well within Cardium sandstone. Data ment abundance and ratios have also been
document a sweet spot which was found to have highest initial production. used to infer depositional environment,
anoxic events conducive to preservation of
organic matter, transgressive vs. regressive
cycles and sediment provenance. Empirical
correlations can provide semi-quantitative
indications of TOC, and elemental sum-
mations have been proposed as a means
of quickly determining relative brittleness.
The latter is relevant to completions. Once
delineated from vertical penetrations, key
chemostratigraphic markers can be used to
steer the wellbore in real time,10 or, in the
case of the present method, retrospectively
determine or confirm the wellbore path.
Viewer. The results of these three steps
are loaded into a viewer that allows the
user to rapidly assess relationships among
the various image and chemical data sets,
Fig. 1. Although not a data analysis tool in
the strict sense, the software has virtually
no learning curve and is uniquely suited
to this specific dataset. LAS files and stan-
164april 2013/WorldOil.com
geological & geophysical technology
ever, the upper section appears to have lim- Si Al K Fe S Ca Sr CO2 CH4 Parafins 57 AlkNaphtha
ited petroleum prospectivity, contains no
World Oil/april 2013165
geological & geophysical technology
Fig. 4. Correlation of elemental sulfur response with gamma ray response suggests Fig. 5. Cross plot of Zr and Si illustrating
variation in source potential, and correlates with visual organic matter in images and the difference between biogenic silica
thin section. (chert in this case) and terrestrial derived
silica (quartz associated with sandstone
Gamma Sulfur and siltstone). Sample point colors are
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000 16,000 grouped according for formation.
5,750 5,750
500
Bio
6,250 Source rock 6,250 400 ge
nic
sili
ca
300
6,750 6,750
SI, 10A 3
200 end
-Zr tr
l Si
100 t ria
7,250 7,250 res
Ter
Mature oil-prone 0
organic matter
7,750 7,750
-100
0 100 200 300 400 500
Zr
8,250 8,250
ance of Ca and Sr consistent with a mixed mentioned dry, mature gas from depth. cation of inorganic whole-rock geochemistry to shale
resource plays: an example from the Eagle Ford Shale
limestone and dolomite interval. Elemen- Compositional calculations of the bulk Formation, Texas, The Sedimentary Record, vol. 10, no.
tal sulfur response correlates with the gam- FIS volatiles in this lower interval suggest a 2, pp. 49, 2012.
ma ray curve in this zone and throughout slightly lighter bulk petroleum phase in the 8. Cohen, D., and C. R. Ward, SEDNORM a program
to calculate a normative mineralogy for sedimentary
this well, Fig. 4, and likely reflects source deeper zone as compared to the lower sec- rocks based on chemical analyses, Computers &
potential.11 Mature oil-prone kerogen is tion of the middle interval described above. Geosciences, vol. 17, no. 9, pp. 12351253, 1991.
9. Butcher, A. R., Getting the most out of ditch cuttings:
identified in thin section. A flat to negative Find out how a new technology is revolutionizing the
Si/Zr profile through the upper portion of CONCLUSIONS way we can automatically quantify mineralogy, texture
this section is consistent with biogenic sili- The combination of photography, and lithotype on a cutting-by-cutting basis, Petroleum
Exploration Society of Australia, PESA NSW, Sydney,
ca, Fig. 5, in contrast to the generally posi- trapped fluid chemistry and bulk rock Australia, Sept. 12, 2008.
tive relationship obtained in siliciclastics,12 elemental analysis has been shown to 10. Marsala, A. F., A. M. Loermans, S. Shen, C. Scheibe
and phosphorus anomalies are consistent provide valuable and otherwise unobtain- and R. Zereik, Real-time mineralogy, lithology and
chemostratigraphy while drilling, using portable
with the presence of apatite in thin section, able information with broad application, energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence, Saudi Aramco
a near-shore depositional environment including present and past petroleum Journal of Technology, Summer issue, p. 1824, 2011.
with relatively low sedimentation rates and distribution, source and chemistry, rock 11. Berner, R. A., Sedimentary pyrite formation: an
update, Geochimica et Cosmochmica Acta, vol. 48, pp.
elevated surface productivity. and cement type, chemical stratigraphy 605615, 1984.
The most promising zone, based on and mineralogical trends necessary for log 12. Wright, A. M., D. R. Spain and K. T. Ratcliffe, Applica-
FIS response, is at about 9,000 ft, corre- calculations, depositional environment tion of inorganic whole rock geochemistry to shale
resource plays, CSUG/SPE Paper 137946, Calgary,
sponding to a fractured cherty carbonate, and likely source rock potential, and rock 2010.
which also displayed significant mud gas properties relevant to completion. Data
anomalies while drilling. CO2 covaries are all collected on a single approximately Don Hall received BS (1982)
and MS (1985) degrees in
with hydrocarbons, and was also recorded 1-gm aliquot of washed and dried rock geology from the University of
in the mud gas, suggesting that some CO2 material, with an analytical cycle of four California at Riverside, and a
will be present in the produced petro- days. Approximately 600 samples per well PhD (1989) in geology from
Virginia Tech. He joined Amoco
leum. The source of CO2 and intermittent can be analyzed. Data can be used to help Production Research in 1990 as
sulfur species is thought to be related to understand petroleum systems in conven- a research scientist, where he worked on
thermochemical sulfate reduction at high tional and unconventional reservoirs, and development and implementation of novel fluid
inclusion instrumentation and techniques. He
temperature. As it is unlikely that maxi- optimize wellbores and completions. left Amoco in 1997 and co-founded Fluid
mum burial temperature at this depth ex- Inclusion Technologies, Inc.
REFERENCES
ceeded the threshold for local TSR (about 1. Hall, D. L., Fluid Inclusions in Petroleum Systems: A Mike Sterner has a BS in
130oC), influx of mature gas from deeper Compendium of Influential Papers, AAPG Getting chemistry from the University
in the basin is suggested. This is consis- Started Series, vol. 15, 2008. of Michigan and a PhD in
2. Kausik, R., C. C. Minh, L. Zielinski, B. Vissapragada, geology from Virginia Tech.
tent with the presence of discrete dry gas R. Akkurt, Y. Song, C. Liu, S. Jones and E. Blair, Char- After post-doctoral research
phase in the FIS data. High visible liquid acterization of Gas Dynamics in Kerogen Nanopores positions in Germany and at
petroleum inclusion abundance is docu- by NMR, SPE, Denver, 2011. U.C. Berkley, he joined Pacific
3. Hall, D. L., W. Shentwu, S. M. Sterner and P. D. Wag- Northwest Laboratory where he was involved in
mented here, and suggests high saturation ner, Using fluid inclusions to explore for oil and gas, thermodynamic modeling of electrolyte
of light oil and gas-condensate in frac- Harts Petroleum Engineer International, pp. 2934, solutions. Mike co-founded Fluid Inclusion
tured cherty carbonate. 1997. Technologies, Inc.
4. Burtell, S. G., and V. T. Jones, Benzene content of
There is evidence from fluid inclusion subsurface brines can indicate proximity of oil, gas, Rohit Shukla received his
data that the reservoir contains both gas Oil and Gas Journal, June 3, pp. 5963, 1996. Bachelors in Mechanical
and condensate or light oil. Lower inclusion 5. Munz, I. A., Petroleum inclusions in sedimentary ba- Engineering from the University
sins: systematic analytical methods and applications, of Mumbai in May 2005, and his
abundance and presence of tar-like dead oil Lithos, vol. 55, pp. 195212, 2001. Masters in Mechanical
deeper in the section represents residual 6. Hildred, G. V., and C. R. Rice, Using high resolution Engineering from the Oklahoma
chemostratigraphy to determine well-bore pathways in State University in December
oil. Some of this dead hydrocarbon may multilateral drilling campaigns: an example from the 2007. He started working at FIT in March 2008.
have been sourced via gas-deasphaltening Horn River Formation, British Columbia, Canada,
during emplacement of the previously Geoconvention 2012: Vision, pp. 14, 2012.
7. Ratcliffe, K. T., A. M. Wright and K. Schmidt, Appli-
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