New Directions and the Importance of Geology Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D. AAPG

“Breakthrough” Days  These are revolutionary times  New technologies  New understanding of the science  New motivations to pursue previously uninteresting resources  Environmental pressures (coal / nuclear)  New ways of financing ventures  International cooperation / investment

New Technologies Used in Shale Plays / “New” Carbonates

Horizontal Drilling  Geosteering  Logging while drilling  New data acquisition modules  Mathematical modelling: imaging, predictive qualities

Multi-Stage Hydraulic Fracturing  New development in drilling fluids  Cross-linked gels  Slickwater  New proppants  Ceramic  Coated  Isolating the stages  Microseismic to understand induced fractures

Water Purification  Sourcing water for drilling, completion, stimulation  Solutions for produced water  New technologies to purify  Stage 1: For use in drilling / stimulation  Stage 2: For agricultural use  Stage 3: For human consumption

Geochemical Methods  TOC measurements  New “fingerprinting”  Biomarkers  Diamondoids  Diamondoids (found in all petroleum: nanometer sized)  Isotopic quantifications  No change during cracking

Shale Plays New developments: Paradigm shifts

Geologists & Shale Plays  Model heterogeneity  Explain natural and induced fractures  Discuss implications of lithology on fluid selection, etc.  Total Oil Content (TOC) and the “kitchen” (maturation processes, and timing of pulses)  Geological history  Depositional  Structural

“New” Carbonates Resource plays, mature carbonates with “left behind” oil and gas in tight areas, and highly complex compartmentalized plays

Geologists & Carbonate “Resource Plays”  Often incorrectly considered a shale  Eagle Ford  Bakken  Highly heterogeneous, with “sweet spots”  Geological history  Depositional environment  Generation / maturation / migration  Fingerprinting the hydrocarbons

Geologists & “Left Behind” Oil in Mature Fields  Poor ultimate recovery due to  Reservoir compartmentalization  Bakken  Highly heterogeneous, with “sweet spots”  Geological history  Depositional environment  Generation / maturation / migration  Fingerprinting the hydrocarbons

Geologists & Complex Carbonates  Systems include complex dynamics  Hydrothermal alteration  Heat flows  Chertification  Secondary dolomitization and porosity enhancement  Diagenetic alteration (replacement minerals)  Highly heterogeneous, highly complex “sweet spots”  Geological history  Uplifts  Structure vs. depositional environment  Self-sourcing

Multi-Disciplinary Methods Geologists should establish themselves as an essential component of the teams

Geomechanics  Integrate microseismic / geophysics  Important for drilling, completion, producton  Engineering (direct pressure / temperature)  Petrophysics  Integrated data / Big Data  Modeling  Data mining  Predictive imaging

Imaging / 3D Seismic  Ground models with reasonable geological models  Microseismic  induced vs natural fractures  Open vs closed  Conduits  Workflows for integrating information, making decisions  Petrophysics  Integrated data / Big Data  Modeling  Data mining  Predictive imaging

Geochemistry  Combine with geological history  Structural  Depositional environment  Tie to biomarkers  Palynology  Radioactive isotope markers  Reservoir Fluids  Core studies

Big Data / Analytics  Integrate different data sets / databases  Tie seismic attributes with production information  Cluster analysis to determine trends and relationships  Patterns / frequencies: predictive models  Data mining of old databases  Imaging / digital sources  4D / 5D modeling