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

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Presentation on theme: "New Directions and the Importance of Geology Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D. AAPG."— Presentation transcript:

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

2 “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

3 New Technologies Used in Shale Plays / “New” Carbonates

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

5 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

6 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

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

8 Shale Plays New developments: Paradigm shifts

9 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

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

11 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

12 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

13 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

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

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

16 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

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

18 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


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