Course Content

AAPG’s e-symposium on thermal maturation will demonstrate hands-on measurement methods and implications of (1) heat flow; (2) various thermal maturity parameters especially vitrinite reflectance measurements and their relationship to organic facies and kerogen type; and (3) the principles of one-dimensional thermal modeling and their relationship with the timing of hydrocarbon generation and expulsion.

The webinar will include a brief description of the fundamentals of organic petrology (including organic facies assignment and the effect of thermal maturity in delineating the adsorbed versus free gases), and the geochemistry of vitrinite reflectance (application and limitations.) Also, the role of both microscopic and chemical thermal maturation markers (vitrinite reflectance, FAMM, Thermal Alteration Index (TAI), Bitumen and Conodont Alteration Indices, apatite fission track annealing and various geochemical parameters) as calibration parameters for petroleum system modeling will be demonstrated. The webinar plans to demonstrate some details of vitrinite reflectance and other microscopic measurement methods in delineating the kinetics and timing of gas generation, the maturity calibration for unconventional (shale gas and CBM) hydrocarbon resource evaluation.

AAPG’s Webinar course on thermal maturation briefly covers the fundamentals of both steady state and transient state heat flow calibration in petroleum systems modelling for shale gas exploration.