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Stratigraphic Traps

Explorer Emphasis Article

Don't feel bad if you haven't grasped the uses and benefits of geophysical tools in unconventional plays -- you're not alone. But here's something you need to know.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

AAPG and the Petroleum Technology Transfer Council in early July signed a Letter of Intent for AAPG to assume management of PTTC activities.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

A surprising new economic impact study of oil and gas production in Colorado shows that the industry is a valuable contributor to the state’s economy, and that E&P efforts have shifted to the western basins.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Regions and Sections

The official technical program and registration announcement has been mailed and registration is now available for Athens 2007 -- a conference that promises to be a significant meeting for both the profession and the science of geology.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Utah is a happening place, where the industry action just keeps escalating.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

With so much money pouring into upstream oil and gas, start-up companies have discovered the practice of investor shopping.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

They say when one door closes, another door opens. Four experienced managers at Burlington Resources didn’t hesitate when ConocoPhillips acquired their company in March 2006.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Regions and Sections

In the April EXPLORER we began sharing proven ideas for effective operation of the AAPG Regions and Sections, a recommendation from this winter’s AAPG Leadership Conference.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Division Column DEG

Spring has been a busy time for DEG with the AAPG Annual Convention in Long Beach, Calif., and the Southwest Section meeting in Wichita Falls, Texas.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

It doesn’t take an official proclamation to recognize that unconventional hydrocarbons have catapulted to the top on the oil patch buzz-o-meter scale.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
VG Abstract

Production from unconventional petroleum reservoirs includes petroleum from shale, coal, tight-sand and oil-sand. These reservoirs contain enormous quantities of oil and natural gas but pose a technology challenge to both geoscientists and engineers to produce economically on a commercial scale. These reservoirs store large volumes and are widely distributed at different stratigraphic levels and basin types, offering long-term potential for energy supply. Most of these reservoirs are low permeability and porosity that need enhancement with hydraulic fracture stimulation to maximize fluid drainage. Production from these reservoirs is increasing with continued advancement in geological characterization techniques and technology for well drilling, logging, and completion with drainage enhancement. Currently, Australia, Argentina, Canada, Egypt, USA, and Venezuela are producing natural gas from low permeability reservoirs: tight-sand, shale, and coal (CBM). Canada, Russia, USA, and Venezuela are producing heavy oil from oilsand. USA is leading the development of techniques for exploring, and technology for exploiting unconventional gas resources, which can help to develop potential gas-bearing shales of Thailand. The main focus is on source-reservoir-seal shale petroleum plays. In these tight rocks petroleum resides in the micro-pores as well as adsorbed on and in the organics. Shale has very low matrix permeability (nano-darcies) and has highly layered formations with differences in vertical and horizontal properties, vertically non-homogeneous and horizontally anisotropic with complicate natural fractures. Understanding the rocks is critical in selecting fluid drainage enhancement mechanisms; rock properties such as where shale is clay or silica rich, clay types and maturation , kerogen type and maturation, permeability, porosity, and saturation. Most of these plays require horizontal development with large numbers of wells that require an understanding of formation structure, setting and reservoir character and its lateral extension. The quality of shale-gas resources depend on thickness of net pay (>100 m), adequate porosity (>2%), high reservoir pressure (ideally overpressure), high thermal maturity (>1.5% Ro), high organic richness (>2% TOC), low in clay (<50%), high in brittle minerals (quartz, carbonates, feldspars), and favourable in-situ stress. During the past decade, unconventional shale and tight-sand gas plays have become an important supply of natural gas in the US, and now in shale oil as well. As a consequence, interest to assess and explore these plays is rapidly spreading worldwide. The high production potential of shale petroleum resources has contributed to a comparably favourable outlook for increased future petroleum supplies globally. Application of 2D and 3D seismic for defining reservoirs and micro seismic for monitoring fracturing, measuring rock properties downhole (borehole imaging) and in laboratory (mineralogy, porosity, permeability), horizontal drilling (downhole GPS), and hydraulic fracture stimulation (cross-linked gel, slick-water, nitrogen or nitrogen foam) is key in improving production from these huge resources with low productivity factors.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

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