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Explorer Article

About 10 years ago there was major buzz and much hand wringing over predictions of big time natural gas shortages for the United States.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

The Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale has become one doozy of a gas play. In fact, it’s one of the premier shale gas plays of North America in terms of total gas resource, extent, production rates and economic potential, according to AAPG member Bill Zagorski, vice president of geology for the Southpointe, Pa., Marcellus shale division at Range Resources, which pioneered the play.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

A new hydrocarbon play in Kansas and Oklahoma is drawing interest to possibilities in several Mississippian formations.

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

The first Geosciences Technology Workshop ever held in the Middle East Region proved to be an enormous success and a remarkable accomplishment for the geosciences community in the area.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

In his own words: Steve Levine, general chair of the upcoming AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition in Houston, expanded his answers for some questions about the planning and significance of the event.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

While shale gas producers continue to tout their production prowess, a few voices are starting to question the underlying economics of shale gas development.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

The Rovuma Basin off the coast of Mozambique is not on the radar screen of a whole lot of folks.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

The Biblical land of milk and honey, aka Israel, has long been considered a kind of enigma in the oil-rich Middle East.

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

Canada’s unconventional resources continue to excite the imaginations of geoscientists, as Canadian companies – with operators and investors from North America, India and Southeast Asia – are doggedly working to unlock the country’s unconventional resource play potential.

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

Since the time of my last EXPLORER column in December, the petroleum industry has experienced many changes.

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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