HomeScience Play Types

Play Types

Explorer Article

A varied technical program that examines both the onshore and offshore activity – and potential – of one of the world’s most prolific regions has been planned for this year’s AAPG Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies annual meeting, which will be held Oct. 10-12 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

The onshore shale petroleum systems of eastern North America will be in the spotlight during the AAPG Eastern Section’s annual meeting, set Sept. 25-29 in Kalamazoo, Mich.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

“Sweet” smell of success: The Gulf Coast region’s Upper Jurassic Haynesville play continues to be a spotlight-grabbing event.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Going global: Not all shale gas basins are created equal – but countries all over the world are intrigued by the possibilities.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Accent on the algae? One geologist says the superior rock properties of the Marcellus Shale may be due to the significant role that algal blooms played in its development.

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

Despite discouraging economic conditions over the last two years, development of the world’s vast resources of oil shale continues to make progress.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Deeper targets, higher excitement: Industry enthusiasm for shale gas (and oil) plays just keeps escalating – and the interest is going global.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Wet and wild: The world’s increasing demand for hydrocarbons is a good sign that deepwater exploration will remain a key source of new global reserves.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Canadians have an appropriately descriptive word to describe both themselves and their country’s energy scene: Resourcefulness.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Game changer? Horizontal drilling affirms more than a decade of E&P efforts in Canada’s Maritime provinces – the Frederick Brook Shale emerges as a potentially prolific play.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Monday, 27 May Wednesday, 29 May 2024, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Today’s oil and gas industry encounters two major challenges. In order to secure global energy supply increasing exploration and production from complex stratigraphic-diagenetic conventional and unconventional plays remains highly important. At the same time, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) poses new technological challenges that will impact both the industry and academia for decades to come. This workshop will bring together invited experts and interested researchers from both industry and academia to review and discuss technology developments in geological process-based forward modeling achieved during the last 2 years.

Show more
American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tuesday, 30 January Wednesday, 31 January 2024, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

AAPG and EAGE have teamed up to deliver the upcoming New Discoveries in Mature Basins workshop to be held from 30-31 January, 2024 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Save the date! Registration to open soon.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Khobar, Saudi Arabia
Monday, 4 December Wednesday, 6 December 2023, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

The fifth annual AAPG Siliciclastic Reservoirs of the Middle East Workshop will take place in Al Khobar in Saudi Arabia from 4-6 December 2023. This workshop will bring together professionals from the region to share their knowledge and experience related to siliciclastic reservoirs and showcase the best success stories in the industry on understanding and utilizing oil and gas siliciclastic reservoirs in the region.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Khobar, Saudi Arabia
Monday, 4 March Wednesday, 6 March 2024, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Join us for the 4th Edition of: "Stratigraphic Traps of the Middle East" workshop. The workshop will be hosted by AAPG in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia 4-6 March 2024.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Workshop
Paramaribo, Suriname
Wednesday, 17 January Thursday, 18 January 2024, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Plan now to attend an interactive in-person workshop with industry leaders, government representatives and technical experts working in the Guyana-Suriname Basin.

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.

Show more

Request a visit from Ameed Ghori!

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

Related Interests

See Also ...