URTeC: 2688128
 
Downloaded 11/07/17 to 132.236.27.111. Redistribution subject to SEG license or copyright; see Terms of Use at http://library.seg.org/

GIS-ba
ased Interrpretation
n of Rock
k, Oil, Gas and PV
VT Data to
o Predict
New Well
W Outco omes – Virtual
V Weell Exampples from
m the Eagle Ford and
Second White Speckled
S d Shale Fo
ormations of Nortth Americca
John B. Curtis*, Ste
ephen W. Brown,
B Johnn E. Zumbe
erge, Kevin
n A. Ferworn
n, Matthew
w M.
White, GeoMark
G Reesearch, Lttd., Houston
n TX, USA

Copyright 2017, Unconventional Resou

urces Technology Con
nference (URTeC) DOI 10.15530/urtec-20177-2688128

This paper was prepared

p for presentation at the Unconventio
onal Resources Techno
ology Conference heldd in Austin, Texas, USA
A, 24-26 July 2017.

The URTeC Tec chnical Program Comm mittee accepted this pre
esentation on the basiss of information containned in an abstract sub mitted by the author(s). The contents of thiss paper
have not been re eviewed by URTeC and URTeC does not wa arrant the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness oof any information here
ein. All information is th
he responsibility of, an
nd, is
subject to correc
ctions by the author(s). Any person or entity that relies on any inforrmation obtained from this paper does so at ttheir own risk. The infformation herein does not
necessarily reflect any position of URT
TeC. Any reproduction, distribution, or storag ge of any part of this paaper without the written
n consent of URTeC iss prohibited.

Summary

GIS technoology coupled with highly deetailed geologiccal, geochemiccal and reservoir engineering data allows
prediction of drilling outccomes for sourrce-rock reserv
voirs (e.g., Eaglle Ford) and hyybrid reservoirrs (e.g., Bakkenn)
ahead of th
he bit. The resu
ulting values coomprise a Virtu
ual Well, whichh allows compparison of prediicted well quallity
over severaal scale ranges.

Measured and derived daata are subjecteed to rigorous quality

q control procedures to create GIS maaps for each reqquired
parameter. The maps aree then digitally overlaid. For example, afterr selection of a location, GIS surfaces returnn the
following values
v h Virtual Well, depending on the mapped paarameters:
for each

 Prresent-day and
d restored TOC C (total organic carbon), preseent-day pyrolyssis HI (hydrogeen index) and P PI
(p
production indeex), VRE (vitriinite reflectancce equivalent), and quantity oof generated hyydrocarbons
 Oil
O family based d on multivariaate statistical an marker and stabble carbon isotoope data
nalysis of biom
 Gas
G molecular composition
c an
nd C1-C3 carbo on isotopic com
mposition wherre data densityy allows
 Prredicted rock, oil
o and gas thermal maturities from multiplle techniques
 PVVT data (reservvoir temperatuure, reservoir prressure, bubblee/dew point preessure, degree of under saturration,
flu
uid density andd viscosity and
d API gravity from
fr both meassured PVT andd from GOR coorrelations withh
caarbon isotope data
d

Each of thee individual ap

pproaches to ob btain these typees of informatioon is derived ffrom publicatioons in the peer--
reviewed liiterature. Integ
gration of all data
d types is req quired, which m must at a minim mum consider data density annd
resulting GIS
G edge effectts, and potentiaal hydrocarbon migration andd tectonic overpprints. Close ccoordination am mong
petroleum disciplines alloows iterative exxamination of the Virtual Weell outcomes. N New geochemiical and reservvoir
engineering data can read dily be input in
nto the GIS stru
ucture and welll outcomes re-determined.

The Seconnd White Speck kled Shale of th he Western Can

nada Sedimenttary Basin USA
A illustrates thee Virtual Well
concepts fo
or source rockss, oils and gasees.

URTeC 2017 Page 2247

 URTeC: 2688128 2

Introduction

Source Rock Potential Maps - The Second White Speckled Shale (Second White Specks) source rock data were
interpreted using a sequence of mapped parameters starting with total organic carbon (TOC), proceeding through
mapped Rock-EvalTM pyrolysis parameters and finishing with volumes of oil generated. A total of 943 rock samples
Downloaded 11/07/17 to 132.236.27.111. Redistribution subject to SEG license or copyright; see Terms of Use at http://library.seg.org/

were available from 99 wells. The rock data from each well were evaluated and averaged for GIS mapping purposes.

The original source rock data were evaluated according to our experience and to best practices published in e.g.,
Peters (1986), Peters and Cassa (1994), and Dembicki (2009). It is critical to an appreciation of the GIS-mapped
results that these data are, due both to sampling and analytical realities, screening in nature.

Pyrolysis is defined as the heating of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. In Rock-EvalTM pyrolysis, up to
100mg of pulverized sample is gradually heated under an inert atmosphere. Heating to 300oC distills the free
organic compounds, including hydrocarbons (HC), resins and asphaltenes, (or more simply, bitumen, although these
compounds are also commonly termed “hydrocarbons”). Continued heating to 550oC then cracks pyrolytic products
from the insoluble organic matter, termed kerogen (Peters, 1986).

Four measurements are commonly recorded:

 The S1 peak is produced by free “hydrocarbons” thermally distilled from the rock, mg HC/g rock
 The S2 peak is produced by “hydrocarbons” pyrolyzed from the kerogen, mg HC/g rock
 The S3 peak is a measure of oxygen content in the pyrolytic product stream, mg CO2/g rock
 Tmax is the temperature at which maximum evolution of S2 hydrocarbons occurs, oC

Several derived parameters are of interest, including:

 Production index (PI) = S1/(S1+S2)
 Hydrogen index (HI) = S2/TOC*100
 Oxygen index = S3/TOC*100
The source rock discussion of this paper focuses on interpretation of TOC, S1, S2, PI and HI values.

Restoration of Present-Day Geochemical Data to Depositional Values

Restoration of present-day TOC values, (TOCpd) to original values (TOCo) that were present prior to significant
thermal maturation of the organic matter follows:

The TOC of a sediment sample diminishes as hydrocarbons are generated with increasing thermal maturity. The
TOC restoration of sedimentary organic matter in a sample is a useful way to calculate the amount of hydrocarbons
generated. However, to do the restoration, some assumptions need to be made. The method used for this study is
that of Claypool (Peters et al., 2005), and requires an original pyrolysis hydrogen index, HIo, for the sample.
Generally, the best way to determine HIo is to use immature or early mature facies equivalents of the samples being
restored.

While the HIpd (present day) of immature shales is a good estimate of the HIo (original) for the more mature
equivalents, its regional validity is dependent on there being little original facies variations in the shales. The
explorationist needs to be confident of this in selecting the HIo used in the restoration. However, the use of simple
spreadsheets allows re-calculation when assumptions are changed.

URTeC 2017 Page 2248

 URTeC: 2688128 3

Values of S1pd (present-day) and S2pd from pyrolysis analysis, and the TOCpd are also used in the restoration
calculation. The PIo (original production index) of an immature/low mature sample can be assumed to be 0.02. PI is
used to calculate a fractional conversion, f, which is then used to calculate the TOCo.

The required equations are as follows:

Downloaded 11/07/17 to 132.236.27.111. Redistribution subject to SEG license or copyright; see Terms of Use at http://library.seg.org/

Depositional TOC (TOCo) Calculation

PIpd = S1pd/(S1pd + S2pd)

HIpd = S2pd/(TOCpd/100)

f = 1-(HIpd*(1200-HIo/(1-PIo))/(HIo*(1200-HIpd/(1-PIpd))))

Once f is calculated, then the TOCo can be calculated.

TOCo = (HIpd*TOCpd*83.33)/(HIo*(1-f)*(83.33-TOCpd)+(HIpd*TOCpd)

As an example calculation, a shale analysis has the following Rock-EvalTM and TOC results: TOCpd = 4.46%,

S1 = 0.449 mgHC/g rock, S2 = 1.07 mgHC/g rock. Using a HIo of 500mgHC/gTOC:

PIpd = 0.449/(0.449+1.07) = 0.30

HIpd = 1.07/(4.46/100) = 24

f = 1-(24*(1200-500/(1-0.02))/(500*(1200-24/(1-0.30)))) = 0.971 = 0.97

Therefore:

TOCo = (24*4.46*83.33)/(500*(1-0.97)*(83.33-4.46)+(24*4.46) = 7.27%

Sensitivity analyses can be run to determine the outcome if an incorrect HIo was assumed. If the HIo was really 400
mgHC/gTOC, then the above sample would have a TOCo of 6.41%. If the HIo was 600, the TOCo would be 8.4%.
Additionally, sensitivities can be run to examine the effect of the restoration on low TOC samples. If the TOCpd of
our example was 0.30% and all the rest of our conditions were the same, the TOCo would 0.51%, still not a good
quality source rock.

As can be seen from these calculations, some variation in the HIo is not likely to lead to significant interpretive
pitfalls. For the low TOC samples, the restored calculations may be optimistic, but not likely to result in a
misinterpretation of source facies and generated hydrocarbon volumes. In other words, these calculations, which
have transparent and readily modified assumptions, will not make a poor source rock look promising, or a good
source rock look poor.

URTeC 2017 Page 2249

 URTeC: 2688128
2 4

Source Ro
ock Virtual Well
W Example, Cretaceous
C Seecond White S
Specks Formaation, Alberta, Canada
Downloaded 11/07/17 to 132.236.27.111. Redistribution subject to SEG license or copyright; see Terms of Use at http://library.seg.org/

Figure 1: Source
S Rock Layers
L and Virttual Wells, Seccond White Speecks Formationn, Alberta, Cannada

The layers that comprise Figure 1 are described

d below
w. For reasons of scale and cclarity, values ffor each of the 99
wells are not
n posted.

URTeC 2017 Page 2250

 URTeC: 2688128 5

TOCpd – Average measured present-day Total Organic Carbon, wt.%. Large areal expanses of the Upper
Cretaceous Second White Specks shales have present day total organic carbon (TOCpd) values in excess of 3-5
wt%, and are rated as very good to excellent source rocks. These are averages from wells where multiple samples
were analyzed. TOC generally decreases down dip into the basin depocenter, largely as a consequence of petroleum
Downloaded 11/07/17 to 132.236.27.111. Redistribution subject to SEG license or copyright; see Terms of Use at http://library.seg.org/

generation and migration.

HIpd – Present-day hydrogen index derived from Rock-EvalTM measured S2 peak. HIpd = (S2/TOC)*100,
mgHC/gTOC. The present-day hydrogen index is a function of both source rock kerogen quality and thermal
maturity. At low maturity, values above 400-500 suggest mostly marine, oil-prone type II kerogen (dark blue
regions of Figure 1). HI values decrease when petroleum generation occurs (reducing S2, the reactive component of
the kerogen) as the source rock enters the deeper portions of the basin. Areas where the HI contours are closely
spaced suggest rapid conversion of solid kerogen to hydrocarbon fluids, often creating overpressure causing oil
expulsion and migration.

PIpd – Calculated present-day Production Index (S1/S1+S2). The Production Index (PI) generally increases with
increasing source rock maturity as hydrocarbon generation occurs (increasing S1 and decreasing S2). However, if oil
expulsion/migration occurs (loss of S1), then the maturity-PI relationship is compromised.

TOCo – Calculated original Total Organic Carbon, wt.%. The original TOCo values can be calculated from PI and
HIo values, as shown previously. TOCo represents the amount of organic carbon deposited with the shale prior to
any petroleum being generated as the shales were buried.

OILgen – Calculated volume of generated oil, bbl/acre-ft. By simply subtracting TOCpd from TOCo, the amount of
TOC converted to migrated petroleum can be estimated. TOCgen can then be converted to the quantity of oil
generated (OILgen) in units of barrels per acre-ft, by consideration of quantities of expelled and retained oil (Peters
et al., 2005). Although the absolute calculated numbers may be inaccurate, the relative variation is useful to map.

As examples, Virtual Wells A-F depicted on Figure 1 return the following values, shown in Table 1:

Virtual Well TOCpd HIpd PIpd HIo TOCo OILgen

A 2.10 282 0.07 329 1.76 26
B 2.05 214 0.18 393 2.51 106
C 2.18 188 0.12 301 1.57 36
D 1.69 460 0.04 480 6.02 51
E 1.63 147 0.23 297 1.74 70
F 5.90 278 0.14 394 3.40 108

Table 1. Values for Virtual Well Examples A-F of Figure 1.

These values may now be used by an operator for reconnaissance exploration around and beyond existing wells. GIS
applications allow detailed examination to the limits of confidence in plotted data density.

URTeC 2017 Page 2251

 URTeC: 2688128
2 6

Second White
W Specks Formation Map
p of Oil Familly, Oil Maturiity, Reservoir Occurrence aand Source Roock
Quality

Oil data may also be mappped and the GIS

G layers digitally overlaid. Figure 2 summ marizes source rock quality, ooil
maturity an
nd reservoir distribution resulting from anallysis of multiplle GIS layers.
Downloaded 11/07/17 to 132.236.27.111. Redistribution subject to SEG license or copyright; see Terms of Use at http://library.seg.org/

GeoMark usesu cluster anaalysis to organ nize oils into grroups or famili es that share siimilar source rrock characterisstics
using biommarkers (chemical fossils) & carbon
c isotopes (Zumberge eet al., 2005). Prrincipal compoonent analysis ((PCA)
revealed which
w geochemical parameterss or loadings (b biomarkers & iisotopes) are reesponsible for the separationn of
oils (scoress) into differen
nt families or so
ource rocks. Fo or example, thee Second Whitte Specks oils hhave relativelyy high
%C28 steranes, high Pr/P Ph, and more positive saturatee fraction carboon isotopes. Thhese and otherr measured
parameterss are characteriistic of oils sou
urced from disttal marine shalees (Peters et all., 2005). Biom marker maturityy-
sensitive raatios track the level of thermaal maturity of oils
o from the saame or similar source rocks. For example, C C27
and C29 Ts/Tm terpane ratios
r and diastteranes and diaahopanes increaase with increaasing maturity for oils from thhe
same sourcce rock, (althou ugh Ts/Tm ratiios are also dep pendent on souurce). Triaromaatic steranes caan also be usedd to
evaluate maturity.
m These more maturity y dependent bio omarkers were not used to deetermine oil fam milies. Oil therrmal
maturities are reported ass VRE, vitrinitee reflectance equivalent (Zum mberge et al., 22016). The matturity of an oil
reflects thee maturity of th
he source rock when the oil wasw expelled (C Curiale and Currtis, 2016).

Figure 2: Map
M of Second d White Speckss Oil Maturity (as
( Vitrinite Reeflectance Equuivalent, VRE %
%), Reservoir
Occurrencee and Source Rock
R Quality (aas HIpd).

URTeC 2017 Page 2252

 URTeC: 2688128
2 7

Second White
W Specks Maps
M of Hydro
ocarbon Comp
position & Gaas Wetness

Identical to
o mapping of source
s rock datta, oil, PVT and
d natural gas ddata (to includee carbon isotoppic compositionns)
can be map pped, the GIS layers
l digitally
y overlaid and Virtual
V Wells cconstructed. F Figures 3 and 4 illustrate variaations
in measureed and derived natural gas pro o GIS layers off the Second W
operties for two White Specks F Fm.
Downloaded 11/07/17 to 132.236.27.111. Redistribution subject to SEG license or copyright; see Terms of Use at http://library.seg.org/

Figure 3: Second
S White Specks
S Total Hydrocarbon
H Gas.
G Figurre 4: Second WWhite Specks GGas Wetness.
Concentrattions vary fromm 61-99%. 57%% of the wells Wetnness (Sum C2-C C5)/(Sum C1-C C5) generally
(n=244), coontain at least 90% methane. increeases to the west – northwesteern side of the basin.
43% of the wells (nn=244) have wwetness values iin
excesss of 10%.

URTeC 2017 Page 2253

 URTeC: 2688128 8

Conclusions

GIS technology coupled with highly detailed geological, geochemical and reservoir engineering data allows
prediction of drilling outcomes for source-rock reservoirs (e.g., Eagle Ford) and hybrid reservoirs (e.g., Bakken)
ahead of the bit. The resulting values comprise a Virtual Well, which allows comparison of predicted well
Downloaded 11/07/17 to 132.236.27.111. Redistribution subject to SEG license or copyright; see Terms of Use at http://library.seg.org/

information over several scale ranges. Source rock quantity, quality and thermal maturity data can be overlaid and
virtual drilling locations evaluated. Additional information, including geochemical oil families, oil maturity, gas
compositions, and host reservoirs may also be mapped and evaluated. PVT data can separately be overlaid to
provide reconnaissance data on a more local, development scale.

The Cretaceous Second White Speckled Shale of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin illustrated the Virtual Well
concepts by consideration of source rock outcomes, distribution of oil family, oil maturity and host reservoirs, and
variations in natural gas compositions.

References

Curiale, J. A. and Curtis, J. B., 2016, Organic geochemical applications to the exploration for source-rock
reservoirs – A review: Journal of Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources 13 (2016) 1–31.

Dembicki, H. Jr., 2009, Three common source rock evaluation errors made by geologists during prospect or play
appraisals: AAPG Bulletin, v.93, no. 3, p.341-356.

Jarvie, D. M., Morelos, A., and Han, Z., 2001, Detection of pay zones and pay quality, Gulf of Mexico: Application
of geochemical techniques: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 51, p. 151–160.

Peters, K. E., 1986, Guidelines for evaluating petroleum source rock using programmed pyrolysis: AAPG Bulletin,
v.70, no. 3, p. 318-329.

Peters, K. E., Walters C. C., and Moldowan, J. M., 2005, The Biomarker Guide: Interpreting Molecular Fossils in
Petroleum and Ancient Sediments. Cambridge University Press, two volumes, 1155 pages.

Peters, K.E., and Cassa, M.R., 1994, Applied source rock geochemistry, in Magoon, L.B., and Dow, W.G., eds., The
petroleum system—from source to trap: AAPG Memoir 60, p. 93-117.

Zumberge, J. E., Illich, H., and Waite, L., 2016, Petroleum geochemistry of the Cenomanian-Turonian Eagle Ford
oils of South Texas: AAPG Memoir 110 (In press).

Zumberge, J. E., Russell, J. A., and Reid, S. A., (2005) Charging of Elk Hills reservoirs as determined by oil
geochemistry: AAPG Bulletin v. 89, no. 10, p. 1347-1371.

URTeC 2017 Page 2254