5. Unconventional Reservoirs
• One or more elements of the classic model of a
petroleum system (source, migration, reservoir,
trap, seal, and timing) are missing from an
unconventional system.
12. Unconventional reservoirs are evaluated based
on their potential to be a successful hydrocarbon
system. The following evaluations are completed
to quantitatively determine this:
Maturity
Bulk Volume Hydrocarbon
Clay Content
Kerogen Content
16. Major Unconventional Plays
• Unconventional reservoirs have been found throughout the world. Below is
a list of the top 10 countries by unproved technically recoverable shale oil
resources.
• 1. U.S.
• 2. Russia
• 3. China
• 4. Argentina
• 5. Libya
• 6. United Arab Emirates
• 7. Chad
• 8. Australia
• 9. Venezuela
• 10. Mexico
23. Potential Shale Basins in Pakistan
Upper Indus Basin Lower Indus Basin
Patala Fm Lower Goru Fm
Hangu Fm Sembar Fm
Chichali Fm Ghazij Fm
Datta Fm Mughal Kot Fm
Sardhai Fm
24. Exploitation & Development
Challenges
• Evaluation Uncertainties
• High Investment
• Longer Production Time
• Skilled Manpower
• Political Stability
• Willingness to Accept Challenges
25. Summary
• Enough unconventional reservoirs exist in the
country
• Unconventional reservoirs are required to be
evaluated by collection of more data by
initiating projects in shale gas as early as
possible
• Exploration blocks may be awarded for
unconventional reservoirs
For example, shale gas is produced from a source rock, with no need for a reservoir, trap, or seal. Bitumen is a solid, so the presence of a trap or seal today is not required (though it was required to allow the oil to accumulate in the first place). This definition will doubtless seem increasingly dated; even today I'm not sure that the concept of a petroleum system is still a useful one, except in a handful of circumstances.
. In other words, a horizontal well and/or some sort of intervention to increase hydrocarbon mobility is required. Mobility depends on the permeability of the rock and the viscosity of the hydrocarbon. By this definition, shale gas and bitumen will always be unconventional.
Horizontal drilling is used to provide It is a technique in which water, greater access to the gas trapped deep chemicals, and sand are pumped into the producing formation.
First, a well to unlock the hydrocarbons trapped, vertical well is drilled to the targeted in shale formations by opening cracks rock formation. At the desired depth, (fractures) in the rock and allowing the drill bit is turned to bore a well natural gas to flow from the shale into that stretches through the reservoir the well. When used in conjunction with horizontally, exposing the well to more horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing of the producing shale. enables gas producers to extract shale gas at reasonable cost.
Maturity- Have the kerogens spent enough time in the oil window to turn into hydrocarbons?
Bulk Volume Hydrocarbon- Is the bulk volume of hydrocarbons within the source rock enough to make it economical (40-60% max expulsion)?
Clay Content- If the clay content is too high, the rock will become ductile, which will make fracking the rock much more difficult.
Kerogen Content- The type of kerogen found in a source rock is used to determine what type of [hydrocarbon] your reservoir can contain.