Calgary Houston Denver

Estimating in-place volumes in

shale plays, an example from
the Eagle Ford
Michael Michaelides
Ryder Scott Company

RSC Reserves Conference September 2011

RSC Reserves
Conference September 2012
Ryder Scott Company, L.P.

Geological Aspects of Evaluating

Unconventional Reservoirs
Geological and
engineering teams work
together to develop
evaluation methods in
conventional reservoirs.

Geologists use core

data, log analysis, and
geophysical techniques
to determine
hydrocarbon volume.

RSC Reserves Conference September 2012

Ryder Scott Company, L.P.

Unconventional Shale Gas Plays

Typically large areas.

Relatively thin ( 15m) to quite thick (300m+)
Hydrocarbons are self-generated, self-contained.
Low porosity, low permeability, requires fracking.
Vertically and laterally complex.
May or may not be naturally fractured.
Some shales may be partially depleted, others untapped.

A Geologic Approach to Evaluating

Shale-Gas Resources

Our goal is:

1. To identify organic rich shales with good fracking
potential
2. Determine the reservoir limits
3. Estimate the resource volumes in-place

RSC Reserves Conference September 2012

Ryder Scott Company, L.P.

A Geologic Approach to Evaluating

Shale-Gas Resources
Start at well level, evolve to regional level.
must have core data
use core data to correlate to log data
use log-core combination to correlate to un-cored
wells
Develop trends with wells, then tie to seismic attributes.
Correlate attributes beyond local to regional areas.
This is an up-scaling process, local to regional.
RSC Reserves Conference September 2012
Ryder Scott Company, L.P.

Start with Core Data

Preferable to have whole-core data.

determine mineralogy (chemical composition, ratios)
determine porosity, permeability (kv/kh), grain density
TOC, kerogen content, fluid content, vitrinite
reflectance (oil or gas)
texture (grain sorting, orientation, lamination
thickness)
geomechanical properties (compressive strength,
fracture toughness)
fractures (frequency, width, orientation)
Most of this information cannot generally be detected
directly from open hole logs alone.

RSC Reserves Conference September 2012

Ryder Scott Company, L.P.

Tie Core Data to Logs

Important to tie log and core depths.

Run full suite of conventional logs.
GR, Resistivity, Neutron, Density, Sonic
Also consider running other more specialized logs.
Spectral GR, Photo-electric, CMR, etc.
Use algorithms to tie core defined characteristics to the
log data.
Passey method
CNL-FDC, GR, PEF

TOC correlation (GR-Res-sonic)

(lithologic data)

RSC Reserves Conference September 2012

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Tie the Log-Core Relationships to Non-Cored

Wells

Use the established correlations (core-to-log) in nearby

wells.
Determine local trends.
Determine if there are any seismic attributes that can be
extracted at the local level out to the regional level.

RSC Reserves Conference September 2012

Ryder Scott Company, L.P.

Be Aware That Core-Log Algorithms May Be

Locally Specific

May not be able to use core-log correlations as an

analogy beyond a local level.

All the shale rock properties are highly dependent on its

source area and that can vary significantly around the
basin perimeter.

RSC Reserves Conference September 2012

Ryder Scott Company, L.P.

The Eagle Ford Shale

Eagle Ford Shale

Composed of Cretaceous aged sediments filling basins
formed during the Laramide Orogeny.
Depositional environment was low energy with a stable
water column. High organic content of 3-5% was
preserved due to anoxic conditions.
Thermal degradation of the organics into hydrocarbon
chains forced water out of the shale. These hydrocarbons
eventually saturated the shale and seeped out, forming
accumulations in overlying formations such as the Austin
Chalk.
The low permeability of the shale has allowed significant
amounts of hydrocarbons to remain trapped in-situ.
RSC Reserves Conference September 2012
Ryder Scott Company, L.P.

10

Eagle Ford Shale Log Character

Compared to surrounding rock, the organic rich strata within

the Eagle Ford shale tend to have.
Low density (organics and HCs take up rock volume)
High resistivity (formation water forced out by HCs)
Higher neutron porosity than limestone (bound water,
hydrogen in organics and HCs)
Lower neutron porosity than barren shale (less formation
water)
High sonic porosity (longer transit times through organics)

RSC Reserves Conference September 2012

Ryder Scott Company, L.P.

11

Eagle Ford Shale Log Character

Crossplots can be used to determine the character of
the various lithologies in the shale in order to
establish pertinent cutoffs for core-log correlations.
These cutoffs can then be applied to algorithms and
methods such as the Passey method to constrain the
results.

RSC Reserves Conference September 2012

Ryder Scott Company, L.P.

12

Passey Method

Relies on higher resistivity and longer acoustic transit times

resulting from the presence of organics and hydrocarbons in
shale.

Separation of the acoustic and resistivity curves is measured in

decades. The separation is referred to as Deltalog R, or
DlogR.

Generally used to estimate Total Organic Carbon (TOC) in

shale.

Most useful to locate potential intervals of interest.

Can be attempted without core data to achieve qualitative

results, however calibrating to core may provide quantitative
results.
RSC Reserves Conference September 2012
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13

Passey Method Limitations

Can result in false positive indications of TOC.

Needs to be calibrated using barren shale.

Cutoffs need to be used appropriately.

RSC Reserves Conference September 2012

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14

Modified Passey Method

With core data, the Passey method can be used to derive Total
Hydrocarbon filled porosity.

Generally useful in later stages of development.

Needs to be calibrated using barren shale.

Also relies on higher resistivity and longer acoustic transit times

resulting from the presence of organics and hydrocarbons in
shale.

Can NOT be attempted without core data.

Can result in false positive indications of hydrocarbon

accumulation.

RSC Reserves Conference September 2012

Ryder Scott Company, L.P.

15

Appropriate Analyses

For the Passey and modified Passey methods to work as

intended, certain steps need to be taken.
Cutoffs must be established to avoid false positives.
Core data in different wells should be analyzed by the
same core lab.
Some core data is more useful than other core data.
Need Oil, Gas and Water saturations, wt% TOC
and porosity.

RSC Reserves Conference September 2012

Ryder Scott Company, L.P.

16

RSC Petrophysical analysis of the

Eagle Ford Shale

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Necessary Data
Minimum.

Gr, ResD, Neutron, Rhob.

Good.
Gr, ResD, Neutron, Rhob, Sonic.
Best.
Gr, ResD, Neutron, Rhob, Sonic, Core.
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18

Data Calibration

Curve calibrations.
Consistent, all LS matrix or all SS matrix.
Same kind of resistivity, (induction).
Log calibrations.
Establish baselines on well known lithology.
Barren shales work best.

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19

Establish Zone of Interest

Regional studies, well correlations, seismic.

Identify typical non-organic shale in well bore.
Use non-organic shale as a baseline for DlogR.
Review areas with significant DlogR separation.

RSC Reserves Conference September 2012

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20

Tie Log to Core

Use cross plots to correlate log to core samples.
Experimentation may be appropriate.
The following simple cross plots have worked well in the
Eagle Ford.
DlogR / HC filled porosity.
Density Log porosity / Core porosity.

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21

Characteristics of Pay

Use core to definitively determine pay.

Use cross-plots to determine log characteristics of pay.

Neutron / Density / GR
Neutron
Density
/ GR
Density // Sonic
/ Resistivity
Density / Sonic / Resistivity
Use same cross-plots to identify character of non-pay.
Use same cross-plots to identify character of non-pay.

RSC Reserves Conference September 2012

Ryder Scott Company, L.P.

22

Application

Detailed Steps

Determine cuttoffs
Set up DlogR
Tie log to core

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Cutoffs

In Texas, Eagle Ford cutoffs were determined using

crossplots.

GR > 50
PHIN > 12%
PHIN < 30%
RHOB < 2.5

Cut-offs may vary across the field. Additional core data

is needed to verify or modify cut-offs.

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24

PHIN / RHOB / GR Crossplot

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25

RESD / DT / GR Crossplot

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26

Setting up Passey Separation (DlogR)

Translate DT to DTequivalent (log scale)

Scales should be 50 s/ft per decade
200 s/ft 1000 ohm (4 decades)
150 s/ft 100 ohm (3 decades)
Calculate the separation (DlogR)
DLogR[] = log(ResD[]/DTequiv[])

RSC Reserves Conference September 2012

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27

Calibrating DlogR

Align DTequivalent with ResD

in barren shale.
Shift DT equivalent until
DlogR = 0 in barren shale.

RSC Reserves Conference September 2012

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28

Core-Tie
Relate DlogR to Total HC filled porosity.
Relate core porosity to log porosity.

RSC Reserves Conference September 2012

Ryder Scott Company, L.P.

29

Apply Correlations and Cutoffs

The Pay track shows where

cutoffs have been applied.
The Porosity track shows
modified log porosity and
core porosity (purple dots
and line).
The Calculated HC track
shows the calculated HC
filled porosity (black line)
and HC filled porosity
measured in core (red dots).

RSC Reserves Conference September 2012

Ryder Scott Company, L.P.

30

Mapping the Log Results

Phi*H Maps show the

variation of in-place
volumes across the
field.
The magnitude of
Phi*H in an area
generally correlates
to average well
production.

RSC Reserves Conference September 2012

Ryder Scott Company, L.P.

31

Limitations
At present the hydrocarbon filled porosities have not been
successfully separated into liquids and volatiles from log
analysis.
The analysis is very sensitive to the type of resistivity
curve available in the well log.
Some operators only log the ZOI, resulting in a poor
calibration to barren shale.
Without basic curves (Density, Neutron) to verify cutoff
compliance, in-place volumes can be grossly
overestimated.

RSC Reserves Conference September 2012

Ryder Scott Company, L.P.

32

Results

If done correctly, and with enough supporting evidence,

such as comparable production, geologic investigation can
provide a measure of quantitative comparison.
As more information becomes available, qualitative
geologic comparisons may be possible in the future as it is
done in conventional reservoirs today.

RSC Reserves Conference September 2012

Ryder Scott Company, L.P.

33

Questions

Michael Michaelides
Ryder Scott Company

34