10 | Halliburton Landmark
B
Marcellus Average TOC
Marcellus Maturity Windows
NE Core
NE Core
SW Core
SW Core
A
Exploration Insights | 11
Maturity
Average TOC
Main Gas
Late Gas
Supermature
Maturity
Figure 6> A) Cross-plot of first year initial production rate versus average total organic carbon (TOC) within the Marcellus play. Note that
the Southwest Core generally has higher TOC than the Northeast Core. Production is sensitive to TOC, particularly within the Northeast
Core. B) Cross-plot of first year initial production rate versus thermal maturity within the Marcellus play. Note that the production rate is
generally low within the oil window, while the gas window contains the majority of the high performing wells. Production data courtesy
of Rystad Energy ShaleWellCube.
Based on the Marcellus analogue, well production
within the Jurassic shale plays across the Middle
East is likely to be sensitive to both TOC and
thermal maturity. The primary area of shale play
development, thus far, has been in the wet gas
window in the Jafurah Basin, where the lateral
target is the basal, high TOC unit within the
Tuwaiq Mountain Formation (Hakami et al., 2016).
Additionally, the area for potential development
within the Diyab play in the United Arab Emirates
is within the wet gas window; therefore, organic
porosity is envisaged to be relatively high,
provided the target horizons have high TOC.
However, the Tuwaiq Mountain Formation
in the Khaleej al-Bahrain sub-basin, offshore
Bahrain, is within the oil window (Al Ansari et
al., 2016). This might pose a potential challenge
to the development of the play, particularly if
unconventional reservoirs with lower porosity and
permeability coincide with higher viscosity oils,
which are likely to be more difficult to flow
. CONCLUSIONS
Analogues can accelerate understanding
within the emerging Middle–Late Jurassic
resource interval of the Middle East, and can
inform exploration, appraisal, and development
decisions. The Vaca Muerta (stratigraphic
architecture), Austin Chalk (natural fractures),
Eagle Ford (mineralogy), and Marcellus (porosity
development) are recognized as analogues, which
characterize different aspects of the resource
interval.
Although the Middle–Late Jurassic resource
interval is widespread across the Middle East,
geologically informed high-grading workflows
are required to identify the areas that are
truly prospective. This is achieved through
a combination of unconventional screening,
assessment of resource in-place, and the
identification of geological sweet spots based
on understanding gained from analogues. The
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This article is adapted from a conference paper (19975-MS)
presented at IPTC 2020.
AUTHORS
Alex Bromhead, Senior Geoscientist,
Unconventionals, Halliburton Landmark
Alex started his career with Neftex Petroleum
Consultants in 2013. Since 2016, he has focused
on unconventional play evaluation and led projects on the
characterization, screening, and resource assessment of
unconventional plays worldwide. Alex holds a M.Sci degree in
Geology from the University of Southampton.
David Weeks, Geoscientist, Neftex Business
Development, Halliburton Landmark
David is a petroleum geologist with eight years
of experience working in the upstream sector
of the petroleum industry. His career began in 2010, with
a summer placement at BG Group. He went on to work at
Neftex, spending much of his time on the consultancy team.
He also has experience working in software research and
development, and unconventional shale resource evaluation.
David has a keen interest in economics and market trends,
and completed an economics course at the Oxford University
Department for Continuing Education in 2017. He holds a BSc
degree in Geology from Southampton University.
Dr. Owen E. Sutcliffe, Head of Global Geology and
Geophysical Practices, Halliburton Landmark
Owen started his career as a postdoctoral
research assistant with the University of Wales,
Aberystwyth and LASMO, researching the petroleum
geology of the Late Ordovician glacial clastics of North
Africa. In 2000, he joined Badley Ashton & Associates as a
sedimentologist, before his employment began at Neftex
Petroleum Consultants in 2003. Since the acquisition of
Neftex by Halliburton in 2014, Owen has held roles as Head
of Stratigraphy and as Manager of Neftex ® Insights. He is a
member of The Geological Society, London and the PESGB.
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