Evaluation of Unconventional Gas Shale Reservoirs: Tornado Charts and Sidebars:

Cameron, Michael S.¹; Walles, Frank E.^2
1 Corporate Unconventional Resources, Devon Energy Corporation, Houston, TX.
² Corporate Unconventional Resources, Devon Energy Corporation, Houston, TX.

An integrative visualization technology technique termed " Tornado charts and Sidebars" is proposed to more accurately characterize and classify shale gas systems. This ongoing developing characterization and classification system utilizes a visualization display that incorporates a tornado basis-16 layer/level method. Unconventional gas resource plays that are commonly heterolithic sequences of fine grained sediments without relationships to conventional buoyant trapping mechanisms, require an in depth understanding of the key parameters related to hydrocarbon generation and reservoir producibility. Incorporating adjacent sidebar displays to each of these layers in this visualization methodology allows the incorporation to standardization of measurements through laboratory techniques that assess the effects of mineral suites, pore pressure, heterogeneity, organic matter, clay types, fluid and texture types, insitu-stress, gas source and storage mechanisms, wettability, fracture fabric and type, and dehydration effects as quantifiable parameters. Illustrating these key characterization levels of technical knowledge of unconventional gas shale reservoirs helps to communicate exploration potential of the most appropriate analog shale reservoir type as well as the current state of technical and risk characterization of the target shale gas reservoir.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90090©2009 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, Denver, Colorado, June 7-10, 2009