Abstract

Integrating Solvent Washing with Standard Rock-Eval Pyrolysis/SRA to Achieve Stable and Enhanced Rock Geochemical Results

Dylan Collins, Harold Illich, and Justin Pierson
Pioneer Natural Resources

We have identified improvements for source rock analytic techniques and workflows that enhance the interpretation of basic geochemical data. It is common practice that core/cuttings and solvent washed/unwashed samples are considered interpretatively without distinction. Parallel experiments were run involving solvent extraction and normal preparation techniques on core and cuttings from the Permian Basin of West Texas. Consistent differences between solvent washed and unwashed geochemical results occur that provide fundamentally new analytic estimations for hydrocarbon transformation (maturity proxies). In addition, solvent washing of the samples resulted in more stable Tmax behavior due to nature of the bitumen distribution in each individual sample. Integrating these maturity proxies with the “washed” Tmax data allows for internally consistent maturity modeling with less uncertainty than standard pyrolytic source rock analysis.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90164©2013 AAPG Southwest Section Meeting, Fredericksburg, Texas, April 6-10, 2013