Explorations in TOC for Assessment of CO2 Storage and Enhanced Gas Recovery for the Middle Devonian Marcellus and Upper Ordovician Utica Shales for the Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership

Abstract

The potential for carbon storage and enhanced gas recovery in the Middle Devonian Marcellus and Upper Ordovician Utica organic-rich shales in the Appalachian Basin is being investigated using methods developed during investigation of the Upper Devonian Ohio Shale. Laboratory analysis of core and well cuttings provides baseline data for modeling TOC content in shale. In general, continuous resource plays exhibit relationships between measured TOC and wireline log data. TOC is in turn related to gas content and storage capacity. Wireline-based petrophysical models for estimating TOC have been proposed by many authors, but choice and application of a model depends on data availability. Only those based on total gamma-ray and bulk-density log data were used in this study, because they are most regionally available. For the Marcellus, multiple models were analyzed to estimate TOC from log data. The simplest model for estimating TOC is a linear regression of a density and TOC cross plot based on laboratory data because TOC is generally regarded as the main control on density changes in an organic-rich shale. Gamma-ray- and density-based models use the slope of the gamma ray– density cross plot. A median TOC curve (P50) was calculated using multiple models to provide a probabilistic summary of TOC by well, which was used as input to geospatial modeling. The Utica Shale was deposited in a carbonate-dominated open-marine shelf setting, suggesting that organic matter types and their mode of preservation differ significantly from those of the Marcellus. Classic models to estimate TOC for organic-rich shale may not provide acceptable results. Laboratory TOC and digital well-log data were compiled by the Utica Shale Consortium. Leco TOC data were depth-matched with gamma-ray and bulk-density data from logs. Neutron- porosity and photoelectric effect data were collected, but limited digital data precluded their use. Gamma-ray and density data were used to assess existing TOC models and formulate new ones. Two new models for calculating TOC from well-log data are proposed based on best-fit correlations to the distribution of laboratory TOC data.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90335 © 2018 AAPG 47th Annual AAPG-SPE Eastern Section Joint Meeting, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 7-11, 2018