Some Unconventional Insights from International Exploration of Resource (Unconventional) Oil and Gas Plays

Wallis, Roderick J.¹; Ahlbrandt, Thomas ¹; Bada, Gabor ¹; Hughes, Daniel ¹; Law, Ben ¹
(1) Falcon Oil and Gas, Boulder, CO.

Falcon Oil and Gas , a Canadian Company based out of Denver USA, has focused on the exploration for new resource (unconventional ) oil and gas plays throughout the world for the past five years. Falcon has drilled wells in resource plays in Hungary (Makó Trough) and Australia (Beetaloo Basin), and has taken a large acreage position in South Africa (Karoo Basin). All three unconventional plays have live hydrocarbons contained within shale source rocks and low permeability sandstone formations. The plays are very different in several ways. They range in age from Cenozoic, to Paleozoic to Mesoproterozoic. The youngest unconventional plays with actively generating source rocks of less than 12million years age are in Hungary (Miocene-Pliocene) occur in a lacustrine sourced system, and lessons on kerogen kinetics and extreme overpressuring were gained. The South Africa natural gas resource play (Permian) has source rocks of very high thermal maturity (Ro’s of 4 to 10) yet have significant natural gas shows and potential. The third play is in one of the oldest petroleum systems ( if not the oldest) at 1.4 billion years in Australia in Mesoproterozoic rocks. The Australian petroleum systems are challenging both in terms of their age, kinetics (as these are pre-vitrinite), and quite different mineralogy compared to Phanerozoic systems. Each play has unique mineralogies, lithologies and source rock attributes that defy standard maturation tables. Insights from these three areas are each unique and challenge many of the concepts of what is a “conventional” unconventional play and the parameters by which they are evaluated. We know the hydrocarbons are in these systems, but face many hurdles in understanding, analogues and commerciality to deliver the prize.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90135©2011 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Milan, Italy, 23-26 October 2011.