Jurassic shale analogue study: from resource to reserve (JARR)

在非常规页岩气或石油开采中，资源量与储量之比的计算取决于对“甜蜜点”的量化和定性。在黑色页岩沉积具有高总有机碳、硬/脆性流变性、丰富的天然裂缝、足够的厚度和成熟度以及高含气性的地方，通常会出现甜区。反过来，这些特征又受基本地质过程的控制，包括有机生产力、径流、成岩作用以及构造和埋藏史--所有这些都从沉积盆地的边缘到中心(即从近端到远端)各不相同。最佳地点特征的确定需要多学科的方法，并需要获得涵盖近端环境和构造或埋葬历史的整个范围的数据集。欧洲西北部的侏罗纪页岩，包括位于北海大部分地区的世界级碳氢化合物源岩。在英国和法国北部的沿海地区发现了侏罗纪岩石，关键是这些地层，已经在北海的许多油井中进行了取心和记录。从整体上看，这些露头和钻孔数据集应该提供无与伦比的记录，记录在一个以各种但众所周知的构造和埋藏史为特征的广泛地区的泥浆地层区间内的近端到远端的过渡。这一盆地范围的数据集有可能提供对个别页岩气特许权中找不到的最佳区位的洞察，这些页岩气特许权由规模大得多的页岩盆地的小区域组成。进一步的好处将是识别微妙的、常规的地层圈闭，例如，在其他易泥浆的层序中的砂质层段。尽管其潜力巨大，但由于数据集的不同和分散性质，对欧洲西北部侏罗纪的严格盆地范围研究一直受到阻碍。这项NERC催化剂提案将把达勒姆大学和纽卡斯尔大学由NERC和工业资助的研究人员组成的多学科团队与工业地球科学家联系起来。我们的目标是对现有的廖西克和基默里吉亚数据集进行范围划分研究，以评估它们进一步深入研究甜蜜点特征的潜力。Catalyst Funding将使我们能够生成一个开放访问的地理信息系统元数据库，其中包括穿透北海、英格兰和法国北部侏罗纪岩石的现有地图、露头、岩芯、岩屑和电缆测井。为了促进知识交流和深入了解最佳地点特征的挑战，JARR将在英国和法国北部组织和主办一系列以业界和学术界为基础的实地和核心研讨会，重点讨论三个关键主题：(1)盆地范围内黑色页岩沉积的变化；(2)盆地范围内对近岸环境中天然裂缝的岩石地层控制；(3)在关键的陆上地点举行的易泥浆序列的机械性质的盆地范围内的变化。Jarr将把这些讨论综合成一份开放获取的报告，该报告将批判性地评估侏罗系为远端页岩盆地的近端类似物。Jarr将在其网站(www.shale-Research.org)上发布该报告和地理信息系统元数据库，供行业和公众使用。该项目的最终结果将是一次由专业人士推动的产业界-学术界“沙坑”会议，该会议将围绕上述三个关键主题，为合作的联合工业项目(JIP)网络制定建议。我们预计，联合调查组将直接利用确定范围研究期间确定的数据集，和/或在讲习班和沙坑讨论期间提出问题和“经验教训”。Jarr的提议将通过从现有数据集释放额外价值，帮助总部位于英国的碳氢化合物公司更好地了解资源到储量的转换因素，并最终可能在非常规勘探方面为它们提供真正的竞争优势。

Resource to reserve calculations in unconventional shale gas or oil exploitation depends on quanitifying and characterising "sweet spots". Sweet spots typically occur where black shale deposits have high total organic carbon, stiff/brittle rheology, abundant natural fractures, sufficient thickness and maturity, and high gas-in-place. In turn, these characteristics are controlled by fundamental geological processes including organic productivity, run-off, diagenesis, and tectonic and burial histories - all of which vary from the edges to the centres of depositional basins (i.e. proximal to distal). Sweet spot characterisation requires a multi-disciplinary approach, and access to datasets that encompass the entire range of proximal to distal environments and tectonic or burial histories. Jurassic shales in NW Europe (Liassic, Kimmeridgian), include world-class hydrocarbon source rock that underlies much of the North Sea. Jurassic rocks crop out in coastal sections in the UK and northern France, crucially these strata, have been cored and logged in many North Sea wells. Taken in their entirety, these outcrop and borehole datasets should provide an unrivalled record of the proximal to distal transition within a mud-prone stratigraphic interval across a broad region characterised by varied, but well-known tectonic and burial histories. This basin-wide dataset has the potential to provide insights into sweet spot identification not available in individual shale gas concessions that comprise small, sub-areas of much larger shale basins. Further benefits would be to identify subtle, conventional stratigraphic traps, e.g. sandy intervals within an otherwise mud-prone sequence. Despite its outstanding potential, a rigorous basin-wide study of the Jurassic in NW Europe has been hampered due to the disparate and dispersed nature of the datasets. This NERC catalyst proposal will connect a multi-disciplinary team of NERC- and industrially-funded researchers at Durham and Newcastle Universities with industrial geoscientists. Our aim is to conduct a scoping study of existing Liasic and Kimmeridgian datasets to evaluate their potential for further in-depth research into sweet spot characterisation. Catalyst funding will enable us to generate an open access GIS meta-database of existing maps, outcrops, cores, cuttings and wireline logs that penetrate Jurassic rocks of the North Sea, England and northern France. To facilitate knowledge exchange and gain a deep understanding of the challenges of sweet spot characterisation, JARR will organise and host a series of industry-academia field- and core-based workshops in the UK and northern France that will focus on three key themes: (1) basin-wide variations in black shale deposition; (2) basin-wide lithostratigraphic controls on natural fractures in proximal to distal environments; (3) basin-wide variations in the mechanical properties of mud-prone sequences, held at key onshore localities. JARR will synthesize the discussions into an open access report that will critically appraise the Jurassic as a proximal to distal shale basin analogue. JARR will publish the report and GIS meta-database on its website (www.shale-research.org), available to industry and public. The project will culminate in a professionally-facilitated industry-academia "sandpit" meeting, which will develop proposals for a network of collaborative Joint Industry Projects (JIPs) based around the three key themes identified above. We anticipate the JIPs will either utilize directly the datasets identified during the scoping study, and/or develop questions raised and "lessons learned" during the workshops and sandpit discussion. The JARR proposal will help UK-based hydrocarbon companies to better understand resource to reserve conversion factors by unlocking additional value from existing datasets, and could ultimately provide them with real competitive advantage in unconventional exploration.