Quantification of the gas and liquids in place and flow characteristics of shale and other fine grained rocks in Western Canada

加拿大西部的细粒岩石中蕴藏着巨大的非常规天然气和碳氢化合物液体资源，这些岩石通常被称为页岩。然而，预测页岩中液态碳氢化合物的分布和液体的产量仍然难以捉摸。对目前有机成熟度水平的简单分析已被证明不能令人满意，特别是在成熟度、干酪根类型、储集层条件(压力和温度)和岩石性质横向变化的地区(即Eagle Ford和Duvernay层)。总体而言，我们在开发页岩作为石油储集层方面的成功，并没有与对决定天然气和液体就位的地质过程、就地量化碳氢化合物的方法或岩石流动特征的更多了解相提并论，所有这些都对经济发展至关重要。事实证明，碳氢化合物液体具有特别的挑战性，由于生产过程中相对渗透率的变化，以及在生产过程中压力和温度下降的一些油藏中不可避免的反凝结和潜在的相阻，预计会出现问题。该建议包括两个相互关联的部分：1)开发更好的方法来量化天然气页岩和页岩油储层中现有的气体和液体，并测量基质流动特征(如相对渗透率和扩散系数)；2)利用现有的和新的方法，量化加拿大西部重要页岩中现有的气体和液体以及流动能力。研究将集中在几个已掌握大量数据的关键层位：埃克肖、多伊格、蒙特尼、诺德格和威尔里希地层以及相当的地层，这些地层是潜在的储集层，首席调查员对这些地层有相当的经验。

Tremendous resources of unconventional gas and hydrocarbon liquids exist in Western Canada in fine grained rocks generally referred to as shales. Predicting the distribution of liquid hydrocarbons in shales and the production rates of the liquids has however remained elusive. Simple analyses of the current level of organic maturity has not proved to be satisfactory particularly in areas where maturity, kerogen type, reservoir conditions (pressure and temperature) and rock character changes laterally (i.e. Eagle Ford and Duvernay formations). Overall our success in developing shales as petroleum reservoirs has not been paralleled with increased understanding of either the geological processes that determine gas and liquids in place, methods for quantifying hydrocarbons in place or the flow characteristics of the rocks, all of which are critical to economic development. Hydrocarbon liquids have proved particularly challenging with problems anticipated due to changing relatively permeability during production and inevitable retrograde condensation and potential phase blocking in some reservoirs with declining pressures and temperatures during production. This proposal has two interrelated components: 1) development of better methodologies for quantifying gas and liquid in place in gas shale and shale oil reservoirs and measuring matrix flow characteristics (such as relatively permeability and diffusivity); and 2) quantification of the gas and liquids in place and flow capacity of important shales in Western Canada using established and novel methodologies. The research will focus on several key horizons for which considerable data is in hand: the Exshaw, Doig, Montney, Nordegg and Wilrich formations and equivalent strata which are prospective reservoirs and for which the principal investigator has considerable experience.