Resolving Disagreements in Porosity and Permeability Values in Core Analysis Data for the Montney Formation

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It has been estimated that unconventional resources in Canada could contain as much as 1100 trillion cubic feet of shale gas and 32 trillion barrels of unconventional oil. However, the reservoirs that contain these resources offer many challenges. Many of the laboratory techniques to investigate these reservoirs provide inconsistent results. For example, porosity values, a measure of how much space exists in the rock to hold the petroleum fluids can have uncertainties of 100% while permeability, a measure of how easily the fluids will flow, can have uncertainties of over an order of magnitude. GLJ Petroleum Consultants has been experiencing these problems with both porosity and permeability data for the Montney formation and requires a method to verify which data is correct. They will provide access to a large data base of core analysis results while the applicant and a doctoral student will work with this data to determine the sources of these uncertainties and develop a measurement protocol to help reduce these uncertainties. This will greatly enhance the quality of the reservoir evaluations produced by GLJ allowing them to market their services with greater confidence. If successful, this work could significantly advance the development of unconventional petroleum resources, resources that could be worth trillions of dollars.