Mudstone microstructure in a macro-stratigraphic context: Relationship to reservoir storage and flow capacity

全球对石油和天然气的需求不断增长，需要寻找新的供应来取代不断下降的传统产量。传统上，页岩一直被视为“非储集层”岩石，因此经济意义不大。然而，在过去十年中，页岩在碳氢化合物资源潜力方面经历了戏剧性的重新评估。这其中的一个方面是水平钻井技术的发展与多级水力压裂处理相结合，以促进极低渗透率页岩地层的经济流速。此外，人们对控制泥浆沉积的各种地质过程的兴趣激增，并逐渐加深了对这些过程的了解。包括导致泥粒聚集在一起的物理、化学和生物过程，将泥浆运入和跨越沉积盆地的物理过程，控制在几厘米到几米深的埋藏深度内泥浆和有机颗粒胶结的生化过程，以及控制有机质压实和成熟到几公里埋藏深度的物理和化学过程。这一系列过程决定了控制岩石储存和传输流体能力的微结构，并可能在将分散的有机物转化为石油的过程中发挥重要作用。拟议的项目将提高对影响艾伯塔省和不列颠哥伦比亚省特定页岩层的沉积和埋藏过程的了解。由此获得的知识可能有助于指导这些“非常规油气藏”的勘探工作，有可能圈定更多的石油和天然气储量，从而对就业、特许权使用费和加拿大整体经济产生影响。

Growing global demand for petroleum and natural gas has necessitated finding new supplies to replace declining conventional production. Traditionally, shales have been viewed as 'non-reservoir' rocks and hence of little economic importance. However, in the last decade, shales have undergone a dramatic re-appraisal in terms of their hydrocarbon resource potential. One aspect of this is driven by the development of horizontal drilling technology combined with multistage hydraulic fracture treatments to facilitate economic flow rates from very low permeability shale formations. In addition, there has been an explosion of interest in, and a steadily expanding understanding of, the various geological processes that govern mud sedimentation. Included are the physical, chemical and biological processes that cause mud particles to aggregate together, the physical processes that transport mud into and across sedimentary basins, the biochemical processes that control the cementation of mud and organic particles at burial depths of centimetres to a few metres, and the physical and chemical processes that control compaction and maturation of organic matter to burial depths of several km. This sequence of processes determines the microfabric governing the rock's capacity to store and transmit fluids, and may play an important role in the conversion of disseminated organic matter to petroleum. The proposed project will provide improved understanding of the depositional and burial processes that have affected specific shale formations in Alberta and British Columbia. The resulting knowledge may help to guide exploration efforts in these 'unconventional reservoirs', potentially leading to delineation of greater oil and gas reserves, with consequent implications for employment, royalties, and benefit to the overall Canadian economy.