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

加拿大西部存在大量的非常规天然气和烃类液体资源，这些资源存在于通常被称为页岩的细粒岩石中。 然而，预测页岩中液态烃的分布和液体的生产率仍然是难以捉摸的。 对目前有机成熟度水平的简单分析证明不能令人满意，特别是在成熟度、干酪根类型、储层条件（压力和温度）和岩石性质横向变化的地区（即Eagle福特和Duvernay地层）。 总的来说，我们在开发页岩作为石油储层方面取得的成功并没有随着对决定天然气和液体的地质过程、量化碳氢化合物的方法或岩石的流动特性的理解的增加而增加，所有这些都对经济发展至关重要。 烃类液体已被证明特别具有挑战性，由于在生产期间相对渗透率的变化以及在生产期间压力和温度下降的一些储层中不可避免的反凝析和潜在的相阻塞，预计会出现问题。 该提案有两个相互关联的组成部分：1）开发更好的方法，用于量化页岩气和页岩油储层中的天然气和液体，并测量基质流动特性（如相对渗透率和扩散率）; 2）使用现有和新的方法量化加拿大西部重要页岩的天然气和液体以及流动能力。 研究将集中在几个关键的视野，其中大量的数据是手：Exshaw，Doig，Montney，Nordegg和Wilrich地层和等效地层，这些地层是潜在的水库，主要研究者有相当的经验。

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.