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TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

Shale Reservoir Evaluation Improved


by Dual Energy X-Ray CT Imaging
Joel Walls, SPE, and Meghan Armbruster, Ingrain

The rise of unconventional shale plays analyzed within minutes or hours of are more accurately called organic-rich
as an economically feasible oil and gas being brought to the surface. mudstones (Passey et al. 2010) and can
resource has created an unprecedented vary from highly siliceous to mostly cal-
opportunity and challenge for labora- Dual Energy X-Ray CT Imaging careous. From a visual inspection of
tory core analysis providers. By some As X-ray CT imaging technology im- slabbed cores, it can be very difficult
estimates, more than 80% of the core proves, so has the value of the data to determine heterogeneities, especial-
samples being extracted from North for the oil and gas industry. Beginning ly mineralogical and density changes.
American fields are from shale for- in the 1980s, petroleum literature on By imaging whole core with X-ray CT
mations. Core analysis has become an CT imaging such as “X-ray Computer- technology, it is possible to produce 3D
integral part of most unconventional ized Tomography” by S.L. Wellington volumetric renderings that reveal the
exploration and development projects and H.J. Vinegar (JPT, August 1987) can heterogeneity of shale cores in sharp
because the data is essential to petro- be found. In the past 2 years, Ingrain detail. X-ray CT imaging provides a non-
physical interpretation, reservoir mod- has developed and refined a compre- invasive way of describing shale core,
eling, and reserve estimation. A major hensive workflow to analyze shale core reveals more details about rock fabric
difficulty facing operators is that shale by harnessing the value of dual ener- than core photos, and allows continu-
core analysis conducted by tradition- gy X-ray CT imaging. From X-rays pro- ous RHOB and PEF curves to be com-
al laboratories has been a slow pro- duced at different energy levels, contin- puted. The process also leads to better
cess, with the data sometimes arriv- uous whole core scans can be calibrated informed decisions on where to obtain
ing too late for use in time-critical to produce bulk density (RHOB) and plug samples. By observing these imag-
business decisions. photoelectric factor (PEF) values at es, it becomes clear that not all shales
Digital rock physics (DRP) analysis about half-millimeter resolution. At this are homogeneous and that many are
(Walls and Sinclair 2011) offers a fast- resolution, 1 ft of core scanning pro- quite complex in mineralogy and struc-
er way of obtaining the needed data for duces around 500 CT images. The imag- ture at the whole core scale.
shale reservoir evaluation. DRP analy- es show important geological details
sis of shales usually involves three stag- including fractures, bedding planes, Bulk Density and
es, each providing visual and quantita- fossils, and bioturbation. The high-res- Photoelectric Factor
tive information to help select a smaller olution computed RHOB and PEF val- X-ray CT imagers produce detailed pic-
representative rock volume for the next ues can be used to interpret porosity, tures of transmitted X-ray energy, and
analytical stage. Stage 1 analyzes whole organic content, and mineralogy. When with correct processing and calibration,
cores or cuttings; Stage 2 analyzes sam- combined with other commonly avail- RHOB and PEF can also be comput-
ples from cuttings to plug size; and Stage able information such as core spectral ed. To compute these two rock prop-
3 analyzes samples at pore scale in 3D gamma data, more complex analyses erties, the imaging requires the use of
with ultrahigh resolution. The process can be performed. For example, elas- two beam energies. Although imag-
takes only a few weeks for most wells. tic properties and brittleness index can ing in dual energy mode is more time
In this report, we will examine the be determined. consuming, the value of the extra data
first stage of DRP for whole or slabbed can be substantial. When a single X-ray
core, using the CoreHD technique devel- Whole Core Imaging for Shale energy is used, only relative changes in
oped by Ingrain. The method is based Geology, Petrophysics X-ray attenuation can be determined.
on dual energy X-ray computerized Shale can be defined as siliciclastic However, dual energy imaging can be
tomography (CT) imaging and usually sedimentary rocks composed of mud- used to estimate porosity, total organic
requires only a few days to complete. sized particles which can be laminated carbon, and mineralogy in most shale
The technique has also been used at or nonlaminated (Boggs 2000). Most formations. Each mineral has a dis-
remote drillsites, with the core being unconventional resource “shale” plays tinctive PEF value, an indicator for min-

28 JPT • NOVEMBER 2012


TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

2.0 0.1 2.0 2.0


0.1
2.1 0.09 2.1 2.1
0.09
2.2 0.08 2.2 2.2
0.08
2.3
RHOB, g/cm3

RHOB, g/cm3
0.07 2.3 0.07 2.3

RHOB, g/cm3
2.4 0.06 2.4 2.4
0.06
2.5 0.05 2.5 0.05 2.5
2.6 0.04 2.6 0.04 2.6
2.7 0.03 2.7 0.03 2.7
2.8 0.02 2.8 0.02 2.8
Quartz
Calcite
2.9 Line 0.01 2.9 0.01 2.9
Line
3.0 0 3.0 0 3.0
1.4 3.4 6.8 1.4 3.4 6.8 1.4 3.4 6.8

Core Photoelectric Factor (PEF) Core Photoelectric Factor (PEF) Core Photoelectric Factor (PEF)

Depth, Depth, Depth,


ft ft ft

Fig. 1—Top: From left, a crossplot of RHOB vs. PEF is colored by population density, the data cloud is
divided into four basic facies classes, and each data point is assigned a color with the colors shown in the
facies track of the log displays. Bottom: Log-style displays of CoreHD data, facies, and vertical CT slices
for different depth ranges.

eralogy, e.g., quartz PEF=1.8, dolomite with mineral trend lines of common Observations from the RHOB vs.
PEF=3.14, and calcite PEF=5.08. More minerals such as quartz and calcite. PEF plot can be used to distinguish and
importantly, RHOB and PEF can be com- Depending on where the data points qualitatively separate distinct popula-
puted at very high resolution, which is plot on the PEF axis, observations of tions from each other (Fig. 1). Density
critical for finely laminated shales. the amounts of quartz and calcite in and PEF cutoff values are chosen and
the core are possible down to a vertical applied to divide the data points into a
Qualitative Facies Analysis and resolution of less than 1 mm. Changes qualitative color-coded CoreHD facies.
Plug Sample Depth Selection in RHOB values can be used as an On the vertical axis, data points assigned
Bulk density and effective PEF data indicator for porosity and/or organ- to the green- and red-coded facies
can also be displayed in a crossplot ic material. express lower densities than the black-

30 JPT • NOVEMBER 2012


and blue-coded facies. A change in color first-stage DRP technique, geoscien- dual energy X-ray CT technology also
along the horizontal axis represents a tists can intelligently select the exact show good agreement.
change in mineralogy from quartz-rich plug sampling locations directly from
to calcite-rich, and vice versa. their workstations. Conclusions
High-resolution RHOB and PEF Verification of the RHOB and facies The combination of DRP and high-res-
values also provide a greatly improved analysis derived from the first-stage olution X-ray CT imaging can provide
method of selecting depth locations for DRP technique has been confirmed by rapid, noninvasive geological and petro-
plug sampling. Before this technique subsequent steps of the DRP process. physical analysis of whole core sam-
became available, many laboratories The results of scanning electron micro- ples while they are still inside the pro-
would extract plug samples on some scope (SEM) imaging of plugs chosen tective aluminum core barrel liners.
fixed depth interval such as one every 10 from each of the reservoir facies, and Using RHOB and PEF logs derived from
ft. This fails to account for the enormous the direct measurement of plug sample dual energy CT imaging, the whole core
vertical variability of many shale reser- RHOB, are shown in Fig. 2. The SEM workflow enables the observation of
voirs. A better approach is to divide the images show that a sample selected from mineralogical and lithological changes
key shale intervals into distinct facies the green-coded facies has substantially at much higher resolution than tradi-
and select a set of samples represent- higher porosity and kerogen content tional well logs. The data can be quali-
ing a range of properties for each facies. than one selected from the blue-coded tatively categorized into multiple col-
Using high-resolution RHOB and PEF facies. Physically measured RHOB val- or-coded facies corresponding to
data plus 3D imaging obtained by the ues compared with those derived from physical rock properties. In shale res-

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TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

2.0

2.1 Quartz Calcite


2.2
Core Bulk Density, g/cm3

2.3

2.4

2.5

2.6

2.7

2.8

2.9

3.0
1.4 3.4 6.8

Core Photoelectric Factor (PEF)

3.0

2.9

2.8
Plug Bulk Density, g/cm3

2.7

2.6

2.5

2.4

2.3

2.2

2.1

2.0
2.0 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3.0
Whole Core X-ray CT Bulk Density, g/cm3

Fig. 2—A validation of the whole core workflow is shown. Based on the qualitative facies analysis, four
core plugs from each color-coded facies were extracted and analyzed further. At top left, whole core
RHOB and PEF measurements at each of the plug sample locations are shown by yellow dots in the plot.
The vertical series of black dots represent pure quartz and pure calcite with porosities beginning at
zero porosity for the bottom dot and increasing porosity by 2% for each higher dot. Scanning electron
microscope (SEM) images from two plugs are also shown. At top right, the SEM image was taken from a
green-coded facies plug, and at bottom right, the SEM image was taken from a blue-coded facies plug.
The green-coded image shows more open porosity and organic material than the blue-coded image. At
bottom left, the crossplot shows whole core RHOB measurements derived from X-ray CT imaging vs.
RHOB data physically derived from plug samples taken at the same depth location.

ervoirs, these facies represent varying References of Unconventional Shale Gas Reservoirs.
amounts of silica and carbonate materi- Boggs, S. 2000. Principles of Sedimentolo- Paper SPE 131350 presented at the CPS/
al as well as varying porosity and organ- gy and Stratigraphy. Upper Saddle River, SPE International Oil and Gas Confer-
ic material. In addition, using dual ener- New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. ence, Beijing, 8–10 June. http://dx.doi.org/
gy X-ray CT imaging to derive RHOB Passey, Q.R., Bohacs, K.M., Esch, W.L., et 10.2118/131350-MS.
and PEF values improves the selection of al. 2010. From Oil Prone Source Rock Walls, J.D. and Sinclair, S.W. 2011. Eagle Ford
plug locations and provides a more rep- to Gas-Producing Shale Reservoir—Geo- Shale Reservoir Properties From Digital
resentative sampling for highly variable logic and Petrophysical Characterization Rock Physics. First Break 29 (6): 97–101.
shale formations. JPT

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