Investigation of trend between porosity and drilling parameters in one of the Iranian undeveloped major gas fields

Porosity is one of the main parameters that should be considered when a gas or an oil field is assessed.Hence,the availability of porosity is crucial in any rock and formation analysis.However,this parameter is not always available and direct measurement is scarce and usually is confined to appraisal phase of a field.Therefore,in this study it is aimed to find a relationship in order to estimate porosity in afterward phases.The data of 5 appraisal wells of an undeveloped gas field has been gathered to perform this purpose.The full set wireline logging data and drilling data were available.The data inherit high level of fluctuation which is normal with respect to real direct measured data.The smoothed curving was utilized and as a result,the fluctuation was diminished considerably and the feasibility of carrying out the investigation was being established,accordingly.To normalize and gather drilling data in a parameter in order to have a better view and investigation,sigmalog method was employed.It was observed that there is a clear exponential relationship between porosity and drilling data and curve fitting was utilized to conduct a numerical relationship.The curve fitting was established with R^(2)=0.83 and a trustworthy fitting resulted.The results demonstrate the possibility of porosity estimation by using drilling data.Furthermore,a numerical relationship is given for a specific field.The porosity estimation can lead to better analysis of newly drilled rocks and formations leading to more efficient field development strategies.

Discovery of lacustrine shale deposits in the Yanshan Orogenic Belt,China: Implications for hydrocarbon exploration

The mechanism of formation of lacustrine deposits within stable orogenic belts and their potential for shale oil and gas exploration are frontier themes of challenge in the fields of sedimentology and petroleum exploration. Orogenic belts witness strong tectonic activities and normally cannot host stable lacustrine basins and deep shale formations. Therefore, basins in orogenic belts are considered to have no potential to form shale hydrocarbon reservoirs. Here we investigate the Luanping Basin located in the Yanshan orogenic belt where previous studies regarded rivers and fan deltas as the major main Mesozoic deposits. Based on detailed field exploration and scientific drilling, we report the finding of a large number of lacustrine shale continental deep-water deposits in the Mesozoic strata. Our finding of the occurrence of active shale oil and gas also in this basin also subvert the previous perceptions.We report SHRIMP zircon U-Pb age that define the bottom boundary of the target interval as 127.6 ± 1.7 Ma belonging to the early Cretaceous strata. Tectonics and climate are considered to be the main factors that controlled the deep-water sedimentation during this period. The drill cores revealed evidence of shale gas and the TOC of shale is 0.33%–3.60%, with an average value of 1.39% and Ro is 0.84%–1.21%, with an average value of 1.002%. The brittleness index of shale is between 52.7% and 100%. After vertical well fracturing, the daily gas production is more than 1000 m^(3). Our findings show that the basin has considerable potential for shale oil and gas. The geological resources of the shale gas in the Xiguayuan Fm. are estimated as 1110.12 × 10^(8) m^(3), with shale oil geological resources of 3340.152 × 10^(4) t. Our findings indicate that the Yanshan orogenic belt has potential exploration prospect. This work not only redefines the Luanping Basin as a rift deep-water Mesozoic Lake Basin, but also rules out the previous notion that the basin is dominated by shallow water sediments. The discovery of shale oil and gas also provides an important reference for subsequent petroleum exploration and development in this basin. Our study shows that shale oil and gas reservoirs can be found in the lacustrine basins of orogenic belts which were strongly influenced by volcanism. These results have significant implications for the sedimentology and oil exploration in the Qinling and Xingmeng Orogenic Belts of China, as well as those in other terranes of the world including the New England Orogenic Belt in Australia.