Unconventional Shale Oil & Gas Evaluation

This masterclass will provide a thorough understanding on the evaluation of shale gas and oil reservoirs from various perspectives (geological, geophysical, geochemical and petrophysical) and how to classify and estimate unconventional gas reserves accurately and precisely. Delegates will learn to evaluate the various black shales, as shale-gas & shale-oil targets, as well as predicting locations of quality shale plays. The course will also present on successful shale-gas/shale-oil plays in the US, Canada and other places in the world.

A short presentation on other unconventional gas and oil types (tight sandstone-gas, Bakken Play) will also be included. Project exercises and case studies based from the trainer’s past experience will also be covered extensively to allow delegates to gain practical experience from this masterclass.

• GAIN insights on the economic potential and importance of natural gas worldwide
• RECOGNIZE the emergence of unconventional shale gas resources
• UNDERSTAND about the different types of black shales, their deposition and their distribution
• EXPLOIT different types of unconventional petroleum from black shales
• APPLY the principles of petroleum system analysis and prospects evaluation on unconventional shale gas reservoirs
• EVALUATE the potential and productivity of shale gas reservoirs from various perspectives
• ESTIMATE volumes and CLASSIFY unconventional shale gas reservoirs accurately
• ANALYZE the petrophysical parameters of shale-gas & shale-oil reservoirs
• UNDERSTAND about other unconventional gas types, like tight-sandstone gas
• BENEFIT from successful shale-gas and shale-oil plays in the world, including the US and Canada

The course is designed for explorationists who want to improve their knowledge in shale gas exploration. The course will assume a basic knowledge in petroleum geology and use of Microsoft Excel. No chemical experience is needed.

• Exploration Geologists
• Exploration Managers
• Exploration Geoscientists
• Geoscientists
• Geophysicists
• Reservoir Engineers
• Petroleum Engineers

• Black Shales as Petroleum Source Rocks. Different types of black shales and their depositional processes (Marine, Lacustrine, Hypersaline, Deltaic)
• Presentation of basic Geochemical Analysis of black shales, by using laboratory results (Total Organic Carbon, Hydrogen Index etc)
• Shale Characterization (MIneralogy, Petrology and Diagnesis of Shales)
• Basin Maturity and Basin Modelling Process
  • Techniques to evaluate quality and maturity in black shales
  • Principles of successful shale-gas exploration
  • Unconventional Petroleum Types
  • Theory about the formation of shale gas/shale oil. How it is formed and why it is there

EXERCISE 1: Processing and Analyzing Geochemical Data on Excel Spreadsheets to Evaluate the Quality of Black Shales

EXERCISE 2: Predicting Deposition of Quality Black Shales on Paleogeographic Maps

EXERCISE 3: Recognizing Quality Black Shales on Well Logs

• Structural geology parameters for a successful shale exploration
• Types of sedimentary basins for shale exploration
• Regional and local stresses
• Fraccability of shales – factors and parameters
• Recognition and evaluation of shales on seismic and well logs
• Formation pore pressure evaluation

• Evaluation of lithology by XRD methods
• Petrophysical analysis of a shale-gas well
• Shale Porosity Types
• Gas yield analysis and gas chromatography to evaluate the quantity and type of petroleum fluid (wax-poor/wax-rich)
• Economics of shale-gas exploration & exploitation in the US and Europe
• The Bakken Play, the Eagle Ford Play, the Paris Basin Play and the Neuquen Basin Play: Similarities and Differences
• First results of shale-gas exploration in Europe (Poland, Sweden). Why it has failed so far and what brings the future?

• Geological evaluation of shale-gas prospective basins in several parts of the world – tailor-made
• session for attendants with special interest in particular basins.
• Comparison between the successful US-Canada shale-gas/shale-oil plays to other potential basins in the world
• Classification of shale-gas/shale-oil resources in the two classification schemes (PRMS & UNFC).
• Replicating the Bakken Play in other basins
• New unconventional basins: Europe, Russia, Argentina, South Africa, N. Africa, Brazil etc
• Tight sandstone-gas: a hybrid conventional-unconventional play
• Social and environmental factors in shales gas/shale oil exploration and product

• Various methods of estimating unconventional oil & gas resources
• How to calculate volumes of oil and gas, without historical or production data
• Classification of unconventional oil & gas volumes using established schemes.