SHALE BASICS

In petrophysical analysis, shale volume is one of the key answers used later to
correct porosity and water saturation for the effects of clay bound water, (CBW)
.
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix
of clay minerals and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, es
pecially quartz, dolomite, and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals vari
es. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminations, parallel to the bed
ding. Mudstones are similar in composition but do not usually show layering with
in the
zone.

Above: Core photo of black shale with minor silt and laminations
and partings between layers
Geologists define clay as any mineral in a rock with a grain size less than 4 mi
crons, even though the mineral may not be a clay mineral. Silt is defined as a r
ock with particle size between 4 and 62 microns. Silt sized particles are usuall
y non-clay minerals and clay sized particles are usually clay minerals, although
non-clay minerals may also fall into this category.
From a petrophysical analysis point of view, clay-rich shales have traditionally
been called shales and non-clay shales have been called silts . Petrophysical analy
sis deals with minerals, not particle size, so it is confusing to us when a zone
is called a shale when the logs show little clay is present.
An example is the Montney shale in northeast British Columbia. Ir is roughly 45%
quartz, 45% dolomite, 10% other minerals (few of them are clay). The zone is ra
dioactive due to uranium (not due to clay), so it looks a lot like shale on quic
k look log analysis; density neutron separation and PE values are also close to
shale values. This kind of reservoir needs to be treated as a tight sand.
<== Resistivity scanner image of a shale with open (dark colour)
and healed fractures (white)
Other so-called "shales", such as the Monterey Shale, the Niobrara, and Milk Riv
er, are laminated shaly sands. These sands need to be analyzed with a Laminated
Shaly Sand Model, not a Shaly Sand Model. The sand laminations have good porosi
ty and permeability. The shale laminations contain very little.
Others are radioactive silts with clay and kerogen, such as the Haynesville Shal
e, which is 50% clay and 50% quartz and calcite. This shale has low effective po
rosity and very poor permeability. Total organic content is moderately high and
there is adsorbed gas, so it gets treated as a true gas shale.
XRD analysis of a silty shale. Notice clay-quartz ratio averages about 50:50.
Using the wrong log analysis model, or the wrong assumption as to the character
of the zone, will produce silly results, so be sure to understand what type of
"gas shale" you are dealing with.
Natural fractures in gas shales are an important component in assessing producti
vity. Fracture analysis using formation resistivity images and acoustic teleview
er images is covered elsewhere in this Handbook.
Below is a series of core photos of a gas shale showing the laminated nature of
shale. Gas is adsorbed in the microporosity on the clay surfaces. The natural fr

actures along the shale partings help move gas to the well bore when well bore p
ressure is below formation pressure.
Core photo of gas shale - about 50% clay, 50% quartz plus calcite, 10 - 15% tota
l porosity, 3 - 6% effective porosity, < 0.001 mD permeability.
CLAY BASICS
The following is from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_minerals and other sour
ces (edited). These descriptions are best suited to discussions of the dispersed
clay in shaly sands, but may also be useful in describing real shales.
Clay minerals are hydrous aluminum silicates, with variable amounts of iron, mag
nesium, alkali metals, alkaline earths, and other cations. Clays have structures
similar to mica and form flat hexagonal sheets. Clay minerals are common weathe
ring products of feldspar and low temperature hydrothermal alteration of granite
. Clay minerals are very common in fine grained sedimentary rocks such as shale,
mudstone and siltstone and in fine grained metamorphic slate.
Clay minerals include the following groups:
Kaolin group which includes the minerals kaolinite, dickite, halloysite and nacr
ite
Some sources include the serpentine group due to structural similarities.
Smectite group which includes dioctahedral smectites such as montmorillonite and
nontronite, and trioctahedral smectites for example saponite.
Illite group which includes the clay-micas. Illite is the only common mineral.
Chlorite group includes a wide variety of similar minerals with considerable che
mical variation.
Clay minerals are characterized by two-dimensional sheets of corner sharing SiO4
and AlO4 tetrahedra. These tetrahedral sheets have the chemical composition (Al
,Si)3O4, and each tetrahedron shares 3 of its vertex oxygen atoms with other tet
rahedra, forming a hexagonal array in two-dimensions. The fourth vertex is not s
hared with another tetrahedron and all of the tetrahedra point in the same direc
tion, that is, all of the unshared vertices are on the same side of the sheet).