Total Organic Carbon

TOTAL ORGANIC CARBON (TOC) BASICS
Organic carbon in the form of kerogen is the remnant of ancient life preserved
in sedimentary rocks, after degradation by bacterial and chemical processes,
and further modified by temperature, pressure, and time. The latter step, called
thermal maturation, is a function of burial history (depth) and proximity to heat
sources. Maturation provides the chemical reactions needed to give us gas, oil,
bitumen, pyrobitumen, and graphite (pure carbon) that we find while drilling
wells for petroleum.
Organic carbon is usually associated with shales or silty shales, but may be
present in relatively clean siltstone, sandstone, and carbonate rocks.
A source rock is a fine grained sediment rich in organic matter that could
generate crude oil or natural gas after thermal alteration of kerogen in the
Earth's crust. The oil or gas could then migrate from the source rock to more
porous and permeable sediments, where ultimately the oil or gas could
accumulate to make a commercial oil or gas reservoir.
If a source rock has not been exposed to temperatures of about 100 °C, it is
termed a potential source rock. If generation and expulsion of oil or gas have
occurred, it is termed an actual source rock. The terms immature and mature
are commonly used to describe source rocks and also the current state of the
kerogen contained in the rock.
Total organic carbon (TOC) as measured by laboratory techniques historically

has been used to assess the quality of source rocks, but now is widely used to
help evaluate some unconventional reservoirs (reservoirs that are both source
and productive).
Pathways that convert

living organisms to organic
carbon, from "Bitumens,
Asphalts, and Tar Sands"
by George V. Chilingar, Teh
Fu Yen, 1978.
In the lab, it is relatively

easy to distinguish kerogen
from hydrocarbons:kerogen
is insoluble in organic
solvents, oil and bitumen are
soluble. Pyrobitumen is not
soluble but its hardness is used to identify it from kerogen. Graphite is evident
on resistivity logs because of the very low resistivity; all other forms of organic
carbon are resistive.
Organic carbon has a density near that of water, so it looks like porosity to
conventional porosity logs. High resistivity with some apparent porosity on a log
analysis is a good indicator of organic carbon content OR ordinary
hydrocarbons OR both.
TYPES OF KEROGEN
Organic material can be classified according to the source of the material, as
shown below.
Origin, type, source, and hydrocarbon potential of different kerogens. Organic

content in gas shales is usually Type II, as opposed to coals, which contain mostly
Type III
The most commonly utilized scheme for
classifying organic matter in sediments is
based on the relative abundance of
elemental carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen
plotted graphically as the H/C and O/C
ratio on a so called Van Krevelen diagram.
The classic Van Krevelen diagram
Rather than plot the elemental ratios it is

common to plot indices determined by a
pyrolysis technique referred to as Rock
Eval. In the pyrolysis techniques two indices are determined: the Hydrogen
Index (HI) which is milligrams of pyrolyzable hydrocarbons divided by TOC
and the Oxygen Index (OI) which is milligrams of pyrolyzable organic carbon
dioxide divided by TOC.
Cross-plots of both elemental H/C and O/C ratios or of HI and OI are utilized to
discriminate four ‘fields’ which are referred to as Types I, II, III, and IV
kerogen.
Type I kerogen is hydrogen rich (atomic H/C of 1.4 to 1.6: HI of > 700) and is
derived predominantly from zooplankton, phytoplankton, micro-organisms
(mainly bacteria) and lipid rich components of higher plants (H/C ratio 1.7 to
1.9).
Type II kerogen is intermediate in composition (H/C ≈ 1.2: HI ≈ 600) and

derived from mixtures of highly degraded and partly oxidized remnants of
higher plants or marine phytoplankton.
Type III kerogen is hydrogen poor (H/C ratio 1.3 to 1.5) and oxygen rich and is
mainly derived from cellulose and lignin derived from higher plants.
Type IV kerogen is hydrogen poor and oxygen rich and essentially inert. This
organic matter is mainly derived from charcoal and fungal bodies. Type IV
kerogen is not always distinguished but is grouped with Type III.
The different types of organic matter are of fundamental importance since the
relative abundance of hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen determines what products
can be generated from the organic matter upon diagenesis. Since coal is
comprised predominantly of Type III kerogen, there is little liquid hydrogen
generating capacity. If the coal includes abundant hydrogen rich components
(such as spores, pollen, resin, waxes - Type I or II), it will generate some liquid
hydrocarbons. Although not common, some oil deposits are thought to be
sourced by coals.
Note: Portions of the above Section, and the next Section, were taken verbatim
(with moderate editing) from CBM Solutions reports.
ANALYZING TOC IN THE LABORATORY

The total organic carbon content of rocks is obtained by heating the rock in a
furnace and combusting the organic matter to carbon dioxide. The amount of
carbon dioxide liberated is proportional to the amount of carbon liberated in
the furnace, which in turn is related to the carbon content of the rock. The
carbon dioxide liberated can be measured several different ways. The most
common methods use a thermal conductivity detector or infrared spectroscopy.
Many source rocks also include inorganic sources of carbon such as carbonates
and most notably calcite, dolomite, and siderite. These minerals break down at
high temperature, generating carbon dioxide and thus their presence must be
corrected in order to determine the organic carbon content. Generally, the
amount of carbonate is determined by acid digestion (normally 50% HCl) and
the carbon dioxide generated is measured and then subtracted from the total
carbon dioxide to obtain the organic fraction.
Total organic carbon is often taken to mean the same thing as kerogen, but this
is not the case. Kerogen is made up of oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur, and hydrogen,
in addition to carbon. The standard pyrolysis lab procedure measures only the
carbon, so total organic carbon excludes the other elements.
About 80% of a typical kerogen (by weight) is carbon, so the weight fraction of
TOC is 80% of the kerogen weight. The factor is lower for less mature and
higher for more mature kerogen:
1: Wtoc = Wker * KTOC
OR 2: Wker = Wtoc / KTOC
Where:
Wtoc = weight fraction of organic carbon
Wker = weight fraction of kerogen
KTOC = kerogen correction factor - range = 0.68 to 0.90, default 0.80
Another lab procedure, called RockEval, burns both hydrogen and carbon, so
the data needs to be calibrated to the standard method by performing a
chemical analysis on the kerogen. Typically the organic carbon needs to be
reduced by about 10% (the weight of the hydrogen burned) to match the
standard method.
Rock Eval is the trade name for a set of equipment used in the lab to measure
organic content of rocks, as well as other properties of the organics that help to
identify the kerogen type. Rock-Eval combusts a crushed sample of rock at
600ºC. Refractory organic matter such as inertinite does not combust readily at
600ºC so most coal samples yield Rock-Eval measured TOC values much lower
than actual values because of incomplete combustion. Rock-Eval is not
recommended for use with coals or source rocks with significant amounts of
Type III and IV kerogen.
A rock sample is crushed finely enough so that 85% falls through a 75 mesh
screen. Approximately 100 mg of sample is loaded into a stainless steel crucible
capped with a micro mesh filter. To ensure accuracy, standard samples are
loaded at the beginning and end of the run. Any drift in data can be detected
and the samples rerun if necessary.
The analyzer consists of a flame ionization detector and two IR detector cells.
The free hydrocarbons (S1) are determined from an isothermal heating of the
sample at 340 degrees Celsius. These hydrocarbons are measured by the flame
ionization detector. The temperature is then increased from 340 to 640 degrees
Celsius. Hydrocarbons are then released from the kerogen and measured by the
flame ionization detector creating the S2 peak. The temperature at which S2
reaches its maximum rate of hydrocarbon generation is referred to as Tmax.
The CO2 generated from the oxidation step in the 340 to 580 degrees Celsius is
measured by the IR cells and is referred to the S3 peak.
Measured results from a typical
Rock Eval study will contain:
TOC% - Weight percentage of
organic carbon
S1 = amount of free
hydrocarbons in sample (mg/g)
S2 = amount of hydrocarbons
generated through thermal
cracking (mg/g) – provides
the quantity of
hydrocarbons that the rock
has the potential to
produce through diagenesis.
S3 = amount of CO2 (mg of CO2/g of rock) - reflects the amount of oxygen in
the oxidation step.
Ro = vitrinite reflectance (%)
Tmax = the temperature at which maximum rate of
generation of hydrocarbons occurs.
Calculated results include:

Hydrogen index
1: HI = 100 * S2 / TOC%
Oxygen index
2: OI = 100 * S3 / TOC%
Production index
3: PI = S1 / (S1 + S2)
Depth Tma Mea
SRA
(m) TO x s. O S2/S
HI PI
C % I 3 S1/TOC*1
Top S1 S2 S3 (°C) Ro 00
0.0 1.7 0.6 12 4 0.0
X025 1.35 5 2 3 444 8 7 3 4 3
0.0 1.6 0.5 14 4 0.0
X040 1.18 5 5 7 443 0 9 3 4 3
0.0 1.3 0.5 15 6 0.0
X050 0.83 3 1 5 443 8 6 2 4 2
0.0 1.0 0.5 12 7 0.0
X065 0.80 4 0 8 440 6 3 2 5 4
0.0 1.0 0.7 13 9 0.0
X075 0.75 5 4 2 438 8 6 1 7 5
0.0 2.5 0.2 24 2 0.0
X090 1.04 9 2 9 452 1 8 9 9 3
0.0 1.1 0.5 11 5 0.0
X110 1.02 5 6 6 441 4 5 2 5 4
0.0 1.3 0.5 12 5 0.0
X135 1.05 5 2 7 443 5 4 2 5 4
Laboratory measured TOC values (weight %) with measured and computed indices
HI versus OI plot example, indicating Type III kerogen

An alternate method for measuring TOC by solution rather than pyrolysis is
described below, from a 1980's TOC report from Australia.
"The samples are analyzed for total organic carbon (TOC) according to AS
1038 Part 6. Moisture determinations are made to permit conversion to a dry
basis. Carbon occurring as carbonate ion is determined to correct the gross
carbon data to give the organic carbon content. This is done by driving off
carbonate minerals with HCl acid.
The crushed and sieved (100 mesh) samples are weighed and exhaustively
extracted in a Soxhlet apparatus using a benzene-methanol mixture. After
removal of methanol by azeotropic distillation with benzene, the residue in
benzene is diluted with hexane and the hydrocarbon solution separated by
filtration from the brown precipitate. The latter is then dissolved in methanol.
The yield of methanol soluble material is determined gravimetrically.
The hexane soluble portion of the extractable organic matter (E.O.M.) is

weighed and chromatographed on silica. Elution with hexane gives
predominantly alkanes and subsequent elution with hexane/benzene yields
mainly monocyclic and polycycllc aromatic hydrocarbons. The eluted
hydrocarbons are weighed, and then analyzed by gas chromatography / mass
spectrometry."
GEOCHEMICAL LOGS
Measured and calculated indices can be plotted versus depth; the resulting log is
called a Geochemical Log.
A geochemical log from offshore East Coast Canada
KEROGEN MATURITY
The hydrocarbon potential of
organic carbon depends on the
thermal history of the rocks
containing the kerogen. Both
temperature and the time at
that temperature determine the
outcome. Medium
temperatures (< 175 C)
produce mostly oil and a little
gas. Warmer temperatures
produce mostly gas.
Hydrocarbon type versus

temperature
defines "oil window" and "gas
window",
with some obvious overlap
Vitrinite reflectance (Ro) is

used as an indicator of the level
of organic maturity (LOM). Ro
values between 0.60 and 0.78
usually represent oil prone
intervals. Ro > 0.78 usually
indicates gas prone. High
values can suggest "sweet
spots" for completing gas shale wells.
Measurement of vitrinite reflectance was described as follows from the 1980's

TOC report.
"Sample chips or sidewall core samples are cleaned to remove drilling mud or
mud cake and then crushed using a mortar and pestle to a grain-size of less than
3 mm. Samples are mounted in cold-setting resin and polished ''as received", so
that whole-rock samples rather than concentrates of organic matter are
examined. This method is preferred to the use of demineralized concentrates
because of the greater ease of identifying first generation vitrinite and, for
cuttings samples, of recognizing cavings. The core samples are mounted and
sectioned perpendicular to the bedd1ng.
Vitrinite reflectance measurements are made using immersion oil of refractive

index 1.518 at 546 nm and 23°C and spinel and garnet standards of 0.42%,
0.917% and 1.726% reflectance for calibration. Fluorescence-mode
observations are made on all samples and provide supplementary evidence
concerning organic matter type, and exinite abundance and maturity. For
fluorescence-mode a 3 mm BG-3 excitation filter is used with a TK400 dichroic
mirror and a K490 barrier filter."
Tmax is also a useful indicator of maturity, higher values being more mature.
Graphs of HI vs Ro and HI vs Tmax are used to help refine kerogen type and to
assess maturity with respect to the oil and gas "windows". Depth plots of Ro
and Tmax are helpful in spotting the top of the oil or gas window in specific
wells, and in locating sweet spots for possible production using horizontal wells.
Crossplots of HI vs Tmax and HI vs Ro determine organic maturity,

kerogen type, and whether the rock is in the oil or gas window. Immature and post
mature rocks are not overly interesting as possible source or reservoir rocks.
Depth plot of Ro to determine trend line and location of oil and gas windows (Ro >
0.55).
Ro is plotted on a logarithmic scale, which makes the trend line relatively straight.
Thermal maturity as indicated by vitrinite reflectance (Ro) versus depth for a
Barnett shale, showing "sweet spot" and oil versus gas “windows”.
VISUAL ANALYSIS OF TOC FROM LOGS

Visual analysis for
organic content is
based on the
porosity - resistivity
overlay technique,
widely used to locate
possible
hydrocarbon shows
in conventional log
analysis. By
extending the
method to
radioactive zones
instead of relatively
clean zones, organic
rich shales
(potential source
rocks , gas shales, oil
shales) can be
identified. Usually
the sonic log is used
as the porosity indicator but the neutron or density log would work as well.
The trick here is to align the sonic log on top of the logarithmic scale resistivity
log so that the sonic curve lies on top of the resistivity curve in the low resistivity
shales. Low resistivity shales are considered to be non-source rocks and are
unlikely to be gas shales. Shales or silts with source rock potential will show
considerable crossover between the sonic and resistivity curves. The absolute
value of the sonic and resistivity in the low resistivity shale are called base-lines,
and these base-lines will vary with depth of burial and geologic age.
Schematic log showing sonic resistivity overlay in a variety of situations
Sonic resistivity overlay showing

crossover in Barnett Shale, Texas,
labeled "ΔlogR" and shaded red.
Crossplots of porosity and logarithm
of resistivity can also be used to define
and segregate source rocks from non-
source rocks. See "Identification of
Source Rocks on Wireline Logs by
Density-Resistivity and Sonic-
Resistivity Crossplots" by B. L. Meyer
and M. H. Nederlof, AAPG Bulletin,
V. 68, P 121-129, 1984..The best
description of the method is posted on
the online magazine Search and
Discovery, in "Direct Method for
Determining Organic Shale Potential
from Porosity and Resistivity Logs to
Identify Possible Resource Plays* by
Thomas Bowman, Article #110128,
posted June 14, 2010.
These crossplots usually show a non-source rock trend line on the southwest
edge of the data (similar to the water line on a Pickett plot) and a cluster of
source rock data to the right of the non-source line, as shown in the image
below. The slope and intercept of the non-source line is used to calculate a
pseudo-sonic log, DtR, from the resistivity log, which can then be plotted on the
same scale as the original sonic log.
Sonic versus logarithm of resistivity (DlogR) Crossplot showing non-source rock
trendline and source rock cluster of data. The equation of the non-source rock line
is DtR = 105 - 25 log(RESD) for this Barnett Shale example.
As for the manual
overlay technique
described above,
crossover indicates
source rock potential,
shale gas, or an oil
shale, or if the zone is
clean, a potential
hydrocarbon pay
zone. An example of a
DtR log is shown
below.
Original sonic log (left
edge of red shading)
and calculated DtR
curve (black curve)
showing potential
source rock or, as in this case, gas shale (Barnett)
BASIC ANALYSIS OF TOC FROM LOGS

A wide variety of log analysis methods are used to calculate total organic carbon
from well logs, ranging from over-simplified to complex multi-mineral
probabilistic models. The Passey and Issler models, described later, are in the
middle of the pack for complexity. We also need to convert lab data into
volumetric terms for comparison to log analyis results. This Section coversd
some of these steps.
TOC from Density Log Data
Correlation of core TOC values to log data leads to useful relationships for
specific reservoirs. A strong correlation exists in some shales with Uranium
content from the spectral gamma ray log. In other cases, the relationship is
made with density, resistivity, sonic, gamma ray, or combinations of these
curves. Variations in matrix mineralogy strongly affect this type of correlation
and it is possible that mineralogy will mask any trend with TOC. The crossplot
shown below is for a
particular well in
the Barnett shale.
Correlation of TOC
with density in Barnett
Shale: Wtoc = -0.259 *
DENS + 0.707. Similar
crossplots of sonic or
neutron data can be used
for specific reservoirs
where TOC data is
available from core.
Plot in Avalon Shale: Wtoc = -0.1324 * DENS + 0.754

KEROGEN DENSITY
Kerogen density is difficult to measure directly but can be inferred from a plot
of (inverse) core grain density versus TOC weight percent or mass fraction. This
value is needed to find kerogen volume fraction from kerogen weight fraction.
The method also relies on the density versus TOC crossplot.
Plot to find TOC
specific gravity
(DENStoc) and rock
grain density
(DENSma) using
inverse grain density on
Y-Axis.
On this graph,
1: DENSma = 1 /
INTCPT
= 1 / 0.37 =
2.703 g/cc
2: SLOPE = (0.409 -
0.37) / (9 - 0) =
0.004166
(from Excel
spreadsheet)
3: DENStoc = 1 / (100 * SLOPE + INTCPT)
= 1 / (100 * 0.004166 + 0.37) = 1.28 g/cc
4: DENSker = DENStoc / KTOC
= 1.28 / 0.80 = 1.42 g/cc
Where KTOC = kerogen correction factor

- Range = 0.68 to 0.90, default 0.80
Typical values for DENSker are in the range 0.95 for immature to 1.45 for very
mature, with a default of 1.26 g/cc.
Because of the extrapolation from small TOC values up to 100% TOC, the
possible error in DENStoc is quite large, so many people will choose a default
based on the maturity of the kerogen.
KEROGEN VOLUME
Log analysis models need the volume fraction of kerogen, not the weight
fraction. This is found from:
1: Wtoc = TOC% / 100
2: Wker = Wtoc / KTOC
3: VOLker = Wker /
DENSker
4: VOLmatrix = (1 -
Wker) / DENSma
5: VOLrock = VOLker + VOLmatrix
6: Vker = VOLker / VOLrock
There is a spreadsheet on the Downloads page that does weight to volume and
volume to weight conversions -- see example at right. Typically, Vker is a little
less than 2 * Wtoc.
"META/WT-VOL" Spreadsheet.
GAS CONTENT VERSUS TOC
TOC values calculated from log analysis models are widely used as a guide to
the quality of gas shales. Using correlations of lab measured TOC and gas
content (Gc). We can use log analysis derived TOC values to predict Gc, which
can then be summed over the interval and converted to adsorbed gas in place.
Sample correlations are shown below.
Crossplots of TOC versus Gc for Tight Gas / Shale Gas examples. Note the large
variation in Gc versus TOC for different rocks, and that the correlations are not
always very strong. These data sets are from core samples, cuttings give much
worse correlations. The fact that some best fit lines do not pass through the origin
suggests systematic errors in measurement or recovery and preservation
techniques.
PASSEY'S "DlogR" METHOD
Various multi-curve methods for quantifying organic content from well logs
have been published, including multiple regression, probabilistic, and neural
network solutions. The most common method is based on sonic versus
resistivity, as described in "A Practical Model for Organic Richness from
Porosity and Resistivity Logs" by Q. R. Passey, S. Creaney, J. B. Kulla, F. J.
Moretti and J. D. Stroud, AAPG Bulletin, V. 74, P 1777-1794, 1990.
It is also known as the "D log R" method (with or without spaces and hyphens
between the characters). The "D" was originally the Greek letter Delta (ΔlogR).
Although the sonic resistivity model is the best known version of the Passey
method, density and neutron data can also be used, as shown below:
1: SlogR = log (RESD / RESDbase) + 0.02 * (DTC – DTCbase)
2: DlogR = log (RESD / RESDbase) -- 2.5 * (DENS – DENSbase)
3: NlogR = log (RESD / RESDbase) + 4.0 * (PHIN – PHINbase)
4: TOCs = SF1s * (SlogR * 10^(0.297 – 0.1688 * LOM)) + SO1s

5: TOCd = SF1d * (DlogR * 10^(0.297 – 0.1688 * LOM)) + SO1d
6: TOCn = SF1n * (NlogR * 10^(0.297 – 0.1688 * LOM)) + SO1n
Where:
RESD = deep resistivity in any zone (ohm-m)
RESDbase = deep resistivity baseline in non-source rock (ohm-m)
DTC = compressional; sonic log reading in any zone (usec/ft)
DTCbase = sonic baseline in non-source rock (usec/ft)
DENS = density log reading in any zone (gm/cc)
DENSbase = density in non-source rock (gm/cc)
PHIN = neutron log reading in any zone (fraction)
PHINbase = neutron baseline in non-source rock (fraction)
SlogR, DlogR, NlogR = Passey’s number from sonic, density, neutron log
(fractional)
LOM = level of organic maturity (unitless)
TOCs,d,n = total organic carbon from Passey method (weight fraction)
SF1s,d,n and SO1s,d,n = scale factor and scale offset to calibrate to lab values
of TOC
Divide metric DTC values by 3.281 to get usec/ft, metric density by 1000 to get
gm/cc.
In practice, it is rare to have both TOC laboratory measurements and reliable

organic maturity data to assist in calibration. Chose a value for LOM that will
result in a match with available TOC data. Vitrinite reflectance (Ro) values may
be available and are converted to LOM with the graph below. LOM is typically
in the range of 6 to 14. Default LOM for a gas shale is 8.5 and fir an oil shale
is10.5.
Graph for finding Level of Organic Maturity from Vitrinite Reflectance. Higher
LOM reduces calculated TOC. Some petrophysicists do not believe this
chart, and use regression techniques on measured TOC to estimate LOM - see
bottom illustration on this page for an example.
Numerical Example:
RESD RESDbase DTC DTCbase LOM DENS DENSbase PHIN PHIN
base
25 4 100 62 8.5 2.35 2.65 0.34 0.15
DTC DENS PHIN

DlogR = 1.556 1.546 1.556
TOC = 0.113 0.113 0.113 weight fraction
ISSLER'S METHOD
Dale Issler published a model specifically tuned to Western Canada in "Organic
Carbon Content Determined from Well Logs: Examples from Cretaceous
Sediments of Western Canada" by Dale Issler, Kezhen Hu, John Bloch, and
John Katsube, GSC Open File 4362. It is based on density vs resistivity and
sonic vs resistivity crossplots (other methods are also described in the above
paper).
The crossplots were redrafted in Excel , as shown below, and a drop-through
code developed to generate TOC, based on the lines on the graphs. No doubt
there is a simpler way to code this, but I didn't have time to sort it out.
◄D
TC vs RESD
DENS vs
RESD ►
Note that sonic and density data are in Metric units.

TOC calculated from DENS vs RESD crossplot gives similar results to the sonic
approach, but the density model should not be used in large or rough borehole
intervals. Intervals where the sonic log is skipping should be edited before use.
The "drop-through" code shown below gives integer values of TOC%, then
coverts it to a decimal fraction. Multiple regression equations, developed by
Tristan Euzen from the Issler graphs, give smooth (non-integer) values and are
of course easier to code into petrophysical software or spreadsheet packages.
Thanks for your work Tristan.
TOC_X - TOC FROM REGRESSION ANALYSIS OF ISSLER'S GRAPHS
Tristan Euzen's multiple regression gives:
7: TOCs = 0.0714 * (DTC + 195 * log(RESD)) - 31.86
8: Wtocs = SF2 * TOCs / 100 + SO2
Equations for the density-resistivity model are not quite as neat. By linear
regression, Tristan found:
97: Intercept = 4.122 * Slope + 1014
98: TOCd = -0.1429 * Slope + 45.14
Recognizing that:
99: DENS = Slope * Log(RESD) + Intercept
And by substitution:
9: TOCd = -0.1429 * (DENS – 1014) / (log(RESD) + 4.122) + 45.14
10: Wtocd = SF3 * TOCd / 100 + SO3
Log analysis TOC results should be calibrated to lab measured TOC from real
rocks. Scale factors SF 2 and SF3 and scale offset SO2 and SO3 are determined
by regression of lab versus log derived TOC values. If you want TOC%, remove
the "/ 100" from equations 8 and 10.
TOC_MR - TOC FROM MULTIPLE LINEAR REGRESSION
Sometimes it is difficult to get a good match to measured TOC values using
Passey or Issler methods. Some software packages have multiple linera equation
solvers. that can help. Here is a typical solution for one particular well where
such a regression was run:
11: TOCmr = - 3.73089 + 0.0259051 * DTC + 1.13726 * PHIN_SS + 0.877866
* log(RESD)
- 0.000722865 * DENS
No scale factor or scale offset is needed as the equation is derived from the
measured data.
TOC_S - TOC FROM SONIC RESISTIVITY CROSSPLOT
TOC from Sonic Resistivity Crossplot
IF DELT <= (-195 * LOG(RESD) + 460) THEN TOCs = 0
IF DELT > (-195 * LOG(RESD) + 460) THEN TOCs = 1
Wtocs = SF2 * TOCs / 100 + SO2
TOC_D - TOC FROM DENSITY RESISTIVITY CROSSPLOT
IF DENS < (150 * LOG(RESD) + 1670) THEN TOCd = 24
IF DENS >= (309 * LOG(RESD) + 2300) THEN TOCd = 0
Wtocd = SF3 * TOCd / 100 + SO3
Log analysis TOC results should be calibrated to lab measured TOC from real
rocks. Scale factors SF 2 and SF3 and scale offset SO2 and SO3 are determined
by regression of lab versus log derived TOC values. If you want TOC%, remove
the "/ 100" from the final equations.
Numerical Example:
RESD DTC DENS Using spreadsheet from Downloads page
English 25 100 2.35
Metric 25 328 2350
TOCs (RESD-DTC crossplot) = 0.11 weight fraction

TOCd (RESD-DENS crossplot) = 0.10 weight fraction
"META/TOC" SPREADSHEET -- TOC ASSAY FROM LOG ANALYSIS

This spreadsheet calculates Total Organic CVarbon (TOC) from the two
different models described above.
"META/TOC" Total Organic Carbon Spreadsheet.
Sample output from "META/TOC" spreadsheet for analysis of Total Organic
Carbon from well logs.
"META/TOC" Total Organic Carbon Spreadsheet.
TOC FROM SPECTRAL GAMMA RAY LOGS
The uranium content of many kerogen bearing source and reservoir rocks is
often a function of the kerogen content. Bob Everett suggests the following
relationship:
1: TOCuran = SFuran * log(URAN / 4)
Where:
TOC uran = total organic carbon from uranium curve on spectral GR loh
(fractional)
URAN = uranium content (ppm)
SFuran = scale factor = 0.05 default (range 0.02 to 0.08)
Calibrate SFuran using lab derived TOC data. Note that the spectral GR could
be a core GR log.
TOC FROM ELEMENTAL CAPTURE SPECTROSCOPY (ECS) LOGS

The ECS log measures the weight contribution of various elements in the
formation, for example calcium, oxygen, iron, silicon, and so forth. By using a
least squares statistical approach, the elements can be composed into the
minerals that might be present in the rocks. One of the minerals can be kerogen.
Results are in weight fraction so kerogen can be compared directly to
geochemical assays from the lab. The TOC and XRD or XRF lab data can be
used to constrain the inversions, giving results that will naturally match kerogen
and mineralogy data quite well. An example is shown at the end pf this web
page.
TOC LOG ANALYSIS EXAMPLES
TOC calculated from Passey DlogR Method. There are numerous published
examples with much worse correlations between calculated and measured TOC,
usually attributed to varying proportions of Type I, II, and III kerogen or mineral
variations (calcite, dolomite, pyrite, and quartz) in the shale.
The figure above shows a comparison of the DlogR method with the Issler model.
Both methods use sonic and resistivity logs to calculate the depth variation in TOC.
Red dots represent measured TOC analyzed on core
samples using a Rock-Eval 2 instrument; blue dots represent re-analyses of the
same samples using a Rock-Eval 6 instrument. For the Issler model, results are
presented for both empirical (blue) and Archie (green) resistivity porosity methods.
The DlogR method gives poor results for this well when observed thermal maturity
is used (LOM = 5.0) An LOM value of 6.9 provides a good fit to the data but it is
not representative of the true maturity.
A nuclear magnetic effective porosity curves (light grey on porosity track) shows a
close match to shale and kerogen corrected density-neutron effective porosity (left
edge of red shading). Dark shading on porosity track is kerogen volume. NMR
porosity, and corrected effective porosity match very well. The NMR effective
porosity is unaffected by kerogen and clay bound water. The far right hand track is
the mineralogy from an Elemental Capture Spectroscopy (ECS) log in weight
fraction (excludes porosity but includes TOC). TOC from cores, Issler method, and
ECS are in the track to the left of the porosity. They also match quite well. The
ECS inversion was also calibrated to TOC and XRD data to get a match as good as
this. Clay volume in second track from the right is from thorium curve calibrated
to XRD total clay, with clay volume from ECS superimposed to show the close
agreement. Everything makes sense when you CALIBRATE to lab data but may be
NONSENSE if you don't gather the right data.

Total Organic Carbon

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Total Organic Carbon

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TOTAL ORGANIC CARBON (TOC) BASICS

Total organic carbon (TOC) as measured by laboratory techniques historically

Pathways that convert

In the lab, it is relatively

Origin, type, source, and hydrocarbon potential of different kerogens. Organic

The classic Van Krevelen diagram

Rather than plot the elemental ratios it is

Type II kerogen is intermediate in composition (H/C ≈ 1.2: HI ≈ 600) and

ANALYZING TOC IN THE LABORATORY

Calculated results include:

HI versus OI plot example, indicating Type III kerogen

The hexane soluble portion of the extractable organic matter (E.O.M.) is

Hydrocarbon type versus

Vitrinite reflectance (Ro) is

Measurement of vitrinite reflectance was described as follows from the 1980's

Vitrinite reflectance measurements are made using immersion oil of refractive

Crossplots of HI vs Tmax and HI vs Ro determine organic maturity,

VISUAL ANALYSIS OF TOC FROM LOGS

Sonic resistivity overlay showing

BASIC ANALYSIS OF TOC FROM LOGS

Plot in Avalon Shale: Wtoc = -0.1324 * DENS + 0.754

Where KTOC = kerogen correction factor

4: TOCs = SF1s * (SlogR * 10^(0.297 – 0.1688 * LOM)) + SO1s

In practice, it is rare to have both TOC laboratory measurements and reliable

DTC DENS PHIN

Note that sonic and density data are in Metric units.

TOCs (RESD-DTC crossplot) = 0.11 weight fraction

"META/TOC" SPREADSHEET -- TOC ASSAY FROM LOG ANALYSIS

TOC FROM ELEMENTAL CAPTURE SPECTROSCOPY (ECS) LOGS

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