TECHNICAL ENGLISH II

NAMA: YESHENIA VERONICA CAMPOS ORTIZ

Shale in Argentina / Petroleum (revista petrolera de america latina)

UNCONVENTIONAL
HYDROCARBONS
The "conventional" hydrocarbons, which
have been traditionally exploited for more
than a century, are exactly the same as the
so-called unconventional ones. The main
difference is the way in which both gas and
oil are stored. In fact, for the industry, all
hydrocarbons that are not housed in
"conventional" formations are
"unconventional." This means that there are
several forms of "unconventional"
hydrocarbons.
Many people believe that oil and gas are
found in groundwater, caverns or
underground lakes. But nothing further from reality. There's no such thing. For years, the operations
were directed to the search and extraction of oil and gas housed, underground, yes, in the microscopic
pores of "permeable" rocks; that is, whose pores are interconnected with each other. As in a sponge,
fluids (gas and oil) can move between the pores. In other words, they can "travel" inside those
formations, usually in the direction of the surface. Sometimes, they are "trapped" by a waterproof rock,
which does not let them pass (because their pores are isolated from each other). This is a conventional
hydrocarbon deposit: a permeable reservoir rock, whose stored hydrocarbons are trapped by a
waterproof "seal" rock. Everything that differs from this scheme is considered a "unconventional"
hydrocarbon. Let's see some examples of unconventional hydrocarbons:
The "extra-heavy oils", so dense that at first
glance they look like rocks, and can be
extracted with shovels.Methane trapped in
coal formations ("methane in coal beds").
Methane trapped in the frozen bed of the seas
("methane hydrates").Gas trapped in
permeable rocks, but of very low permeability,
due to the poor connection between the pores
(tight gas).
In Argentina, when we speak of "unconventional", we refer specifically to two types of hydrocarbons:
those of the "shale" formations, such as Vaca Muerta, and those of the "tight" formations. In both cases,
these are very compact formations. The "tight", low permeability. The "shale", directly waterproof.
In the case of shale (which geologists identify as shales and marls), it is rocks formed from the bed of
lakes and seas. In them, over millions of years, trapped organic matter (remains of microorganisms,
algae, animals, etc.) became gas and oil. That is why it is common to read or hear that the shale is also
called "generating rocks" or "mother rock".
This last term - mother root - can lead to confusion. It is not about the parent rock of planet Earth, or a
kind of basal rock, but of just one stratum, which may be tens to hundreds of meters thick, in which gas
and oil were formed. It is only the "mother rock" of the hydrocarbons. Below, dozens to hundreds of
kilometers of other rock formations continue to the earth's mantle.
This generating rock (shale) has been fissured by natural physicochemical processes. In some cases,
due to these fissures, a part of the hydrocarbons migrated, in general, towards the surface (some
arrived, others were trapped in what we call "traps" or conventional deposits). But a good part of the
hydrocarbons remained there, trapped in the generating rock.
In Argentina, to speak of extracting shale gas and shale oil is, precisely, to look for hydrocarbons there,
in the formations in which they were generated, and that they remained without migrating to permeable
formations or conventional deposits.
As gas and oil are distributed in millions of microscopic pores that, unlike conventional reservoirs, are
not interconnected with each other and, therefore, can not move through the interior of the formation,
it is necessary to artificially generate pathways for that can flow into the well.
It is, in short, to reopen the tiny fissures in the generating rock, created by nature during the formation
of hydrocarbons, and today closed by the weight of kilometers of rock deposited on it.
For this, a technique called hydraulic stimulation, hydraulic fracture or fracking, in English, developed
almost 80 years ago, and used regularly in our country during the last half century (to improve the
permeability of conventional deposits), is used. pressurize a fluid formed basically by water and sand
(99.5%), plus the addition of some chemical additives (0.5%), extremely diluted.
Once the crack is reopened thanks to the action of water pressure, it is necessary to ensure that it does
not close once the pressure decreases. That is why the water is added a "support agent" (special
sands). This support agent enters the fissures and supports them to prevent them from closing again.
From that moment, by those open fissures less than a millimeter thick, and propped up by grains of
sand, the hydrocarbons can flow into the well, to allow their extraction.
We also mention the "tight" or "compact sands" formations. This is the case, for example, of the
productive formations of the Upper Black River Valley (Lower Lajas Formation), or of the Centenario
and Vista Alegre zones, north of the City of Neuquén (Punta Rosada Formation).
Here we talk about non-generating formations, such as shale. In fact, they received hydrocarbons that
were generated in the shale formations, but their pores are very poorly interconnected (very low
permeability). Also in this case it is necessary to do hydraulic stimulation (fracking), to improve the
permeability, although on a smaller scale.
That is to say, then, that the extraction of conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons has many
points in common (the drilling of the well, for example), and only differ in that the latter require, yes or
yes, hydraulic stimulation (fracking), beyond that today practically in all wells, conventional or not, this
operation is practiced.
22-01-2019