UNCONVENTIONALS SR.13.

10621_13

Appraisal and development of unconventional gas

and liquid rich shale reservoirs: geoscience aspects
Authors: Bora Oz, SCAN-UAO/D/A; David Braun; Yongyi Li; Michèle Asgar-Deen, SCAN-UAU/A/T and
William Jamison, SCAN-UIU/A/E

In the current North American environment of high oil and low gas prices, and considering the new options available for well
completions technology in unconventional reservoirs, recent industry activities have turned their focus to the areas of Liquid Rich
Shales (LRS) and Light Tight Oil (LTO) along with unconventional tight and shale gas (UG).
Integrated workflows are important to the successful execution of this portfolio, i.e. systematic methodologies to screen and appraise
opportunities, and cutting edge integrated technologies must be viewed as key enablers. It is also important to maintain a life-cycle
mindset and leverage economies of scale to execute projects faster and more efficiently.
This paper elaborates on the geoscience aspects of exploration, appraisal and development of UG, LRS and LTO plays that were
discussed in SPE paper 163988 [Ref. 1] with a focus on geoscience workflows.

INTRODUCTION mineralogy (rock fabrics, static and dynamic rock mechanical

The term ‘unconventional reservoir’ covers a wide range of
hydrocarbon-bearing formations and reservoir types that
generally do not produce at economic rates without drilling
and completing intensively stimulated, horizontal wells.
Common terms for such unconventional reservoirs include:
■■ Unconventional gas (UG): tight gas sandstones,
carbonates, shale gas and coal bed methane (CBM).
■■ Unconventional oil (UO): shale oil, heavy oil
sandstones, carbonates and oil shales.
The focus of this paper is UG (but not CBM) and shale oil,
which is (more precisely) light tight oil (LTO), i.e. light oil
production from a variety of very low permeability reservoirs,
and liquid rich shales (LRS): shales that produce methane plus
liquids such as propane, butane and other higher-end
components (C5+). While some LRS and LTO plays produce
directly from shales, many produce from low-permeability
siltstones, sandstones, limestones and dolostones that are
associated with the shales where the oil was generated.
Under favourable conditions, shales can be deposited with a
high organic content that is preserved during burial. These
organic-rich shales are a source for conventional (i.e. migrated
and buoyancy driven) hydrocarbon accumulations and, given
optimal circumstances, can also be exploited as
unconventional resources.
Commercially and economically viable shale plays require the
presence of some key conditions, which fall into two groups:
1. reservoir quality and productivity and
2. ‘fracability’.
Factors that affect reservoir quality and productivity are: the
matrix porosity and permeability, organic carbon content,
maturity and kerogen type, and fluid composition and PVT
properties. Two key factors that affect fracability (i.e. the ability
to place effective and conductive stimulations) include:
properties), and local in-situ stress magnitude, orientation
and distribution.
In order to more effectively develop UG, LTO and LRS plays,
significant advances in understanding geological, geophysical,
geochemical, geomechanical, petrophysical, reservoir, and
stimulation properties have been made in the last decade [Ref. 2].
However, we are still just scratching the surface and rapid
integration across disciplines is required for success. In addition,
continuous learning from exploration through to the end of field
life must occur. Having said that, geoscience is still the starting
point and foundation for understanding unconventional plays;
thus it was chosen as the focus for this paper.
SWEET SPOTTING: GEOCHEMISTRY AND BASIN
MODELLING
Before sweet spotting a liquid rich shale play, the target
hydrocarbon source needs to be determined because, despite
their low permeability, fine-grained rocks can be hosts to
migrated hydrocarbons. In self-sourced plays, regional sweet
spots with favourable types of organic matter in sufficient
concentration and at the appropriate maturity need to be
identified. This is often accomplished by using organic petrology
and organic geochemistry. Basin modelling, a method of
approximating the basin burial and thermal history and
hydrocarbon generation history, is particularly useful for
identifying maturity fairways. Shell uses proprietary basin
modelling software and algorithms (e.g. Cauldron software) to
quantify the volumes of oil and gas generated, expelled and
retained within source rocks. Shell’s integrated charge evaluation
methodologies, which provide a fully calibrated assessment of
hydrocarbon type, quality and distribution, are key inputs to
making decisions on play entry. During the drilling stage,
advanced mud logging techniques are useful for marking trends
in mud gasses and identifying hydrocarbon-rich horizons. In
addition, organic geochemistry and stable isotope geochemistry
can be used to assess the type of hydrocarbons in the reservoir.

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Appraisal and development of unconventional gas and liquid rich shale reservoirs: geoscience aspects

SWEET SPOTTING: GEOLOGY

Although the majority of the sedimentary rock record consists of
shales, until recently shales have been mostly overlooked by
geoscientists. The industry is now faced with the challenge of
learning about shales at the same time as we explore for them
and so geoscientists are going back to basics with mapping,
outcrop studies and core studies to understand shale
sedimentology, facies, depositional geometries, and
reservoir architectures. Figure 1: Thin section photomicrographs (plane polarized light) of an
organic-rich shale reservoir within the Jurassic Gordondale Member (Nordegg)
A key sweet spotting challenge is to determine the nature, of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. Left: An organic-rich matrix with
amount, and distribution of storage capacity within the target radiolarian microfossils (circles) filled with calcite cement. The radiolarians are
horizon; however, the fine-grained nature of the strata makes approximately 100 micrometres in diameter. Note the lack of visible porosity.
this process complex. Rock properties, including the porosity Measured core porosity for this sample is 2.6 percent. Right: Calcite lined
and permeability of fine-grained sediments, are difficult to fracture which is partially open. Porosity is highlighted by the light blue epoxy.
measure by traditional methods (Figure 1). Shell is currently The field of view is approximately 1 millimetre in width.
attacking this problem from a variety of angles including
modified core analyses. Advanced scanning electron
microscope methods and advanced petrophysical methods are
particularly useful for assessing shale porosity. It should be
noted that porosity can be present in both the mineral and
organic matrices of the rock. In order to assess the amount of
organic-hosted porosity, the type of organic matter and the
thermal maturity of the reservoir must be known.

Understanding the sub-surface characteristics of shale and

fine-grained reservoirs is a challenge. For example, how do we
best assess the amount and character of fracture permeability?
Natural fractures are addressed with structural mapping
(including geophysical interpretation), core description and
image log analysis (Figure 2). Natural fractures can be
beneficial, neutral or harmful to hydraulic frac propagation
and well production. These associations are difficult to predict
at the exploration stage but can drastically change the Figure 2: Natural fractures within shale. Left: Open fractures within the
stimulation designs and resulting development strategy; thus Duvernay Formation of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin.
robust data collection and early analysis must be planned Right: Calcite cemented fractures within the Longmaxi Formation of the Sichuan
and executed. basin. Photographed core is approximately 7 cm in width.

GEOPHYSICAL PRACTICES AND TECHNOLOGIES

Geophysical technologies for exploration and development of
Geophysical technologies have always played a crucial role in unconventional resources:
the exploration and development of unconventional resources.
Aero Surface Downhole Laboratory
They are used to define subsurface properties and to detect
and monitor microseismic activity in the subsurface during Gravity
2D, 3D & 4D seismic VSP
Static and dynamic
microseismic microseismic
completion and production. The recent, rapid increase in magnetic
Electro-magnetic
gravity acoustic logging
mechanical rock
property
Electro-magnetic production logging
unconventional appraisal activity, and the large diversity of (EM)
(EM) (DAS)
measurements

geological settings, requires continuous innovation in

geophysical data collection, processing, and interpretation.
Engineering activities, such as well and completion design,
hydraulic fracture monitoring, and production analysis and
forecasting, are the major drivers for geophysical technologies.
The three most common geophysical technologies are: surface
seismic, non-seismic methods (mainly potential field methods)
and completion and production monitoring technologies, such
as microseismic and downhole acoustic techniques (Figure 3).
For exploration and appraisal, a large number of 2D seismic
lines, with limited 3D seismic surveys, are required data sets. In
the development stage, 3D seismic data is crucial for reservoir
Figure 3: Geophysical technologies for exploration and development of UG,
LTO and LRS plays.
characterization and well placement (as well as engineering
related applications). Advanced interpretations have become
an essential part of understanding play complexity, optimizing
well placement and mitigating drilling geohazards. Seismic
data also play an important role in providing geological
boundaries for building geological frameworks and
geomechanical models.

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Seismic inversion is another workhorse in the subsurface
evaluation of unconventional plays. It provides invaluable
quantitative reservoir information for both well and areal
based sweet-spotting. Seismic derived geomechanical rock
properties such as Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio are
recognized as key to understanding and analyzing completion
and production results. This data set combined with in-situ
conditions may also be used to predict reservoir fracability,
stimulated volume, and production. The relationship between
seismic rock properties and petrophysical properties, such as
lithology, porosity, clay content, and total organic carbon
(TOC), are used for reservoir characterization.
Natural fracture systems in unconventional reservoirs often
provide essential pathways for hydrocarbon recovery and
influence the effectiveness of reservoir stimulation. To better
understand and map these natural fracture systems, 3D seismic
data is used. The most common post-stack and pre-stack
seismic attributes for this purpose include: curvatures,
semblance, ant-track, fracture intensity, and orientation. These
mapped fractures can then be used for optimizing well design
and well placement (i.e. sweet spotting). For well design,
especially horizontal well design, large fractures or faults can
either be avoided or targeted (depending on the field specific
productivity impact of such features).
Non-seismic methods are mainly referred to as potential field
methods, which include gravity, magnetic and electromagnetic.
There is a new role for these traditional technologies to play in
de-risking unconventional resource plays because, in
comparison with seismic data, potential field data are less
expensive to collect and often cover an area significantly larger
than seismic surveys. This advantage fits well with
unconventional resource plays that often require studies starting
at the basin scale. Gravity and magnetic data are particularly
useful in play evaluation because they provide information
about the basin extent, depositional enviroments and play
potential. These data can significantly change the
Geophysical data
(seismic, microseismic etc.)
Geological data, log data
and laboratory
measurements
Stratigraphic Mechanical
and structural rock property
interpretation inversion
Dynamic
Subsurface
and static
geology and
mechanical
geomechanical
rock
boundaries
properties
Geomechanical interpretation, modelling and simulation
Reservoir characterization and sweetspotting
In-situ stress prediction
Completion and production optimization
Shell Journal of Technology  April 2013 – SR.13.10621 – Restricted
Unconventionals
understanding and evaluation of subsurface potentials and
risks. Current practice has demonstrated that both low and
high resolution data are able to provide insightful information.
Electromagnetic methods, both airborne and ground-based,
can be used to map shallow aquifers, detect shallow gas zones
and identify shallow porous glacial channels. Thus, they have
special use for derisking shallow drilling geohazards.
Microseismic has become a routinely used technology for
monitoring stimulations and analyzing completion efficiency in
unconventional plays across the globe. This technology
enhances our understanding of hydraulic stimulation and
provides information for optimizing stimulation design. Over
the past several years, microseismic monitoring has been
deployed in vertical wells as well as horizontal wells with
several combinations of other technologies, such as fibre optic
distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) [Ref. 3],[Ref. 4]. Shell is
active in this area of technology development with the ultimate
goal of maximizing the business impact of microseismic by
integrating it with other technologies.
Other than the three major geophysical technologies discussed
above, geomechanical and engineering studies, using seismic
data, have made significant advances (Figure 4). In
unconventional reservoir development, the subsurface has
often been treated as an engineering material, i.e. a
geomechanical system composed of boundaries and rock
properties that are subject to in-situ stress conditions, but by
bridging geophysics and geomechanics concepts (through
basic mechanical constitutional relations) geoscientists are
better able to integrate with engineers to form more robust
subsurface models. Thus, geophysical data can be used to
achieve more effective, calibrated and integrated reservoir
characterization, drilling and completion optimization, and
production prediction. Geophysics has expanded the scope of
traditional elastic rock properties analysis to include stresses
and strains.
Well and Completion
laboratory data and reservoir
analysis monitoring
Dynamic and
Dynamic info
static
of completion
mechanical
and
rock properties
production
relationships
Figure 4: Workflow for using
geophysical data in
geomechanical and engineering
applications.
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Appraisal and development of unconventional gas and liquid rich shale reservoirs: geoscience aspects

GEOMECHANICS, ‘FRACABILITY’ AND EFFECTIVE Structural Natural

STRESS ESTIMATION geological fracture
framework network
Rock geomechanical properties play a key role in
unconventional reservoir appraisal and development because Regional/
Regional/local Dynamic Reservoir local in-situ Static Completion
they influence the dimension and configuration of the in-situ stress fraccability architecture stress and local fraccability geomechanics
stimulated rock volume (SRV), as well as wellbore stability reorientation

during drilling operations. Geomechanical characterization Reservoir

Geomechanical depletion
consists of determining the in-situ stress regime, stress properties and stress
sensitivity
magnitude, rock mechanical properties and pore pressure.

Even in reservoirs that have laminations, which can be
vertically connected using hydraulic fracture stimulation, it is
often difficult to place a durable, conductive fracture that will
maintain hydraulic conductivity and continuity over time. Field
evidence suggests that the landing depth of a horizontal well
strongly influences productivity in unconventional plays, and
this is supported by hydraulic fracture models. This is, however,
often a dilemma that must be evaluated in detail to determine
an optimal approach. For example, one common tactic is to
land the horizontal lateral in a high total organic carbon (TOC)
lithology rather than penetrating into relatively low TOC
overburden or underburden formations. This is a pay and
geology driven approach; however, considering
geomechanics, it may be better to place the well in a more
brittle, lower TOC (e.g. higher calcite) zone, which will initiate
a dominant vertical fracture plane to better connect the total
target pay. Thus, a realistic facies model, based on calibrated
rock mechanical and stress data, must be constructed.
Since most shale reservoirs are laminated, it is critical to design
and execute hydraulic frac jobs that maximize effective vertical
fracture growth. However, this has proved to be challenging in,
for example, situations where the overburden is the minimum
principle stress (even in only a few laminations within the
shale). Shell has experienced this in several plays and found
that vertical hydraulic fracture growth is limited because the
fractures tend to grow horizontally. Thus, this must be
considered as a credible issue and identified early, with proper
data acquisition and mitigations put in place. The data
collection programme must be systematic, executed early and
integrated across disciplines to accelerate the understanding of
regional and local stress regimes. If horizontal fractures are
suspected, some possible mitigations include:
■■ targeting layers within the shales that tend to fracture
vertically (i.e. initiate vertical fractures at the wellbore),
■■ stimulating wells in open hole to allow the fluid to find the
path of least resistance (preferably a vertical frac) and
■■ minimizing the breakdown pressure (ideally below
overburden stress) by reducing near wellbore damage or
reorienting the well azimuth oblique to the principle stresses.
Fracability is another key parameter that dictates how
hydraulic fractures initiate, extend, and develop to establish an
effective and conductive SRV. Fracability is a function of both
the static properties and the dynamic reservoir behaviour
throughout the exploration and development phases. It is a
function of the reservoir structure, reservoir properties and
in-situ conditions (Figure 5).
Figure 5: Fracability inputs – static (exploration/appraisal phase) and dynamic
(development phase).
Estimating dynamic properties early in play development
through limited static data is difficult and in most cases not
possible. An alternative approach is to quantify or estimate
selected key parameters from static data, and provide a range
of dynamic behaviours based on these parameters,
which include:
■■ Stress anisotropy.
■■ Brittleness.
■■ Pressure dependant leak-off.
■■ Rock mechanical property contrast.
■■ Material (shear) failure potential.
■■ Fracture and matrix compliance.
In the early development phase, given these static parameters
for assessing ‘static fracability’ (Figure 5), some common
questions to be answered include: is the reservoir brittle, do the
frac barriers exist and is the reservoir material easy to fracture?
In addition, there are dynamic aspects that will change as the
play matures and for this later phase understanding the
‘dynamic fracability’ (Figure 5) becomes important.
In more general terms, fracability is controlled by the local
stress state (e.g. magnitude and anisotropy), rock physics
model (brittleness versus plastics rock deformation),
geomechanical (rock) parameters, and the mechanical earth
model. These parameters and models impact vertical versus
horizontal hydraulic fracture development, connected network
of weak-planes versus localized or disconnected features,
efficient zonal diversion during stimulation, compaction, and
the stress sensitivity of the reservoir permeability. Although
significant advances in understanding of these areas have
been made, there are always new challenges, and so
continuous learning is required.
EFFECTIVE STRESS ESTIMATION AND MAPPING
The estimation of effective stress (i.e. total stress minus pore
pressure) is crucial to the success of many unconventional
plays. Pressure prediction, the most common parameter in
geomechanical modelling, is more complex in unconventional
versus conventional plays because measurements during
drilling are not reliable because of the very low or no flow
conditions often encountered. In addition, an overpressure
condition often exists in unconventional reservoirs, caused by

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16,000
14,000
12,000 Effective stress
10,000
IP90 (mcf/d)
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000
Effective stress (Kpa)
Figure 6: Effective stress versus productivity data from a Canadian UG play.
in-situ hydrocarbon generation, and this overpressure is
partially responsible for the creation of (micro) natural fractures
in the target layers. Two field proven test methods used to
estimate unconventional pore pressure include:
1. diagnostic fracture injection tests (DFIT) and
2. shut-in pressure build-up tests.
Production and reservoir engineers use these valuable data to
optimize frac jobs and to estimate early, reliable pore pressure
and leak-off characteristics of the (targeted) reservoir layers.
Shell, through extensive data collection and careful re-
interpretation of a number of DFITs, has established important
relationships (e.g. Figure 6) between effective stress and
productivity (e.g. IP 90, which is the average of 90 days
production) for reservoir layers in unconventional plays. It is
clear that production is limited for wells that have high effective
stress and that as the effective stress decreases, production
improves substantially. Thus, early screening and sweet-
spotting efforts will benefit from including an analysis of
effective stress.
To this end, Shell developed the flow potential technology (FPT)
modelling scheme, which first calculates strain resulting from
3D faulting and extension or compression of individual
geological layers under different tectonic conditions and then
combines them to locally estimate total deformation. Stress
data are rigorously integrated through an advanced stress
inversion methodology. Extracting strain bands from production
data helps to constrain the final estimated local stress and
strain fields. The primary goal of FPT is to identify areas of low
net stress, which will most likely be more productive and more
optimal for hydraulic fracture initiation, propagation and the
ultimate production (i.e. fracture conductivity).
An example of FPT is presented in Figure 7 which shows the
effective stress map for a particular reservoir layer in an
unconventional play. Lighter colours show potential areas
where effective stress is low, whereas warmer colours highlight
the areas having higher net stress and, therefore, low estimated
production rates.
Shell Journal of Technology  April 2013 – SR.13.10621 – Restricted
Unconventionals
Red: High stress
White: Low stress “sweet-spot,
high productive area”
50,000
N
W E
S
Figure 7: Example of an effective stress map from a Canadian UG play.
CONCLUSION
Successful exploration, appraisal and development of LTO, LRS
and UG plays is built on detailed geoscience work including
geochemistry, basin modelling, geology, geophysics and
geomechanics. Sweet spotting these plays at the basin,
regional and well pad level requires a stronger focus on the
organic matter, basin history, fracture network and
geomechanical properties of the rocks than in conventional
plays. It is important to not only sweet spot areas with
hydrocarbons in place, but those where the formation can be
intensively stimulated. This requires an integrated approach
with multi-disciplinary teams whose members must function as
well outside of their discipline as they do inside.
REFERENCES
[1] Oz, B. et al, 2013. Practical Insights and Benefits of Integrating
Technology into Exploration, Appraisal and Development of
Unconventional Gas and Liquid Rich Shale Reservoirs. Paper SPE
163988, SPE, presented at the SPE Middle East Unconventional Gas
Conference & Exhibition, Muscat, Oman, 28-30 January 2013.
[2] Orangi, A., Nagarajan, N.R., Honarpour, M.M., and Rosenzweig,
J. 2011. Unconventional Shale Oil and Gas-Condensate Reservoir
Production, Impact of Rock Fluid, and Hydraulic Fracturing. Paper
SPE 140536, SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference and
Exhibition, The Woodlands, 24-26 January 2011
[3] Molenaar, M.M, and Cox, B.E., 2013, Field Cases of Hydraulic
Fracture Stimulation Diagnostics Using Fiber Optic Distributed
Acoustic Sensing (DAS) Measurements and Analyses, Paper SPE
164030, presented at the SPE Middle East Unconventional Gas
Conference & Exhibition, Muscat, Oman, 28-30 January.
[4] Molenaar, M.M, Hill, D.J., Webster, P., Fidan, E., and Birch, B.,
2011. First Downhole Application of Distributed Acoustic Sensing
(DAS) for Hydraulic Fracturing Monitoring and Diagnostics. Paper
SPE 140561, presented at the SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technology
Conference, The Woodlands, Texas, USA, 24-26 January.
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Appraisal and development of unconventional gas and liquid rich shale reservoirs: geoscience aspects

Bora Oz is currently the development lead for Fox Creek Duvernay LRS asset in Canada and previously was the team leader
of the (now) Upstream Americas Unconventionals Technology Excellence and Deployment Team in Shell Canada. He has 17
years of experience in reservoir engineering, production technology and quantitative structural geology and geomechanics.
For the past 8 years, he has focused exclusively on tight gas and shale gas exploration, appraisal, and development, and
played an important role in establishing Shell Canada’s unconventional gas business.

David Braun joined Shell Canada in 2004 working as a production and completions engineer for Shell Canada’s first
unconventional basin centered gas development. He has subsequently worked on well completion and stimulation design
and execution for unconventional exploration assets in Canada, as a production surveillance engineer for several Foothills
sour gas assets and most recently as a production engineer focusing on unconventional completion technology deployment in
Upstream Americas Unconventionals Technology Excellence and Deployment Team.

Yongyi Li obtained a PhD in geophysics from the University of Alberta in Canada in 1997 and joined Shell in 2008 in the
(now) Upstream Americas Unconventionals Technology Excellence and Deployment Team. He is involved in geophysical
technology development and implementation and has worked on North America as well as international Shell unconventional
resources assets.

Michèle Asgar-Deen joined Shell Canada in 2012 and is starting her career as a geoscientist in the Upstream Americas
Unconventionals Technology Excellence and Deployment Team. She has an MSc in geology from the University of Calgary

William Jamison is a structural geologist in Shell Canada working for the Upstream Americas Unconventionals Technology
Excellence and Deployment Team. His focus is on detailed structural interpretation in compressional systems and natural
fracture system evaluation. He obtained his PhD from Texas A&M University (geology).

70 Shell Journal of Technology  April 2013 – SR.13.10621 – Restricted