Find conventional oil & gas reservoirs with surface geochemistryWe can help you find conventional oil & gas reservoirs using hydrocarbon and trace element concentrations in soil. Hydrocarbon and trace element anomalies in soil are evident over the Terry Hill South and Glodes Corner Gas Fields in the Appalachian Basin of New York, which produce gas from 6,000 to 10,000-foot deep Black River hydrothermal dolomites. Lake sediments over the 9,850-foot deep Tuk Gas/Condensate Field in the Mackenzie Delta, are anomalous in thermogenic hydrocarbons. Heavy oil accumulations, such as the 5,000 to 7,000-foot deep Grant Canyon and Blackburn Oil Fields of Nevada can also be detected using our geochemical methods.
Find unconventional oil & gas reservoirs with surface geochemistryIn coal bed methane plays, it would be beneficial to define areas of greater production potential in terms of more free gas and better permeability prior to beginning an extensive drill program. These more productive areas could be developed initially to provide the capital for dewatering of the remainder of the play. Surface geochemistry can be a valuable tool for defining structures that not only trap free gas, but also increase permeability in coal reservoirs. The effectiveness of surface geochemistry for mapping areas of higher production potential was demonstrated at the Prairie Dog Creek CBM Play in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming. Surface geochemistry also clearly differentiates between non-productive and productive areas at the Jonah Tight Gas Field, which is an 8500-foot deep basin-centered gas accumulation in the Green River Basin of Wyoming. Soils over the fractured Genegantslet Shale Gas Field in the Appalachian Basin of New York are anomalous in percent methenae.
Differentiate between oil and gas
Clients often request the probable composition of reservoir fluids based on soil gas hydrocarbon compositions. We can differentiate oil from gas accumulations, even in areas of stacked pay zones. Multivariate statistical modeling of the soil gas hydrocarbon data allows us to define compositional factors that represent the compositional character of the data. Geochemical Fingerprint and Discriminant Function Plots are constructed to show the relationship of hydrocarbons in each factor. The compositional character of the soil gas hydrocarbons commonly reflects that of the reservoir fluid itself.
Define structural trends with surface geochemistry
Hydrocarbons and trace elements will follow paths of least resistance to the surface which, in many cases, are faults and fractures. For example, soils over faults that cross-cut gas-charged hydrothermal dolomite reservoirs in New York contain Mississippi Valley Type mineralization and anomalous normal alkanes (see Terry Hill South case study).
