Full text loading...
-
Visualizing Hydrocarbon Expulsion Pathways
- Publisher: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
- Source: Conference Proceedings, 80th EAGE Conference and Exhibition 2018, Jun 2018, Volume 2018, p.1 - 5
Abstract
Summary
Properly understanding the processes of maturation and expulsion of hydrocarbons from near impermeable shale source rocks under confined conditions is important for accurately predicting where oil and gas may be found. However, questions remain about the maturation and expulsion processes, for example considering the roles of fractures and hydrous fluid. We performed maturation experiments on shale source rock samples at high pressure (20 MPa) and temperature (up to 350°C), with and without water. During the experiment, liquid and gas samples were taken at regular intervals. After the experiments, we used a fluorescent tagging technique to visualize hydrocarbon distribution on cross-sections of our experimentally matured shale samples. With this technique, we can distinguish between different hydrocarbons, allowing us to map their distribution. This demonstrated a compositional zoning of the hydrocarbons remaining in our samples, especially along outer surfaces and fractures. Our results show that fractures play an important role in the maturation and expulsion of hydrocarbons. Furthermore, our results show that the presence of water can also strongly impact hydrocarbon maturation and expulsion, through enhancing fracturing and possibly also through the dissolution of carbonates.
© EAGE Publications BV