Presentation Outline
Salient aspects of shale gas
Probable Shale Gas exploration in India
Summary
Unconventional natural gas produced from
shale
Shale acts as source, reservoir & cap rock for
the natural gas
Characterized by very less permeability &
moderate porosity
Lower
uncertainty determination
in
resource/reserve
Mature petroleum source rocks Usually thermogenic Very good natural gas in-place volumes
Rich in Organic Matter (TOC=0.5-25%)
Low in Permeability (K= 0.01md or less).
Shale intervals with HGHR - high organic carbon content-
most productive.
An example of an ideal shale gas frac job at site
In a typical Shale Gas well, 7-10 stages of Hydrofrac are required & 3-5 lacs gallons of water are required for 1 stage of Hydrofracturing
Increasing oil/gas price Declining
conventional oil/gas reserves necessitate unconventional reserves supplementation to meet demand- supply gap States in Barnet & Marcellus shales, Ohio, Fayetteville, Antrim, New Albany, Lewis and Woodford shales and in Horn River & Montney Shales in Canada in the last 1 or 2 decade (s)
Texas Barnett shale gas production (1993 - 2006)
Big discoveries of shale gas in the United
Large
untapped resource of Shale Gas available
Earlier shale gas wells drilled vertical and non-
profitable due to very less permeability & producibility
Introduction of improved modern technologies
viz. Horizontal Drilling & Hydro Fracture Courtesy: Ravi Misra, ONGC
ONGC created an exploration landmark when gas
flowed out from the Barren Measure shale at a depth of around 1,700 metres, in its first R&D well, RNSG-1, near Durgapur at Icchapur, West Bengal,
The R&D project, which involved drilling of four wells
in the Damodar Basin two wells in the Raniganj sub-basin in West Bengal and two wells in the North Karanpura sub-basin in Jharkhand, was operationalised with the help of Schlumberger.
The estimated expenditure is about Rs 168 crore and
the total project is expected to be completed within 520 days,
India's 1st ever shale gas exploration bidding by 2013-
end, says PM [Courtesy -The Economic Times,3 days ago]
In November 2010, a Memorandum of Understanding
was signed between India and the US government on Shale gas resources while US president visited India.
Huge shale deposits in basins of Gondwana, Cambay, Assam-Arakan, KG, Cauvery, Rajasthan:
Damodar valley
- Barren Measures Formation (TOC 6 to 11.0%) in the Gondwana basins.
Cambay shales - (TOC ~ 14.3%) in Gujarat. KG Basin
- Bhuvanagiri Formation ((TOC ~ 3-5% & permeability ~ 0.033mD) & Raghavpuram shales (TOC ~ 3-5%) Cauvery Basins - Mandapeta (K=0.01mD, TOC ~ 12.8%), Andimadam & Sattapadi shales (TOC ~ 3-8%). In Rajasthan (TOC up to 4.99% in Baisakhi-Bhadasar Formation, Jaisalmer basin).
in Assam-Arakan Basin Disang, Kopili, Disang & Barail Coal Shale in Assam Bokabil & Bhuban Shales in Tripura
Source: Web
The Gondwana sediments are more matured & occur at shallower depth
The Barren Measure has organic rich shales having TOC = 8-10%, VRo= 0.8, Tmax= High, Kerogen Grade-III
Cluster Analysis or Tight Rock Analysis (TRA)-high organic rich silty shale band of 150200m in Barren Measure as against a 100-120ft & 170ft of similar kind of organic rich bands in Barnet Shale & Marcellus Shales respectively. Geochemical data : Barren Measure Shale section of Damodar Valley - bottom 200m above Barakar as most matured, organic rich & may be gas prone).
Source: Web
Due to shallower occurrence of Shales Hydrofrac jobs or horizontal wells would also be easier & cheaper hence techno-economically more viable.
Availability of large amount of water for HF in this part is much easier as discharged water from mines, CBM wells & other huge water bodies are available in plenty.
There is scope of recycling the released frac water for reuse in other wells after a little chemical treatment, as development/production wells are drilled at a space of 10 acres.
The OCS in Cambay Basin : organic rich dark grey shales : TOC = 0.7-14.25%, VRo= 0.8, Tmax= High (437-453C), Kerogen Grade-II & III: Matured shale with maximum source potential Availability of abundant source rock data & other data Maximum availability of Infra structure facilities More than 5000 wells drilled - 200 wells through Cambay Shales Prospectivity may be better than many famous gas rich global shales 1 or 2 operators already reported gas production from Cambay Shale . Various lows from NW to SE & North to South of the basin appear to offer Different type of plays
Source: Web
Source rock HC potential is generated in Gondwana, Mesozoic & Tertiary Sediments. Maturity data of effective source rocks indicate right kind of Geochemical data for Shale Gas Resource Assessment. Data of TOC, VRo, S1, S2 peaks, HI, OI, Tmax etc from a few selective wells of KG Basin prove that HCG values from Shales give a good indication of Shale Gas potentiality in Mesozoic shales.
Technology Transfer, know how & adoption of best practices from
successful projects worldwide
Globally experienced player with modern improved technologies
such as
- drilling horizontal wells - introduction of modern rigs - hydro fracturing
Shale Gas exploration has taken off in India Technology for resource characterization,
prospect generation, fracture identification, water management are to be generated by R & D with help of experts
Horizontal
drilling and well completion technologies, including multi stage hydraulic fracturing resources
Identification and development of shale gas
Mapping of prospective Shale of Indian sedimentary basins. Collect ion of core samples from drilled wells or through drilling of selective coreholes into such
shales to generate the following data:
Lithology : Data on shale lithology, mineralogy, clay content, thickness. Extent: Extension of high gamma ray zones and intercalations of sandstones or siltstones. Rock property data (porosity, permeability, density). Rock Eval / Pyrolysis data to identify the type and maturity of organic matter and to detect
hydrocarbon potential in sediments.
Thermal Maturity data - vitrinite reflection data, Tmax, S1, S2 peaks. Gas Content data
Reservoir Characterization
Type and amount of Organic Matter: Data on shale TOC (total organic carbon), HI and
OI data from Rock-Eval/Pyrolysis, Kerogen type.
Recording, Analysis & Interpretation of different log data. Developing data base, building geologic models & assessment of resource potential of
basins, also assessing the recoverable resources in shale gas.
Prospect Generation & assessment of its techno-economic viability. Identification of potential Shale Gas block based on above methodology.
Shale Gas exploitation is no longer uneconomic - improved technology. Demand
and preference for clean form of gas has made Shale Gas, a well sought after energy.
Reserve accretion, production & development world over is rapidly increasing. India also has development of prolific matured shale distributed in different
sedimentary basins e.g. Damodar Valley, Cambay, Assam-Arakan, KrishnaGodavari, Cauvery and Rajasthan.
Vast shale deposits with high TOC and maturity value in the above mentioned
sedimentary basins with available improved modern technologies can make India a top player of Shale Gas.
