Abstract

Role of organic matter in reservoir characteristics of the unconventional petroleum systems in Canada
Hamed Sanei

Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin is projected to continue as a major unconventional petroleum resource (gas and fluid) in the future.  However, the most notable formations in this region are notoriously difficult to characterize using conventional methodology due to the presence of heterogeneities below the scale of traditional analysis. This presentation introduces innovative methodology to investigate the geochemical and petrophysical heterogeneity of reservoir and the influence of organic matter (OM) on production of hydrocarbon as well as pore structure and connectivity of the rock.  This study shows the traditional hydrocarbon peaks often referred to as kerogen consists of three main components: light oil, heavy oil, and the thermally degraded, refractory bitumen. The bulk of hydrocarbon in the over mature shale gas plays consists of the refractory bitumen. In the systems where the sources rock acts as a reservoir, saturation of the pore space by various phase of bitumen would have strong and complicated consequences which will be discussed in this presentation.