Multi-Disciplined Approach to

Shale Rock Characterization

Presented by: Mike Walker

September 29, 2010

Canada Brazil Australia

United States Mexico Kuwait India
Trinidad Libya Malaysia
Venezuela Oman Thailand
Norway New Zealand
Saudi Arabia
United Kingdom
United Arab Emirates
Kazakhstan
For contact information, please visit our website: www.weatherfordlabs.com
 Worldwide Locations
North America | Latin America | Middle East & North Africa | Europe & West Africa | Asia Pacific

Bergen, Norway Trondheim, Norway

Calgary, Alberta Canada 120° 60° 0° 60° 120° 180°

Stavanger, Norway
Casper, Wyoming St. John’s, New Foundland,
Anchorage, Alaska Canada Oslo, Norway

60° Golden, Colorado Dorset, United Kingdom 60°

Midland, Texas London, United Kingdom

Jackson, Mississippi Aktau, Kazakhstan Ahmedabad, India

Bakersfield, California

New Orleans, Louisiana Kolkata, India 30°

30°
The Woodlands, Texas
Lafayette, Louisiana Tripoli, Libya
Ayutthaya, Thailand
Houston, Texas
Ahmadi, Kuwait
Songkhla, Thailand
Corpus Christi, Texas Port of Spain, Trinidad
Dammam, Saudi Arabia Muscat, Oman
0° Gebeng, Malaysia 0°
Maracaibo, Venezuela
Poza Rica, Mexico
Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates
Villahermosa, Mexico

30° 30°

Perth, Austrailia

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Brisbane, Australia

60° Dunedin, New Zealand 60°

120° 60° 0° 60° 120° 180°

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Shale Territory

Barnett (6,500 – 8,500) Eagleford (8,000 – 14,000) Haynesville – (10,500 – 13,500)

Bakken Formation (8500 - 11,000) Marcellus – (4,000 - 8,500)

Niobrara Formation (3,000 – 14,000)

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Shale Analysis Target Data Sets
• Wellsite Services
– “Core Handling”
• Sorption Characterization
– “GIP”
• Rock Properties
– “SRP”
• Geochemistry
– “Organic Richness & Maturity”
• Sedimentology & Petrology
– “Mineralogy”
• Geomechanics / Formation Sensitivity
– “Rock Strength for Hydraulic fracturing
/ Fluid compatibility”

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Wellsite Sampling Plan

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Core Lay Down Options

Example Core Processing Area Pictures – Core Shuttles

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Core Cutting Activities

Core Cutting:
Hydraulic, Pneumatic Band Saw with Diamond Blades used to cut
core into three-foot lengths
1. Saw needs 80 cfm at 100 psi for maximum performance
2. Saw cuts “Hands-Free”
3. Smooth and vibration free cutting
4. Minimal dust and debris

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

End-Cut Photography
Photos record initial core condition, annular space

Placard displays well information and depth

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Wax Preservation – Critical to Sats

Wax Preservation Method

• 7 layers saran, 7 layers of foil
• 3 layers of Thermal Barrier & 1 layer of foil
• 3 successive dips in wax
Benefit
• Statistical samples for SRP, RM, etc.
• Fresh-State samples preserved for testing years out
• Optimal fluid retention measures

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Core Transport

• Inspected Pad Eye Lifts

• Shock & Temp. Record
• Controlled Temperature
• Side Loading
• Fork Lift Ready
• Chain of Custody

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Sorption Characterization

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Well Site Desorption Measurements

Desorption Canister Fluid Displacement Monometer

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Sorption Characterization
• Field Services
• Canister Desorption
• Gas Content
• Isotopes
• Adsorption Isotherm
• Total Storage Capacity
• Gas In Place Modeling

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Core Gamma Log

• Full Spectral Gamma

• Potassium, Thorium, & Uranium
• Correlation to downhole logs
• Well to Well Correlation
• Sample Picks - SRP & Geochem

Gamma Ray Total Thorium Uranium Potassium

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

CT Imaging Technologies

• Bedding Characterization
• Fracture Geometry
• Archival Record

• 64 slice Helical CT
• Video Playback
• Unwrap Feature, i.e. CMI
• 3200 axial slices per 3 ft
• .30 mm spatial resolution
• 180 feet in 3 days

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Dip and Strike Analysis
Virtual Plug Extraction
Position the plug interactively
and virtually extract it from the
full-size core sample.

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Core Extrusion – Process Driven
Extrusion of Core from Inner Barrel in climate controlled room for striping,
marking, sampling and In-process Fracture Description when required.
1. Extrude ONLY 6 - 9 feet at a time (Fracture Specialists present - optional)
2. Immediately cut out 400 - 600 gram Infill “Puck” samples from NON - preserved
3. Core Seal SRP Samples ASAP – minimize Exposure to Air
4. Slab Core ¼ - ¾
5. Return ¾ sections to Chiller in zip lock bags w/ 2% KCL

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Calcite Filled Fractures

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Foot x Foot

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Foot x Foot

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Foot x Foot

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Chiller Shale Core Preservation
• Chilled Storage Facilities
• Maintains Integrity of Mudrocks and Shales
• Prevents Dessication of Clay Rich Lithologies
• 35 Degrees Fahrenheit
• 80,000 Cubic Feet

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Shale Rock Properties (SRP)

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

23
Crushed Shale Properties: Proper Sample Handling
and Process Control Are Critical to Data Accuracy

As Received Shale Subject to Evaporation of Pore Fluids

As Received State Weight Loss per Time, minutes Water Loss, %
5 10 15 30 60

0.030 0.060 0.080 0.170 0.180 -10.0

0.060 0.100 0.100 0.140 0.180 -10.0
0.070 0.110 0.130 0.190 0.230 -19.0

Dried Shale Subject to Water Sorption from the Atmosphere

Dried State Weight Gain per Time, minutes Water Gain, %
5 10 15 30 60

0.170 0.320 0.370 0.430 0.460 +25.6

0.300 0.370 0.400 0.470 0.480 +26.7
0.170 0.220 0.260 0.320 0.330 +18.3

• Weight change based on 120 gram samples

• Examples are from a gas shale where an estimate of volumetric change can be
made with the assumption that 1 cc water = 1 gram water

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Shale Rock Property Analysis
• As-Received Bulk and
Grain Densities
• Dry Bulk and Grain
Densities
• As-Received Water, Oil,
and Gas Saturations
• As-Received Gas Filled “Puck” (SRP, XRD, Pressure Decay
Porosity & Dry He Geochem, & Isotherm) Permeability
Porosity
• Permeability of Intact &
Preserved Matrix

Modified GRI
Crushed Analysis
© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.
Shale Analysis Laboratory
• Houston, Texas & Golden, Colorado Locations
• Large Capacity – Gas Shale & Shale Oil
• Continues to explore improved new methods through R & D

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Shale Rock Properties (SRP)
• As-Received Bulk and Grain Densities
• Dry Bulk and Grain Densities
• As-Received Water, Oil, and Gas Saturations
• As-Received Gas Filled Porosity & Dry He Porosity
• Permeability of Intact & Preserved Matrix

“NEW” Additional Services in Shale Oil Plugs

• As-Received Rt measurements
• As-Received NMR (T1 and T2)
• As-Received Effective Permeabilities
• Pressure Pulse Permeability

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Geochemistry

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28
Geochemical Services

Shenandoah Texas Lab consists of approximately 24,000 sq. ft., specifically designed
for Weatherford Labs geochemical operations.

Gas, Oil & Source Rock Analyses – Reservoir Continuity – Organic Petrology
Unconventional Reservoir Geochemistry – Biomarker Assessments – Oil Shale Assay
Production Allocation – Flow Assurance

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Source Rock Analyzer
Pyrolysis instrument that uses an
FID detector and IR cell to
measure:
• Residual Oil Content – S1
• Remaining Hydrocarbon
Generation Potential – S2
• Carbon dioxide – S3
• Organic richness – TOC
• Thermal Maturity – Tmax
• Pyrobitumen Content

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

 Geologic and
Petrographic Services

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31
Geologic and Petrographic Analysis

• Whole Core & Plug CT Scanning

• Fracture Description (type, intensity, orientation)
• Core Description (Lithology & Sedimentology)
• Whole Rock (bulk & clay) XRD
• Thin Section Petrography
• Epifluorescence Microscopy
• SEM (Secondary & Backscattered Imaging)
• Completion/frac fluid Testing
• Biostratigraphy
• Anomalous Log Responses
• Completion Sensitive Minerals

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Scale of Inspection…
Millimeters
10
Millimeter

Eye
1

Light Microscope
0.1

0.01 Electron Microscope

Micrometer
0.001 Bossier 200x

0.0001

0.00001
Nanometer
0.000001
Oil Molecules – 0.5 to 3 nm
0.0000001 Methane Molecule – 0.4 nm
© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.
Compacted Shale Fabric in TS

Deformed, Broken Skeletal Grains Microfaulting

Flattened Forams Deformed Laminae

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.
Field Emission SEM images of Kaolinite in
Non-Milled Sample

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FE-SEM Image of Kaolinite in
Non-Milled Sample (with size measurements)

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Field Emission Environmental SEM of
Eagle Ford Shale Sample

BSE image showing organic SE image differentiating porosity

material (black) containing from organic material. Pore sizes
porosity. range from 479.4nm to 21.24nm.

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Rock Mechanics On Shale

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Visual Inspection of Core for Plug Points

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Rock Mechanics Testing
• Fracture Design Optimization
• Primary Parameters
– Static Young’s modulus (E)
– Static Poisson’s ratio ()
– Biot’s poroelastic constant
– Formation stresses and frac gradient
– Fracture toughness
– Vp & Vs
– Dynamic E & 
• Direction of Maximum Horizontal
Stress
• Orientation of Hydraulic Fracture
• Trondheim, Norway & Houston, Texas

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Summary of Capillary Suction Time
(CST) Results

300
5310 5576
5920 6040
6100 6200
250 6914 7206
7432 7770
7844 7960
8066
Capillary Suction Time, seconds

200

150

100

50

0
Tap Water 60:40 Cameo:V Seam Water 4% NaCl
© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.
Rock – Fluid Interactions
• Pore Pressure Transmission Testing (PPT)
– Evaluation of the borehole stabilizing quality of a drilling fluid
in shales
• Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC)
– Measure of shale reactivity
• Swelling by Linear Swellmeter
• Immersion Test

AADE 01-NC-HO-44
Laboratory Pore Pressure Transmission Testing of Shale
Cal Stowe, William Halliday, Tao Xiang, Dennis Clapper of Baker Hughes INTEQ,
Keith Morton, Shawna Hartman of Chevron Petroleum Technology Company
© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.
Shale Cuttings Evaluation
Rock Based Reservoir Characterization in Absence of Cores
Subset for Clay-
High-Grading by fraction XRD
Magnetic Megascopic Statistical Bulk XRD
Separation or Lithology Analysis for Whole
Hand Picking for Description Sample Mineralogy
Petrology Subset for SEM

Data Integration and Interpretation

Examination of
Cleaned & Dried
Subset for Thin Section
Cuttings Thin Section
Biostratigraphy Plates and
Prep
Description
Grain Density

Well Cuttings Optional:

Acid Solubility,
CST

TOC and Rock

Eval
Geochemistry –
Gas Type and
GeoJar
Maturity
Samples
Vitrinite
Reflectance-
•Organic Richness
Visual Kerogen
•Generation Potential
•Residual Oil/Gas
•Thermal Maturity
•Kerogen Type
Residual Oil •Gas Type
Fingerprint •Gas Maturity
•Gas compartments
•Adsorbed Gas
•Gas Composition
Mud Gas
Samples for
Geochemistry

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Wellsite Analytical Services

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Source Rock Analyzer (SRA)
Pyrolysis instrument that uses an
FID detector and IR cell to
measure:
• Residual Oil Content – S1
• Remaining Hydrocarbon
Generation Potential – S2
• Carbon dioxide – S3
• Organic richness – TOC
• Thermal Maturity – Tmax
• Pyrobitumen Content

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

X-Ray Diffraction (XRD)
First fully portable XRD system
designed specifically for rock and
mineral analysis :
• Phase identification of mineralogy
• Accurate quantification of minerals
using custom designed software

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

GC-Tracer™
• Unique semi-
permeable membrane
gas extraction system
• Measures: C1-C8
Benzene/TolueneN2
and CO2 in 55 sec,
• Now we measure gas
in mud NOT gas in air
• 1ppm resolution
• GAS IN and GAS OUT

Gas Chromatograph Tool for Real-time Analysis,

Characterization and Evaluation of Reservoirs

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.

Questions?

Thank You !!

© 2009 Weatherford Laboratories. All rights reserved.