Petroleum System Tool (PST) series

The industry already has access to a number of established 1D-2D-3D simulation software packages – so-called ‘Basin Models’. t!Ps™ see no point creating another! Yet, many of the industry’s concepts and underpinning algorithms are decades-old and in need of updating, or simply don’t work and need replacing. To illustrate this at the 2010 Hedberg Conference on Shale Resource Plays in Austin, Andy Pepper showed pictures of automobiles that were in vogue when some of our current industry ‘standard’ concepts were established. In this analogy, the industry is driving 1970’s and 1980’s cars! Looking at how far cars have progressed since then, shouldn’t the Industry expect their same upgrades to our Petroleum System models and concepts? Some of the Tools prioritized for development during 2016: Column Capacity Tool – for use in Conventional Plays Assigning a column height limitation within a Container is one of the most impactful – but often least understood – workflows in evaluating a conventional prospect. Capillary pressure involves a fluid property IFT (Inter-Facial Tension) and a rock property which strongly depends on the pore throat size of the required seal rock. Supported by an algorithm to predict IFT, this Column Capacity Tool allows capillary column capacity to be inverted from column height, pressure and fluid data in offset accumulations; and then applied to evaluate the prospect or accumulation being evaluated (.xlsx format) Liquid Saturation Screening Tool – for use in Unconventional Plays Legacy source rock interpretation schemes from the 70’s and 80’s provide no help in evaluating ‘shale’ formations as reservoirs. t!Ps™ Liquid Saturation Screening Tool uses standard, inexpensive geochemical screening data (organic carbon; pyrolysis hydrocarbon yields). It includes an all-new set of screening charts which distinguish liquids that are part of a potentially producible fluid phase from sorbed liquids that are not producible on a production timescale. Organic Matter Density and Carbon Content Tool – for use in Unconventional Plays The conversion from Organic Carbon, measured in weight, to Organic Matter (OM) volume as calculated in petrophysical logs is not straightforward. The first step is to inflate weight carbon to weight OM, since OM also contains H, N, O and S. The second step is to convert OM weight to volume using a density – for consistency with laboratory measurements of porosity, this should be the helium density. This Tool will facilitate this conversion. Gas Composition and Isotope Mixer Tool – for use in all Plays Current gas compositional or isotope interpretation charts are, for the most part, empirical, classification tools, lacking quantitative linkage to fundamental processes of gas formation. Gases are commonly cumulative mixtures from a number of processes – biogenic, or thermogenic from kerogen and / or oil cracking; originating within the same, or from multiple, source rocks. Compounding the problem, source rocks have a potentially wide range of kerogen isotopes. There is a large, apparently unrecognized, difference in the signature of instantaneous and cumulative gases; and without a compositional model, interpretations of mixing are limited to single components in the mix. This new Tool will be the only one to account for all processes in a forward model of composition and isotopes for the methane through pentane components. The module will be offered in .xlsx format, recognizing that its true potential will only be realized by linking it to a kinetic model of petroleum formation such as Zetaware’s ‘KinEx’. These PS Tools can stand alone for quick-look analysis (.xlsx format); or, by future arrangement with software vendors, may be licensed as modules.