The Marcellus Shale: Erosional Boundary and Production Analysis, Southern West Virginia, U.S.A
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THE MARCELLUS SHALE: EROSIONAL BOUNDARY AND PRODUCTION ANALYSIS, SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA, U.S.A. by Mallory Stevenson November, 2015 Director of Thesis: Dr. Donald W. Neal Major Department: Geological Sciences The Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale is a natural gas producing formation that was deposited in the Appalachian foreland basin in what is now eastern North America. An unconformity truncates the Marcellus in southern West Virginia and progressively younger units onlap progressively older units. The zero isopach line that marks the edge of the Marcellus is mapped to reveal the southeastern boundary. A well production analysis is conducted to locate the region of maximum natural gas production. Four lithologic completions intervals in three different well fields are compared. This study shows that the most economically viable drilling is from the Marcellus Shale completion intervals that are less than 30 feet in Chapmanville gas field in western Logan County, West Virginia. Outside of the zero isopach are areas comprised of onlapping featheredges of younger formations that comprise a black shale unit mistakenly identified as “Marcellus Shale.” These areas produce significantly less gas than the “true” Marcellus Shale. THE MARCELLUS SHALE: EROSIONAL BOUNDARY AND PRODUCTION ANALYSIS, SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA, U.S.A. A Thesis Presented To the Faculty of the Department of Geological Sciences East Carolina University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in Geology by Mallory Stevenson November, 2015 © Mallory Stevenson, 2015 THE MARCELLUS SHALE: EROSIONAL BOUNDARY AND PRODUCTION ANALYSIS, SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA, U.S.A. by Mallory Stevenson APPROVED BY: DIRECTOR OF THESIS: ______________________________________ Donald W. Neal, Ph.D. COMMITTEE MEMBER: ______________________________________ Katharine Lee Avary, M.S. COMMITTEE MEMBER: ______________________________________ J. P. Walsh, Ph.D. COMMITTEE MEMBER: ______________________________________ Richard K. Spruill, Ph.D. CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES: _______________________________________ Stephen Culver, Ph.D. DEAN OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL: ______________________________________ Paul J. Gemperline, PhD ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I greatly appreciate Dr. Donald Neal’s advice and encouragement throughout the thesis process. East Carolina University’s Department of Geological Sciences faculty and Katharine Lee Avary have also been incredibly helpful. I would like to thank my parents for providing me with the opportunity to gain this tremendous education and the necessary tools to succeed in life. I am also very thankful to Brian Klipp for his love and support along the way. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................... xi CHAPTER 1: Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 2: Background .................................................................................................. 6 Geologic Setting ........................................................................................................ 6 Tectonic Setting ........................................................................................................ 7 Structure ........................................................................................................... 9 Deposition ........................................................................................................... 11 Stratigraphy ........................................................................................................... 12 Pre-Unconformity Stratigraphy ................................................................ 15 Onondaga Limestone – Huntersville Chert – Needmore Shale ........ 15 Hamilton Group ................................................................................ 16 Tully Limestone ................................................................................ 20 The Middle Devonian Unconformity ............................................................ 20 Post-Unconformity Stratigraphy ................................................................... 22 Genesee Formation ........................................................................... 22 Sonyea Formation ............................................................................. 22 West Falls Formation ........................................................................ 23 CHAPTER 3: Methods ....................................................................................................... 25 Well Logs ........................................................................................................... 25 Cross Sections ........................................................................................................... 29 Maps ........................................................................................................... 30 Well Production Analysis ......................................................................................... 33 CHAPTER 4: Results .......................................................................................................... 37 Cross Sections ........................................................................................................... 37 Cross Section 1 ............................................................................................ 37 Cross Section 2 ............................................................................................ 37 Cross Section 3 ............................................................................................ 40 Cross Section 4 ............................................................................................ 42 Cross Section 5 ............................................................................................ 44 Maps ........................................................................................................... 44 Well Production Analysis ......................................................................................... 54 Marcellus Shale Production ....................................................................... 56 Rhinestreet Shale Production .................................................................... 57 West Falls Formation Production ............................................................. 60 Rhinestreet Shale Plus Black Shale Remnant Production ....................... 63 CHAPTER 5: Discussion ..................................................................................................... 68 Marcellus Shale Zero Isopach ................................................................................... 68 Well Production Analysis ......................................................................................... 72 CHAPTER 6: Summary ....................................................................................................... 78 CHAPTER 7: References ..................................................................................................... 80 APPENDIX A: API County Codes for West Virginia ........................................................ 89 APPENDIX B: Isopach Data ............................................................................................... 90 APPENDIX C: Additional Map Data .................................................................................. 105 APPENDIX D: Well Production Analysis Completion Interval Information ..................... 120 APPENDIX E: Well Production Analysis Completion Information ................................... 122 LIST OF FIGURES 1. Location of the Marcellus Shale in the northeastern United States ............................ 1 2. Vertical versus horizontal drilling .............................................................................. 2 3. Previously mapped zero isopach line ......................................................................... 4 4. Study area in southern West Virginia ......................................................................... 5 5. Paleogeography of eastern North America during the Middle Devonian .................. 6 6. Tectophases of the Acadian Orogeny ......................................................................... 8 7. Structural features in the study area ........................................................................... 9 8. Cross section of the East-Margin Fault ..................................................................... 10 9. Stratigraphy of the Middle to Upper Devonian units of southern West Virginia ...... 13 10. Devonian sea level curve ............................................................................................ 14 11. Photo of a Marcellus Shale outcrop ........................................................................... 17 12. Mineral composition of the Marcellus Shale ............................................................. 18 13. Thermal maturity across West Virginia ..................................................................... 19 14. Example of code structure for API names .................................................................. 25 15. Comparison of gamma ray logs to lithologic logs ..................................................... 27 16. Type log .....................................................................................................................