Evaluation of Cretaceous and Jurassic Shales in the Burgos Basin, Mexico
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University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2017 Evaluation of Cretaceous and Jurassic shales in the Burgos Basin, Mexico Cruz Luque, Marcela M Cruz Luque, M. M. (2017). Evaluation of Cretaceous and Jurassic shales in the Burgos Basin, Mexico (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/25985 http://hdl.handle.net/11023/4200 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Evaluation of Cretaceous and Jurassic shales in the Burgos Basin, Mexico by Marcela Marian Cruz Luque A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN CHEMICAL AND PETROLEUM ENGINEERING CALGARY, ALBERTA SEPTEMBER, 2017 © Marcela Marian Cruz Luque 2017 Abstract Successful activities in the Eagle Ford shale in Texas through drilling of horizontal wells and completions using multi-stage hydraulic fracturing jobs suggest that the potential of shale reservoirs south of the border will be quite significant. This observation leads to the objective of this study: to integrate available geoscience and engineering data to evaluate the potential of Mexican shales, and their oil and gas endowment under different oil and gas prices scenarios. Endowment is defined by the United States Geological Survey (USGS, 2010) as the sum of known volumes of oil and gas (cumulative production plus remaining reserves) and undiscovered volumes. Emphasis is placed on the Upper Cretaceous Eagle Ford shale and the Upper Pimienta shale in Burgos basin, located just south of the border with Texas (United States). Other shales considered in this study are found in the Sabinas, Tampico, Tuxpan (Platform), Veracruz and Chihuahua basins throughout Mexico. The economic potential of these plays is examined with the use of cumulative long run supply (or availability) curves. It is concluded that the potential of unconventional resources in Mexico is quite significant and will help to change the slope of production rates in the country from negative to positive. As a result, it is anticipated that Mexico will become an important part of the shale petroleum revolution initiated in the United States. ii Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge my supervisor, Dr. Roberto Aguilera, for accepting me in the GFREE Research Group, for encouraging me to keep working, for his guidance, advice and feedback. I admire his work, and it was an honor for me to work with him as my supervisor. Many thanks to the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering for providing the research environment at the University of Calgary. Special thanks to Dr. Thomas Harding and Dr. Laurence Lines for their valuable comments and suggestions. I also want to thank Pemex Exploration and Production, and the scholarship program of the Mexican National Council for Science and Technology (Conacyt) for providing the financial support to complete my degree at the University of Calgary. Especially to MSc. Mario Alberto Vasquez Cruz, for his support during the development of this thesis. My thanks to GFREE members for their continuous support and collaboration. Thanks to Bruno A. Lopez Jimenez, Jaime Piedrahita Rodriguez and Daniel Orozco for their support and valuable comments. I also extent my gratitude to my family and friends who encouraged me throughout this process, and who made this experience so extraordinary. iii Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my beloved family, especially to my grandmother, “Memi”; she is the motivation and inspiration to continue in my work everyday. To my mother, who is a role model for me, she is the light that guides me in my life. To my siblings, Jorge and Beatriz, for their continuous support through all my studies. To my niece, Valeria. And to my partner, Abraham, for his love, support and for giving me the strength to overcome all the difficulties during this process. iv Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents .................................................................................................................v List of Tables ................................................................................................................... viii List of Figures and Illustrations ...........................................................................................x List of Symbols, Abbreviations and Nomenclature ...........................................................xv CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................... 1 1.1 Unconventional Resources ........................................................................................1 1.2 Eagle Ford Shale in Texas .........................................................................................7 1.3 Eagle Ford Shale in Mexico .......................................................................................8 1.4 Cumulative Long Run Supply Curves .....................................................................12 1.5 Research Objectives .................................................................................................18 1.6 Thesis Organization .................................................................................................19 1.7 Technical Publications .............................................................................................20 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE .................................................... 22 2.1 Geologic Aspects .....................................................................................................22 2.2 Engineering Aspects ................................................................................................25 2.3 Resources .................................................................................................................33 2.4 Summary of Published Shale Resources .................................................................35 CHAPTER THREE: GEOCHEMISTRY IN BURGOS BASIN .............................. 37 3.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................37 3.2 Definition of a Shale ................................................................................................37 3.3 Source Rock Richness .............................................................................................40 3.3.1 Using Rock Eval Pyrolysis to estimate organic richness in the Eagle Ford formation ..........................................................................................................43 3.3.2 Using Rock Eval Pyrolysis to estimate organic richness in Pimienta formation44 3.4 Source Rock Quality ................................................................................................45 3.4.1 Estimating source rock quality in Eagle Ford and Pimienta formations .........47 3.5 Source Rock Maturity ..............................................................................................49 3.5.1 Estimating source rock maturation in Eagle Ford and Pimienta formations ...52 3.6 Geochemical logs .....................................................................................................56 3.7 North American shale resource play geochemistry assessment ..............................59 CHAPTER FOUR: FORMATION EVALUATION IN BURGOS BASIN ................ 60 4.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................60 4.2 Pickett Plots .............................................................................................................60 4.3 Method for evaluating the Mexican shales considered in this thesis .......................61 4.4 Log interpretation of Cretaceous Eagle Ford Formation (well Habano 1) ..............66 4.5 Log interpretation of Jurassic Pimienta Formation (Anhélido 1) ............................72 4.6 Empirical comparison with the Eagle Ford shale in Texas .....................................79 4.7 North American shale resource play petrophysical assessment ..............................83 v CHAPTER FIVE: PRODUCTION ANALYSIS ...................................................... 84 5.1 Production data analysis (PDA) and rate transient analysis (RTA) .........................84 5.2 Importance of Flow Regimes ...................................................................................84 5.3 Production Analysis Methods ..................................................................................86 5.3.1 Straight Line Methods .....................................................................................87 5.3.2 Type curve Methods ........................................................................................88