TY - JOUR
T1 - Organic petrography and geochemical characterization of the Upper Cretaceous Second White Specks and Upper Belle Fourche alloformations, west-central Alberta
T2 - Analysis of local maturity anomalies
AU - Aviles, Mailyng A.
AU - Ardakani, Omid H.
AU - Cheadle, Burns A.
AU - Sanei, Hamed
PY - 2019/2
Y1 - 2019/2
N2 - The Second White Specks is an enigmatic unconventional shale play in the Western Canada Foreland Basin (WCFB). This play has an inconsistent production performance that has impacted exploration and production risk, preventing extensive development. In this contribution, geochemical properties are studied with the purpose to identify possible geochemical factors that could contribute to the production variability of this unconventional petroleum system. The studied succession consists of the Second White Specks (SWS) and Upper Belle Fourche (UBF) alloformations, which are part of the SWS shale play. Organic petrology and Rock-Eval pyrolysis were combined to characterize the organic matter (OM), and assess OM richness, thermal maturity and hydrocarbon generation potential in the foredeep section of the basin. The results show that the OM richness and hydrocarbon generation potential in this area is good, and comparison with other studies show that they do not exhibit major lateral variations. The kerogen is marine Type II and is dominated by liptinite, vitrinite, inertinite macerals, and solid bitumen. Alginite and bituminite are the most abundant macerals. Altered bituminite provides evidence of anaerobic bacteria degradation. There is a modest contribution of inertinite that may be responsible for a dilution effect of the pyrolyzable carbon. The thermal maturity indicators in this study such as vitrinite reflectance, Tmax, and alginite UV fluorescence color indicate that the controls on thermal maturity and hydrocarbon generation are not well understood. There are lateral short scale variations or maturity anomalies that require further investigation, to reduce the exploration risk.
AB - The Second White Specks is an enigmatic unconventional shale play in the Western Canada Foreland Basin (WCFB). This play has an inconsistent production performance that has impacted exploration and production risk, preventing extensive development. In this contribution, geochemical properties are studied with the purpose to identify possible geochemical factors that could contribute to the production variability of this unconventional petroleum system. The studied succession consists of the Second White Specks (SWS) and Upper Belle Fourche (UBF) alloformations, which are part of the SWS shale play. Organic petrology and Rock-Eval pyrolysis were combined to characterize the organic matter (OM), and assess OM richness, thermal maturity and hydrocarbon generation potential in the foredeep section of the basin. The results show that the OM richness and hydrocarbon generation potential in this area is good, and comparison with other studies show that they do not exhibit major lateral variations. The kerogen is marine Type II and is dominated by liptinite, vitrinite, inertinite macerals, and solid bitumen. Alginite and bituminite are the most abundant macerals. Altered bituminite provides evidence of anaerobic bacteria degradation. There is a modest contribution of inertinite that may be responsible for a dilution effect of the pyrolyzable carbon. The thermal maturity indicators in this study such as vitrinite reflectance, Tmax, and alginite UV fluorescence color indicate that the controls on thermal maturity and hydrocarbon generation are not well understood. There are lateral short scale variations or maturity anomalies that require further investigation, to reduce the exploration risk.
KW - Maturity anomalies
KW - Organic petrography
KW - Second White Specks
KW - Shale play
KW - Upper Belle Fourche
KW - Western Canada Foreland Basin
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85060759835&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.coal.2019.01.008
DO - 10.1016/j.coal.2019.01.008
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85060759835
SN - 0166-5162
VL - 203
SP - 60
EP - 73
JO - International Journal of Coal Geology
JF - International Journal of Coal Geology
IS - February
ER -