Sponsored by

Ergon Oil Purchasing, Inc.

and the

Ohio Natural Energy Institute

Hilton Columbus at Easton
3900 Chagrin Dr, Columbus, OH 43219

All attendees of the OGS presentation must register with OGS and check in at the OOGA Annual Meeting Registration Desk to receive official meeting credentials. Please note that access to all meeting rooms is restricted. Only individuals with proper credentials will be admitted.

Using Gas Geochemical Data to Manage Gas Well Fields: Case Studies from the Illinois and Appalachian Basins

Myles T. Moore – Stratum Reservoir (Isotech), LLC.

Abstract:  Understanding how oil and gas forms and migrates in petroleum systems is crucial in assessing how to maximize production from a well field. Delineating whether gas is produced from a closed system or is associated with gas migration from other formations can help operators determine where to drill new wells or predict whether a well will be successful for production. Using geochemical data to manage wellfield operations can help maximize production from successful wells (decide which wells to re-frack) and decide which wells to shut off when cutting costs. The goals of this presentation are to demonstrate how assessing hydrocarbon and noble gas data of samples collected from producing gas wells can be used to understand mixing of different gas sources, determine if gases are migrating into a well or are leaving a well, and define the transport mechanisms in the Illinois Basin and Appalachian Basin petroleum systems. Specifically, using geochemical data to understand if wells in the Illinois Basin are producing microbial gas formed in situ of coal seams or if migration of New Albany Shale gases could be the mechanism of gas production. Gas data from the Appalachian Basin will be assessed to delineate wells that are producing from Marcellus Shale closed system gases, versus wells that could be producing migrating gas, or wells that could have had gas migrate out of their systems. By assessing gas data from two different basins, we can better evaluate how noble gas data can be related to delineating fluid migration processes and gas source(s) in a basin with microbial gas contributions (Illinois Basin) versus a deeper thermally mature petroleum system (Marcellus Shale, Appalachian Basin). Results from these case studies demonstrated that a greater proportion of gas in coal seams from the Illinois Basin was from New Albany Shale gas migration than previously estimated and that gas migration in the Appalachian Basin could play a significant role in wells that are successful producers.

Bio:  Dr. Moore received his B.S. degree from the State University of New York at Oneonta, followed by a M.S. and Ph.D degrees in Earth Science from the Ohio State University. He then went on to do post-doctoral research at Colorado School of Mines deciphering the pathways for gas hydrate formation in natural environments and the conditions in which hydrate could form in oil and gas transmission lines. He is currently a Geochemist at Stratum Reservoir Isotech LLC in Champaign, Illinois. He has significant experience in using hydrocarbon gas molecular and isotopic compositions along with noble gas abundances and isotopic compositions to assess petroleum systems. He has published the results of his findings in high impact chemical journals such as Applied Geochemistry, American Chemical Society Science & Technology, American Association of Petroleum Geologists and Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta and presented his research at conferences such as Goldschmidt, the American Geophysical Union, and the International Association of Geochemistry.

One of his main expertise’s is assessing well fields to maximize gas production. By using noble gas and hydrocarbon gas tracers from gas samples collected from producing wells, Myles can decipher which wells have gas migrating into them, which could be prime candidates for fracking or where another well should be drilled. The noble gas and hydrocarbon geochemical signatures can also be used to delineate which wells may have had gas migration out of their systems and could be suitable candidates for shutting in/plugging. In reservoirs that have multiple hydrocarbon bearing rock units, gas geochemical measurements can be used to understand if gas from deeper units could be migrating into shallower units and be paired with production data to understand where gas production could be enhanced. The skillset Myles has developed can also be applied to evaluating gas storage operations. If storage gas has entered a native well at the edge of a boundary of a gas storage field and the storage gas company is interested in purchasing the well, Myles can perform gas allocation measurements using established mixing equations to determine what proportion of gas being produced from the native well is from storage gas versus native gas. Myles can also decipher if stray gas in the annulus space of a well is from the production tubing or could be microbial gas that has formed in the shallower surface casing or gas from a shallower thermogenic zone(s).