Relationships Among Mineralogy Geochemistry And Oil And Gas Production In The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale

Author : Naima Ansar Khan
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 182 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (922 download)

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Download or read book Multiple Analysis Methods for Evaluating Geochemical Relationship and Variability of Produced Water from Unconventional Oil Production Zone in Permian Basin written by Naima Ansar Khan and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The U.S generates 21 billion barrels/year of co-produced water from oil and gas exploration, which is generally considered waste. Growth in unconventional oil and gas production has spurred interest in beneficial uses of produced water (PWs), especially in arid regions such as the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico, the largest U.S. tight oil producer. PWs have variable chemistries, but generally contain high levels of organics and salts. In order to evaluate the environmental impact, treatment, and reuse potential, there is a need to characterize the compositional variability - both organics and inorganics - of PW especially from unconventional production zones. In the present study, PW samples were collected from 12 wells across the Permian Basin, especially from unconventional reservoirs (tight/shale oil reservoirs). Compositional analyses including coupled gas chromatography-time of flight-mass spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy were conducted. After compositional analysis, data were examined in three different ways individually for both organic (2D and 3D van krevelen diagram; Double bond equivalence versus Carbon number; 2D and 3D plots for finding formation wise relationship between PW and petroleum resources in terms of total organic carbon, relative abundance of aromatics and heteratomic compounds) and inorganic characteristics (brine differentiation plot; Na-Cl-Br systematic plots; cross plot of formation depth versus total dissolved solids) in order to evaluate geologic processes in deep basin aquifer, developing relationship between PW and petroleum resources, finding variability of organics and controlling factors for compositional variability. The samples contain alkanes, cyclohexane, cyclopentane and BTEX (benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, xylene), alkyl benzenes, propyl-benzene, naphthalene which are the major controlling groups of TOC; they also contain complex hydrocarbon compounds containing oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur. 2D van krevelen diagram shows that samples are from Type I (Lacustrian) and Type II (Marine) petroleum resources which is relevant to shale oil from where samples were collected. 3D-Van Krevelen diagrams and Doubled Bond Equivalence (DBE) vs. Carbon number plots explain variability of organic composition among the sampled formation waters. Brine Differentiation plot represent sulfate reduction which is logical for oil-field brine. Na-CI-Br systemic plots show that samples from deep basin formation originate from halite precipitation and samples from shallower basin formation originate from halite dissolution. The salinity of the samples, dominated by sodium-chloride, also increases with depth, ranging from 100-181 g/L TDS whereas Total organic carbon (TOC) varies from 90 - 248 mg/L. Reservoir depth (or producing formation) is a primary control on treatment and beneficial use options. Aqueous solubility and source variability (oil or shale composition) control organic composition of PW. Our results suggest that partial treatment by removing suspended solids and organic contaminants would support some beneficial uses such as onsite reuse, bio-energy production, and other industrial uses. Due to the high salinity, conventional desalination processes are not cost effective, making beneficial uses requiring low salinity generally not feasible.