Jan 2021: Advanced Formation Evaluation of Organic-Rich Mudrocks, Honoring Rock Fabric and Geochemi…

Complex rock fabric (i.e., spatial distribution of solid/fluid rock components), composition, pore structure, and geochemistry make formation evaluation of unconventional resources such as organic-rich mudrocks extremely challenging. The conventional rock physics models and formation evaluation methods often do not quantitatively take into account the aforementioned complexities in rock properties, which leads to unreliable estimates of reserves and formation properties, and significantly affects hydrocarbon recovery. For instance, conventional well-log interpretation techniques often overestimate water saturation in organic-rich mudrocks, which is equivalent to significant underestimation of hydrocarbon reserves. Other examples include the unresolved mysteries about unexpected water production as well as challenging and inconsistent rock classification efforts for detection of best depth intervals for production.

In this presentation, new and unconventional methods will be introduced to enhance formation evaluation and reservoir characterization in organic-rich mudrocks. The impacts of rock fabric, composition, pore structure, and geochemistry on formation evaluation and rock properties such as wettability and mechanical/electrical properties of organic-rich muchrocks will also be discussed. Outcomes of recent advancements in experimental and computational research as well as field applications will be presented to demonstrate that formation evaluation efforts for assessment of reserves, wettability, mechanical properties as well as flow-unit detection can be enhanced by honoring realistic and quantitative rock fabric and geochemistry. Further impacts of these research developments include improved description of multi-phase fluid transport and reservoir characterization in spatially complex organic-rich mudrocks with the intent to enhance production and recovery factors.

BIO:
Zoya Heidari is an Associate Professor in the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. Before joining The University of Texas at Austin, she was an Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University in College Station from September 2011 to August 2015. Zoya was the founder and the director of the Texas A&M Joint Industry Research Program on “Multi-Scale Formation Evaluation of Unconventional and Carbonate Reservoirs” from 2012 to 2015. She has been the founder and the director of the University of Texas at Austin Industrial Affiliates Research Program on “Multi-Scale Rock Physics” since 2016. She received a Ph.D. (2011) in Petroleum Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. Zoya is one of the recipients of the 2020 SPWLA Young Professional Technical Award, the 2019 EAGE (European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers) Arie van Weelden Award, the 2019 AIME Rossiter W. Raymond Memorial Award, the 2019 SPE Distinguished Membership Award, the 2019 departmental teaching award from the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, the 2017 SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers) Cedric K. Ferguson Medal, the 2016 SPE regional Formation Evaluation Award, the 2015 SPE Innovative Teaching Award, the 2014 TEES (Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station) Select Young Faculty Fellows Award from the College of Engineering at Texas A&M University, and the 2012 SPE Petroleum Engineering Junior Faculty Research Initiation Award. Zoya has published more than 170 papers in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings. She served as the Vice-President of Education for the Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts (SPWLA) from 2016 to 2018. She has also served as an Associate Editor for the SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering Journal and Geophysics Journal, and has been engaged in many other activities serving Petroleum Engineering and Geosciences professional communities. Her research interests include Petrophysics, Rock Physics, Multi-Scale Formation Evaluation, Borehole Geophysics, Integrated Reservoir Characterization of Carbonates and Unconventional Resources, and Completion Petrophysics.