Shale Plays
Petroleum produced from low permeability shales is different to the dispersed in-situ fluids from which it is derived. Whereas in-situ fluids consist of hydrocarbons, resins and asphaltenes in proportions governed by organic matter type, maturity and retention behaviour, the produced fluids are highly enriched in hydrocarbons and low polarity non-hydrocarbons and show an enhanced GOR.
We evaluate the extent of fractionation during production by predicting in-situ bulk composition using PhaseSnapShots and comparing phase envelope geometry with those in engineering reports.
Polar organic compounds (aromatic and NSO-containing constituents) contain additional key composition information for evaluating expulsion and partition behaviour. We gather this using high resolution mass spectrometry.
As far as shale gas is concerned, we apply rapid screening to high-grade samples for petrophysical characterisation.