Abstract
Hydrocarbons in self-sourced reservoirs are determined by the concentration and maturation of organic matter in sediments. As a result, lowering risk in unconventional resource research and development requires knowledge of hydrocarbon potentiality factors. The geochemical data for the Montney Formation samples studied suggest that it is a fair to good source rock with type IV kerogen that can generate gas in general. The statistical modelling of the analyzed data reveals a valuable technique for identifying characteristics, clusters, and linkages that affect source rock assessment. The Spearman’s correlation coefficient showed a good positive correlation between the total organic carbon (TOC) and free hydrocarbons (S1), generating potential (S2), and potential yield (GP). There was a weak correlation with the maturity index (Tmax) and hydrogen index (HI) and a highly negative correlation between the TOC and oxygen index (OI). On the other hand, the principal component analysis (PCA) showed the presence of three factors affecting the source rock evaluation. Factor 1 included TOC, S1, and S2, which are related to organic richness and hydrocarbon potentiality; factor 2 contained the production index (PI), and the generated CO2 (S3) was related to the organic matter source. Factor 3 included the Tmax and HI related to the type of organic matter and thermal maturity. In addition, the TwoStep cluster analysis separated the source rock in the study area into two major groups. Cluster 1 is characterized relatively by high HI, TOC, S1, S2, and PI, with Tmax < 455 °C indicating good source rock in the mature level with the capability to generate little oil and condensate gas. Cluster 2 is characterized by relatively low HI, TOC, S1, S2, and PI, with Tmax > 455 °C, indicating an over-mature source rock in the dry gas window.
Highlights
The Triassic Montney Formation in northeastern British Columbia (BC) is classified as an unconventional hydrocarbon reservoir [1,2,3]
Refs [41,42,50] suggested a ranking of source rock and richness, with a total organic carbon (TOC) wt.% of around 0.5 being considered the least for an influential source rock, while 2% is regarded as the minimum for shale gas reservoirs
The results showed that the TOC values for studied samples from the Montney Formation source rock ranged between 0.5 and 2.86 wt.% (Table 1), indicating fair to very good source rock (Figure 3A), with minimum TOC wt.% that fulfilled the required amount for the effective source rock
Summary
The Triassic Montney Formation in northeastern British Columbia (BC) is classified as an unconventional hydrocarbon reservoir [1,2,3]. Shale gas, and coalbed methane are unconventional hydrocarbon reservoirs [4,5]. Unconventional reservoirs have been studied intensively in the last two decades because they form cap rocks and are an important and direct source of hydrocarbons, especially after the production of conventional storage tanks began to decline and the inability to produce enough to cover the growing market needs. These reservoirs need in-depth studies using different techniques to create models for proper understanding and determination of reservoir parameters. In general, are organic-rich sediments that have or may generate hydrocarbons [6] and are a vital component of any petroleum system [6,7]
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