| Title | Intraformational migration of oil, gas-condensate and methane-rich gas in the Montney unconventional petroleum fairway |
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| Author | Wood, J M; Euzen, T; Cesar, J ; Ardakani, O H; Rudra, A; Sanei, H |
| Source | Geoconvention 2023, abstracts; 2023 p. 1 |
| Image |  |
| Year | 2023 |
| Alt Series | Natural Resources Canada, Contribution Series 20220522 |
| Meeting | Geoconvention 2023; Calgary; CA; May 15-17, 2023 |
| Document | book |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | paper; digital; on-line |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | British Columbia |
| NTS | 83C; 83E; 83F; 83G; 83J; 83K; 83L; 83M; 83N; 83O; 84B; 84C; 84D; 84E; 84F; 84G; 84L; 93I; 93O; 93P; 94A; 94B; 94G; 94H; 94I; 94J |
| Lat/Long WENS | -123.5000 -115.7500 59.0000 53.0000 |
| Subjects | fossil fuels; gas; petroleum occurrence; petroleum resources; methane; methane hydrate; hydrocarbons; Montney Formation; Western Canada Sedimentary Basin; Triassic |
| Program | Energy Geoscience Clean Energy Resources - Decreasing Environmental Risk |
| Released | 2023 05 15 |
| Abstract | The Early Triassic Montney Formation of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin had a complex history of petroleum charging from both external and internal source rocks. Recent geochemical studies across
the Montney unconventional petroleum fairway recognize three main widespread episodes of internal (intraformational) migration of hydrocarbons (Figures 1, 2). The first episode was oil migration from distal Montney organic-rich source rocks during
rapid burial (Euzen et al., 2018; Laycock et al., 2021; Watt et al., 2022). The second episode was gas-condensate migration during overpressuring close to the time of maximum burial (Wood et al., 2022). The final episode was methane-rich gas
migration mainly during basin uplift and depressurization (Wood and Sanei, 2016, 2017; Sereda and Fur, 2017; Euzen et al., 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021; Wood et al., 2021; Chalmers et al., 2022). This presentation will review the geological and geochemical
evidence for these three main episodes of intraformational hydrocarbon migration and discuss their temporal and spatial context within the Montney unconventional petroleum play.
Present-day oil, condensate, wet gas and dry gas reservoir-fluid
windows in the Montney Formation generally align with depth and thermal maturity trends increasing to the southwest (Figure 1). However, the composition and distribution of Montney hydrocarbon fluids determined by thermal maturity were significantly
modified by gas-condensate migration during deep burial (Kuppe et al., 2012; Wood et al., 2022) and later by migration of methane-rich gas (Wood and Sanei, 2016; Euzen et al., 2018; Wood et al., 2022) during uplift (Figures 1, 2). Regional mapping of
Montney produced gas composition shows that the late-stage migration of methane-rich gas was enhanced along intricate, stratigraphically and structurally controlled pathways (red arrows, Figure 1). These dry gas migration pathways have direct
economic impacts on well performance such as higher gas-oil ratios and lower hydrocarbon liquid contents than expected from routine thermal maturity proxies (Wood and Sanei, 2017; Wood et al., 2021).
Although our knowledge of intraformational
hydrocarbon migration in the Montney unconventional petroleum play has advanced in recent years, there is still much to unravel. A key aspect that is currently not well understood is how the intimate co-existence of unconfined macropores and confined
nanopores differentially controlled the migration and partitioning of hydrocarbon fluids (e.g., Alharthy et al., 2016). Improved understanding of micro-scale heterogeneity in hydrocarbon fluid distribution, particularly in the context of dynamic
(non-equilibrium) PVT conditions through burial and uplift, will help to clarify the range and complexity of phase behaviour and production characteristics observed in this world-class unconventional petroleum play. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
This abstract for a conference presentation discusses the intraformational gas and condensate migration in the Montney Formation, the major natural gas
resource in Canada that has a major implication in providing low-carbon energy resources. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 331358 |
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