Geomechanical Analysis of Maturation for the Draupne Shale, Offshore Norway

Abstract

Understanding maturation of source rock is increasingly of interest in both conventional and unconventional plays. Shale diagenesis and hydrocarbon generation in shales has a direct relationship with the evolution of the mechanics of maturation. The Draupne Formation, a world class source rock, which stretches over a broad range of depths and maturity, provides the ideal candidate to study the interplay between maturation and geomechanical parameters. Wireline logs and Rock-Eval data from eight wells were used to analyse how seismic waves and rock strength interplays with the source rock shales. Results reveal that the Draupne shale behaves typically in terms of maturation, however the relationship between maturation and geomechanics counters the common trend for shale. There are a wide variety of factors that could impact the geomechanical trends, including but not limited to, lithology, mineralogy, pressure, temperature, fluid content, diagenesis, compaction, fracture density, and organic content. This paper identifies key relationships between geomechanical parameters and a number of these factors, while identifying further work that could be carried out in other areas. This further highlights the importance of in-depth play fairway analysis and presents questions that require answers for successful exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbon.