All are welcome to an invited seminar by Dr. Michael Abrams, Manager of Petroleum Systems for Apache Corporation. The title is: “Petroleum System Charge Analysis for Liquid Rich Unconventional Plays.” The seminar will be from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday September 17, in WEB L102. There will be light refreshments afterwards.
Abstract:
Liquid-rich unconventional petroleum systems have become a significant worldwide exploration target with increased activity over the past years. Unlike the conventional system which requires off structure generation and migration, the liquid-rich unconventional petroleum system requires little or no migration. The liquid-rich unconventional acts as both source and reservoir (i.e. Eagle Ford); or the source rock is juxtaposed against or inter-bedded within the reservoir requiring minimal migration (i.e. Sprayberry). There are many similarities to the conventional petroleum system but key fundamental differences are critical in understanding liquid-rich unconventional play potential. One must keep in mind not all organic rich oil generating source rocks will provide an economic liquid-rich unconventional petroleum system. There are several key petroleum system factors which must be in place for a liquid-rich unconventional petroleum play to be economical. Having all of these factors does not guarantee the liquid-rich unconventional system will have sufficient production rates and ultimate recovery for an economic play, but not having one or more guarantees the liquid-rich unconventional system will be marginal or non-economic.
Biography:
Michael A. Abrams is Manager of Petroleum Systems for Apache Corporation. Before joining Apache’s Exploration and Production Technology in 2008, Michael was a senior research scientist within the University of Utah’s Energy and Geoscience Institute and senior research geochemist at Exxon Production Research Company. Michael’s research interests include unconventional resource play analysis, exploration and exploitation petroleum systems analysis, surface geochemistry, and migration pathway evaluation. Michael received his Ph.D. in Petroleum Geochemistry from the Imperial College London, M.S. Geology from the University of Southern California, and B.S. Geology from George Washington University.