Shale Carbonate Diagenesis

This course is designed for participants to recognize and be able to interpret carbonate and mudstone/shale rocks and the pathways they took during diagenesis. Course participants will learn to:

• Recognize the variety of known cements,
• How to reconstruct the succession of cements in any given rock unit
• Evaluate the importance of the cement succession (diagenesis) on the petroleum reservoir potential of any given unit
• Use knowledge of a unit’s diagenesis to build and enhance exploration and production models of conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons resources.

Who Should Attend?

Geologists, Geophysicists, Petrophysicists, and Engineers who wish to gain an enhanced understanding of diagenetic pathways for carbonate and mudstone sedimentary systems, and on how to integrate knowledge from cores and thin sections into successful application for exploration and exploitation of mudstone/shale and carbonate reservoirs.

Course Outcomes

Delegates will gain knowledge and skills to:

• Identifying cements in carbonates and shales in core, outcrop, and thin section
• Understanding how to recognize and reconstruct the diagenetic history of a unit
• Use the diagenetic reconstruction to help assessing the reservoir potential of a rock unit, and evaluate how this knowledge can be applied to make predictions on reservoir characteristics in 3D
• Observe crucial cements, their distribution within the succession, and their relative timing
• Use cements to predict the frackability of a succession in both mudstones/shales and carbonate reservoirs
• Link depositional composition to diagenetic pathways that will help define source rocks, seals, and reservoirs in mudstone/shale and carbonate sedimentary systems

Key Course Highlights

• Identification of cements in core, outcrop and thin section
• Exercises on recognizing cement types in carbonates and mudstones/shales, and what to differentiate in a succession in order to get a good picture of a unit’s internal organization with respect to petroleum productivity
• Use a diagenesis-based architecture to subdivide and enhance correlation techniques in units formerly exclusively subdivided by depositional processes
• Apply sequence stratigraphic concepts to the diagenetic succession in carbonates and mudstones/shales
• Recognize potential “sweet spots” based on diagenetic considerations in both carbonate as well as mudstone/shale reservoirs
• Apply diagenesis to defining frackable versus non-frackable rock successions