Unconventional Rock Analysis for the Evolving Energy Industry
Tuesday, November 12, 2024, Noon Central
CSEE Webinar
Find the video here on YouTube.
Abstract
The evolving energy industry requires reliable analysis of rocks in the presence of complex mineralogy, tight pore structure, and organic matter, in contact with variety of fluids. Reliable quantification of fluid mobility and solid-fluid interfacial interactions are critical components of decision makings for enhanced hydrocarbon production from unconventional reservoirs as well as subsurface gas storage projects. Quantification of the aforementioned properties can be challenging and time consuming in complex rocks either through core-based or geophysical measurements, due to the limitations of conventional methods for rock characterization in complex rock-fluid systems. In this presentation, new unconventional methods will be introduced to enhance rock analysis in the presence of complex mineralogy/pore structure, organic matter, and tight pore structure. Examples of methods developed for assessment of solid-fluid interfacial interactions and fluid mobility in complex rocks will be presented and their impacts on production and subsurface storage will be discussed. The introduced methods enable expedited and improved fluid mobility assessment and provide possible solutions to deviate from perfectly-cut cylindrical core plugs for core measurements. Outcomes of recent advancements in experimental research will be presented and the value of integration of experimental and computational work will be discussed.
Bio
Zoya Heidari is a Professor in the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. She has contributed to the science of rock-fluid characterization and Formation Evaluation through integrated analysis of multi-scale formation data. Zoya has been the founder and director of the UT Austin Industrial Affiliate Research Program on “Multi-Scale Rock Physics” since 2016. She was also the founder and the director of the Texas A&M Joint Industry Research Program on “Multi-Scale Formation Evaluation of Unconventional and Carbonate Reservoirs” from 2012 to 2015. Among her many awards, Zoya is the recipient of the 2024 SPE Lester C. Uren Award for Technical Excellence, the 2023 SPE International Formation Evaluation Award, the 2021 SPWLA Distinguished Technical Achievement Award, the 2020 SPWLA Young Professional Technical Award, the 2019 EAGE Arie van Weelden Award, the 2019 AIME Rossiter W. Raymond Memorial Award, the 2019 SPE Distinguished Membership Award, and the 2017 SPE Cedric K. Ferguson Medal. Zoya has published more than 240 papers in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings. She has served as a member of the SPE reservoir advisory committee and as an executive editor for the SPE Journal since 2022, and as an Associate Editor for the SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering Journal and Geophysics Journal. She served as the Vice President of Education for SPWLA from 2016 to 2018.
