Multimineral petrophysics of thermally immature Eagle Ford Group and Cretaceous mudstones, U.S. Geological Survey Gulf Coast 1 research wellbore in central Texas

Interpretation
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Abstract

Traditional petrophysical methods to evaluate organic richness and mineralogy using gamma-ray and resistivity log responses are not diagnostic in source rocks. We have developed a deterministic, nonproprietary method to quantify formation variability in total organic carbon (TOC) and three key mudrock mineralogical components of nonhydrocarbon-bearing source rock strata of the Eagle Ford Group by developing a set of log-derived multimineral models calibrated with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy core data from the research borehole U.S. Geological Survey Gulf Coast 1 West Woodway. We determined that bulk density response is a reliable indicator of organic content in these thermally immature, water-bearing source rocks. Multimineral findings indicate that a high degree of laminae-scale mineralogical heterogeneity exists due to thinly interbedded carbonate cements amid clay-rich mudstone layers. The lower part of the Eagle Ford Group contains the highest average TOC content (4.7 wt%) and the highest average carbonate volume (64.1 vol%), making it the optimal target in thermally mature areas for source-rock potential and hydraulic-fracture placement. In contrast, the uppermost portion of the Eagle Ford Group contains the highest average volume of clay minerals (42.6 vol%), which increases the potential for wellbore stability issues. Petrophysical characterization reveals that porosity is approximately 30% in this relatively uncompacted formation. In this thermally immature source rock, water saturation is nearly 100% and no free hydrocarbons were observed on the resistivity logs. No evidence of borehole ellipticity was observed on the three-arm caliper log, and horizontal stresses are presumed to be directionally uniform in the vicinity of this near-surface wellbore. This shallow wellbore has a temperature gradient of 1.87°F/100 ft (16.3°C/km) and is likely influenced by earth surface heating.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Multimineral petrophysics of thermally immature Eagle Ford Group and Cretaceous mudstones, U.S. Geological Survey Gulf Coast 1 research wellbore in central Texas
Series title Interpretation
DOI 10.1190/INT-2021-0094.1
Volume 10
Issue 1
Year Published 2022
Language English
Publisher Society of Exploration Geophysicists
Contributing office(s) Central Energy Resources Science Center
Description 15 p.
First page T151
Last page T165
Country United States
State Texas
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