Petrophysical Evaluation of Gas shale Reservoirs

Abstract

For many years, shale formations were viewed as a hydrocarbon source rock or cap rock. Due to this traditional point of view, only geochemical analysis has been routinely performed on the shale layers. However, for sweet spot mapping of the gas shale layers, it is necessary to know about petrophysical and geomechanical properties as well as geochemical ones. The main focus of this chapter is the petrophysical evaluation methods of shale formations. In the first section, the key properties for evaluation of potential gas shale intervals are defined, and then the available techniques for measuring these parameters will be discussed. The chapter will be wrapped up with the common well log signatures of the gas shales and how to interpret them for finding petrophysical properties of shale intervals.