SPE-189791-MS

Determination of Thermal Maturity and Maturation Trajectories in Shale

Petroleum Reservoirs with the Use of Modified Pickett Plots

Bukola Olusola and Roberto Aguilera, Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary

Copyright 2018, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Canada Unconventional Resources Conference held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 13-14 March 2018.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents
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Abstract
This paper develops innovative methods for analysis of some important exploration and production
problems in shale petroleum reservoirs such as the determination of burial maturity and maturation
trajectories, and determination of sweet spots with the use of Modified Pickett plots. The methods are
explained with data from 226 Niobrara wells.
Pickett plots have been used historically as a powerful tool for petrophysical analysis of well logs. The
plots represent a snapshot on time that corresponds to the time when the well logs are run. Pickett plots
rely on pattern recognition observable on log-log crossplots of porosity vs. true resistivity. The analysis has
been used in the past primarily for determination of water saturation. However, the plot has been extended
throughout the years for evaluation of other parameters of practical importance including, for example,
permeability, process or delivery speed (permeability over porosity, k/ϕ), bulk volume of water (BVW) and
pore throat apertures.
In this paper, Pickett plots are extended from representing a snapshot on time to representing millions of
years of burial and maturation trajectories. The proposed method is explained with data from 226 Niobrara
wells. The modified Pickett plots leads to curved lines of water saturation (Sw) and BVW. The maturation
trajectories on the plot help to explain compaction and why as maturation increases to generate oil and
gas condensate, resistivity goes up. However, as maturation increases to generate dry gas in the Niobrara,
resistivity decreases. The Lopatin time-temperature index (TTI) is also included in the modified Pickett plot.
The proposed methodology also allows estimating changes in pore throat sizes updip and downdip of a
structure, as well as in a basin flank. The ability to combine maturity, pore throat sizes, as well as porosity
and process speed in a single graph makes the modified picket plot a valuable tool with potential to locate
sweet spots in shale petroleum reservoirs to locate areas for possible improved oil recovery (IOR) and
enhanced oil recovery (EOR).
The key contributions of this paper are generating an original method for determining burial maturity
and maturation trajectories of shale petroleum reservoirs with the use of modified Pickett plots, as well as
determining changes in pore throat sizes in different places of a structure, which lead to the location of sweet
spots. Although the methodology is explained with data of the Niobrara shales, it should have application
in other shale petroleum reservoirs of the world.
2 SPE-189791-MS

Introduction
Using the concept of a ‘Total Petroleum System (TPS)' and real data from various basins around the world
Aguilera (2014) was able to show that there is continuum of flow units in conventional, tight gas, shale
gas, tight oil, and shale oil reservoirs and to make estimates of potential oil and gas production rates in
vertical and horizontal wells. This paper develops an original methodology to address the segment of the
TPS dealing with maturation and generation of oil, condensate and dry gas, with the use of a modified
Pickett plot. An excellent data set of the Niobrara TPS published by Devine (2014) is used to explain the
methodology developed in this paper.
The TPS (Magoon and Beaumont, 1999; Magoon and Schmoker, 2000) "is a unifying concept that
encompasses all of the disparate elements and processes of petroleum geology including a pod of active
source rock and all genetically related oil and gas accumulations."
The TPS includes all the geologic elements and processes required for an oil and gas accumulation to
exist. The word ‘petroleum' includes high concentrations of any of the following substances: (1) Thermal
and biological hydrocarbon gas found in conventional reservoirs as well as in unconventional reservoirs (gas
hydrates, tight reservoirs, fractured shales, and coal). (2) Condensates. (3) Crude oils. (4) Natural bitumen.
The word ‘system' describes the interdependent elements and processes that form the functional unit that
creates hydrocarbon accumulations.
Magoon and Beaumont (1999) indicate that the essential elements of a TPS include the following: (1)
Source rock. (2) Reservoir rock. (3) Seal rock. (4) Overburden rock. The TPS includes two processes:
(1) Trap formation. (2) Generation-migration-accumulation of hydrocarbons. These essential elements and
processes must be correctly placed in time and space so that organic matter included in a source rock can be
converted into a petroleum accumulation. A TPS exists wherever all these essential elements and processes
are known to occur or are thought to have a reasonable chance or probability to occur. An example of TPS
is provided by the Niobrara shale (Finn and Johnson, 2005) used as an example in this paper for explaining
how to determine thermal maturity and maturation trajectories.

Thermal Maturity and Maturation Trajectories

A summary of thermal maturity and maturation trajectories that should prove valuable during the
construction and interpretation of the modified Pickett plot is presented next. Estimates of oil saturation
index (OSI) and a comparison with Rock-Eval Pyrolysis measurements, as well as estimates of organic
and inorganic porosities in shale oil reservoirs have been presented by Piedrahita and Aguilera (2017a,
b). "Maturation is the process of a source rock becoming capable of generating oil or gas when exposed
to appropriate temperatures and pressure" (Schlumberger Oilfield Glossary, 2017). Maturation develops
through millions of years; through processes of diagenesis, catagenesis and metagenesis (Figure 1).
SPE-189791-MS 3

Figure 1—A comparison of maturity and relative yields of oil and gas from sapropelic Type I and II
kerogen (Hunt,1996). Vitrinite reflectance (Ro) and Tmax values are compared with typical hydrocarbon
(HC) products and maturity windows, though these comparisons are highly generalized (Ness, 2001).

Diagenesis is the physical, chemical or biological change of sediments into sedimentary rock, or alteration
of the rock's original mineralogy and texture. Diagenesis (as opposed to metamorphism) occurs in the outer
crust at temperatures less than 50° C (Tissot and Welte, 1984).
Catagenesis is the physical and chemical alteration of sediments and pore fluids at temperatures in the
range of 50 to 150° C and at pressures higher than those of diagenesis. Liquid hydrocarbons generate at this
temperature. At the highest temperature, secondary cracking of oil molecules can generate gas molecules
(Tissot and Welte, 1984).
Metagenesis is the last stage of maturation and conversion of organic matter to hydrocarbons.
Metagenesis occurs at temperatures of 150 to 220° C. At the end of metagenesis, methane or dry gas is
evolved along with non-hydrocarbon gases such as C02, N2 and H2S, as oil molecules are cracked into
smaller gas molecules.
In standard, well established procedures, geochemical models are used to characterize organic matter by
determining their (i) quantity or richness, (ii) quality and (iii) thermal maturity. The organic matter quantity
is evaluated from total organic carbon (TOC). The quality of organic matter depends on the type of kerogen
present, which can be analyzed combining several techniques such as petrographic organic analysis, van
Krevelen diagrams, hydrogen index, HI, and S2/S3 ratio determined in the laboratory from a Rock-Eval
pyrolysis test. Thermal maturity can be evaluated from vitrinite reflectance or other parameters as Tmax or
thermal alteration index, TAI.
4 SPE-189791-MS

Examples of some of the geochemical data mentioned above are presented in Figure 2 (Finn and Johnson,
2005), which shows plots of data from Rock-Eval analysis of kerogen of 28 Niobrara Formation samples
extracted from the USGS Organic Geochemistry Database. The samples are from well cuttings from
northwestern Colorado and south-central Wyoming (the samples from northwestern Colorado are from the
Sand Wash Basin and the northern part of the Piceance Basin). Figure 2(a) shows a crossplot of S2 vs. total
organic carbon, Figure 2(b) shows the maturation trajectories for, respectively, Type I to Type III kerogens
in a crossplot of hydrogen index vs. Tmax, and Figure 2(c) shows a modified van Krevelen diagram. Most
samples indicate a Type-II oil-prone kerogen with some Type-III. Black dots represent samples with a Tmax
< 435 °C, red dots represent samples with a Tmax ≥ 435 °C.

Figure 2—Plots of data from Rock-Eval analysis of kerogen of 28 Niobrara Formation samples
extracted from the USGS Organic Geochemistry Database (Finn and Johnson, 2005). Black dots
represent samples with a Tmax < 435 °C, red dots represent samples with a Tmax > 435 °C.
SPE-189791-MS 5

In this paper we develop a new procedure for evaluating maturation trajectories with the use of modified
Pickett plots. The standard Pickett plot (log-log crossplots of true resistivity vs. porosity) has been used
historically as a powerful tool for petrophysical analysis of well logs. Since its inception (Pickett, 1963)
the plot has been shown to be very powerful for determining water saturation through a pattern recognition
procedure (Pickett, 1973), and for estimating values of the porosity exponent, m, and water resistivity, Rw,
at reservoir temperature.
The Pickett plot has been extended throughout the years for evaluation of water saturation
deterministically (Pickett, 1966, 1973) and also using the P1/2 statistical technique (Porter et al, 1969;
Aguilera, 1974, 1976; Etnyre, 1982), and for determination of other parameters of practical importance
including, for example, permeability (Aguilera, 1990a), bulk volume of water (BVW) (Greengold, 1986),
process or delivery speed (k/ϕ) (Aguilera, 2002), and pore throat apertures, rp and rp35 (Aguilera and
Aguilera, 2002). The plot has also been used successfully for evaluation of naturally fractured reservoirs
(Aguilera, 1974, 1976) and for evaluation and shaly formations (Aguilera, 1990b).
More recently the plot has been used for evaluation of shale petroleum reservoirs (Yu and Aguilera, 2011;
Wu and Aguilera, 2012; Lopez and Aguilera, 2016), including determination of total organic carbon (TOC)
and level of organic metamorphism (LOM). Figure 3 shows an example of a modified Pickett plot for the
Niobrara shale (Lopez and Aguilera, 2017). Note that the constant water saturation lines are not straight
as in the case of the conventional Pickett plot, and tend to become nearly vertical at larger resistivities,
something that is quite unconventional. The lines of constant BVW are not straight either.

Figure 3—Modified Pickett plot for Niobrara well, DJ Basin including lines of constant water saturation, flow
units A, B and C (dependent on the ratio of permeability over porosity), Knudsen number (flow regime) and Bulk
Volume Water (BVW). Niobrara data taken from Devine (2014). Crossplot developed by Lopez and Aguilera (2017).
6 SPE-189791-MS

The Pickett plot represents a snapshot in time, which corresponds to the time when the well logs are
run. In the present paper, the Pickett plot is extended from representing a snapshot on time to representing
millions of years of burial and maturation trajectories. The proposed method is explained with data from
226 Niobrara wells and maturation trajectories published originally by Devine (2014).
The method developed in this paper for determining burial maturity and maturation trajectories of shale
petroleum reservoirs with the use of a modified Pickett plot is original. However, we want to give full credit
to Devine (2014) for advancing the idea used in this study that "BVW is the only parameter that shows
an unrelenting, unidirectional reduction during burial history." His concept is valuable and is corroborated
in this paper with the use of a modified Pickett plot. The plot also determines changes in pore throat size
in different parts of the basin as well as process or delivery speed, bulk volume hydrocarbon (BVH), and
Lopatin's time-temperature index (TTI). These data in turn help with the location of sweet spots. Although
the methodology is explained with data of the Niobrara shales, it should have application in other shale
petroleum reservoirs, as it is based on sound mathematical models, which the reader can reproduce easily
with the examples presented in this paper.

Modified Pickett Plot

A summary chart of the Niobrara TPS and a generalized comparison with a modified Pickett plot depicting
geologic time through millions of years is presented in Figure 4. The upper part of Figure 4 shows an
events-chart depicting the relationship of essential geological elements and processes for the Niobrara TPS
and assessment units, including Cretaceous Niobrara Formation (Kn), Cretaceous Mancos or Steele Shale
(Km), Cretaceous Mesaverde Group (Kmv), Cretaceous Lewis Shale (Kle), Cretaceous Lance Formation
(Kl), Turonian Fort Union Formation (Tfu), Turonian Wasatch and Green River Formations (Twgr), and
undifferentiated Oligocene or Miocene deposits (undiff.) (Finn and Johnson, 2005).
SPE-189791-MS 7

Figure 4—Niobrara TPS (top graph, modified from Finn and Johnson, 2005) and schematic of modified Pickett
plot (bottom) depicting geologic time through about 90 million of years and generation of hydrocarbons in the
Niobrara shale starting with sediments in the Western Interior Seaway (sea water) during the Late Cretaceous.
8 SPE-189791-MS

Notice in the upper part of Figure 4 that the TPS events include rock unit, source rock, reservoir rock, seal
rock, overburden rock, trap formation, generation, migration and accumulation of hydrocarbons. The source
rock considered in this study (Niobrara shale) originates in the late Cretaceous. Essentially all the TPS
events related to source, reservoir, seal and overburden rocks occur within the late Cretaceous. On the other
hand, trap formation occurs throughout several million years during the Laramide orogeny and the Neogen
extension. Also included in the list of TPS events are indications of preservation and critical moment.
The modified Pickett plot presented in the lower half of Figure 4 helps to explain deposition, burial,
compaction, changes in water resistivity, pressure, temperature and values of porosity exponent (m);
maturation trajectories, decrease in BVW signaling the generation of hydrocarbons accompanied by
expulsion of water and the corresponding increase in formation resistivity; and finally, expulsion of oil
accompanied by an increase in water saturation and the corresponding decrease in resistivity. How to build
the modified Pickett plot and to interpret the data quantitatively is presented in the last section of this paper
dealing with ‘Detailed Calculation Examples'. The necessary equations are presented in Appendix A.
The bold black numbers in the modified Pickett plot shown in Figure 4 represent our interpretation of the
different stages leading to the generation of hydrocarbons in the Niobrara shale. Pressure and temperature
increase throughout these stages, which can be summarized as follows (numbers below at the beginning of
each paragraph correspond to each one of the stages):
1. Beginning of sedimentation. If the grains are round and have a rhombohedral distribution, then the
initial porosity would be theoretically equal to approximately 26%. The initial water resistivity would
be that of surface environment, for example sea water, as the Niobrara was in the middle of the Western
Interior Seaway during the Late Cretaceous. The first stage of burial is represented by the yellow line
in Figure 4. There is sedimentation, a continuous reduction in porosity due to increases in overburden
load and compaction. There are continuous changes of water resistivity as properties of the water
change, and temperature and pressure increase. The water saturation throughout is 100%.
2. An average value of m starts to be established. Burial and compaction continue leading to porosity
reduction and water expulsion from the shale, but the water saturation is still 100%. This is represented
by the continuous blue line.
3. Burial and compaction continue. Appropriate temperature and pressure are reached to start an incipient
generation of oil, which is represented by the maturation trajectory shown by the continuous black
arrowhead-line, other arrowhead-line maturation trajectories are also shown in the graph). This leads
to deviation from the 100% water saturation toward larger values of resistivity. However, the shale is
not yet mature (or it is marginally mature), the value of water saturation is very high, and the BVW
is larger than 0.05. Diagenesis and maybe an incipient catagenesis (see Figure 1) might be active at
this stage. This happens near the end of the Late Cretaceous period.
4. Porosity continues to decrease due to compaction, but natural fractures are formed as a result of oil
generation. Permeability of the fractures, however, is very small and does not permit migration of oil
to a permeable trap. Thus, most of the oil remains within the Niobrara shale making it preferentially
oil-wet. Maturity continues increasing as shown by the maturation trajectory (black continuous
arrowhead-line). The continued oil generation leads to additional expulsion of water, and consequently
reductions in water saturation and BVW. The maturity increases, and generation of oil occurs when
the BVW is smaller than 0.05 (Devine, 2014). This combined with the increase in oil saturation and
oil wettability of the shale leads to continuous increases in formation resistivity. This happens during
the Paleogene period. At this stage catagenesis (Figure 1) is fully active.
5. Compaction and reduction in porosity continue. The maturation trajectory and oil generation continue,
leading to smaller values of water saturation and BVW, and to some moveable oil. When the pores
cannot accommodate any additional oil, the peak oil saturation and irreducible water saturation are
reached (approximately 25% water saturation in Figure 4). The BVW at this stage is 0.005 marking
SPE-189791-MS 9

the approximate beginning of metagenesis (Figure 1). Below this BVW the oil is very mature (Devine,
2014), and it is cracked leading to the generation of dry gas.
6. Compaction and porosity reduction continue. Having dry gas and water in the formation tend to
make the rock preferentially water-wet leading to a decrease in formation resistivity. This reduction in
resistivity has been observed in the Niobrara shale (Al Duhailan and Cumella, 2014). Theoretically,
the end point of the maturation trajectory at deeper burial depths would take the curve to very
small porosities and nearly 100% water saturation as shown by the arrowhead end of the maturation
trajectory curves.
7. The dashed blue line shows the 100% water saturation line. The slope of the water saturation lines is
totally unconventional. Notice that as opposed to conventional Pickett plots, the modified Picket plot
on Figure 4 shows a line of 100% water saturation, which is nearly vertical at the larger formation
resistivities. The same is true for the 25% water saturation line. This verticality, however, is not true
in all shales. To avoid fiascos in the interpretation and possible major financial losses, each shale
reservoir must be considered as research project by itself.
8. The 100% water saturation blue dotted line extrapolation to 100% porosity leads to a water resistivity
of 0.06 ohm-m at reservoir temperature, which is used for the petrophysical interpretation.

Niobrara Data
An excellent data set for the Niobrara shale as well as maturity trajectories published by Devine (2014)
are used for illustrating the methodology developed in this paper. Using published data, available in the
literature, offers the significant advantage of transparency and allows the reader to weight the validity of
the interpretation method proposed in this paper as well to reproduce the results easily.
The graph shown in Figure 3 displays the curvature of the 100% water saturation line stemming from
different values of m in the Niobrara shale. Notice that Figure 3 uses a total porosity taken from the
combination of neutron and density logs. Preparing the plot in that fashion follows the philosophy advocated
by Coates et al. (1983). Their paper is practical and "intentionally avoids theoretical areas and concentrates
instead in what can be observed from log data with respect to the conductivity and porosity of shales, shaly
sands, and sands." Coates et al. (1983) indicate that "the familiar Pickett plot (log-log plot of conductivity
vs. porosity) is a convenient form for making this evaluation because it allows a relative pure look at the
data". This purity is of significant value in the pattern recognition approach used in the modified Pickett
(Lopez and Aguilera, 2017).
The interpretation of the modified Pickett plot presented in this paper uses effective porosity (rather than
total porosity from neutron and density logs) as at this stage we are interested in considering the effective
pore spaces with potential to contribute movable hydrocarbons.

Water Saturation, BVW and BVH in 226 Niobrara Wells

The modified Pickett plot presented in Figure 4 is now complemented with the addition of average effective
porosity and resistivity data of 226 Niobrara wells (open black circles) as shown in Figure 5. The data of
some of the wells fall on top of data points of other wells. Note that the data points fall within the maturation
trajectories represented by the arrowhead-lines.
10 SPE-189791-MS

Figure 5—Modified Pickett plot for the Niobrara shale including average effective porosity and resistivity
data of 226 wells (open black circles) published by Devine (2014) and lines for constant values of BVH.
Data of some of the wells fall on top of data points of other wells. Note that the data points fall within the
maturation trajectories represented by the arrowhead-lines. Data points fall within BVH values of 0.005 and 0.02.

The plot shows that most of the wells fall in the catagenic region where there is a continuous increase
in maturity, and where the water saturations range between approximately 25 and 50%. However, there are
some wells that approach the BVW line of 0.05. These wells have a higher porosity than other wells but in
general they might stand higher probabilities of producing some formation water and consequently smaller
oil rates. Another possibility is that the larger porosities might be associated with micropores that would
yield small oil rates.
Some of the wells in Figure 5 fall below the line of BVW equal to 0.005. These wells are in the
metagenesis region and stand reasonable probabilities of producing dry gas. The black arrowhead line shows
a decrease in resistivity at this stage.
To the best of our knowledge values of BVH have not been shown in the past in Pickett plots. However,
they are powerful as they highlight the regions with the largest hydrocarbon potential. Figure 5 shows BVH
data points falling between a minimum of approximately 0.005 and a maximum of 0.02. Likely dry gas
wells are limited by BVH values ranging between 0.005 and 0.01, and BVW smaller than 0.005.

Process Speed and Pore Throat Radii of 226 Niobrara Wells

The modified Pickett plot with data from 226 Niobrara wells presented in Figure 5 is now complemented
with the addition of lines of constant process (or delivery) speed, pore throat radii (rp) and flow units shown
in Figure 6. Process (or) delivery speed is the ratio of permeability divided by porosity and is related directly
to pore throat aperture. The term was coined by Chopra et al. (1987) and Gunter et al. (1997a, b) as a relative
SPE-189791-MS 11

indication of how quickly fluids can move through porous media. The same ratio had been used previously
by Pickett and Artus (1970) for predicting recoverable hydrocarbon volumes from Ordovician carbonates
in the Williston basin based on crossplots of ESo0h vs recoverable oil. Pore throat radius r35 refers to the
size of pore throats at 35% non-wetting phase saturation as determined from mercury injection capillary
pressure tests. The r35 equation was developed originally by H. D. Winland of Amoco (Kolodzie, 1980).
It is explained in detail by Hartmann and Beaumont (1999, p. 9-31 to 9-33). The equation was extended
by Aguilera (2004) who termed it rp35. Flow (or hydraulic) unit is a stratigraphically continuous reservoir
subdivision characterized by a similar pore type (Hartmann and Beaumont, 1999, p. 9-7).

Figure 6—Modified Pickett plot for the Niobrara shale including average data of 226 wells (open black circles
also included in Figure 5) and lines for constant values of process (or delivery) speed (k/ϕ) and constant pore
throat radii in microns (rp). The data points are limited by process speeds ranging between 3E-6 and 5E-3,
and by pore throats ranging between 4E-4 and 1E-2 microns. The red bold circle is used later in this paper for
explaining the quantitative evaluation of Niobrara shale in the section dealing with "Detailed Calculation Examples".

In general, it can be said that the process speed (k/ϕ) of the 226 wells considered in this study falls within
a range of 3E-6 to 5E-3 md. Delimiting pore throats (rp) range between 3E-6 and 1E-2 microns. Although
these rock properties are poor, the wells should be able to produce from horizontal wells following hydraulic
fracturing. The level of productivity of each well, however, would be different depending on the net pay
and the relative position of each well in the basin as discussed in the next section.
12 SPE-189791-MS

Net pay in Individual Niobrara Wells

Previous plots were built using average effective porosity and resistivity data of 226 Niobrara wells. This
section interprets Niobrara net pay of three individual wells: one updip, one downdip and one in the basin
flank. Original data were published by Devine (2014).
Net pay data are presented in Figure 7. Blue squares correspond to net pay in the downdip well. Brown
triangles represent net pay in the updip well. Green circles correspond to net pay in a basin flank well. Also
included are lines for constant values of process speed (k/ϕ) equal to 5E-7 and 5E-2 md, and lines of pore
throat radii equal to 1E-4, 1.5E-2 and 5E-2 microns.

Figure 7—Modified Pickett plot for the Niobrara shale including net pay data of a downdip well (blue squares),
an updip well (open brown triangles) and a basin flank well (open green circles). Distribution of net pay in the
basin flank well is distinctively different from the distribution of net pay in both the downdip and updip wells.

A few observations are in order:

1. the updip well (brown tringles) has intervals with effective porosities that reach up to approximately
0.06. However, the well also has high water saturations in some cases going above 50%. Thus, some
water might be produced from these intervals, which would penalize the oil rates.
2. The downdip well (blue squares) has about the same signature as the downdip well.
3. Process or delivery speed (k/ϕ) and pore throat apertures for the downdip and updip well fall
approximately within the same range.
4. The basin flank well (green circles) displays in general larger values of true resistivity and smaller
values of water saturation.
5. Process (or delivery) speed (k/ϕ) fall within the same range for all three wells.
SPE-189791-MS 13

6. The intervals with the larger porosities in the updip and downdip wells have larger pore throat radii
(0.015 to 0.005 microns) than the basin flank well. This, however, is not an advantage in this case
(actually, it is a disadvantage) as those larger pore throats are in intervals with water saturations larger
than 50%.
Figure 8 shows the same net pay from Figure 7. In Figure 8, however, the net pay data have been grouped
inside distinctive open arrows that form an approximate X. The right-hand side of the X (net pay of basin
flank well represented by green circles) points toward smaller values of water saturation. The left-hand
side of the X aligns with a water saturation of 50% or larger. The conclusion is reached that the net pay
hydrocarbon potential of basin flank wells is better than the potential of updip and downdip wells.

Figure 8—Modified Pickett plot for the Niobrara shale grouping net pay data of the downdip (blue squares)
and updip wells (open brown triangles) in an open arrow shows less potential that net pay data of the basin
flank well (open green circles) that points toward larger resistivities and smaller values of water saturation.

Lopatin Time-Temperature Index (TTI)

Lopatin (1971) introduced a TTI that considers time and temperature as important factors in the thermal
maturation of kerogen (Waples, 1980). The method is an additional useful tool for studying hydrocarbon
maturation. For example, Schmoker (1984) developed an empirical relation between carbonate porosity and
TTI that proved useful for estimating regional porosities in various formations including the Niobrara shale
considered in this study.
Based on Schmoker's (1984) work Niobrara, porosity (fraction) can be calculated from the equation ϕ =
0.308 (TTI) EXP (-0.436). Schmoker published the same type of equation for other formations as shown on
14 SPE-189791-MS

Figure 9. These equations allow estimating TTI values for the porosities included in the modified Pickett
plot or vice versa.

Figure 9—Porosity vs. Lopatin's TTI for various U.S. formations including the Niobrara
shale (discussed in this paper) in the upper left-hand side of the graph (Schmoker, 1984).

In subsequent work, using data from the Bakken formation in North Dakota and the Woodford shale
in Oklahoma, Schmoker and Hester (1990) demonstrated that it was possible to distinguish mature from
immature shales with the use of log-log crossplots of porosity vs. TTI. An example for the lower member
of the Bakken formation is presented in Figure 10.

Figure 10—Lopatin's TTI formation resistivity for lower member of Bakken Formation (Schmoker and
Hester, 1990). Schmoker's equation for the Niobrara shown on Fig.9 permits calculating porosity,
and thus introducing immature and mature areas in the Modified Pickett plot shown in Figure 11.
SPE-189791-MS 15

Figure 11—Modified Pickett plot for the Niobrara shale grouping not-
mature, mature and very mature areas based on Lopatin's method.

Combination of Schmoker (1984) and Schmoker and Haster (1990) methodologies allows building in
the modified Pickett plot regions of not mature, mature and very mature shales in the Niobrara formation
as shown in Figure 11. For the limiting Niobrara porosity values shown in the figure the TTI values are as
shown in Table 1. The selected resistivity values that limit the TTI are shown in Figure 11.

Table 1—Lopatin's Time-Temperature Index for the Niobrara shale based on this study.

Porosity TTI Lopatin Maturity

0.13 7.2 Not mature

0.07 29.9 Not mature

0.07 29.9 Mature to oil

0.01 2,594 Mature to oil

0.01 2,594 Not mature

0.005 12,721 Not mature

Sweet Spots and IOR/EOR Potential

Ramirez and Aguilera (2016) have discussed that gas, condensate and oil are upside down or in an inverted
position in the Eagle Ford shale in Texas. Shallower in the structure there is black oil, deeper and to the
south condensate appears, and at the bottom dry gas can be found. Differences in burial depth, temperature,
16 SPE-189791-MS

and vitrinite reflectance are used to explain this unique distribution. A similar fluid distribution occurs in
the Niobrara shale in the U.S. and Duvernay shale in Canada.
Ramirez and Aguilera (2016) built a conceptual cross sectional compositional simulator to identify
the main factors that control fluid migration (due to buoyancy of gas in oil) from one zone to another
in the Eagle Ford shale through geologic time. The controlling parameters they studied were porosity,
permeability, pore throat aperture (rp35) and spacing between natural fractures. They determined that there
was vertical containment as fluids in the matrix remained with approximately the same original distribution
(i.e. approximately the same dry gas-condensate contact and approximately the same condensate-oil contact)
throughout geologic time.
This vertical containment has allowed designing IOR and EOR methods for improving oil recovery from
the Eagle Ford shale particularly with the use of huff and puff gas injection (Fragoso et al. 2015, 2018a,
2018b). Their conceptual model of the shale reservoir and gas injection is presented in Figure 12(a), which
shows the shale gas (G), shale oil (O) and shale condensate (C) containers (not to scale). The thick red
arrows show gas injection (essentially dry gas) produced from bottom of the structure (container G). Thin
red dashed lines show injection in O and C of gas stripped from C. Fragoso et al. (2015, 2018a, 2018b)
found that oil recovery by huff and puff could indeed be increased significantly, to the levels of 40% with
the use of huff and puff gas injection.
SPE-189791-MS 17

Figure 12—(a) Conceptual model for gas injection in shale oil (O) and condensate (C) containers (not to scale).
Thick red arrows show gas injection (essentially dry gas) produced from bottom of the structure (container
G). Thin red dashed lines show injection in O and C of gas stripped from C. (b) Burial history curve showing
levels of maturity based in vitrinite reflectance for well Koch Exploration # 1 Adobe Town. (c) Burial history
curve showing levels of maturity based in vitrinite reflectance for well Southland Royalty # 1 Adobe Eagles Nest.
Figure 12(a) taken from Fragoso et al. (2015, 2018a, b). Figures 10(b) and (c) taken from Finn and Johnson (2005).

From the point of view of reservoir engineering, notice the cross-section similarities between Figure
12(a), and Figures 12(b) and 12(c) for the Niobrara shale. Figures 12(b) and 12(c) show cross-sections
of burial-history and thermal maturity based on vitrinite reflectance for the Koch Exploration # 1 Adobe
18 SPE-189791-MS

Town well and the Southland Royalty # 1 Eagles Nest well, respectively. Vitrinite reflectance (%Ro ranges
between 0.6 and 1.35 for oil, and 1.36 and 2 for gas (including condensate). As in the case of the Eagle
Ford shale, gas and oil are upside down and are contained vertically in that position through geologic time.
This opens some interesting possibilities for huff and puff gas injection in the Niobrara shale that we are
investigating currently.

Detailed Calculation Examples

This section shows details on how to construct the modified Pickett plot and how to perform the quantitative
evaluation of the Niobrara shale. All required equations are included in Appendix A. Figure 13 summarizes
the workflow used to build the modified Pickett plot. The steps can be summarized as follows:

Figure 13—Workflow for the construction of the modified Pickett plot used for the quantitative
evaluation of the Niobrara shale reservoir. Equations are presented in Appendix A.

1. Draw the 100% water saturation line (broken blue line in Figure 6), and the 50 and 25% water
saturation lines (broken red lines in Figure 6) using Eq. A1. Calculate the porosity exponent (m) with
the use of Eq. A2, using the following information: aRw = 0.06 Ω.m at reservoir temperature, ϕ2 =
0.005, mb = n = 2, and Vtker = 0.
2. Draw lines of constant BVW (the product of porosity and water saturation). The required data are
calculated with the use of Eq. A3. The lines of BVW are equal to 0.005 and 0.05 in Figure 6.
SPE-189791-MS 19

3. Draw lines of constant process speed (k/ϕ). The required data are calculated with the use of Eq. A4
and the values of m are calculated as shown in step 1. In Figure 6, values of (k/ϕ) are equal to 3E-6
and 5 E-3 md.
4. Draw lines of constant pore throat radii (rp). The required data are calculated with the use of Eqs. A4
and A5, and the values of m are calculated as shown in step 1. In Figure 6, values of (rp) are equal
to 4E-4 and 1 E-2 microns.
The data point represented by the red circle in Figure 6 is used to illustrate the quantitative evaluation
of the Niobrara shale (equations are presented in Appendix section). The red circle data point is located
below the BVW = 0.005 line implying that it is in the very mature zone. Calculations for the red circle data
point are as follows:
1. Using the following basic data, Rt = 134 Ω.m, ϕ = 0.0124, ϕ2 = 0.005, mb = 2.0, and Vtker = 0.0, the
value of m is calculated with Eq. A2 as follows:
i. ϕm = ϕ - ϕ2 = 0.0124 - 0.005= 0.0074
ii. ϕb = ϕm / (1- ϕ2) = 0.0074/ (1- 0.005) = 0.00744
iii. m = 1.2044 (using Eq. A2 in Appendix A)
2. Water saturation is calculated with the use of Eq. A1 to be 0.30 using data from step 1 and n = 2, a
= 1, and Rw = 0.06 Ω.m.
3. Permeability is calculated with Morris and Biggs (1967) equation: k = (79 × 0.01243/0.30)2 = 2.52
E-07 md.
4. BVW = 0.0124 × 0.30 = 0.0037. BVH = 0.0124 × (1-0.30) = 0.0087.
5. Process speed (k/ϕ) = 2.52 E-07/0.0124 = 2.031 E-05.
6. Pore throat aperture at 35% cumulative pore volume (rp35) or equivalently at 65% water saturation
is calculated from Eq. A5 as follows: rp35 = 2.665 × (2.031 E-05/100)045 = 0.0026p.m.

Conclusions
This paper develops a methodology for determination of thermal maturity and maturation trajectories in
shale petroleum reservoirs with the use of modified Pickett plots. The methodology is demonstrated with
data from the Niobrara shale published by Devine (2014). The study has led to the following conclusions:
1. Thermal maturity, maturation trajectories, BVW, BVH, pore throat radii, process (or delivery) speed
(k/ϕ), and TTI of shale petroleum reservoirs can be incorporated easily in a modified Pickett plot.
2. The modified Pickett plot is useful for explaining millions of years of oil, condensate and dry gas
generation in shale petroleum reservoirs and for evaluating quantitatively well logs.
3. Net pay in flank wells display more favorable and distinct characteristics in the modified Pickett plot
as compared with downdip and updip wells. This helps to distinguish sweet spots in shale petroleum
reservoirs.
4. Formation resistivity increases continuously as oil and condensate are generated, but decreases during
the generation of dry gas in the Niobrara shale.
5. The BVW values established by Devine (2014) are useful for delimiting oil generation when BVW
ranges between 0.05 and 0.005 (catagenesis), and dry gas generation when BVW is smaller than 0.005
(metagenesis).
6. Comparison with the Eagle Ford shale of Texas suggests preliminary that there is good potential for
huff and puff gas injection in the Niobrara shale.
20 SPE-189791-MS

Acknowledgement
The support of CNOOC Limited, Nexen Energy ULC, the Schulich School of Engineering at the University
of Calgary and Servipetrol Limited (Canada) is gratefully acknowledged. We also thank the GFREE research
team [GFREE refers to an integrated research program including Geoscience(G); Formation Evaluation(F);
Reservoir, Drilling, Completion, and Stimulation (R); Reservoir Engineering (RE); and Economics and
Externalities (EE)] at the University of Calgary for their continued help and support.

Nomenclature
a= Constant in formation-factor equation dimensionless
BVW = Bulk volume water, fraction
BVH = Bulk volume hydrocarbon, fraction
m= Total porosity exponent for the reservoir, dimensionless
mb = Matrix block porosity exponent attached only to the matrix system, dimensionless
n= Water saturation exponent, dimensionless
rp = pore-throat radius at 35% cumulative PV (equivalently 65% water saturation), μm
Rt = True formation resistivity, Ω.m.
Rw = Water resistivity, Ω.m.
Sw = Water Saturation, fraction
Vtker = Total fractional volume of kerogen, fraction
k= Permeability, md
ϕ= Total porosity, fraction
ϕb= Matrix porosity scaled to matrix volume, fraction
ϕm= Matrix porosity scaled to bulk volume, fraction
ϕ2= Fracture porosity scaled to bulk volume, fraction

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SPE-189791-MS 23

Appendix A:
Equations for Constructing Modified Pickett Plot
The lines of constant Sw lines in the modified Pickett plot are generated with the use of the equation (Pickett
1966):
(A1)
The porosity exponent m for shales is given by Lopez and Aguilera (2014):

(A2)

The lines of constant BVW and BVH lines in the modified Pickett plot are generated with the use of the
equation (Lopez and Aguilera 2016):
(A3)
where Rt = true resistivity (Ω.m), m = porosity exponent, n = water-saturation exponent, Rw = water resistivity
at reservoir temperature (ohm.m), ϕ = total porosity, Vtker = total fractional volume of kerogen, ϕ2 = fracture
porosity, ϕb = matrix porosity scaled to the bulked volume of only the matrix, mb = porosity exponent of
only the matrix. BVW can be replaced with BVH to obtain the individual constant BVH lines.
The lines of constant (k/ϕ) lines in the modified Pickett plot are generated with the use of equation
(Aguilera and Aguilera 2002 and Lopez and Aguilera 2016):

(A4)

To generate the individual lines of constant pore throat (rp35) in the modified Pickett plot, (k/ϕ) in Eq. A4
was substituted with the use of this equation (Aguilera and Aguilera 2004):

(A5)

where rp35 = pore-throat radius at 35% cumulative pore volume (PV) (microns), k = permeability (md),
default values for constants c2, c3 and c4 are 79, 3 and 2, respectively (Aguilera and Aguilera 2002). They
were obtained from empirical work for calculating permeability from well logs (Morris and Biggs 1967).