Science Publications

We are glad that Shanmugan has taken time to read and think about our recent article in the AAPG Bulletin. However, the discussion that he has written seems more oriented toward presenting his own sedimentologic ideas than debating whether leaves in deep-water sands can produce viable source rocks, which was the purpose of our article. Nevertheless, we will address some of his questions below. (more…)

Sailer et al. (2006) have concluded that leaves in the upper Miocene turbidite sands were the main source of oil and gas in the deep-water Kutei Basin, East Kalimantan (Borneo), Indonesia. They have reported that oils from the Kutei Basin have high (4-7) pristane/phytane ratios, suggesting a coaly organic source. (more…)

Devonian-Mississippian strata in the northwestern region of the Western Canada sedimentary basin (WCSB) were investigated for shale gas potential. In the subsurface, thermally mature strata of the Besa River, Horn River, Muskwa, and Fort Simpson formations attain thicknesses of more than 1 km (0.6 mi), encompassing an area of approximately 125,000 km (48,300 mi ) and represent an enormous potential gas resource. (more…)

Methane adsorption isotherms measured for a series of coals with varying rank at a wide range of temperatures and pressures allows the prediction of the change in sorption capacity as a function of tectonic history. Changes in sorption capacity in response to declining pressure and temperature associated with uplift may increase or decrease the capacity of the coal and, if the coal is initially saturated, result in excess gas or a deficiency of gas (undersaturation). Assuming reasonable geothermal and pressure gradients, our data indicate that the sorption capacity will generally decrease with uplift and associated exhumation, (more…)

The Ghadames Basin contains important oil- and gas-producing reservoirs distributed across Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. Regional two-dimensional (2-D) modeling, using data from more than 30 wells, has been undertaken to assess the timing and distribution of hydrocarbon generation in the basin. Four potential petroleum systems have been identified: (1) a Middle-Upper Devonian (Frasnian) and Triassic (Triassic Argilo Greseux Inferieur [TAG-I]) system in the central-western basin; (2) a Lower Silurian (more…)

This article presents a test case of a new technology using artificially enhanced anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (referred to here as EAMS) for the characterization of microfractured reservoirs. These are reservoirs in which microfractures are essential to porosity and/or permeability. A conventional geological characterization is costly, time consuming, and difficult to quantify in terms of assessing fracture impact on porosity and permeability. (more…)

Authors are asked to submit new manuscripts online through Rapid Review (www.rapidreview.com), where they can track their manuscripts from submission through acceptance. Preparing computer files in one of the preferred computer applications increases the likelihood that graphics will be rendered correctly. (more…)

Sequestration of CO2 into deep, unminable coal seams is an attractive option to reduce atmospheric emissions. However, coal seams commonly have low initial permeability, and CO2 adsorption causes the coal matrix to swell, which further reduces the permeability and may result in inefficient injection. We investigate numerically the impacts of coal swelling on coal permeability and, thus, CO2 injection efficiency with constraints determined by experimental adsorption-associated volumetric strain measurements on three western Canadian coals. Our results show that injecting pure CO2 markedly reduces permeability through time to the extent that it is not a feasible sequestration technology for almost all coals. (more…)