CARACTERIZACIÓN DE MINERALES ARCILLOSOS EN LA FORMACIÓN LOS MOLLES: SU ROL EN EL COMPORTAMIENTO DE UN RESERVORIO SHALE GAS

RAINOLDI, ANA LAURA; BAB, INGRID; CÓCOLA, MARÍA AGUSTINA; MADSEN, LENIS

MENDOZA

Congreso; 11 Congreso de Exploración y Desarrollo de Hidrocarburos (CONEXPLO); 2022

IAPG

Due to their low permeability, unconventional hydrocarbon shale gas reservoirs require theimplementation of production techniques such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Inthis context, many parameters are analyzed including geomechanical properties, composition andelastic parameters. This paper describes the characterization of clay minerals of the Los MollesFormation in a portion of the Chacay Melehue section, Neuquén Basin, Argentina, through thecombination of conventional methods, such as X-ray diffractometry (XRD), with new technologiesof infrared reflectance spectroscopy (IRS) with portable equipment. The results indicate that LosMolles black shales are characterized by very low clay content, common silica and subordinatedcarbonate and gypsum cements. However, the presence of volcaniclastic layers interbedded withblack shales, play a key role in the development of clay minerals resulting in porosity, permeabilityand frackability variations, which must be considered for reservoir characterization and productionstrategies development. Both methodologies used show consistent results, making possible toestablish their effectiveness in clays characterization. Particularly, the possibility of applying IRSanalysis with portable equipment allows the use of a relatively inexpensive and nondestructivemethod with minimal sample preparation, which can collect the results in real time.