SPE-172966-MS

Unconventional Shale Play in Oman: Preliminary Assessment of the Shale

Oil / Shale Gas Potential of the Silurian Hot Shale of the Southern Rub
al-Khali Basin
Jamal A. Madi and Elhadi M. Belhadj, Allied Petroleum Exploration Inc. Calgary, Canada

Copyright 2015, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Middle East Unconventional Resources Conference and Exhibition held in Muscat, Oman, 26 –28 January 2015.

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Abstract
Oman’s petroleum systems are related to four known source rocks: the Precambrian-Lower Cambrian
Huqf, the Lower Silurian Sahmah, the Late Jurassic Shuaiba-Tuwaiq and the Cretaceous Natih. The Huqf
and the Natih have sourced almost all the discovered fields in the country. This study examines the
shale-gas and shale-oil potential of the Lower Silurian Sahmah in the Omani side of the Rub al Khali basin
along the Saudi border. The prospective area exceeds 12,000 square miles (31,300 km2).
The Silurian hot shale at the base of the Sahmah shale is equivalent to the known world-class source
rock, widespread throughout North Africa (Tannezouft) and the Arabian Peninsula (Sahmah/Qusaiba).
Both thickness and thermal maturities increase northward toward Saudi Arabia, with an apparent
depocentre extending southward into Oman Block 36 where the hot shale is up to 55 m thick and reached
1.4% vitrinite reflectance (in Burkanah-1 and ATA-1 wells).
The present-day measured TOC and estimated from log signatures range from 0.8 to 9%. 1D thermal
modeling and burial history of the Sahmah source rock in some wells indicate that, depending on the used
kinetics, hydrocarbon generation/expulsion began from the Early Jurassic (ca 160 M.a.b.p) to Cretaceous.
Shale oil/gas resource density estimates, particularly in countries and plays outside North America
remain highly uncertain, due to the lack of geochemical data, the lack of history of shale oil/gas
production, and the valuation method undertaken. Based on available geological and geochemical data, we
applied both Jarvie (2007) and Talukdar (2010) methods for the resource estimation of: (1) the amount of
hydrocarbon generated and expelled into conventional reservoirs and (2) the amount of hydrocarbon
retained within the Silurian hot shale.
Preliminary results show that the hydrocarbon potential is distributed equally between wet natural gas
and oil within an area of 11,000 square mile. The Silurian Sahmah shale has generated and expelled
(and/or partly lost) about 116.8 billion of oil and 275.6 TCF of gas. Likewise, our estimates indicate that
56 billion of oil and 273.4 TCF of gas are potentially retained within the Sahmah source rock, making this
interval a future unconventional resource play. The average calculated retained oil and gas yields are
estimated to be 6 MMbbl/mi2 (or 117 bbl oil/ac-ft) and 25.3 bcf/mi2 (or 403 mcf gas/ac-ft) respectively.
2 SPE-172966-MS

Figure 1—Main Shale Gas plays in the World.

To better compare our estimates with Advanced Resources International (EIA/ARI) studies on several
Silurian shale plays, we also carried out estimates based on the volumetric method. The total oil in-place
is 50.2 billion barrels, while the total gas in-place is 107.6 TCF. The average oil and gas yield is
respectively 7 MMbbl/mi2 and 15.5 bcf/mi2.
Our findings, in term of oil and gas concentration, are in line or often smaller than all the shale oil/gas
plays assessed by EIA/ARI and others.
Introduction
Shale gas exploration and production is steadily adding substantially to the US and Canada’s resource and
reserve base (Figure 1). Now that gas and oil are produced directly from its source, many may think that
all those thousands of dry wells that penetrated potential source rocks before their final target are potential
gas producers. The answer is simply no. Shale gas is produced only under certain conditions: kerogene
type and organic content, maturity, shale mineralogy and texture, fluid saturation, pore pressure, porosity,
natural fractures, etc.
This is why the geoscientists are getting more and more involved in the identification of the sweet spots
and the reassessment of hydrocarbon resources.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the unconventional resources potential of the Silurian Sahmah
shale of southern Oman. Because of the scarcity of geochemical/geological data and the lack of a
SPE-172966-MS 3

production from the unconventional reserves, we selected the bottom-up analysis approach, which is most
suitable for basins less-to-moderately explored. We are using the Passey et al. (1995) ⌬logR technique for
TOC determination and source rock interval identification, and Jarvie (2007) and Talukdar (2010)
methods to quantify the amount of hydrocarbon generated and expelled into conventional reservoirs and
the amount of hydrocarbon retained within the Silurian hot shale (unconventional resources).
The methods used for shale oil/gas reservoirs have been developed only recently and are still evolving.
Because of the scarcity of geochemical/geological data and the lack of a historical production from the
unconventional resources, we selected the bottom-up analysis approach, which is most suitable for basins
less-to-moderately explored. Indeed, traditional oil-in-place calculations for shale plays, due to uncer-
tainties in porosity and fluid saturation, may overestimate available resources.
The adopted methodology is based on the following procedures:
1. Identifying a potential source rock, then perform a thorough characterization across the studied
basin.
2. Establishing the organic-rich thickness map of the shale play, using a threshold of 1% present-day
TOC. The areas of interest should be the one having 20 meters or more.
3. Establishing the maturity map (Ro) of the source rock; this displays the areal extent of the shale
gas and shale oil areas of the studied basin.
4. Defining the prospective areas for each shale oil and shale gas formation by (a) mapping the
optimal maturity windows and (b) by studying the shale mineralogy.
5. Estimating the source rock’ original parameters, such as the total organic matter present in the rock
at the immature stage, the primary petroleum potential of the source rock, and the original
hydrogen index.
6. Carrying out estimates based on the traditional volumetric method to compare between the two
methods.

The Lower Silurian Hot Shale: a world-class source rock

The basal Silurian organic-rich interval, known as the hot shale, is a world-class source rock. It is known
to have sourced numerous supergiant and giant fields in North Africa and the Middle East. It is very well
established that the Lower Silurian Qusaiba/Sahmah shale member is the main source rock for the
Paleozoic plays in the Rub al Khali basin, which occupies most of the southern part of the Arabic
Peninsula.
Block 36, 49, 66 and 7 in Oman are all located on the southeastern flank of the Rub al Khali Basin
(Figure 2), and obviously share the same geological history as the Saudi side of the Rub Al Khali Basin,
at least during the Paleozoic Era.
In Oman, the Silurian source rock interval is known as Sahmah Formation (also called Safiq shale) and
belongs to Safiq Group of Haima Supergroup. The Sahmah formation is defined as all sediments
belonging to Palynozone 1003 (Droste & Mohammed, 1995). The hot shale is positioned by Sharland et
al. (2001) in the maximum flooding surface MFS S10 in his reference chart. He considered this interval
is of Llandovery age. Like its equivalent in North Africa and Arabian Peninsula, it is divided into a Lower
Shale Member and an Upper Sandy Member. It comprises sandstones and predominantly organic rich grey
shales/siltstones and occasionally orange/reddish brown shales. The latter seem confined to southwest
South Oman, proximal facies, in the Wadi Qitbit area.
Stratigraphic reference wells for Sahmah Fm are: Rabkha-1, Sahmah-1, and Wadi Qitbit-1 all in
southwest Oman. The total thickness of the whole Sahmah formation is around 500 m in Burkanah-1 well,
located in northern Block 36, along the southern edge of the Rub Al Khali Basin (Svendsen, 2004) but
it is absent in many areas due to the Hercynian erosion. These Lower Silurian shales are unconformably
overlain by the Mid-Carboniferous Al-Khlata Formation.
4 SPE-172966-MS

Figure 2—Location and lateral distribution of the L. Silurian source rock in the Arabian Peninsula.

The basal part of Tannezzuft/Qusaiba/Sahmah shale member is always characterized by one to three
intervals with high gamma ray readings. Geochemical comparisons in many countries established a strong
relationship between the TOC percentage and radioactivity (Figures 3). On wireline logs, the hot shale has
a typical response: significant increase of gamma-ray and resistivity and decrease in sonic and density
values (Lüning et al. 2000; 2005).
Generally, a gamma ray cut-off of 150 API is the optimum value for source-rock identification (Jones
& Stump, 1999; Lüning et al. 2000; 2005). Depending on maturity levels of the locations considered in
this evaluation, a gamma ray cut-off of 150 API corresponds to TOC values of about 1–3 % (Jones &
Stump, 1999).
On this basis, some intervals in Burkanah-1 and Al-Hashman-1 wells (Figure 4) have been identified
as potential source-rocks. The TOC values are also supported by Passey et al. (1995) method.

Geochemical data
Geochemical analysis of core samples provided the most important evidence that show the presence of
organic rich intervals within the basal Sahmah formation with TOC values varying from 0.8% to 9%
associated with some reported oil and gas shows while drilling (Table 1). The current low S2 potentials
and HI are interpreted as residual due to a fairly advanced maturity and also mainly influenced by the
selection of samples.
The geochemical results obtained recently by Allied Petroleum Exploration Inc. (“APEX”) from the
selected sampling display higher organic content and petroleum potential in the basal hot shale of Rija-1,
Sahmah-1 and Rabkha-1 wells (Table 1).
SPE-172966-MS 5

Figure 3—Left, typical Sahmah (Qusaiba shale) in Saudi Arabia (Jones & Stump, 1999). Right, Log of Burkanah-1 well, displaying sonic and RT
curves along with measured TOC values within the basal part of the shale (hot shale).

Figure 4 —Sahmah-1 @ 3659.4 m. Kerogen composition, Silurian Sahmah Shale

We show the results of TOC, pyrolysis and maturity measurements on sidewalls samples of Rija-1 well
(Table 2), as it is the most representative. The intervals with the highest TOC (4.48 to 9.02%) in the
radioactive zone have an excellent present day potential reaching an S2 of 30 kg of HC/T rock and
hydrogen index around 300 mg HC/g.TOC. Considering the burial depth (⬎3500 m) and the measured
maturity (Ro, SCI), the initial potential would have been much higher.
All samples have been re-analyzed after solvent extraction to overcome the eventuality of contami-
nation effect on the pyrolysis parameters. Almost all the soluble matter (bitumen) has been removed by
solvent and a very small variation of parameters (TOC, S2), after solvent extraction, is noticed. Generally,
this soluble fraction is composed of two parts: 1) the free hydrocarbons (HC), represented by the S1
6 SPE-172966-MS

Table 1—Summary of the geochemical parameters in key wells (APEX, 2013)

Table 2—Geochemical parameters of the Sahmah shale of Rija-1 well (APEX, 2014)

already generated by the source-rock and trapped inside it, 2) resins and asphaltens (bitumen) which
represent an intermediate stage between kerogen and HC.
The Ro of 1.21% is indicative of a wet gas window (light oils/condensate/onset of gas generation)
whereas the spore coloration index (SCI⫽ 8) is indicating the peak mature/late mature transition.
However, the Tmax values (426 °C – 435 °C) indicate an early mature oil window. A compromise
between the three above parameters would rather suggest a peak-oil stage (Ro: 0.9 to 1%).
The type of organic matter is of marine origin mainly composed of amorphous organic matter (Figures
4, 5) associated with Chitinozoan, Acritarchs and is representative of what is generally known for the
SPE-172966-MS 7

Figure 5—Rija-1 @ 3536.3 m. Kerogen composition, Silurian Sahmah

Shale

Figure 6 —HI/Tmax plot for all grouped wells

Figure 7—HI/OI plot for all grouped wells Figure 8 —Ro versus Depth plot of Sahmah Fm sample (Various wells,
APEX 2013)

Silurian hot shale source-rock (SR) in Middle East and North Africa. The HI/Tmax and HI/OI plot
(Figures 6, 7) shows that for Rija-1 the kerogen is of typical Type II whereas the rest of samples lie
between Type II and Type III. This is due to advanced maturities and sample quality. Originally the
organic matter is supposed to be of Type II and probably a mix of Type II⫹I for the best hot shale levels.
The initial HI should have been between 300 and 550mg HC/g.
The maturity of the Sahmah formation based on Ro measurements is difficult to establish because of
misidentification of true vitrinite particles (absent in Silurian age samples), presence of reworked particles
with high reflectance and bitumen (or pyrobitumen). Measured values display dispersion for the same
depth (Figure. 8) and do not correlate with SCI estimates.
8 SPE-172966-MS

Figure 9 —Well logs of Al-Hashman-1 and Burkanah-1, Block 36, with oil and gas shows respectively from the tight sand bed (5–12 m thick; 7–10%
porosity) sandwiched within the source rock.

The same problems are reported by Abu Ali (2005) for Qusaiba Silurian samples of Saudi Arabia and
actually this lack of reliable Ro values poses a problem of calibrating the thermal history.

Sahmah Shale: self-sourced reservoir

Gas is generated and stored in situ in gas shale as both sorbed gas (on organic matter) and free gas (in
fractures or pores). As such, gas shales are self-sourced reservoirs. Shale gas is produced only under
certain conditions: kerogene type and organic content, maturity, shale mineralogy and texture, fluid
saturation, pore pressure, porosity, natural fractures, etc.
It is important to note that the best source rock are often clay-rich (⬎60%), and this ductility requires
extensive fractures (natural or induced) to produce commercial quantities of gas. In reality, gas is often
stored in decimeter to meter-scale siltstone/sandstone or limestone intervals interbedded within the source
rock (e.g. Bakken, Barnett, Eagle Ford, Duvernay, Marcellus, etc.).
While the Qusaiba in Saudi Arabian portion of the Rub al Khali is predominantly shale, previous work
(Miller and Melvin, 2004; Hayton and al., 2010) has identified and defined a regionally correlatable
sandstone near the top of the Qusaiba, the Rhuddanian-Aeronian-aged Qusaiba Sandstone. This sandstone
is well-known and a proven reservoir within Saudi Arabia. Similar to Saudi Arabia, in several wells of
southwestern Oman, a sandstone bed is found inter-bedded within the Lower Silurian Sahmah hot shales
(Figure 9). During drilling of Burkanah-1, a gas peak of 4.4% was recorded at 3942 m and a trace of oil
fluorescence was observed in cutting. No test was performed in this well, but fluid samples recovered from
this interval in Al Hashman-1 well during production testing indicated trace of mature oil, geochemically
similar to Sahmah crude (Aydan-1, Rya-1 and Sahmah-1).
SPE-172966-MS 9

Figure 10 —Thickness map of Sahmah shale (left) and the basal hot shale (right) (APEX, 2014)

Figure 11—Sahmah hot shale maturity map (APEX, 2014)

Thickness and maturity

Both gross shale thickness (Figure 10) and vitrinite reflectance values (Figure 11) increase northward
toward Saudi Arabia, with an apparent depocentre extending southward into Omani’s Block 36.
The organic-rich thickness contains mainly the basal hot shale of the Sahmah shale member. The
preliminary hot shale map was constructed using a 150 API threshold; then, the map was further refined
when we calculated the present-day TOC from logs, using the ⌬logR technique of Passey et al. (1990) and
the GR/Rt technique of Heslop (2010) (refer to chapters 5.1 and 5.2).
The maximum organic-rich thickness of 55 m is centered in al Hashman-1 well, and the minimum
seems to be northward and including Burkanah-1 well. These findings are supported by geology. Indeed,
10 SPE-172966-MS

Figure 12—Burial curves and HC generation (Burkanah-1, Sahmah-1Wells) (APEX, 2014)

(1) the gravimetric map does show a large circular (intrusive) feature along the Saudi border, while the
interpretation of seismic lines, north of Burkanah-1, show a thinning within the Ordovician-Silurian
section. (2) the drawing of the organic rich map is partly supported by the tectonic fabric on horsts/
grabbens during the Hercynian orogeny as interpreted lately by APEX, but this horst/graben system is
northerly oriented and not as suggested by Figure 10.
The maturity map interpreted by APEX (Figure 11) is quite similar to what other authors have
published (i.e. Svendsen, 2004).
1D modeling of thermal maturity, indicates that results are highly influenced by the heat flow history,
Caledonian-Hercynian tectonic events (uplifts/erosions) and that the timing and the type of hydrocarbon
generated (oil/gas) depends on the considered kinetic. Compared to other authors’ works (Milner P., 1998;
Svendsen N., 2004; Waples D., 2005,) our modeling shows that oil generation from Sahmah shale began
during the Early Jurassic (ca 160 M.a.b.p) and gas generation at Upper Cetaceous in the deeper part of
the basin (Figure 10).

Automated mineralogical analysis

Automated mineralogical analysis was undertaken recently by APEX using QEMSCAN on two cutting
samples from Silurian Rija formation, Oman at 10 ␮m resolutions. The mineralogical data acquired was
used to define the lithology, porosity and provide an estimate of fracturing potential.
An estimation of rock brittleness based on mineralogy was calculated (Figures 13, 14 and Table 3). The
sample 10072 ft is relatively more ductile than sample 11617 ft reflecting the higher proportion of ductile
clay minerals (Table 3). TOC is also plotted and shows an increase in the sample from 11617 ft (4.99%),
which shows that this sample has not only greater fracturing potential but also greater hydrocarbon source
potential.
The below QEMSCAN results were obtained from side-wall cores in shaly intervals that were sampled
for the purpose of evaluating the source rock potential of the Silurian hot shale, which do not necessarily
correspond to the optimum reservoir section for fracturing. RockFrack analysis gives a ratio of 37% and
Robertson considers this lithology potentially suitable for fracking (as it is above 30%).
SPE-172966-MS 11

Figure 13—Sample 10072 from Rija-1 shows relatively finer grain, more clay minerals and less pyrite while sample 11617 suggests coarser grain
lithology with high proportion of pyrite and less clay minerals as silty shale.

Recommendations for further characterization would be to carry out the automated mineralogical
analysis on a suite of samples to gain an understanding of the lithological heterogeneities and any trends
present. This would give a better understanding of the reservoir and could aid in better fracture stage
design and placement for greater production potential whilst mitigating less productive stages.
The fact that clay minerals are dominant in these two samples is an issue for hydraulic fracturing;
however, these two samples are from a hot shale interval, not from the sandy/silty beds interlaminated
within the source rock.
Resource assessment
Three broad approaches are commonly used to generate estimates of shale oil/gas resources:
1. Adaptation to analogs;
2. Bottom up analysis of geological parameters;
3. Volumetric method based on production experience of mature plays.
Crossovers between these methods are common, with several reports employing and combining more
than one approach (McGlade et al., 2013).
The methods used for shale oil/gas reservoirs have been developed only recently and still evolving.
Because of the scarcity of geochemical/geological data and the lack of a historical production from the
unconventional resources, we selected the bottom-up analysis approach, which is most suitable for basins
less-to-moderately explored.
We followed two main steps:
1. The use of the ⌬logR technique (Passey et al., 1990), in addition to the available geochemical data,
for organic-rich interval identification and TOC calculation within the Sahmah shale.
2. Application of formulas of Talukdar/Jarvie to calculate the original parameters (TOCo, HIo, and
S2o) of the source rock to quantify the volumes of HC generated/expelled into conventional
reservoirs and those retained within the Silurian hot-shale, as unconventional resources.
Source rock identification and TOC from logs
Determination of TOC is critical to the evaluation of every shale resource. The ideal method for the
determination of the TOC fraction within shale formations is laboratory testing, which is often limited by
the availability and integrity of rock samples, especially cores. A relationship was developed to model log
responses to the amount of TOC (Passey et al., 1990; Heslop K.A., 2010). The well log methods
12 SPE-172966-MS

Figure 14 —QEMSCAN of two hot shale samples of Rija-1 well, Block 7, Oman Basin, Oman.

commonly used to estimate TOC utilize either resistivity (Rt) and porosity logs (density or sonic) or
gamma ray (GR) and resistivity (Rt).
The ⌬logR technique (Passey et al., 1990) The ⌬logR technique (Passey et al., 1990) has been used
for the identification of the source rock and TOC estimation in wells with insufficient or unavailable
geochemical data. The method employs the overlaying of a properly scaled porosity logs (sonic or density)
on a deep resistivity curve. In either gas bearing rocks or organic rich rocks the two curves tend to separate
due to the presence of highly resistive and low density material (kerogen and oil/gas) and changes in water
saturations. The magnitude of the curve separation relative to a defined baseline, is calibrated to TOC
SPE-172966-MS 13

Table 3—Mineralogical analysis of Rija-1 well (using QEMSCAN), Block 7, Rub al-Khali. The reasonable quartz content (23%) and its concen-
tration along thin bands (Figure 14) suggests that whilst not brittle as a whole, there are brittle components in this sample which may respond
well to hydraulic fracturing.

obtained from analyzed core samples data, according to the level of organic maturity (LOM) attained. One
of the challenges is establishing the baseline when the resistivity and porosity curves are superimposed.
In our evaluation, most of the wells with TOC measurements from lab have been used to validate the
baseline.
The TOC are derived from the following Formulas: ␳
(1)

and
(2)

Then, ⌬logR can be converted to TOC using the Level of Organic Matter (LOM):
(3)

LOM is a key factor and needs laboratory measures but can be inferred from vitrinite reflectance
measurements or equivalent maturity parameters (SCI, TAI, and Tmax). The diagrams (Figures 15, 16)
and the maturity map established for the area have been used to determine the LOM.
Application of these techniques allowed TOC calculation and identification of organic-rich intervals in
the radioactive basal part of Sahmah formation in most of the wells of the study area. Figure 17 gives an
illustration of Gamma-ray/TOC relationship in Burkanah-1, Al Hashman-1, Ata-1 and Montasar-2 wells.
The GR/Rt technique Experience has shown there is an inverse relationship between these GR and Rt
curves (Heslop K.A., 2010). The GR typically decreases in a clean matrix, whereas the Rt increases. In
“non-source” shale (i.e., no TOC,) the GR increases while the Rt decreases. These two log curves tend
to “hour-glass” when plotted using conventional scales. Reversing one of the scales causes the GR and
Rt curves to track. The exception to these observations occurs where TOC is present, and in this instance,
the GR and Rt both increase.
According to Heslop (2010), this relationship should hold true throughout the section, except in shale
intervals where TOC is present, where the GR should be greater than the function of Rt. TOC effect is
the difference between the actual GR and Rt response and the GR and Rt relationship for non-source
rocks.
We have also used the GR/Rt technique to estimate the thickness of the source rock intervals in all the
wells with logs. Figure 18 displays some of the examined wells, which actually very closely matches the
14 SPE-172966-MS

Figure 15—LOM values inferred from Vitrinite reflectance

Figure 16 —TOC determination inferred from LOM/⌬logR

thickness found by the ⌬logR technique. In two occasions, where the two methods gave substantially
different thicknesses, the smaller estimated thickness was selected.
Original source rock parameters (TOCo, Hio, S2o)
Thermogenic gas generation within shale results from two consecutive processes (Figure 19):
● Primary cracking: decomposition of kerogen to bitumen then to oil & gas; and
● Secondary cracking: conversion of the non-expelled oil to gas and pyrobitumen (carbon-rich
coke).
The volume of hydrocarbons that can be generated/expulsed by a source rock depend on the original
total organic content (TOCo), the kerogen type (Hio) and its convertibility into HC. According to Orr W.
(1992) cited in Talukdar (2008), the maximum conversion percentage of TOC varies significantly
according to kerogen type (approximately 80% for Type I, 50% for Type II and only 20% for Type III).
TOCo: represents the percentage of total organic matter present in the rock at the immature stage. At
a certain level of maturity TOC is comprised of three basic components: (1) the organic carbon in retained
hydrocarbons (free HC); (2) the organic carbon that can be converted to hydrocarbons, called convertible
carbon (CC), or reactive or labile carbon (Cooles et al., 1986); and (3) a carbonaceous organic residue
(CR) that will not yield hydrocarbons because of insufficient hydrogen. It is commonly referred to as inert
or residual organic carbon (Cooles & al., 1986; Jarvie, 1991a). With increasing maturation, the CC is
converted to hydrocarbons and CR.
SPE-172966-MS 15

Figure 17—TOC determination based on porosity logs (green dots on above four figures) with ⌬logR technique (Passey et al., 1990) for the wells
Burkanah-1, al-Hashman-1, Montasar-2 and Ata-1 (in red, TOC measurements validation).
16 SPE-172966-MS

Figure 18 —TOC determination based on GR/Rt for the wells ATA-1, Burkanah-1, al-Hashman-1, and Dauka-1 (APEX, 2014).

Figure 19 —Organic matter conversion simplified protocol (Modified after Chaouche A. 2014)

S2o: represents it is the initial petroleum potential of the source rock (total HC that can be generated
by the kerogen in Kg HC/T. rock)). The current S2 is measured during the pyrolysis, and represents the
remaining potential mass of HC yielded by the kerogen.
HIo: the hydrogen index is a calculated parameter (HIo⫽ S2o*100/TOCo, in mg HC/g. TOC). It
quantifies the hydrocarbon potential of a source rock with respect to its carbon content, therefore the
quality of kerogen. Cracking depends on kinetic and heating rate and most source rocks reach 50%
conversion between 130°C and 145°C. Secondary oil to gas cracking has been suggested to begin at about
150°C (e.g., Claypool and Mancini, 1990; Waples, 2000). However, some bitumen components, i.e.
asphaltenes and resins crack at the same time or soon after their formation from kerogen.
Fundamentally the approaches of Jarvie and Talukdar are quite similar. They differ only in the
proposed formulas. Both are basing the assessment on the true original potential of kerogen by restoring
SPE-172966-MS 17

original source rock parameters: TOCo, S2o, HIo, transformation ratio of kerogene, maturity and expulsion
efficiency.
The Jarvie approach: Consists firstly in determining HIo (Equation 1), based on visual kerogen type
percentages (maceral composition) by using average Hio values for four kerogen types (averages
documented in Jones, 1984).
(1)

Then of the transformation ratio of kerogen is calculated:

(2)

Where:

HI (hydrogen index) ⫽ remaining potential (S2/ TOC)*100 (in mg HC/g TOC)

PI (production index) ⫽ free oil content as measured by S1/S1⫹S2

Pio ⫽0.2 (Jarvie, 2007)

The transformation ratio used by Jarvie (TRHI) represents the change in HIo to present-day values
(HIpd). A correction for early free oil content from the original production index (PIo) and present-day oil
content (PIpd) (Peters et al., 2006) (Equation 2) is used.
Once TRHI is determined, TOCo can be calculated using Equation (3).
(3)

Where:

83.33 is the average carbon content in HC and k is a correction factor based on residual organic carbon being enriched
in carbon over original values at high maturity (Burnham, 1989; Peters et al. 2006). For Type II kerogen, the increase in
residual carbon (CR) at high maturity is assigned a value of 15% (whereas for Type I, it is 50%, and for Type III, it is
0%) (Burnham, 1989). The correction factor k is then TRHI ⫻ CR (Jarvie, 2007)

Note: The original TOC can also be inferred graphically using a S2/TOC plot, but requires data from
various maturity ranges (low to high maturities) in order to obtain a HI decomposition trend representative
for the considered source rock. That was not possible for this study due to lack of data.
Then with TOCo and HIo, the original petroleum potential can be calculated the original potential:
(4)

The Talukdar approach: Talukdar approach is equivalent to Jarvie’s and uses the same concept of
convertible/dead carbon, kerogen type and transformation ratio, expressed differently. Formulas are
essentially based on the convertible TOC and transformation ratio.
(5)

dVTOC represents the Maximum TOC convertible for a given kerogen type (Table 5) and F is the
fraction of HC generated and is equivalent to the transformation ratio:
(6)

Theoretical estimations of maximum organic carbon convertible to hydrocarbons are illustrated by

Table 4 below.
18 SPE-172966-MS

Table 4 —TOC conversion to HC vs. Kerogen type (Orr W., 1992, in Talukdar (2008))

Table 5—Relationship between transformation ratio and maturity (vitrinite) (Hunt, 1996)
Vitrinite Reflectance (%)

Transformation Ratio Type I Kerogen Type II Kerogen Type III Kerogen

0.0 0.5 0.35 0.45

0.1 0.65 0.6 0.7
0.2 0.7 0.7 0.875
0.3 0.71 0.75 0.925
0.4 0.73 0.8 1.0
0.5 0.76 0.825 1.05
0.6 0.8 0.85 1.2
0.7 0.825 0.9 1.3
0.8 0.85 0.925 1.5
0.9 0.925 0.975 1.65

There is no linear correlation between maturity and transformation ratio, but this can be inferred from
maturity according to kerogen type (Table 5 and Figures 20, 21).
For the Silurian Hot Shale interval a dVTOC value of 0.52 was used, assuming that kerogen mainly
marine, associated with amorphous fraction is a mixture of type II (over 90%) and probably a small
proportion of type I in the very best SR intervals. An average HIo of 400 to 470 mg HC/g rock for type
II kerogen has been tested. The value of HIo ⫽470 mg HC/g rock for type II kerogen is assumed as
actually documented by Abu-Ali et al. (1999, 2001) and Dow (1977) in Saudi Arabia. So, the hydrocarbon
quantities that can be produced by the source rock can be calculated by the original S2 parameter:
(7)

Resource assessment using the bottom-up analysis

Combining the two above approaches, we calculated the original source rock parameter (TOCo, HIo, and
S2o; Table 6).
Similarly to Jarvie (2007), we are following the protocol shown in Figure 22, and assuming for the
Type II Sahmah hot shale:
● 70% of the original potential (S2o) goes to oil and 30% to gas during the primary cracking.
● 60% of expulsion efficiency (Figure 21)
● HIo ⫽ 470 mg HC/g rock for the Sahmah hot shale
SPE-172966-MS 19

Figure 20 —Maturity-transformation ratio correlations (From Hunt, in Talukdar, 2008)

Figure 21—Support figures for the expulsion efficiency (from Talukdar, 2008)

● 48% maximum of oil retained in the source rock is cracked to gas (Table 4).
Estimation of retained gas from Sahmah hot shale from Burkanah-1 geochemical characteristics
➢ Original TOC (TOCO) ⫽ 4.33 wt%
➢ Original Hydrocarbon Potential (S2O) ⫽ 20.35 mgHC/g rock
➢ Primary Oil Potential ⫽ 0.70 of S2O ⫽ 14.25 mgHC/g rock ⫽ (14.25 ⫻ 21.81) bbl oil/ac-ft ⫽
310.7 bbl oil/ac-ft (a)
➢ Primary Gas Potential ⫽ 0.30 of S2O ⫽ 6.1 mgHC/g rock ⫽ (6.1 ⫻ 131.34) mcf/ac-ft
➢ ⫽ 801.8 mcf/ac-ft (b)
➢ Source Rock Thickness ⫽ 72 ft (c)
➢ Primary Oil Generated from kerogen with 72 ft thickness, converted to gas equivalent (bcf/section)
⫽ 86.2 bcf/section (14.25*131.34*72*640) (d)
➢ Primary Gas Generated from kerogen with 72 ft thickness, converted to gas equivalent (bcf/
section) ⫽ 36.9 bcf/section (b*350*640)/106 ) (e)
➢ Total HC generated from kerogen with 72 ft thickness ⫽ (d ⫹ e) ⫽ 123.1 bcf/section (f)
20 SPE-172966-MS

Table 6 —Summary of the estimates in different wells of the study area and displays the key parameters for the wells used, the oil and gas yield
for the HC expelled and retained.

Figure 22—Organic matter conversion simplified protocol (Jarvie et al., 2007)

➢ Assuming Expulsion Efficiency ⫽ 60%

➢ Oil expelled ⫽ 0.60*a ⫽ 186.4 bbl Oil/ac-ft (g)
➢ Gas expelled ⫽ 0.60*b ⫽ 481.1 mcf/ac-ft (h)
➢ Primary Oil Retained in Shale ⫽ (a – g) ⫽ 124.27 bbl oil/ac-ft (i)
➢ Primary Gas Retained in Shale ⫽ (b – h) ⫽ 320.73 mcf/ac-ft (j)
➢ Assuming Secondary Oil Cracking ⫽ 47%
➢ Gas from Secondary Oil Cracking ⫽ (i)*0.47*(131.34/21.89) ⫽ 350.45 mcf/ac-ft (l)
SPE-172966-MS 21

Figure 23—Summary of the estimates in different wells of both the conventional hydrocarbon expelled and the unconventional resources retained
per square mile.

➢ Total Retained Gas ⫽ (j ⫹ l) ⫽ 671.2 mcf/ac-ft (m)

➢ Total Retained Gas in Shale of 72 ft ⫽ m*72*640 ⫽ 30.9 bcf/section (n)
Results The results of our assessment are summarized below in Tables 6 & 7 for the wells studied. These
tables also display the key parameters for the wells used and reference points, the HC yield, and the
estimation of both the conventional hydrocarbon expelled and the unconventional resources retained.
Figure 23 displays the lateral distribution of the yield within the study area.

Resource assessment using volumetric method

Advanced Resources International Inc. (EIA/ARI) has completed numerous assessments on foreign
petroleum basins or what they call the “world shale gas and shale oil resource assessment”. The EIA/ARI
assessment is based on the classical volumetric method. To better compare our estimates with EIA/ARI
studies, we also carried out estimates based on the volumetric method.
We believe that this method should be only used in basins where there is a fair amount of
exploration/appraisal of unconventional resources, which allows for better estimate of the average
parameters used in the formula (i.e. saturation and hydrocarbon-filled porosity).
For our work, we assumed an oil/gas saturation of 60%. Oil- and gas-filled porosity along with the net
organically-rich shale thickness is inferred from logs.
The data used for the estimate are:
Porosity: Figure 17 does clearly show a net increase of porosity in the basal portion of the Sahmah
source rock, which when combined to increased resistivity, is indicative of oil- and/or gas-filled porosity.
The estimates of log-based porosity vary between 4 and 10%, with an average of 6%. For the Monte Carlo
resource estimate, we used a P50 of 5.5%.
Net organic-rich thickness: is inferred from the intervals showing porosity higher than 4.5%. As stated
above, we assume this interval is hydrocarbon-bearing. P50 thickness for the wells we considered varies
between 12.5 and 24.1 m.
Saturation: is the main weakness of this method in our case as we do not have a true measure from core
confirming that the pore space is filled by oil or gas. Depending on the maturity area, we have assumed
an oil or gas saturation of 60%.
22 SPE-172966-MS

Volumetric factor: we have used the values in the post-mortem drilling reports of Al-Hashman-1 and
Burkanah-1 that the previous operator has reported in his reserves estimates. We have used for P50 a value
of 1.05 for oil and 314 for gas.
For the original oil in-place (OOIP) volumetric calculation is:

Where:

A ⫽ Area in square meters

h ⫽ Net pay thickness, metres

⌽ ⫽ Porosity, fraction of rock volume available to store fluids

Sw ⫽ Volume fraction of porosity filled with interstitial water

Bo ⫽ Formation volume factor (m3/m3) (dimensionless factor for the change in oil volume between reservoir conditions
and standard conditions at surface)

_________

Bg ⫽ 0.350958*(z*T)/P

Where T is in deg K, and P in kPa

Results

Table 7—Summary of the estimates in different wells of the study area and the average of key parameters used in our study and the calculated
resources.
SPE-172966-MS 23

Table 8 —Summary of the estimates for the two methods (volumetric and bottom-up analysis). For the estimates by the volumetric formula, we
used an average thickness of 62 ft, while for the retained oil and gas we have estimated an average of 101.5 ft.

Comparison with other shale plays

Table 9 —Comparison of the L. Silurian estimates for the two methods (volumetric and bottom-up analysis) with established and emerging shale
oil/gas plays around the world. Note that the average yield of southern Rub al Khali is in line or even smaller in comparison with other areas.
24 SPE-172966-MS

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