Provenance – Sandtrak

The study of provenance within Chemostrat is handled by our specialised Sandtrak team. Sandtrak utilises various analytical techniques and the latest statistical and data treatment techniques to aid in the establishment of the provenance of a range of clastic sediments. These techniques include; high resolution heavy mineral analysis, high resolution sandstone petrography, zircon geochronology, feldspar geochemistry and other single-grain varietal studies, with these techniques being routinely integrated with the full inorganic element data suite acquired via ICP-OES/MS and with chemostratigraphic correlations produced from this data.

Correlation

Stratigraphic correlation is at the forefront of Chemostrat’s portfolio, with our signature chemostratigraphic services remaining very much the cornerstone of that portfolio. However, our unrivalled expertise in chemostratigraphic services is now complimented by an array of specialised stratigraphic services aimed at helping define chronostratigraphically-grounded correlation frameworks in the oilfield setting.

Reservoir Quality

Chemostrat has also established a work programme to integrate elemental and mineralogical data with petrophysical parameters to enhance reservoir quality modelling. For example, elemental data can also be used to calculate mineralogy and provide an estimate of TOC and proxy for relative brittleness (RBI) that following calibration ensures elemental data can be multipurpose, practical and more cost effective as a means of modelling which is critical for well completions in shale plays. Elemental data can also be used to refine the petrophysical modelling in carbonate plays detecting subtle variations in dolomite, anhydrite or salt that can hold the key to reservoir quality. Furthermore, mineral abundances can be measured from elemental data in turbo-drilled cuttings where textural mineralogical characteristics have been destroyed by the drilling process.

Shale Resource Plays

The shale gas revolution has only served to highlight the need to increase the understanding of shale composition and physical proprieties to improve exploration, drilling and production. Chemostrat is demonstrating the value of elemental data in shale resource applications, and our new service matrix can be applied to provide a bespoke shale service work programme that can be applicable to exploration, geosteering and completions optimisation. This work programme can be adapted for basin scale and involves chemostratigraphic and isotopic correlation, elemental mapping of anoxia, organic preservation, and terrigeneous input in conjunction with TOC and XRD data for basin evaluation. Furthermore, the acquisition of real time chemostratigraphic data at well-site can be employed to aid geosteering and the optimisation of field development with improved planning of targeted lateral wells.

Data Only

Uninterpreted raw geochemical and mineralogical can also be provided to meet your chemostratigraphic and reservoir modelling requirements. We can also accommodate custom requests for many different forms of analysis through our extensive range of contacts so please enquire about any requirements.

Non-Proprietary Studies

Chemostrat has great experience in producing quality, integrated non-proprietary studies. These studies are on a regional to sub-regional scale, with content ranging from inorganic chemostratigraphy only, to fully integrated multi-disciplinary studies that investigate provenance, palaeogeography and sedimentology. The library currently consists of 25 non-proprietary studies covering the more traditional UKCS, Southern North Sea and Norwegian Continental Shelf, but also more frontier areas such as the Norwegian Barents Sea, the Vøring Basin, Faroe-Shetland Basin (UK), as well as the North Grand Banks area (Newfoundland). Additional studies now completed in the Duvernay area (Canada), Tanzanian Indian Ocean Margin and Bowland-hodder shale while extensions to the Faroe-Shetland and Grand Banks studies are also underway.