Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Walsenburg, Colorado
Project History
drilling began 1998 water pumping began 1999 to date 36,000 ac-ft water produced 60 million cu-ft gas produced after large volume pumps installed 2005 fugitive gas seeps and water well contamination noted 2005
5
Preliminary Structure Map: Top Trinidad Sandstone
Problems Encountered
Water Well Depletion-Excessive Water Production Petroglyph is producing 5000X as much water per million cu-ft gas as typical well in Spanish Peaks field Is excess water coming from shallow aquifer?
1. Petroglyph pump tests vs 2. Peter Barkmann, Oct 2004, Vertical Hydraulic Conductivity, Denver Basin; pump tests unreliable in complex stratigraphy would not provide estimates of vertical conductivity
Problems Encountered
Fugitive Gas Poison Canyon gas and chemical contaminations are now known to be derived from Vermejo-Raton coal
READ
Statement subject to question
1
2
Evidence cited in WSP-1805 proves conductivity exists across dikes
READ
Alluvium: unconsolidated sand, gravel and clay filling in todays stream valleys. 80% of the 495 permitted wells existing at the end of 1965 were less then 100 deep. Such shallow wells were probably in alluvium
10
11
Alluvial aquifer
west
Dike
East
This slide a composite of text and diagram from: McLaughlin, 1966 WSP 1805
Page 35
1
Page 79
Read
As reported by Norwest-Quest (Petroglyph sub-contractor): this publication discussed the limitations of the Poison Canyon Formation as a water source including the fact that yields from the aquifer were small and the use of the aquifer for water supply would be subject to perennial water shortages (USGS, 1966). My findings: 1) After 4 readings I could not find this statement or a similar one in Paper 1805. The statement may (?) come from a 1961 publication by same author.
12
Mapped on the surface May have undetected extensions in subsurface Dikes extend deep into subsurface Must recognize the probability of dikes as possible conduits
13
DIKES
Norwest Quest Engineering, on behalf of Petroglyph submitted the following statement to COGCC on Sept. 25, 2008
McLaughlin states: Both dikes and sills were intruded at high temperature and altered the rocks through which molten material passed. Sandstone was hardened and permeability reduced. Shale was also hardened, jointed and permeability greatly enhanced. As a result, shale that usually has little permeability may be highly permeable adjacent to dikes and sills. Further; altered zones of shale near dikes and sills can be conduits through which water can move readily.
See Water Supply Paper 1805, pg 83
14
Little Creek
1930 1940 1949
Statement from McLaughlin, 1966 Water Supply Paper 1805, pages 36 & 37
15
Pictou dike
Walsen dike
Unfug dike
16
Well Logs: electrical & radioactive recordings of interior walls of wellbores Well Logs used to identify rock types Well logs used to correlate between wells Elevation of rock layers calculated and structure (including faults) mapped Surface observations can extrapolated into the subsurface
PPD Nov 08
17
Wells logs are electrical and radioactivity recordings of rocks penetrated by wells. They provide determination of rock types and fluids in the wells. Color key: yellow= sand; orange= siltstone usually, sometimes sand or conglomerate; green and gray= shale
Raton Fm.
Vermejo Fm.
18
Petroglyph 35-11B
Petroglyph 36-02
Vermejo Fm.
Petroglyph reports that Trinidad ss and Vermejo have common hydraulic conductivity. Therefore this shale cannot be sealing
Trinidad Ss
19
Identify faults by comparing logs A fault is located by identifying intervals of missing rocks Faults move and offset rocks of different age. When permeable zones of different formations are positioned together, conduits across stratigraphic zones are created and barriers are by-passed
20
21
Petroglyph 2W
Petroglyph 3W
Petroglyph 36-02
Because of fault (missing section), red zone now in contact with yellow zone. Hydraulic connection established
22
PPD Nov 08
Medium thick sand channel changes position in all 3 wells Barrett water well (offset 150N) total depth 817
Gas migrates upwards along faults/ fractures and laterally through crosscutting sand bodies. Gas migrates through fractured dikes
PPD Nov 08
24
Walsenburg & Cuchara River; 65 million years ago, perhaps 50 miles from the sea swamp area
Overbank deposits muds, silts mixed with minor sand
As shown here a channel may run for many miles, yet width of channel 25 may only be mile across.
25
Cuchara channel
Index Map
Lathrop St Pk
Coal in direct contact with down-cut channel. Possible conduit for gas to move vertically and along strike of channel
27
9.3
8.4 9.2
Dikes
6.2 4.4
7.6
6.7
6.1
8.2 6.7
1.9
28
29
Six sidewall cores were taken in igneous sill over an interval of 169. Analysis showed reservoir quality rock saturated with hydrocarbons. Formation Imaging Log revealed 412 open fractures over the 310 igneous interval. Fractures have apertures 0.8-2.0 millimeters. Fractures may be due to contraction during cooling or later movement.
Beardmore
30
Traditional seismic data provides information on rock structure Passive Seismic records microseismicity, or movements within the earth. These occur naturally or when in-situ stresses are disturbed by fluid production.
PS is recorded with geophones placed underground, PS can detect nearby faults, fluid anomalies and if recorded over a period of time, fluid movement.
PPD Nov 08
1. 2.
31
Erosional unconformity
Traditional Reflection Seismic Data still used in Oil & Gas Exploration. Vertical scale shown here represents 4500 Horizontal scale = approximately 1 mile
Fault
Reflection events are generated at contrasting rock strata contacts. Subsurface geologic structure obvious. This type data is a snapshot in time. Normally, little can be said about the fluids within these rocks.
PPD Nov 08
32
Trinidad, Colorado 2001 Seismic used to define location and attitude of previously unknown fault 6000-20,000 below the surface.. Movement on this fault occurred at discrete elevation levels over the monitoring period (5 weeks).
USGS OF-02-073
33
1994
1999
2001
34
Base Survey
Injection point
36
Summary:
The problems; what affects water level in domestic wells?
What causes the water contamination (methane and chemical)?
38
END
Raton Basin
Earliest Paleocene 65 mya Raton Formation paleogeography, Painting by Donna Braginetz, DMNS