Generation potential of kerogen of the Bazhenov formation and possibility of its implementation

Abstract

Bazhenov formation is one of the most well-known and potentially productive Russian oil shale formations. However, conventional methods often do not provide oil flow rate from the formation. Therefore, in recent years, studies are devoted to development of new methods for oil production and the alternate potentials of the Bazhenov formation exploration. The article describes generation potential of kerogen, that shows the amount of hydrocarbon compounds which could form in the reservoir after a long period of time as a result of katagenesis, and the results of the thermal effect on the rock samples in the laboratory for synthetic oil production by implementing generation potential. It was shown that synthetic oil is produced by the heat of Bazhenov formation samples in a closed system during 7 days in presence of water in the temperature range from 250°C to 350°C, oil amount may reach 25 mg HC/g of rock (~3 wt.% of the sample). The maximum oil yield was at 300°C, but the composition of petroleum products varies with temperature changes. It was found that depending on the stage of katagenetic transformation duration of heating for maximum yield of hydrocarbon compounds recovery varies from a few days for inmature kerogen to two weeks for highly maturated one. It was demonstrated that secondary cracking of products, which can occur at advanced temperatures and prolonged exposure should been taken into account when optimal heating conditions are selected. Hydrocarbon systems composition analysis showed that synthetic oil is comparable with natural oil and different from the chloroform extract, and heating conditions alteration allows to control the composition of produced oil that may be promising for use in the petroleum and chemical industries. Thus, the method of synthetic crude oil production by implementation of the generation capacity of kerogen by thermal stimulation in the presence of water with 80% of generation potential released was proposed.

Keywords

• kerogen cracking
• synthetic oil
• generation potential
• Bazhenov Formation