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U.S. Department of Energy
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Significance of geology to gas production from Devonian shales of the central appalachian basin: an underdeveloped asset. Topical report, October 1987-July 1988

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6710645
Devonian and Lower Mississipian shales of the central Appalachian basin produce gas from various fine-grained reservoirs enhanced by natural fracturing. Fracture development was due to Alleghenian reactivation of basement faults in the autochthonous terrane north of the Allegheny Front and west of the Burning Springs-Mann Mountain detachment. Basement faults were inherited both from the Grenville orogeny and from Rome Trough rifting during the opening of the Iapetus Ocean. Deposition occurred in two successive foreland basins of the Acadian orogeny, restricted to the west by the Cincinnati Arch and filled from the east by the synorogenic deposits of the Catskills Delta. Deep burial in the Permian and hydrothermal flow from basement faults produced variable degrees of thermal maturation of kerogen encompassing the oil window. Reservoirs range from fine-grained sandstones to fractured black shales. Aside from fracture development, black shale production is constrained by gas desorption from kerogen and permeability reduction due to blocking by trapped oil. Recommendations are made for effective geological contributions to gas production.
Research Organization:
K and A Technology, Tulsa, OK (USA)
OSTI ID:
6710645
Report Number(s):
PB-88-250600/XAB
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English