Rock mechanical properties of immature, organic-rich source rocks and their relationships to rock composition and lithofacies

Abstract

Mechanical properties of layered rocks are critical in ensuring wellbore integrity and predicting natural fracture occurrence for successful reservoir development, particularly in unconventional reservoirs for which fractures provide the main pathway for hydrocarbon flow. We examine rock mechanical properties of exceptionally organic-rich, immature source rocks from Jordan and understand their relationships with rock mineral composition and lithofacies variations. Four depositional microfacies were identified: organic-rich mudstone, organic-rich wackestone, silica-rich packstone, and fine-grained organic-rich wackestone. The four types exhibit various mineralogical compositions, dominated by carbonates, biogenic quartz, and apatite. Leeb hardness ranges between 288 – 654, with the highest average values in silica-rich packstone and organic-rich mudstone. The highest uniaxial compressive strength (derived from the intrinsic specific energy measured by Epslog's Wombat scratch device), compressional, and shear waves velocities were measured in organic-rich mudstones (140 MPa, 3368 m/s, and 1702 m/s, respectively). Porosity shows higher average values in organic-rich wackestones and fine-grained organic-rich wackestones (33% – 35%). Silica-rich packstone and organic-rich mudstone have brittle properties, while organic-rich wackestone and fine-grained organic-rich wackestone are ductile. High silica contents are correlated positively with brittleness. A strong hardness-brittleness correlation suggests that Leeb hardness is a useful proxy for brittleness. Our study allows a better understanding of the relationships between lithofacies, organic content and rock mechanical properties, with implications for fracking design to well completion and hydrocarbon production. Further work involving systematic sampling and a more rigorous study is still required to better understand the spatial distribution of target lithologies and their mechanical properties.

Diagenesis, compaction strain and deformation associated with chert and carbonate concretions in organic‐rich marl and phosphorite; Upper Cretaceous to Eocene, Jordan

“…Total organic carbon (TOC) values in these rocks range from 3 to 30% with increased TOC values in the lower part of the succession, the MCM (Alqudah et al ., 2015; Hakimi et al ., 2016; März et al ., 2016; Abu‐Mahfouz et al ., 2019, 2020, 2022a, 2022b, 2023; Grohmann et al ., 2021, 2023). The rocks exhibit a complex diagenetic history (Powell & Moh'd, 2012; Hooker et al ., 2017; Huggett et al ., 2017), with an abundance of different diagenetic features (for example, chert beds, chert/carbonate concretions and early diagenetic folding).…”

Modelling Geological Co2 Leakage: Integrating Fracture Permeability and Fault Zone Outcrop Analysis

“…Which compares reasonably well to the composition of the quartz rich Rurikfjellet formation as reported by Van Noort and Yarushina [2019] of 55%-60% quartz, 20%-25% illite with minor interlayered smectite and chlorite, with other minor phases including kaolinite, plagioclase and pyrite. Mineralogy has a strong control on the mechanical properties of a rock, such as Young's modulus (Rybacki et al, 2015;Askaripour et al, 2022;Abu-Mahfouz et al, 2023). When confining pressure is applied to a fractured sample (or to a fracture in the subsurface), the fracture opening decreases but a non-zero aperture can be maintained by the presence of asperities on the fracture surface that prevent the full closing of a fracture (Phillips et al, 2020).…”