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Petroleum geochemical characterization of the shales from tertiary formation of Western Cambay Basin, India

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Abstract

The Cambay basin of Western India has been proved as the most prominent and promising basin for major shale oil and gas discoveries. The present work is an exploration study of shales of different tectonic blocks of Cambay basin, which characterizes it as potential source as well as a reservoir for hydrocarbon generation and expulsion. Major experimental work was done on the Cambay shale of North tectonic block of Cambay basin and it was found that the shale has good to excellent organic richness, hybrid oil/gas bearing potential, mature shale potential, good hydrocarbon generation potential and good kerogen transformation. On the contrary, shales of south tectonic block are at the immature phase of hydrocarbon generation and may generate hydrocarbons upon thermal maturation and deep burial. The performed analysis and interpretation are explaining the true hydrocarbon potential of shales of Cambay basin and hence providing with a roadmap for the shale geochemical characterization which may be useful for development of shale plays at large scale.

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Fig. 1

source rock. (Modified after Xia et al. 2014). b An integrated flow diagram showing the methodology adopted for characterizing hydrocarbon prospectively of shale plays of Cambay Basin. TOC, Thermal Maturity, Kerogen Typing, Organic Matter, Hydrocarbon Generation and Expulsion Potential are the key research outcomes of this study. The characterization technique adopted is Rock-Eval pyrolysis. Data have been obtained experimentally and from literature

Fig. 2

Source rocks and reservoir rocks are present in the thick Cambay shale and is shown in the stratigraphy of Cambay Shale

Fig. 3

Source Rock analysis from Cambay Shale formation of lower Eocene Age, Ahmedabad Mehsana Block, Cambay Basin (Sharma and Sircar 2016)

Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

source rock potential of this block (Mishra et al. 2015). a, c, e are the S2 vs TOC, HI vs OI and HI vs Tmax plots of data obtained for Tarkeshwar Formation. b, d, f Are the S2 vs TOC, HI vs OI and HI vs Tmax plots of data obtained for Babaguru Formation. The plots are constructed to understand the kerogen type, quality and maturation in this block

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Acknowledgements

The authors extend their sincere thanks to Prof. Chandra Rai, Director & Eberly Chair and Prof. Subhash Shah, Emeritus Professor, MPGE, The University of Oklahoma, USA, for giving an opportunity to work in IC3 Laboratory of MPGE to complete all the necessary experimentation and data generation. The authors also thank Dr. Soumyajit Mukherjee (IIT Bombay), handling editor for his thoughtful comments and efforts towards improving our manuscript. We would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their review, useful and helpful comments on our manuscript.

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  1. Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar, India

    Vaishali Sharma & Anirbid Sircar

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  1. Vaishali Sharma
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Correspondence to Vaishali Sharma.

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Sharma, V., Sircar, A. Petroleum geochemical characterization of the shales from tertiary formation of Western Cambay Basin, India. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 109, 1529–1546 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-020-01855-3

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