,,

SPE

SPE/DOE8952
PERSPECTIVE
ON DEVONIAN
SHALEGASEXPL(IIATI
ON

by Claude S. Dean, U.S. Doe (METC)

his paper was presented at the 1980 SPE/bOESymposium on Unconventional Gas Recovery held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, May 18-21, 1980. The
Orretilon by the author. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Write: 6200 N. Central Expwy., Dallas, Texas 75206

.. . . . . .

material
k subject

Devonian shale resource, however, are distinguished

by their fracture creating mechanism, which for
the ultra-tight shale is equivalent to the reservoir creating mechanism. Inasmuch as fracture
systems are necessary, but not alone sufficient,
ancillary factors, especially those relating to
source potential, become important in evaluating
Devonian shale rationales. A number of exploration rationales and techniques have been identified as holding promise for the Devonian shale.
The Eastern Gas Shales Projects (EGSP) development of prospects in eastern Tennessee through
the application of some of the techniques to one
of the rationales and subsequent testing of one
of them serves as a case study.

Ab31K&Ll

Since fractured reservoirs are essential to

production, exploration rationales specific to the
Devonian shale unconventional gas resource are
characterized by a geologic fracture creating mechaniam. One such predicts intense fracturing in the
shale wherever proximally associated with the major
thrust faults of the Appalachian overthrust belt.
Gruy Federal No. 1 Grainger Co. (DOE EGSP-TN9), a
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-funded rank
wildcat located in Grainger County, TN, successfully
tested that rationale. The well penetrated the
Saltville Thrust Fault (stratigraphic throw: over
10,000 feet) and encountered the Devonian-Mississippian Chattanooga Shale in the lower plate. The
shale proved to be 720 feet thick, of which 48o
feet or 67% was anomalously radioactive (25 API
above shale base line). Two hundred twenty (220)
feet of core was recovered from the most highly
radioactive (organic rich) intervals and a full
suite of wireline logs was run. Widespread and
~cca~~y ipa~~pL~~
Fv.ct,,rino
~~
~h.e
SII.Slej
especially
..--.-.-.=
in the organic sections, observed in the core and
evidenced by the logs vindicates the exploration
rationale. The well will be hydraulically fractured and tested to evaluate production potential.

From January 3 to 21, 1980, U.S. Department

of Energy (DOE), through its contractor Gruy
Federal, Inc., drilled a Devonian shale wildcat
well in Grainger County, TN. The geographic
coordinates of Gruy Federal No. 1 Grainger Co.
(DOE EGSP-TN9) are 301856N latitude by
832433W longitude (Tennessee coordinates
71O,3OON by 2,762,000E). The ground eievation
of the well is 1140 feet above mean sea level.
All depths were measured from the kelly bushing,
which stood 10 feet higher at 1150 feet. The site
is on lot A-8 of the Grainger County Industrial
Park, public land belonging to the county situated
along U.S. Highway 11-W midway between Rutledge
and Bean Station (Figure 1). Gruy Federal, Inc.,
operated the well under an agreement with Grainger
County whereby the former received permission to
drill, core, log, and test the well, while the
latter retained the mineral rights and hence
ownership of any producible hydrocarbon.
The
primary targets were the dark, organic rich
intervals within the Devonian-Mississippian
Chattanooga Shale.

INTRODUCTION
The classical trinity of essential factors
in natural gas exploration, source, reservoir,
and trap, is as relevant to unconventional
resources as it ia to conventional. In the
unconventional fesource the three are merely
manifested in an unusual way andlor bear an
unusual relationship to each other. The nature
of the resource must be taken into account when
charting exploration strategy, i.e., both
exploration rationales and exploration techniques
must be tailored to the specific resource. A
conventional rationale is typically based on and
characterized by some trapping mechanism.
Exploration rationales for the unconventional

EXPLOMTICN

PATIONALE

The drilling and testing of this wildcat

well in Grainger County, TN, is a field demonstration project of the DOEs Eastern Gas Shales
Project under the Unconventional Gas Recovery
(UGR) Program. The EGSP seeks to encourage

References and illustrations at end of paper.

237

tc

PERSPECTIVE ON DEVONIAN SHALE GAS EXPLORATION

commercial development of the natural gaa producing
potential of the organic rich Devonian shales that
underlie some 200,000 square miles of the eastern
United States (Figure 2). Devonian shales are an
unconventional natural gas resource in that,
although they contain vast volumes of gas, they
usually lack sufficient natural permeability to
permit the gas to migrate to the wellbore. Historical natural gas production at commercial
rates from the shales has occurred in isolated
areas of the Appalachian, Illinois, and Michigan
Basins. Most of this production can be attributed
to extensive natural fracture systems that act as
interconnected conduits feeding gas desorbed
from the shale matrix to the wellbore. One of
the primary goals of the EGSP is to develop the
capability of creating artificial fractures in
the shale in order to create a permeable link
between the wellbore and such natural fractures
as may exist in the vicinity. Fracture stimulation technology is not alone sufficient to induce
gas production from the Devonian shales; natural
fracture permeability must be present. Hence,
another primary goal of the EGSP is the formulation of shale specific exploration rationales
characterized by some geological fracture
producing mechanism and identification of the
areas to which these rationales appiy.
Gruy Federal No. 1 Grainger Co. tested an
exploration rationale that predicts intense and
intricate natural fracturing in the Devonian
shale wherever proximally associated with the
major thrust faults of the Appalachian overthrust
belt. In eastern Tennessee the Devonian shale is
represented by the Chattanooga Shale, a formal
stratigraphic unit, the bulk of which is Upper
Devonian, but the uppermost portion, ia Lower
WILIILII
UK
vdLL=y
aL,U..~U6=
Fiississippiaii.L---a :~-Province it crops out along the northwestern
flanks of two isolated northeast trending sync1ines, the Newman Ridge and Greendale Synclines
(Figure 3). Both synclines are bounded to the
southeast by major thrust faults of regional
extent, the Clinchport and Saltville Thrust
Faults, respectively. The Chattanooga Shale
passes into the subsurface beneath these southeast
dipping thrusts. The above stated exploration
rationale is based on USGS Professional Paper
1018 (Harris & Milici, 1977). The authors observe
at those few localities in the Southern Appalachians where major bedding plane faults, termed
decollements, are exposed that the overlying
rocks are very highly fractured. The most intensely fractured rocks occur in their broke.ii
formation zone immediately above a decollement.
The rocks in their overlying fractured zone are
still pervasively fractured, but less intricately
so. That the Chattanooga Shale in the Newman
Ridge and Greendale Synclines occurs beneath the
associated major thrust gaults does not invalidate
the exploration rationale if one supposes the
existence of bedding plane faults in the shale
induced by activity on the overlying master thrust.
This is a reasonable supposition for which there
is at least indirect evidence. In the general
vicinity of Evanston, TN, (Figure 4) Chattanooga
Shale passes under the entire length of a portion
of the upper plate of the Hunter Valley Thrust
isolated by erosion and the more steeply dipping
Clinchport Thrust. Where it emerges to the
northeast it may be observed in a roadside borrow

pit to be intensely fractured (Milici & Statler,

in press), clearly reflecting historic activity on
the overlying Hunter Valley Thrust, now eroded away
to reveal the shale.
PROSPECT DEVELOPMENT
In 1967 U.S. Energy Research & Development Ad-J-J..-..~__
~-kl~-...-..(?7RI)A)
\----- (EQW ~Q~) lec a three-year
contract (DE-Ac21-76MC05196) to the Tennessee Division of Geology (TDG) to characterize the Chattanooga Shale in the Valley and Ridge Province of
eastern Tennessee and to evaluate its natural gas
producing potential. The TIN COiduCi~d Z bible
thrusted research program designed to define two
separate aspects of the resource:
1.

2.

To learn the true thickness of the shale,

its internal stratigraphy, and especially
the relative proportion of organic rich
to organic lean material, they sponsored an
NX core drilling program along the major
outcrop belts of Chattanooga Shale. Eight
holes were cored, three in the Newman Ridge
Syncline and five in the Greendale Syncline.
To reveal the subsurface extent of the
nh.tta=nng.
U,,ake

~ha~e
..

~~~.~a~h.

the

Hunter

Valley, Clinchport, and Saltville Thrust

Faults they arranged for seismic surveys
to be conducted along two lines, KIS-TC1
and TC2 (Figure 3).
The salient results may be summarized as follows:
.
1.

The total stratigraphic thickness of the

Chattanooga Shale varies from several
hundred feet to well over a thousand feet,
a verv
. subs~antial proportion of which is
organic rich.

2.

The Chattanooga Shale extends at least

several miles back beneath the thrusts
before being truncated and is accessible
to exploratory drilling at surprisingly
shallow depths, less than 4,000 feet.

In a memo to DOE EGSP management dated May

18, 1979, this author summarized progress under the
TDG contract, expounded the exploration rationale
at length, and identified seven Devonian shale
prospects for exploratory drilling. These are shown
on Figure 3. Gruy Federal No. 1 Grainger Co.
(EGSP-TN9) was drilled to test prospect P3. Criteria
for .L.=
.+.- ...=.
.alnti~~ ~~ ~~~~~ of priority were the following:
1.

Location within the P3 area as defined on

Figure 3.

2,

Proximity to seismic line TCL.

3.

Availability of public land.

4.

Potential local consumer of natural gas.

5.

Proximity to an all-weather road.

Hence, the Grainger County Industrial Park was the

natural choice. At this location the well was
spudded in the Cambrian Conasauga Group in the
uPPer Plate of the Saltville Thrust Fault. It
238

c. s.
Ten-foot samples were taken and logged as usual
throughout the drilled intervala. An unexpected
water bearing zone was encountered at 1410 feet
while drilling through the lower part of the
Chagrin interval. Initial water production was a
2-inch atream; with time that eventually diminished
to less than l/2-inch. Sample 1410-20 is ailtstone
containing anomalous quantities of slickenaided
cuttings and coarse crystalline dolomite, indicative
of slickensided and mineralized fractures. The
Z!lthcr!!Qtec!
pQss____
fhle F~erstia: a unique marker
fossil, between 1600 and 1610, and identified
bentonite, probably the Center Hill Bentonite,
in sample 1760-70. Following the extraction of the
laat core, a 53-foot rat hole waa drilled through
the remainder of the Devonian Wildcat Valley
Sandstone and into the Silurian Clinch Sandstone.
The last 20 feet of Clinch is brownish shale of
RockWood aspect. The base of the Chattanooga
Shale stands at 1856 feet. Thus, the total
thickness of the Chattanooga proved to be 720
feet. The aggregate thickness of abnormally
radioactive shale (an indicator of organic content) as revealed on the gamma ray log (25 API
units above the shale base line) is 480 feet (67%
of the total), of which 220 feet was cored.

penetrated the gently dipping fault and encountered

the Chattanooga Shale in the lower plate. Thrusting Lower Cambrian over Lower Mississippian, the
fault has a stratigraphic throw of over 10,000 feet.
DRILLING AND CORING
Drilling predominantly on air, the well was
spudded in the Rogersville Shale and passed through
two other formation belonging to the Cambrian
Conasauga Group, the Rutiedge Limestone and the
Pumpkin Valley Shale, before entering the Cambrian
Rome Formation (Figure 5). Surface casing was
set at 200 feet. Water entry into the wellbore
was first noticed at 400 feet. The volume of
water increased markedly at approximately 600 feet
and a strong hydrogen sulfide odor was emitted.
(Richland Valley, in which the industrial park
is situated, is noted for its mineral springs,
associated with which were several health spaa.)
Penetration of the Saltville Thrust Fault
occurred at 667 feet. Surprisingly, this event
was readily recognized in the samples. The 650-60
sample contained slightly dolomitic, medium grained
sandstone similar to the preceding five samples of
Rome sandstones, some of which are notably micaceoua. The 660-70 was lithologically similar to
the above, but contained abundant slickensided
cuttings and what the author interprets to be
mylonite. The 670-80 was gray fossiliferous siltstone containing an identifiable brachiopod and
crinoid columnal. Further along, abundant glauconite appeared in ssmplea 710-20 and 720-30, by
which the glauconite zone of Hasson (1967) was
recognized. The measured outcrop sections of the
Mississippian Grainger Formation in Kenneth Hasaons
(1967) Ph.D. thesis indicate a prominent glauconite
zone near the top of the middle ahale-siltstone
member. Recognition of the glauconite zone in
the cuttings enabled the accurate prediction of the
top of the Chattanooga Shale, which subsequently
was encountered at 1136 feet. A possibly significant aaide, the position of the glauconite zone
relative to the Saltville Fault in the well indicates approximately 90 feet of migration of the
fault downward through the Grainger Formation from
the outcrop to the well, a distance of about 3/4
of a mile. That is equivalent to a down-dip loss
of section of 120 feet per mile.
n.=..-.
DCLLC

.p.ue.==uu.~
..-J..o-A4n.

.in+.
. ...

~~~

Chattannnra
..-----.--=

Indications of hydrocarbons during drilling

and coring operations were meager. No gas detector
was stationed on the well. After coring the Lower
Huron, the most prospective interval in the Chattanooga Shale, the rig compressors were shut down
and a futile attempt was made to ignite whatever
gases might be flowing from the well. No natural
flow of any kind was detected. Only when the
compressors were restarted was a flaah observed,
indicating the presence of a small amount of gaa.
Gas bled out of a few fractures in the core
extracted from the Lower Huron and Rhinestreet
intervals. More impressive natural gas shows in
the Chattanooga Shale may have been precluded by
near-wellbore formation damage (skin effect)
arising from water production at 1410 feet. Light
gravity, straw colored oil was observed in the
core and cuttings of the Wildcat Valley-Sandstone.
The sandstone appears to be tight, the oil be%ng
contained in fracturea.
FORMATION EVALUATION
Virtually all the shale core recovered from
the well is naturally fractured, some of it
intensely so. In fact, the core from Gruy Federal
No. 1 Grainger Co. (EGSP-TN9) is more highly
fractured by far than any of the 46 other cores
recovered under the EGSP to date. The greatest
degree of fracturing occurs in the lower part
of the Lower Huron and in the Rhineatreet (Figure
5). Most of the rest of the core is at least
moderately fractured; only 23% is unfractured.
Moderate to low angle slickensided fractures predominate; sub-vertical extenaile fractures are
moderately abundant. The vertical fractures are
mineralized with dolomite. Some of the moderate
to low angle fractures are also mineralized with
dolomite; most are simply slickensided. A few
fractures are related to the growth of septarian
concretions, which are not abundant, and hence
are non-tectonic. A distinct vertical progression
of fracture intensity and style occurs at least
twice, once in the Lower Huron and once in the
Rhinestreet. Proceeding downward, it first msnifesta itself as several sub-vertical , mineralized

~h~~e

an intermediate string of caaing was set to shut

off the flow of water, which was substantial. This
waa done to protect any fractured reservoirs that
might be encountered in the shale, inaamuch as it
was suspected that they might be underpressured.
From this casing point to T.D. hole was made by
alternately drilling and coring. Cored intervals
are indicated on Figure 5, aa also are the major
lithostratigraphic unita within the Chattanooga
Shale and their probable regional correlation.
Primary coring targets were the most richly
organic intervals within the shale, as previously
determined from two nearby NX holes cored and logged
under the TDG contract. Core points were accurately
picked on the basis of samples taken at five-foot
intervals, and additionally in the case of the
Lower Huron, a gamma ray log run for correlation.
Fifty feet of core was recovered from the SunburyCleveland interval; 132 feet, from the Lower Huron;
and 48 feet, from the Rhinestreet, of which the
last ten feet is actually Wildcat Valley Sandstone.
239

PERSPECTIVE ON DEVONIAN SHALE GAS EXPLOUTION

fractures, These rather abruptly give way to moderate and low angle slickensided fractures, which
increase in abundance until the core is reduced
to slickensided rubble. The bottom of this rubble
zone ia fairly well defined. This progression
is reminiscent of the zone of fracture and
broken formation zone observed above decollements
by Harris and Milici (1977).
A full suite of wireline logs* was run through
the Chattanooga Shale. Tiieyare the fOHOWi~g:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

Caliper
Gamma Ray
Density, Borehole Compensated (Poros:ty
on a 2.68 matrix) (dry hole)
Temperature
Sibilation
Simultaneous Compensated KeutronFormation Density (wet hole)
Spontaneous Potential
Dual Induction - Laterolog
Fracture Identification
Borehole Compensated Sonic
Open Hole Amplitude - Variable Density

gas bearing siltstone interval. A second sibilation

anomaly at 1786 feet without associated temperature
anomaly is dubious due to the close proximity of
fluid in the hole. A broad, shallow temperature
anomaly stretching from 1660 to 1740 across most
of the Lower Huron interval is one of the more hopeful indications of producible shale gas in the well.
Activity on the Fracture Identification Log (FIL)
is considerably less than one would anticipate from
the core and correlates only modestly with core
~~~zr\.2~~apd~2~ fy=.+,J~in*>
----.
.-= TIM correlation with
fracture indications on the Open Hole Amplitude Variable Density log (VDL) is much better. Perhaps
by virtue of tool design and operating principle,
the FIL is better able to detect sub-vertical
fractures than the VDL, while the VDL is better
able to detect sub-horizontal fracturing than the
FIL . Both logs, however, concur in drawing the
c-.,------ ~~~t~.ca~
.--1
-f.,-.l,,QinrlQ.
10IAUWAL1~
~..-.-.-m---..-,

Copies of the logs rest in the UGR Open File at

the Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC),
Morgantown, WV, and are available for public
inspection.
The gamma ray log reveals substantial thicknesses of highly radioactive shale, 250 API units
or greater, within the Sunbury-Cleveland, Upper
Huron, Lower Huron, and Rhinestreet intervals
(Figure 5). As rule of thumb, shale radioactivity
is directly correlated with organic content. The
bulk density curve, however, indicates that the
highly radioactive intervals are not nearly as
organic rich as the gamma ray readinga imply.
The various nuclear porosity logs faintly suggest
some gas filled porosity development in all of
the above named shale intervals. They somewhat
more strongly imply such development in the siltstones in the lower part of the Chagrin between
1350 and 1420. The clay content in the siltstones
makes it difficult to estimate porosity; however,
it does not exceed a few percent. At 1408 near
the base of the Chagrin the nuclear logs indicate
a narrow zone of liquid (water) filled porosity
that can only be interpreted as a highly porous
fracture zone. The resistivity measuring logs are
enigmatic. It should be here cautioned that porosity and resistivity logs were intended to evaluate shale-free formations (sandstonea and carbonates) and their interpretation in shales ia a
qualitative art at best.
tio of the logs, Temperature and Sibilation,
directly indicate gas entry into the wellbore,
in shale presumably from fractures. WO other
logs, Fracture Identification and Open Hole
Amplitude - Variable Density, were run as fracture finders. There is a reliable sibilation
anomaly and an associated temperature anomaly
in the lower Chagrin at 1363 feet opposite a
four-foot shale break within a 25-foot potentially
* The occasional use of trade names rather than
generic names for various products and services
reflects field usage and does not imply U.S.
Government endorsement of any company, product,
or service.

1.

The water bearing zone at 1410 feet is

massively fractured. The remainder of
the lower part of the Chagrin from 1310
to 1420 feet is heavily fractured,
especially opposite the sibilationtemperature anomaly at 1363 feet.

2.

The upper part of the Chagrin appears

to be fracture free. This section ia
useful for calibration and comparison
with variably fractured sections.

3.

The interval from the top of the Lower

Huron to the base of the Chattanooga Shale
is nearly continuously fractured, at least
to a moderate degree.

4.

The Sunbury-Cleveland interval is only

lightly fractured.

STIMULATION AND TESTING

Widespread and locally intense fracturing
within the Chattanooga Shale, especially within
the organic rich intervals, observed in the core
and evidenced in the logs vindicates the exploration rationale used in siting a Devonian shale
wildcat well in the P3 prospect area (Figure 3),
Grainger County, TN. Whether the shale will produce natural gas at a useful rate remains to be
proven through a planned hydraulic fracture
stimulation and subsequent well test. Very few
Devonian shale wells produce without any stimulation; some good producers had no measurable natural
flow of gas prior to stimulation.
Following drilling operations a production
string of 4.5 inch casing was set at 1895 feet and
cemented back to surface. In April 1980 U.S. DOE
through its contractor Gruy Federal, Inc., intends
to run a cement bond log and perforate the casing
from 1630 to 1850 feet. After formation breakdown
with 1500 gallons of acid and nitrogen gas to
generate 6,000 gallons of foam, the well will be
hydraulically fractured with 50,000 gallons of
75 quality foam and 50,000 pounds of 20/40 mesh
sand pumped at a rate of 25 barrels foam per
minute. After flow back the well will be tested
to measure its deliverability, evaluate fracture
geometry, and compare well performance with other
Devonian shale wells tested under the EGSP well
testing program. This should result in an
accurate evaluation of the gaa producing potential
240

C. S. DEAN

..

of the Lower Huron, Olentangy, and Rhinestreet

intervals in Gruy Federal No. 1 Grainger CO. (ECSPTN9) . Depending on the results, the SunburyCleveland, Upper Huron, and possibly the Chagrin
intervals may be tested at a later time.
Hydraulic fracturing will overcome the nearwellbore formation damage that occurred during
drilling and coring operations. This may well
explain the lack of a substantial natural gas
show despite the highly fractured nature of the
Chattanooga Shale. On the negative side, the
slickensided and mineralized fractures encountered
may be insufficiently permeable to create a proper
matrix rechargeable reservoir. Alternatively,
reservoir pressure may be depleted through gas
leakage to the surface; the shale outcrops only
1.5 miles away from the well.

sional Paper 1018, 1977, 40 p.

2.

Hasson, K.O.: Lithostratigraphy of the

Grainger Formation (Mississippian) in
Northeast Tennessee, unpublished Ph.D.
dissertation, University of Tennessee,
Knoxviiie (1972).

3.

Milici, R.C., and Statler, A.T.: Fractures

Related to Major Thrusts--Possible Analogues
to Tectonically Fractured Chattanooga Shale
in Tennessee, Abstracts with Programs,
S.E. Geological Society of America Meeting,
v. 10, no. 4, 1978, p. 176 (in press).

4.

Milici, R.C., Harris, L.D., Statler, A.T.:

An Interpretation of Seismic Cross Sections
in the Valley and Ridge of Eastern Tennessee,
Tennessee Division of Geology, Oil and Gas
Chart 6, Sheet 2 (in press).

5.

Tegland, E.R.: Seismic Investigations in

Eastern Tennessee, Bull. 78, Tennessee
Division of Geology, Knoxville (1978).

REFERENCES
1.

Harris, L.D., and Milici, R.C.: Characteristics of Thin-Skinned Style of Deformation in

the Southern Appalachians, and Potential Hydrocarbon Traps, U.S. Geological Survey Profes-

Fig. 1 - Location map.

Known Gas Shale Deposits

Located in the United States

Fig.

Its.
2 - Easterngas shaie deposi

SCALE

1250 @30

10 STATUTE

MlLES

ExPLANATIW
YOUNGER
: I PRO+PECT

AREAS

THAN

CHATTANOOGA
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THAN

CHATTANOOGA
SHALE

CHATTANOOGA

/-

Fig.
Thrust

3 -

EGSP exploration
prospects
related
to the cl inchport
Faults,
Eastern
Tennessee
and Southwestern
Virginia.

and Saltvi

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Fig. 4 -

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Fig. 5 - Summary:

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Grainger

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Term.