Per,
I wrote Zeev by private email because I had used up my posts for Monday. I think that this information may have some technical value for you folks:
> 1) Many oil reservoirs are associated with either a clay dome or a >salt dome, I would venture that all reservoirs that are under salt >domes cannot be detected by EM due to the high electrical >conductivity of pockets of moisture in, above or below such domes. >That leaves clay covered domes, and there I would guess that some >residual conductivity due to ,moisture and electrolytes locked in the >clay could also play havoc with EM. So, maybe, the technology is >nothing but hot air.
Both salt and shale (clays) are generally highly impermeable (a measure of the ability of fluid to flow through them and hence their tendency to be associated with hydrocarbon traps). In addition, salt itself and the majority of the garbage that gets incorporated into salt domes is non-porous (porosity: measure of pore space in percent of the bulk rock) and is therefore non-waterbearing. To the best of my knowledge, there is little if any salt (in dome form) responsible for trap formation in this area. There are few 'clay domes' as such anywhere in the world, simply the normal deposition of clays through the stratigraphic sequence.Shales (formed by the lithification of clays) ordinarily have a relatively high porosity which decreases with depth by the process of compaction. Relatively shallow shales, such as those above the 3200' target that IMMM has quoted, could potentially hold a great deal of interstitial water.
>2) I do not know what percentage of hydrocarbon deposits are over
> layed with salt deposits, how often does one meet brines on the way > to the productive strata and what are the electrical characteristics of
> such overlaying strata. I would guess, however, that nonconductive
> overlaying strata would be the exception rather than the rule.
The last sentence is true. Most overlying sands and/or carbonates will
be waterbearing with varying degrees of salinity. The amount of water
will be dependent on the porosity. All rocks that are porous must
contain a fluid of some sort, whether it be gas, oil, saline water or
fresh water. The tendency in virtually all cases is for salinity to
increase as a function of depth. The answer to your question regarding 'how often does one meet brines on the way to the productive strata' is "usually".
Possible questions for IMMM investors to ask:
1) Are there porous rocks of any sort in the overburden?
2) If so, what is the overall effect on EM Sounder i.e. none whatsoever, slight degradation of signal, renders it useless?
Whatever your differences with Zeev, he has asked some good questions. I would hope that those of you who are actually interested in the efficiency of the technology will attempt to get some answers from Dr. Stamm (or whomever can answer at IMMM).
I have posted on the IMMM thread previously and am on record as having significant doubts about the claims for the technology. I am not an investor in this stock in any way.
Hope this helps. |
