Gary Lash receives grant from state energy authority

A major grant to fund research to facilitate oil and natural gas exploration by improving analytical techniques used to assess rock formations thought to contain these deposits has been awarded to Gary Lash, professor in SUNY Fredonia’s Geosciences Department.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (visit its website) awarded just over $131,000 to Dr. Lash to address problems associated with current assessment of thermal histories of Middle and Upper Devonian black shale, an emerging source of hydrocarbons – or natural gas and oil -- in Western New York State and Western Pennsylvania.

Vitrinite particles, remains of plant material, are commonly found in potential hydrocarbon source rocks and when subjected to elevated temperature during burial, become reflective in microscopic view. The degree of reflectivity is the most widely used measure of the temperature to which the deposits were heated. Because hydrocarbons are produced by the thermal breakdown of these particles, estimating their "paleotemperature" is crucial to assessing the likelhihood that oil or natural gas is present.

However, the analysis of vitrinite reflectance is susceptible to two primary shortcomings: suppression of reflectance and the presence of recycled vitrinite grains, Dr. Lash explained. Both can result in erroneous maturation estimates. “We are trying to assess the reliability of vitrinite reflectance as a means of estimating the maximum temperature to which a hydrocarbon source rock was subjected," he said.  “We think that critical errors are inherent to this approach and need to be evaluated."

In order for rock formations to contain hydrocarbons, they must be heated to at least 90 degrees centigrade, he noted, so it’s critical to get a handle on temperatures. “We’ve done some preliminary work that suggests these temperatures are off by as much as 10 degrees centigrade,” Dr Lash said. "This doesn't seem like much, but it can mean the difference between a robust hydrocarbon producer and a bust."

“If the tools to assess maximum temperature are not accurate, the exploration project is a total waste.”

The NYSERDA grant, the largest ever received by Dr. Lash during his three decades at SUNY Fredonia, comes at a time when efforts are intensifying to increase energy sources.

“An awful lot of work is being done in some of these shale deposits in the Appalachian basin,” Dr. Lash said. “The goal is to extract methane or natural gas from these rocks and that relies upon a sound understanding of how their burial and thermal history. This isn't possible if our principal means of estimating their maximum temperature is flawed.”

Devonian black shale, the subject of Dr. Lash’s research, was the source of the first natural gas recovered from wells drilled in downtown Fredonia in the 1820s as well as the source of oil drilled by Colonel Drake in Titusville, Pa., in the mid-19th century.

“People have known about these deposits for a long time,” Dr. Lash said, but he added that newer drilling technologies and techniques, such as directional drilling, have made them more attractive as energy sources.

The project, set to begin this summer, is being carried out in conjunction with Platte River Associates, a Boulder, Colo.,-based consultant group that evaluates sedimentary basins throughout the world. Platte River donated a copy of its basin modeling software, valued at $35,000 and regarded as the most widely used in the industry, to the SUNY Fredonia Geosciences Department last year.