ABOUT
ME
Mike was born and raised in Chicago where he developed a keen interest in science particularly chemistry. After completing his Masters of Science degree at Michigan Technological University on the CO2-metasomatism of a serpentinized peridotite, he started his career in petroleum geology and geochemistry in 1973 with Shell Oil Company in their New Orleans Offshore Exploration and Production Office studying the relationships between salt diapirism with oil migration and accumulations and microbial gas occurrences in the offshore of the…
our
services
Stages of Petroleum foundation
Lewan GeoConsulting Services concentrate on the specific issues and concerns of clients from the collection of samples in the field to relevant laboratory analyses to resolve issues and address concerns with new insights about petroleum systems, plays, or prospects.
geochemical analyses
Lewan GeoConsulting has the expert experience ensuring that thermally immature outcrop samples for initially evaluating the petroleum potential of your petroleum system, play of prospect are unweathered, representative, and suitable for subsequent geochemical analyses.
Potential source rock
Lewan GeoConsulting will determine whether your potential source rock have sufficient organic richness to generate and expel oil. This can be readily determined with one cook and look hydrous pyrolysis run.
Knowledge for modeling purposes whether the vitrine within my source rock follows the coal or suppressed trend with increasing thermal maturity?
In addition to vitrine reflectance values not being fixed for oil generation all oil-prone typeII kerogen, Lewan GeoConsulting is also aware that there are two different trends for vitrinite reflectance with thermal maturity, the common trend is the coal trend that is assumed in most models. The suppressed trend show a much lower relationship to thermal stress. Lewan GeoConsulting has experience with determining which trend a given source rock will follow based on small-scale hydrous pyrolysis. Although the cause of this suppressed trend remains controversial, the small scale hydrous pyrolysis is a quick way to determine which trend a source rock follows.
Importance of documenting vitrine reflectance measurements to Interpret thermal stress levels in a basin or petroleum system:
Lewan GeoConsulting has experienced and recognized organic petrographers that they use for documenting vitrinite reflectance measurements, which is important indeveloping an understanding of the thermal stress experienced by an active pod of source rock in a petroleum system as demonstrated in the re-interpretation of the thermal stress experienced by the Barnett Shale in the Fort Worth basin. This becomes important when deciding whether exploration strategies are focused on primary or secondary natural gas accumulations.
Oil generation
Keeping in mind that oil generation comes from oil –prone type II amorphous kerogen and NOT vitrine macerals and that oil-prone kerogens can generate oil at different vitrine reflectance values.
Because oil-prone Type-II kerogens can generate oil at different vitrine reflectance values, Lewan GeoConsultants uses an Rock-Eval HI established relationships with kerogen atomic H/C ratios or Atomic H/(H+C) fractions to determine and map stages of petroleum formation and transformation ratios (TR) to test kinetic models.
Bakken Shale in the Williston basin
Lewan GeoConsulting has experience in evaluating stages of petroleum formation in the Western Canada Sedimentary basin To determine source of the Athabasca tar sands, New Albany Shale in the Illinois Basin to determine prospective areas for further exploration, and the Sargelu in the Mesopotamian basin.
Does Uranium associated with organic matter in source rocks have an effect on the quantity and quality of their generated Petroleum?
Lewan GeoConsulting has found that early paleozoic rocks Older than 400 Ma with Uppm/TOC wt% ratios geater than 10 like the Alum Shale of Scandinavia do show signs of radiation damage with lower expelled condensate-like oil yields, and kerogen atomic H/C ratios.
Can the tenacity of metals such as vanadium and nickel, as well as their relative proportions, make them suitable for establishing correlations between oil and source rock when used as tracers?
Research conducted by Lewan GeoConsulting and various other sources suggests that the V/Ni ratio in both oils and the bitumen found in their source rocks remains remarkably consistent throughout processes such as thermal maturation, expulsion, migration, and biodegradation. This steadiness establishes it as a reliable correlation parameter.
Transition metals in source rocks enhance the yields, dryness, and rates of gas generation, true or false?
Through experimental investigations, Lewan GeoConsulting has determined that the presence of transition metals in the Kupferschiefer formation in Poland does not exert any catalytic influence on the generation or composition of gas.
Secondary porosity Calculation
Lewan GeoConsulting can evaluate the role of organic acids on generation of Secondary porosity on a local reservoir scale or basin-wide scale.
Assessing the Collective Loss of Original Spilled Oil in Open Oceans: Can Geochemical Data Shed Light on Evaporation, Photooxidation, and Biodegradation?
Lewan Geochemistry can determine the collective loss of originally spilled oil on the basis of asphalting content.
Comparing Kinetic Parameters: Rock Eval vs. Hydrous Pyrolysis in Assessing Timing and Extent of Oil Formation
While the topic remains contentious, Lewan GeoConsulting asserts that hydrous pyrolysis kinetics, which rely on the generation of actual oil in the presence of water at lower temperatures, offer greater validity compared to Rock Eval kinetics. Rock Eval kinetics are based on electronic signals that encompass both bitumen and oil, occurring under unnatural subsurface conditions at higher temperatures. This preference for hydrous pyrolysis kinetics has been substantiated through various comparative studies conducted in regions such as the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, the Menilite Shales of the Polish Carpathians, Jurassic source rocks in the Zagros Basin of Iraq, and Green River source rocks in the Uinta Basin. Moreover, hydrous pyrolysis kinetics adhere to established methods in chemical kinetics, while Rock Eval kinetics rely on an engineering curve-fitting approach.
Impact of Mineral Diagenesis on the Petroleum Potential of Source Rocks:
Lewan GeoConsulting has experience with evaluating clay mineral diagenesis (spectate to elite) and silica diagenesis (Opal-A to Opal CT to quartz and their effects on petroleum potential and timing with regards to petroleum formation.
What methods can be employed to assess both the quantity and quality of preserved oil within maturing source rocks?
Lewan GeoConsulting has developed and pioneered low temperature hydrous pyrolysis (LTHP) to provide clients with a physical sample and quantity of the retained oil in a maturing source rock, which is as good if not better than TRA dean-stark or rock Eval based methods.
Steps to develop the capacity for hydrous pyrolysis from Laboratory
Ever since the groundbreaking research that introduced the potential of hydrous pyrolysis in emulating the natural formation of petroleum, Lewan GeoConsulting, with its 36 years of extensive experience, stands ready to assist and advise clients in setting up their own hydrous pyrolysis capabilities. Our track record includes successful establishment in locations such as Krakow, Rio de Janeiro, Oklahoma City, and Denver. Furthermore, Lewan GeoConsulting can collaborate with clients and industry researchers to develop experiments aimed at testing novel hypotheses, whether pertaining to conventional or unconventional projects.
Is it possible for certain humic coals to serve as potential source rocks for the generation of oil?
Lewan GeoConsulting has experience that shows some humic coals may be the source of expelled oil.
Type of pressures are generated within the rock resulting in the expulsion of oil during oil generation.
Lewan GeoConsulting, in partnership with students Keethikanand and Dr. Al Duhilian from the Colorado School of Mines, has tackled this matter through theoretical computations and experimental findings. These findings suggest that pressures reaching up to 10,000 psi can emerge during the peak of oil generation. The collaborative research also revealed that these generative pressures have the potential to not only create conjugate fractures but also open bedding planes. This occurs particularly when the source rock lacks sufficient confinement from equivalent lithostatic pressures or when it is not properly secured by a rigid metal clamp.
Does thermal maturation affect isotope geochronology determinations of source rocks?
Lewan GeoConsulting in Collaboration with Drs. Rooney and Claire have Provided a better understanding of the influence of thermal maturation induced by hydrous pyrolysis of ages determined by K/Ar and Os/Re isotope methods.
Can thermal maturation affect oil correlation parameters like stable isotopes of H, C and S, biomarkers, and alkane distributions?
Lewan GeoConsulting has expertise in evaluating the effects of thermal maturity on oil correlation parameters. True representative biomarker signatures are sometimes weakly bound into kerogen and are only revealed with at low thermal maturities generated by low-temperature, also some isomer biomarker ratios related to thermal maturation show a reversal with thermal maturation as first observed in hydrous pyrolysis experiments and latter observed in natural maturation. d13C is controlled by the original source of organic matter, but the dD is controlled by the associated water dD during thermal maturation.
why
choose us?
Michael Lewan, the main principal of Lewan GeoConsulting Corporation has 50-years experience in the petroleum industry from the Gulf of Mexico offshore exploration and production with Shell Oil Company to evaluating petroleum potential of domestic petroleum systems (Mowry and Phosphoria/Rockey Mountain successor basins, Bakken/Williston, New Albany/Illinois, Eagle Ford/Western Gulf Coast, Barnett/Fort Worth, Gordondale/Western Canada Sedimentary basin, Marcellus/Appalachian, Woodford/Anadarko, and Kreyenhagen and Monterey/California) and international basins (Menilite/Polish Carpathians, Sargelu and Naokelekan/Iraq Mesopotamian, Alum/Scandinavia, Brown limestone/Gulf of Suez). Mike’s broad experience from extensive field work to ensuring the collection of unweathered representative source rocks from outcrops to diligent laboratory analyses including pioneering and development of hydrous pyrolysis in simulating natural petroleum formation in the laboratory, which has provided new insights on the origin of petroleum and petroleum geochemistry.
With this range of expertise and new insights, Mike can provide you with accurate and relevant interpretations of geochemical and geological data on source rocks in your petroleum systems, plays, and prospects and address specific concerns a client may have on their petroleum potential. Mike prides himself as both a petroleum geologist and geochemist with a proven record of integrating both into meaningful evaluations for the selling of or buying into prospects or plays. As a USGS emeriti and consulting geochemist Mike has also pioneered and developed the low-temperature hydrous pyrolysis to determine quality and quantity of oil retained in maturing source rocks for evaluating unconventional oil potential of source rocks. In addition, Mike has an extensive network of established geologists and geochemists in various sub fields (geochronology, mineral diagenesis. petrophysics, and tectonics) that he can confidentially consult with regarding specific issues.
Awards
What People Say
Testimonials
