Cuttings Analyses for Hydrocarbons

Our unique collection of cuttings analyses for hydrocarbons were donated to the Michigan Geological Repository for Research and Education at Western Michigan University by a veteran Michigan oil and gas geologist. This geologist conducted gas chromatographic analyses of drill cuttings and core chips from almost 1200 oil and gas wells. These analyses provide data from several formations, but mainly from the Silurian Niagaran reefs which are prolific hydrocarbon producers.

Download a list of these wells, showing their location, surface location, API number, permit number, well name, original driller's name and core depths. These analyses identified the carbon fractions (C5-C26) of hydrocarbons in the samples which were taken at 5 foot and 10 foot intervals. The resulting data and graphs can be used to interpret the likelihood of commercial hydrocarbon production through the entire section sampled.

These analyses were conducted between 1970 and 1990 when mudlogs were relatively insensitive indicators and open-hole logs provided much less information. At that time, no other analytical tool reliably provided all the information yielded by these chromatographic analyses. Although these analyses were very useful, they have not been conducted for decades, having been replaced largely by other downhole technologies. Many geologists today are unfamiliar with these analyses and their potential use in identifying prospective wells or zones for secondary and tertiary recovery. And, because these records were previously available only in paper form, they remained largely unknown.

Through funding by the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program, MGRRE can now make these unique analyses available. Using this data, industry members can potentially reduce exploration and production costs because they are working with known productive wells. You can order them by sending an email to Jennifer Trout, listing the wells’ API numbers. We will then email those analyses to you along with a statement. For more information about fees for digital data, please review our facility resources and fees.