Play Fairway Projects Initiated by the Department of Energy

Abstract

A play fairway is the area in a basin or region where examples of an individual play type are projected to exist and is defined by the geologic characteristics of the basin and of the play type. A play fairway analysis incorporates basin-wide evidence for the occurrence of the requisite geological factors of a particular play type, and plots the probability of finding the play over the entire area of study. This allows for rigorous quantification of exploration risk; areas with the highest probability of success are highlighted as fairways on the resulting maps and are the main focus in subsequent stages of exploration. Borrowing the terminology and assessment tools from the oil and gas industry, the US Department of Energy Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO) has funded research to further develop this technique for use in identifying and exploring opportunities for potential geothermal systems. The Play Fairway Analysis Funding Opportunity Announcement was implemented during 2014. Eleven projects were competitively selected. Effective oil and gas play fairway analysis extends beyond the simple hydrocarbon documentation, and the geothermal analysis and fairway mapping now underway extends beyond observation of subsurface temperatures. These projects will develop geothermal fairway maps developed with a wide range of data. Observation of subsurface temperatures and structural and tectonic settings, as well as chemical and isotopic data, rock mechanical properties, and hydrologic and basin history will contribute to the analyses. This paper reviews the intention of the GTO announcement and introduces the eleven projects that are now in progress and their individual project goals.