Unlocking Hidden Reserves : A Deep Dive into Unconventional Rocks and Fluids
Technologies like drilling horizontal laterals and hydraulic fracturing has enabled the shale revolution in North America. Research and Innovation continue to drive technologies that help unlock reserves in unconventional plays more efficiently. A better understanding of the quality of the rocks we are dealing with will lead us to better well completion designs. The more we learn to accurately characterize the fluids in these rocks, the better are our chances of designing reservoir engineering strategies to extract them. Join us for two back to back sessions where Dr. Maity and Dr. Nojabaei share case studies from the industry and research findings from academia in the space of unconventional reservoirs.
Session 1:
Title: Through fracture coring at HFTS-1 sites - Observations and Insights (Dr. Debotyam Maity)
Abstract: Department of Energy and Gas Technology Institute led field test programs in the Midland (HFTS-1) and the Delaware (HFTS-2) Basins have been instrumental in providing valuable insights into fracturing operations in the Wolfcamp formation. Through-fracture coring has provided significant insights into fracture characteristics such as surface morphology, as well as proppant transport behavior during fracturing operations. Local proppant transport behavior is impacted by fracture morphology, which in turn is influenced by variations in mechanical rock properties as well as changing stress distributions within the stimulated reservoir. This talk will cover multiple case studies highlighting observed proppant distribution in multiple cores and how their distribution is impacted by various intrinsic (such as rock) as well as extrinsic (such as frac design) factors. In addition, the concept of proppant-log will be introduced and some initial observations from an actual field test from the Permian will be shared.
Session 2:
Title: A Multi-Scale Multi-Physics Framework to Study the Effect of Nano-pore Confinement on Phase Behavior and Transport Properties of Reservoir Fluids (Dr. Bahareh Nojabaei)
Abstract: Nanopore confinement effects are proven to affect the transport and phase behavior of oil and gas in the shale nano-porous media. I use multi-scale multi-physics simulation tools to better understand the rock-fluids interactions and reservoir fluid phase behavior in nanopores, and to characterize fluid flow and mass transfer mechanisms in tight rocks. In the larger scale, the goal of my research is to propose methods to optimize the primary recovery, predict future production, and also to recommend scenarios to enhance the secondary recovery of unconventional resources, in a sustainable manner.
In my presentation, I plan to briefly go through my research work on the development of a field-scale black-oil type simulation, which includes the effect of nano-sized pores on fluid phase behavior and molecular diffusion, which can be used to model both primary recovery and EOR. Next I will explain about our fully compositional simulation tool to characterize the reservoir fluid phase behavior and mass transfer in heterogeneous shale rocks during gas injection EOR, which uses a modified phase behavior model to calculate molecular diffusion coefficients under confinement effects. I will conclude my presentation by explaining about our molecular dynamics framework to study the molecular behavior of hydrocarbons, water, and CO2 in shale nano-pores, and how we are going to extend our understanding from the nano-scale up to the larger scales (field and core scale).
Location:
Virtual Only (Webinar)