Applications of a Multidomain, Integrated Tight Gas Field Development Process in North America and How To Adapt It to the Middle East

Abstract Hydraulic fracturing is a widespread well stimulation treatment in the oil and gas industry. It is particularly prevalent in shale gas fields, where virtually all production can be attributed to the practice of fracturing. It is also used in the context of tight oil and gas reservoirs, for example in deep-water scenarios where the cost of drilling and completion is very high; well productivity, which is dictated by hydraulic fractures, is vital. The correct modeling in reservoir simulation can be critical in such settings because hydraulic fracturing can dramatically change the flow dynamics of a reservoir. What presents a challenge in flow simulation due to hydraulic fractures is that they introduce effects that operate on a different length and time scale than the usual dynamics of a reservoir. Capturing these effects and utilizing them to advantage can be critical for any operator in context of a field development plan for any unconventional or tight field. This paper focuses on a study that was undertaken to compare different methods of simulating hydraulic fractures to formulate a field development plan for a tight gas field. To maintaing the confidentiality of data and to showcase only the technical aspect of the workflow, we will refer to the asset as Field A in subsequent sections of this paper. Field A is a low permeability (0.01md-0.1md), tight (8% to 12% porosity) gas-condensate (API ~51deg and CGR~65 stb/mmscf) reservoir at ~3000m depth. Being structurally complex, it has a large number of erosional features and pinch-outs. The study involved comparing analytical fracture modeling, explicit modeling using local grid refinements, tartan gridding, pseudo-well connection approach and full-field unconventional fracture modeling. The result of the study was to use, for the first time for Field A, a system of generating pseudo well connections to simulate hydraulic fractures. The approach was found to be efficient both terms of replicating field data for a 10 year period while drastically reducing simulation runtime for the subsequent 10 year-period too. It helped the subsurface team to test multiple scenarios in a limited time-frame leading to improved project management.

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Achieving Cementing Improvement in Horizontal Tight Gas Field Development

10.2118/spe-172937-ms ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Pungki Ariyanto ◽

Mohamed.A.. A. Najwani ◽

Yaseen Najwani ◽

Hani Al Lawati ◽

Jochen Pfeiffer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tight Gas ◽

Cement Slurry ◽

Tight Sandstone ◽

Gas Field ◽

Full Field ◽

Field Development ◽

Horizontal Drain ◽

Tight Reservoir ◽

Design For All ◽

Zonal Isolation

Abstract This paper outlines how a drilling team is meeting the challenge of cementing a production liner in deep horizontal drain sections in a tight sandstone reservoir. It is intended to show how the application of existing technologies and processes is leading to performance gain and improvements in cementing quality. The full field development plan of the tight reservoir gas project in the Sultanate of Oman is based on drilling around 300 wells targeting gas producing horizons at measured depths of around 6,000m MD with 1,000m horizontal sections. Effective cement placement for zonal isolation is critical across the production liner in order to contain fracture propagation in the correct zone. The first few attempts to cement the production liner in these wells had to overcome many challenges before finally achieving the well objectives. By looking at the complete system, rather than just the design of the cement slurry, the following criteria areas were identified: –Slurry design–Mud removal and cement slurry placement–Liner hanger and float equipment Improvements have been made in each of these areas, and the result has been delivery of a succesfully optimised liner cementing design for all future horizontal wells.

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Achieving Cementing Improvement in Horizontal Tight Gas Field Development

10.2118/172937-ms ◽

2015 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Pungki Ariyanto ◽

Mohamed Ahmed Najwani ◽

Yaseen Najwani ◽

Hani Al Lawati ◽

Jochen Pfeiffer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tight Gas ◽

Gas Field ◽

Field Development

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Calibration of Static Reservoir Models with Dynamic Data for Efficient Tight-Gas Field Development (Wyoming, US)

10.2118/164031-ms ◽

2013 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

German D. Merletti ◽

Rohollah A. Pour ◽

David R. Spain

Keyword(s):

Tight Gas ◽

Gas Field ◽

Dynamic Data ◽

Field Development ◽

Reservoir Models

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Field Optimization Via Data Approach: A Case Study of Data Mining for Tight Gas Flowback Evaluations

10.2118/205601-ms ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Yuan Liu ◽

Bin Li ◽

Hongjie Zhang ◽

Fan Yang ◽

Guan Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Data Mining ◽

Production Performance ◽

Reservoir Quality ◽

Tight Gas ◽

Well Performance ◽

Gas Field ◽

Field Development ◽

Field Level ◽

Depth Analysis ◽

The Impact

Abstract The economics of tight gas fields highly depend on the consistency between expected production and the actual well performance. A mismatch between the reservoir quality and the well production often leads to a review of the individual well. However, such mismatch may vary from case to case, and it is hard to perform a field-level analysis based on individual well reviews. We introduce a new method based on data mining to assist the field-level diagnosis. LX gas field is located the in eastern Ordos basin. Compared to the main gas field in the center of the basin, LX field is less predictable in well performance. This predictability issue hinders field development in LX field because the field economics are substantially jeopardized by the inconsistency between the reservoir quality and the production performance. The traditional workflow to understand this issue at the field level is to review the details of a large number of individual wells in the area. This is typically an intense task, and too much detail from multiple disciplines may hide the true pattern of the field behavior. To resolve this issue, we applied data mining in our field development diagnosis workflow. Our new workflow in LX area started with the existing field datasheet, including logging summaries, completion treatment reports, and flowback testing datasheets. With the data extracted from these different sources, we visualized the consolidated information in various plots and graphs based on regression analysis, which revealed the relation between flowback ratio and the production, the flowback rate consistency from the different service suppliers, and the impact of water productions. The data mining approach helped to generate new understandings in LX gas field. With the in-depth analysis of the flowback data together with reservoir properties and operation parameters, the key problems in the field were identified for further development optimization, and the field economics can be significantly improved. The diagnosis method can be easily adapted and applied to any field with similar problems, and data mining can be useful for almost all large-scale field development optimizations.

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A mathematical model of an oil and gas field development process

European Journal of Applied Mathematics ◽

10.1017/s095679251000001x ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 21 (3) ◽

pp. 205-227 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

C. ATKINSON ◽

R. ISANGULOV

Keyword(s):

Mathematical Model ◽

Probability Distribution ◽

Development Process ◽

Oil And Gas ◽

Renewal Theory ◽

Random Processes ◽

Gas Field ◽

Field Development ◽

Oil And Gas Field ◽

Complete Probability

A mathematical model of the development of an oil and gas field is presented. The field development process is treated as sequential in nature. Completion of a well and its production are considered to be random processes. The model uses results from renewal theory where the completion of a well and failure to produce economical amount of oil or gas are analogous to the failure of a component. In principle, the theory described can give the complete probability distribution associated with a field development. Explicit expressions are given for the expected value and variance of the number of completed wells.

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Geological Model Coupled with Geomechanics Makes an Impact on Fracturing Stimulation and Field Development Strategy of a Tight Gas Formation in the Sultanate of Oman

10.2118/spe-172949-ms ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Kevin Bate ◽

Mauricio Lane ◽

Alexey Moiseenkov ◽

Sergey Nadezhdin

Keyword(s):

Development Strategy ◽

Fracture Propagation ◽

Radioactive Tracer ◽

Hydraulic Fractures ◽

Tight Gas ◽

Reservoir Properties ◽

Gas Field ◽

Field Development ◽

Tight Gas Formation ◽

The Individual

Abstract Appraisal drilling of a recently discovered Cambrian-aged gas field in Oman is indicating that the field may have significant amounts of gas locked in a challenging deep, hot, and highly pressured reservoir environment. The low porosity and permeability values of the Amin reservoir allow the classification of the reservoir as a tight gas sand. The variability of reservoir properties, both spatially and vertically, makes it difficult to standardize perforation and fracture stimulation design which, in turn, complicates delineation of a development plan for the project. One of the difficulties relates to uncertainty in vertical propagation of hydraulic fractures. Fracture height based on evaluation of radioactive tracer logs indicates that vertical barriers to fracture propagation may relate to specific geologic zones in the reservoir. The mapping of the reservoir zones into undeveloped areas of the field would allow selection of primary and secondary production targets based on the specific physical properties of the individual zones. To assume that no barrier to fracture propagation exists between separate production units may lead to attempts to stimulate them synchronously, which would be disadvantageous for several reasons, such as premature screenouts and incomplete coverage of gas-bearing layers. Reserves booking and allocation can also be jeopardized should the fractures propagate into undesired zones.

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