Automated Field Development Planning for Unconventional Shale Gas and Tight Oil

Author(s):  
Peter Tilke ◽  
Wentao Zhou ◽  
Yinli Wang ◽  
Shalini Krishnamurthy ◽  
Mahesh Bhanushali ◽  
...  
2015 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 406
Author(s):  
Vishnu Nair

Moving from conventional to unconventional gas project development requires a significant shift in approach. This presents challenges for operators making this transition, including standards and specifications being mis-matched to functional requirements, the need for robust surface and subsurface field development planning, lack of infrastructure, high construction and procurement costs and the scarcity of supply chain and logistics support. In their need to prove up sufficient reserves in time for downstream LNG plant operations, coal seam gas (CSG) players have neglected the development of appropriate standards, specifications and contracting and procurement strategies that consider how upstream costs can be minimised. This can impact project viability in a high-cost, low-productivity environment. The requirement of shale gas development for continual expansion also presents challenges compared to conventional project development. Adopting a factory approach can ensure a smooth and economic transition through the phase of continual shale gas production across the life of individual wells and through field expansion. Using case studies, this extended abstract describes how innovation can be applied across the gas-gathering development phase of unconventional projects to achieve significant cost savings. Key innovative opportunities include: Maximising modularise construction and operation to reduce the construction schedule and maximise onsite productivity Relocatable, interchangeable, standardised skid designs (design kit approach). Standard modules sized to maximise container volumes (and they minimise freight costs) Low-cost design Asian and Australian fabrication. Fit-for-purpose technology and packages to lower operating costs. Design and fabrication to minimise environmental impacts.


Author(s):  
Peter Tilke ◽  
Wentao Zhou ◽  
Yinli Wang ◽  
Shalini Krishnamurthy ◽  
Mahesh Bhanushali ◽  
...  

AIChE Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zedong Peng ◽  
Can Li ◽  
Ignacio E. Grossmann ◽  
Kysang Kwon ◽  
Sukjoon Ko ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
P. Tilke ◽  
W. Zhou ◽  
S. Krishnamurthy ◽  
G. Grove ◽  
J. Spath ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Atheer Dheyauldeen ◽  
Omar Al-Fatlawi ◽  
Md Mofazzal Hossain

AbstractThe main role of infill drilling is either adding incremental reserves to the already existing one by intersecting newly undrained (virgin) regions or accelerating the production from currently depleted areas. Accelerating reserves from increasing drainage in tight formations can be beneficial considering the time value of money and the cost of additional wells. However, the maximum benefit can be realized when infill wells produce mostly incremental recoveries (recoveries from virgin formations). Therefore, the prediction of incremental and accelerated recovery is crucial in field development planning as it helps in the optimization of infill wells with the assurance of long-term economic sustainability of the project. Several approaches are presented in literatures to determine incremental and acceleration recovery and areas for infill drilling. However, the majority of these methods require huge and expensive data; and very time-consuming simulation studies. In this study, two qualitative techniques are proposed for the estimation of incremental and accelerated recovery based upon readily available production data. In the first technique, acceleration and incremental recovery, and thus infill drilling, are predicted from the trend of the cumulative production (Gp) versus square root time function. This approach is more applicable for tight formations considering the long period of transient linear flow. The second technique is based on multi-well Blasingame type curves analysis. This technique appears to best be applied when the production of parent wells reaches the boundary dominated flow (BDF) region before the production start of the successive infill wells. These techniques are important in field development planning as the flow regimes in tight formations change gradually from transient flow (early times) to BDF (late times) as the production continues. Despite different approaches/methods, the field case studies demonstrate that the accurate framework for strategic well planning including prediction of optimum well location is very critical, especially for the realization of the commercial benefit (i.e., increasing and accelerating of reserve or assets) from infilled drilling campaign. Also, the proposed framework and findings of this study provide new insight into infilled drilling campaigns including the importance of better evaluation of infill drilling performance in tight formations, which eventually assist on informed decisions process regarding future development plans.


2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. V. Alferov ◽  
A. G. Lutfurakhmanov ◽  
K. V. Litvinenko ◽  
S. E. Zdolnik

2016 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Tupper ◽  
Eric Matthews ◽  
Gareth Cooper ◽  
Andy Furniss ◽  
Tim Hicks ◽  
...  

The Waitsia Field represents a new commercial play for the onshore north Perth Basin with potential to deliver substantial reserves and production to the domestic gas market. The discovery was made in 2014 by deepening of the Senecio–3 appraisal well to evaluate secondary reservoir targets. The well successfully delineated the extent of the primary target in the Upper Permian Dongara and Wagina sandstones of the Senecio gas field but also encountered a combination of good-quality and tight gas pay in the underlying Lower Permian Kingia and High Cliff sandstones. The drilling of the Waitsia–1 and Waitsia–2 wells in 2015, and testing of Senecio-3 and Waitsia-1, confirmed the discovery of a large gas field with excellent flow characteristics. Wireline log and pressure data define a gross gas column in excess of 350 m trapped within a low-side fault closure that extends across 50 km2. The occurrence of good-quality reservoir in the depth interval 3,000–3,800 m is diagenetically controlled with clay rims inhibiting quartz cementation and preserving excellent primary porosity. Development planning for Waitsia has commenced with the likelihood of an early production start-up utilising existing wells and gas processing facilities before ramp-up to full-field development. The dry gas will require minimal processing, and access to market is facilitated by the Dampier–Bunbury and Parmelia gas pipelines that pass directly above the field. The Waitsia Field is believed to be the largest conventional Australian onshore discovery for more than 30 years and provides impetus and incentive for continued exploration in mature and frontier basins. The presence of good-quality reservoir and effective fault seal was unexpected and emphasise the need to consider multiple geological scenarios and to test unorthodox ideas with the drill bit.


2013 ◽  
Vol 421 ◽  
pp. 917-921
Author(s):  
De Xun Liu ◽  
Shu Heng Tang ◽  
Hong Yan Wang ◽  
Qun Zhao

Affected by the constant development of global economy and the imbalance in distribution of conventional oil and gas, oil and gas resources can no longer meet the demand in many countries. Development of unconventional oil and gas has begun to take shape. Shale gas and tight oil become the focus of global attention. Unconventional oil and gas resources are relatively abundant in China. Preliminary results have been achieved in the development of shale gas. Tight oil has been developed in small scale, and the main technologies are maturing gradually. Yet we face many challenges. Low in work degree, resources remain uncertain. Environmental capacity is limited, and large scale batch jobs will confront with difficulties.


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