Quantitative Multiparameter Prediction of Fractured Tight Sandstone Reservoirs: A Case Study of the Yanchang Formation of the Ordos Basin, Central China

SPE Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Jingshou Liu ◽  
Wenlong Ding ◽  
Haimeng Yang ◽  
Yang Liu

Summary Fractured reservoirs account for more than one-half of the global oil and gas output and thus play a pivotal role in the world’s energy structure. Under diagenesis, rocks become dense, and tectonic fractures easily form under subsequent tectonic movement. These tectonic fractures are the main seepage conduits of tight sandstone reservoirs and are important determinants of whether a tight sandstone reservoir can have high, stable oil and gas production. The influence of multistage tectonic movement has led to well-developed fractures in the Ordos Basin in central China. In the process of reservoir development, the effective stress on the fracture surface increases because of the decrease in pore pressure, and the fracture aperture, porosity, and permeability also change accordingly. Therefore, modeling of the dual porosity and dual permeability of fractured reservoirs requires a dynamic 4D modeling process related to time. In this paper, we propose a 4D modeling method of dual porosity and dual permeability in fractured tight sandstone reservoirs. First, the porosity and permeability distribution of the reservoir matrix are established based on reservoir modeling. Based on geomechanical modeling, the density and occurrence of natural fractures are predicted by the paleostress field. The in-situ stress field is used to analyze the fracture aperture, and the variation in the fracture aperture during the development process is analyzed along with the variation in the in-situ stress in the development process to realize 4D modeling of the porosity and permeability of fractured reservoirs. The total porosity of the fracture is 0 to 8 × 10−3%, and the principal value of the planar permeability of the fracture is 0 to 3 × 10−3 µm2; the principal value of the fracture permeability is concentrated in the direction of 65 to 70° east-northeast. The simulated fracture porosity stress sensitivity index is distributed between 0 and 0.2, and the fracture permeability stress sensitivity index is distributed between 0 and 0.4. The Young’s modulus of the rock, in-situ stress parameters, and sound velocity in the rock are important factors affecting the fracture stress sensitivity.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiaying Li ◽  
Chunyan Qi ◽  
Ye Gu ◽  
Yu Ye ◽  
Jie Zhao

Abstract The characteristics of seepage capability and rock strain during reservoir depletion are important for reservoir recovery, which would significantly influence production strategy optimization. The Cretaceous deep natural gas reservoirs in Keshen Gasfield in Tarim Basin are mainly buried over 5000 m, featuring with ultra-low permeability, developed natural fractures and complex in-situ stress states. However, there is no comprehensive study on the variation of mechanical properties and seepage capability of this gas reservoir under in-situ stress conditions and most studies on stress-sensitivity are conducted under conventional triaxial or uniaxial stress conditions, which cannot truly represent in-situ stress environment. In this work, Cretaceous tight sandstone in Keshen Gasfield was tested under true-triaxial stresses conditions by an advanced geophysical imaging true-triaxial testing system to study the stress-sensitivity and anisotropy of rock stress-strain behavior, porosity and permeability. Four groups of sandstone samples are prepared as the size of 80mm×80mm×80mm, three of which are artificially fractured with different angle (0°,15°,30°) to simulate hydraulic fracturing. The test results corresponding to different samples are compared to further reveal the influence of the fracture angle on rock mechanical properties and seepage capability. The samples are in elastic strain during reservoir depletion, showing an apparent correlation with fracture angles. The porosity decreases linearly with stress loading, where the decrease rate of effective porosity of fracture samples is significantly higher than that of intact samples. The permeabilities decrease exponentially and show significant anisotropy in different principal stress directions, especially in σH direction. The mechanical properties and seepage capability of deep tight sandstone are successfully tested under true-triaxial stresses conditions in this work, which reveals the stress-sensitivity of anisotropic permeability, porosity and stress-strain behavior during gas production. The testing results proposed in this paper provides an innovative method to analyse rock mechanical and petrophysical properties and has profound significance on exploration and development of tight gas reservoir.


Geofluids ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuanyin Jiang ◽  
Xiaoguang Wang ◽  
Zhixue Sun ◽  
Qinghua Lei

We investigated the effect of in situ stresses on fluid flow in a natural fracture network. The fracture network model is based on an actual critically connected (i.e., close to the percolation threshold) fracture pattern mapped from a field outcrop. We derive stress-dependent fracture aperture fields using a hybrid finite-discrete element method. We analyze the changes of aperture distribution and fluid flow field with variations of in situ stress orientation and magnitude. Our simulations show that an isotropic stress loading tends to reduce fracture apertures and suppress fluid flow, resulting in a decrease of equivalent permeability of the fractured rock. Anisotropic stresses may cause a significant amount of sliding of fracture walls accompanied with shear-induced dilation along some preferentially oriented fractures, resulting in enhanced flow heterogeneity and channelization. When the differential stress is further elevated, fracture propagation becomes prevailing and creates some new flow paths via linking preexisting natural fractures, which attempts to increase the bulk permeability but attenuates the flow channelization. Comparing to the shear-induced dilation effect, it appears that the propagation of new cracks leads to a more prominent permeability enhancement for the natural fracture system. The results have particularly important implications for predicting the hydraulic responses of fractured rocks to in situ stress fields and may provide useful guidance for the strategy design of geofluid production from naturally fractured reservoirs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhaosheng Wang ◽  
Meiri Muhtar ◽  
Donghao Xu ◽  
Jinchuan Fang ◽  
Jing Li ◽  
...  

Natural fractures play an important role in the seepage system of Paleogene sandstone reservoirs at Nanpu Sag. Characteristics and formation mechanisms of natural fractures and stress-sensitivity permeability are comprehensively investigated and their impact on water injection is discussed based on core and log data (FMI and diplog data) as well as stress-sensitivity permeability measurement. Results show that high-angle shear fractures, including NE-SW strike fractures and NW-SE strike fractures, are widely developed in the study area, which were primarily developed during the late Paleogene and late Neogene. The present maximum horizontal principal stress is orientated at N60°–80°E, approximately parallel to the NE-SW fractures, contributing greatly to the seepage system at the early oilfield development stage. Fractures in the study area can be divided into three phases and are characterized by obvious stress-sensitivity permeability, which is closely related to fracture aperture and throat size. Since the fracture occurrence enhances stress sensitivity of permeability, it is necessary to regulate well pattern based on dynamic behaviors of fractured reservoirs at different development stages.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongxiang Zheng ◽  
Jianjun Liu ◽  
Bohu Zhang

The in situ stress has an important influence on fracture propagation and fault stability in deep formation. However, the development of oil and gas resources can only be determined according to the existing state of in situ stress in most cases. It is passive acceptance of existing in situ stress. Unfortunately, in some cases, the in situ stress conditions are not conducive to resource development. If the in situ stress can be interfered in some ways, the stress can be adjusted to a more favorable state. In order to explore the method of artificial interference, this paper established the calculation method of the in situ stress around the cracks based on fracture mechanics at first and obtained the redistribution law of the in situ stress. Based on the obtained redistribution law, attempts were made to interfere with the surrounding in situ stress by water injection in the preexisting crack. On this basis, the artificial stress intervention was applied. The results show that artificial interference of stress can effectively be achieved by water injection in the fracture. And changing the fluid pressure in the crack is the most effective way. By stress artificial intervention, critical pressure for water channelling in fractured reservoirs, directional propagation of cracks in hydraulic fracturing, and stress adjustment on the structural plane were applied. This study provides guidance for artificial stress intervention in the exploitation of the underground resource.


2011 ◽  
Vol 317-319 ◽  
pp. 2432-2435
Author(s):  
Yu Xue Sun ◽  
Fei Yao ◽  
Jing Yuan Zhao

In the process of low-permeability sandstone reservoir exploitation, stress sensitivity takes place with the effective stress rises gradually, which will cause permeability decline. Allowing to the condition of in-situ stress, the study and experiment on the rock core in Jilin oil field Fuxin326 oil layer are presented. The experimental results show that the stress sensitivity of this oil layer is small; the regularity of permeability changes is in accordance with exponential function. The stress sensitivity of high permeability core is larger than that of low permeability core. Moreover, experimental and theoretical analysis shows that low permeability core has a larger permeability loss than high permeability core in loading and unloading process where elastic plastic deformation of rock will happen, which is the major reason that permeability loss can not return completely.


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