Tight Oil Reservoirs

Oil Recovery in Shale and Tight Reservoirs delivers a current, state-of-the-art resource for engineers trying to manage unconventional hydrocarbon resources. Going beyond the traditional EOR methods, this book helps readers solve key challenges on the proper methods, technologies and options available. Engineers and researchers will find a systematic list of methods and applications, including gas and water injection, methods to improve liquid recovery, as well as spontaneous and forced imbibition. Rounding out with additional methods, such as air foam drive and energized fluids, this book gives engineers the knowledge they need to tackle the most complex oil and gas assets. Helps readers understand the methods and mechanisms for enhanced oil recovery technology, specifically for shale and tight oil reservoirs Includes available EOR methods, along with recent practical case studies that cover topics like fracturing fluid flow back Teaches additional methods, such as soaking after fracturing, thermal recovery and microbial EOR

Shale Gas and Tight Oil Reservoir Simulation delivers the latest research and applications used to better manage and interpret simulating production from shale gas and tight oil reservoirs. Starting with basic fundamentals, the book then includes real field data that will not only generate reliable reserve estimation, but also predict the effective range of reservoir and fracture properties through multiple history matching solutions. Also included are new insights into the numerical modelling of CO2 injection for enhanced oil recovery in tight oil reservoirs. This information is critical for a better understanding of the impacts of key reservoir properties and complex fractures. Models the well performance of shale gas and tight oil reservoirs with complex fracture geometries Teaches how to perform sensitivity studies, history matching, production forecasts, and economic optimization for shale-gas and tight-oil reservoirs Helps readers investigate data mining techniques, including the introduction of nonparametric smoothing models

Reservoir Engineering focuses on the fundamental concepts related to the development of conventional and unconventional reservoirs and how these concepts are applied in the oil and gas industry to meet both economic and technical challenges. Written in easy to understand language, the book provides valuable information regarding present-day tools, techniques, and technologies and explains best practices on reservoir management and recovery approaches. Various reservoir workflow diagrams presented in the book provide a clear direction to meet the challenges of the profession. As most reservoir engineering decisions are based on reservoir simulation, a chapter is devoted to introduce the topic in lucid fashion. The addition of practical field case studies make Reservoir Engineering a valuable resource for reservoir engineers and other professionals in helping them implement a comprehensive plan to produce oil and gas based on reservoir modeling and economic analysis, execute a development plan, conduct reservoir surveillance on a continuous basis, evaluate reservoir performance, and apply corrective actions as necessary. Connects key reservoir fundamentals to modern engineering applications Bridges the conventional methods to the unconventional, showing the differences between the two processes Offers field case studies and workflow diagrams to help the reservoir professional and student develop and sharpen management skills for both conventional and unconventional reservoirs

Natural gas and crude oil production from hydrocarbon rich deep shale formations is one of the most quickly expanding trends in domestic oil and gas exploration. Vast new natural gas and oil resources are being discovered every year across North America and one of those new resources comes from the development of deep shale formations, typically located many thousands of feet below the surface of the Earth in tight, low permeability formations. Deep Shale Oil and Gas provides an introduction to shale gas resources as well as offer a basic understanding of the geomechanical properties of shale, the need for hydraulic fracturing, and an indication of shale gas processing. The book also examines the issues regarding the nature of shale gas development, the potential environmental impacts, and the ability of the current regulatory structure to deal with these issues. Deep Shale Oil and Gas delivers a useful reference that today’s petroleum and natural gas engineer can use to make informed decisions about meeting and managing the challenges they may face in the development of these resources. Clarifies all the basic information needed to quickly understand today’s deeper shale oil and gas industry, horizontal drilling, fracture fluids chemicals needed, and completions Addresses critical coverage on water treatment in shale, and important and evolving technology Practical handbook with real-world case shale plays discussed, especially the up-and-coming deeper areas of shale development

Fundamentals of Enhanced Oil Recovery Methods for Unconventional Oil Reservoirs, Volume 67 provides important guidance on which EOR methods work in shale and tight oil reservoirs. This book helps readers learn the main fluid and rock properties of shale and tight reservoirs—which are the main target for EOR techniques—and understand the physical and chemical mechanisms for the injected EOR fluids to enhance oil recovery in shale and tight oil reservoirs. The book explains the effects of complex hydraulic fractures and natural fractures on the performance of each EOR technique. The book describes the parameters affecting obtained oil recovery by injecting different EOR methods in both the microscopic and macroscopic levels of ULR. This book also provides proxy models to associate the functionality of the improved oil recovery by injecting different EOR methods with different operating parameters, rock, and fluid properties. The book provides profesasionals working in the petroleum industry the know-how to conduct a successful project for different EOR methods in shale plays, while it also helps academics and students in understanding the basics and principles that make the performance of EOR methods so different in conventional reservoirs and unconventional formations. Provides a general workflow for how to conduct a successful project for different EOR methods in these shale plays Provides general guidelines for how to select the best EOR method according to the reservoir characteristics and wells stimulation criteria Explains the basics and principles that make the performance of EOR methods so different in conventional reservoirs versus unconventional formations

A comprehensive overview of the key geologic, geomechanical and engineering principles that govern the development of unconventional oil and gas reservoirs. Covering hydrocarbon-bearing formations, horizontal drilling, reservoir seismology and environmental impacts, this is an invaluable resource for geologists, geophysicists and reservoir engineers.

Fluid Phase Behavior for Conventional and Unconventional Oil and Gas Reservoirs delivers information on the role of PVT (pressure-volume-temperature) tests/data in various aspects, in particular reserve estimation, reservoir modeling, flow assurance, and enhanced oil recovery for both conventional and unconventional reservoirs. This must-have reference also prepares engineers on the importance of PVT tests, how to evaluate the data, develop an effective management plan for flow assurance, and gain perspective of flow characterization, with a particular focus on shale oil, shale gas, gas hydrates, and tight oil making. This book is a critical resource for today’s reservoir engineer, helping them effectively manage and maximize a company’s oil and gas reservoir assets. Provides tactics on reservoir phase behavior and dynamics with new information on shale oil and gas hydrates Helps readers Improve on the effect of salt concentration and application to C02-Acid Gas Disposal with content on water-hydrocarbon systems Provides practical experience with PVT and tuning of EOS with additional online excel spreadsheet examples

Unconventional Reservoir Rate-Transient Analysis: Volume One, Fundamentals, Analysis Methods and Workflow provides a comprehensive review of RTA methods, helping petroleum engineers and geoscientists understand how to confidently apply RTA to tight reservoirs exhibiting single-phase flow of oil and gas. The book provides practitioners with an overview of the basic concepts used in RTA, including flow-regime identification and application of straight-line analysis, type-curve analysis, and model history-matching approaches that are applicable to low-complexity, tight reservoirs exhibiting single-phase flow of oil and gas. Workflow steps are discussed and illustrated in detail for hydraulically fractured vertical wells and multi-fractured horizontal wells. Supported by many real-world field examples, this comprehensive resource supplies today’s petroleum engineers and geoscientists with an overview of RTA methods as applied to tight reservoirs. A companion text, Unconventional Reservoir Rate-Transient Analysis: Volume Two, Application to Complex Reservoirs, Exploration and Development bridges a critical knowledge gap to help practicing petroleum engineers and geoscientists understand how RTA methods can be adopted and applied to today’s unconventional reservoirs. Reviews key concepts and analysis methods used in modern rate-transient analysis (RTA) as applied to low-permeability ("tight") oil and gas reservoirs Provides a workflow for confident derivation of reservoir/hydraulic fracture properties and hydrocarbon-in-place estimates for wells completed in unconventional reservoirs Includes detailed discussions and illustrations of each step of the workflow using field examples

The development of naturally fractured reservoirs, especially shale gas and tight oil reservoirs, exploded in recent years due to advanced drilling and fracturing techniques. However, complex fracture geometries such as irregular fracture networks and non-planar fractures are often generated, especially in the presence of natural fractures. Accurate modelling of production from reservoirs with such geometries is challenging. Therefore, Embedded Discrete Fracture Modeling and Application in Reservoir Simulation demonstrates how production from reservoirs with complex fracture geometries can be modelled efficiently and effectively. This volume presents a conventional numerical model to handle simple and complex fractures using local grid refinement (LGR) and unstructured gridding. Moreover, it introduces an Embedded Discrete Fracture Model (EDFM) to efficiently deal with complex fractures by dividing the fractures into segments using matrix cell boundaries and creating non-neighboring connections (NNCs). A basic EDFM approach using Cartesian grids and advanced EDFM approach using Corner point and unstructured grids will be covered. Embedded Discrete Fracture Modeling and Application in Reservoir Simulation is an essential reference for anyone interested in performing reservoir simulation of conventional and unconventional fractured reservoirs. Highlights the current state-of-the-art in reservoir simulation of unconventional reservoirs Offers understanding of the impacts of key reservoir properties and complex fractures on well performance Provides case studies to show how to use the EDFM method for different needs

Unconventional Petroleum Geology is the first book of its kind to collectively identify, catalog, and assess the exploration and recovery potential of the Earth's unconventional hydrocarbons. Advances in hydrocarbon technology and petroleum development systems have recently made the exploration of unconventional hydrocarbons—such as shale gas, tight sandstone oil and gas, heavy oil, tar sand, and coalbed methane—the hottest trend in the petroleum industry. Detailed case studies act as real-world application templates, making the book's concepts immediately practical and useful by exploration geologists. The logical and intuitive three-part approach of systematically identifying an unconventional hydrocarbon, cataloguing its accumulation features, and assessing its exploration and recovery potential can be immediately implemented in the field—anywhere in the world. Provides a detailed assessment of the exploration and recovery potential of the full range of unconventional hydrocarbons More than 300 illustrations—many in full color—capture the detailed intricacies and associated technological advances in unconventional hydrocarbon exploration More than 20 case studies and examples from around the world conclude each chapter and aid in the application of key exploration and recovery techniques

As the shale revolution continues in North America, unconventional resource markets are emerging on every continent. In the next eight to ten years, more than 100,000 wells and one- to two-million hydraulic fracturing stages could be executed, resulting in close to one trillion dollars in industry spending. This growth has prompted professionals experienced in conventional oil and gas exploitation and development to acquire practical knowledge of the unconventional realm. Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources: Exploitation and Development provides a comprehensive understanding of the latest advances in the exploitation and development of unconventional resources. With an emphasis on shale, this book: Addresses all aspects of the exploitation and development process, from data mining and accounting to drilling, completion, stimulation, production, and environmental issues Offers in-depth coverage of sub-surface measurements (geological, geophysical, petrophysical, geochemical, and geomechanical) and their interpretation Discusses the use of microseismic, fiber optic, and tracer reservoir monitoring technologies and JewelSuiteTM reservoir modeling software Presents the viewpoints of internationally respected experts and researchers from leading exploration and production (E&P) companies and academic institutions Explores future trends in reservoir technologies for unconventional resources development Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources: Exploitation and Development aids geologists, geophysicists, petrophysicists, geomechanic specialists, and drilling, completion, stimulation, production, and reservoir engineers in the environmentally safe exploitation and development of unconventional resources like shale.

The development of tight-gas reservoirs over the last half-century has profoundly affected and expanded the petroleum industry. Moreover, our improved understanding of tight-gas reservoirs--from finding, characterizing, testing, modeling and developing them to producing their resources economically--can be felt not only throughout our industry but also throughout our economy and, indeed, our daily routines. Abundant, reliable, and inexpensive natural gas has truly transformed many aspects of our modern lifestyles. Within the last decade, for example, the world has made great strides in switching from coal-fired to gas-fired electricity generation (with a resulting reduction of US CO2 emissions of 14% since 2005*). Our expanded knowledge of natural-gas development and production has further advanced the goal of achieving energy independence, transforming the US from a gas importer into the third largest liquid natural gas (LNG) exporter in the world. It is truly hard to overstate the efficacy of our understanding and exploitation of tight-gas reservoirs. The four parts contained in this book methodically and comprehensively unfold the technical elements of developing tight-gas reservoirs. They are written - with an industry-wide audience in mind - to help the student understand fundamental concepts - to provide comprehensive reference material for the experienced engineer - for the practitioner in the field looking for case studies and analogues - for those readers curious of mathematical detail and theory, where it will surely lay the foundation for many future academic investigations and doctoral theses This book is comprehensive enough to apply equally to those readers interested in tight-oil reservoirs--common fundamentals, many similar concepts, just larger molecules. This book's organization supports its methodological approach. Part 1 introduces tight-gas resources, including definitions and beginning concepts. Thorough analyses of tight-gas resource types (conventional, shale, and coalbed methane) and their geographical distribution and reserves are given. This part describes shale-gas plays within North America in detail. Part 2 begins where the study of all reservoirs begin, with detailed characterization. Chapters within this part discuss geological considerations over various scales, as well as detailed concepts in well testing and modeling to determine necessary formation properties. Part 3 details all aspects of designing, planning, modeling, and executing hydraulic fracture treatments and provides details on fracture initiation, geometry, and propagation. Part 4 contains 23 case histories of tight gas reservoir development.

This book deals exclusively with naturally fractured reservoirs and includes many subjects usually treated in separate volumes. A highly practical edition, Naturally Fractured Reservoirs is written for students, reservoir geologists, log analysts and petroleum engineers.

Rock Mechanics for Natural Resources and Infrastructure Development contains the proceedings of the 14th ISRM International Congress (ISRM 2019, Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, 13-19 September 2019). Starting in 1966 in Lisbon, Portugal, the International Society for Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering (ISRM) holds its Congress every four years. At this 14th occasion, the Congress brings together researchers, professors, engineers and students around contemporary themes relevant to rock mechanics and rock engineering. Rock Mechanics for Natural Resources and Infrastructure Development contains 7 Keynote Lectures and 449 papers in ten chapters, covering topics ranging from fundamental research in rock mechanics, laboratory and experimental field studies, and petroleum, mining and civil engineering applications. Also included are the prestigious ISRM Award Lectures, the Leopold Muller Award Lecture by professor Peter K. Kaiser. and the Manuel Rocha Award Lecture by Dr. Quinghua Lei. Rock Mechanics for Natural Resources and Infrastructure Development is a must-read for academics, engineers and students involved in rock mechanics and engineering. Proceedings in Earth and geosciences - Volume 6 The ‘Proceedings in Earth and geosciences’ series contains proceedings of peer-reviewed international conferences dealing in earth and geosciences. The main topics covered by the series include: geotechnical engineering, underground construction, mining, rock mechanics, soil mechanics and hydrogeology.

Over a decade ago the World Petroleum Council launched an initiative to hold an international professional youth forum. The first forum took place in October 2004 in China, and had as its motto: "Young people and innovations are the future of the oil industry." It was the first major event in the history of the WPC in which young professionals and academics had the leading role, and had the opportunity to exchange their ideas in insights on the oil and gas industry with industry leaders and main representatives of the oil and gas industry. Since then, issues of professional development and the disclosure of the creative potential of young industry professionals have been on the agenda of the World Petroleum Council as one of the key areas for the development of international cooperation focused on a strategic perspective. The Future Leaders Forum of the World Petroleum Council VI is the largest international platform for professional communication of young specialists in the oil and gas industry. The contributions in this book are much of interest to professionals and scientists interested or involved in the oil and gas industry or related areas.

The need for energy is increasing and but the production from conventional reservoirs is declining quickly. This requires an economically and technically feasible source of energy for the coming years. Among some alternative future energy solutions, the most reasonable source is from unconventional reservoirs. As the name “unconventional” implies, different and challenging approaches are required to characterize and develop these resources. This Special Issue covers some of the technical challenges for developing unconventional energy sources from shale gas/oil, tight gas sand, and coalbed methane.

Hardcover plus CD

Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources Handbook: Evaluation and Development is a must-have, helpful handbook that brings a wealth of information to engineers and geoscientists. Bridging between subsurface and production, the handbook provides engineers and geoscientists with effective methodology to better define resources and reservoirs. Better reservoir knowledge and innovative technologies are making unconventional resources economically possible, and multidisciplinary approaches in evaluating these resources are critical to successful development. Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources Handbook takes this approach, covering a wide range of topics for developing these resources including exploration, evaluation, drilling, completion, and production. Topics include theory, methodology, and case histories and will help to improve the understanding,integrated evaluation, and effective development of unconventional resources. Presents methods for a full development cycle of unconventional resources, from exploration through production Explores multidisciplinary integrations for evaluation and development of unconventional resources and covers a broad range of reservoir characterization methods and development scenarios Delivers balanced information with multiple contributors from both academia and industry Provides case histories involving geological analysis, geomechanical analysis, reservoir modeling, hydraulic fracturing treatment, microseismic monitoring, well performance and refracturing for development of unconventional reservoirs

Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) in tight and shale oil reservoirs has been a difficult problem due to their high degree of heterogeneity and low to ultralow matrix permeability. Primary recovery factor from these reservoirs is generally lower than 10% of original oil in place (OOIP), which leads to the need for non-conventional technologies for EOR in these reservoirs. A thorough understanding of mass transfer processes in ultralow permeability porous media is required for successful designs of EOR projects in tight oil formations and shales. In this study, two advanced EOR methods that involve the reinjection of field gas into shale and tight oil reservoirs are investigated. In the first part of this dissertation, field gas huff-n-puff process as an EOR method for shales is systematically investigated using an optimal experimental design. For a better understanding of the mass transfer mechanisms in nano-sized pores, the effect of pressure program (i.e., pressure buildup and drawdown during a huff-n-puff cycle), reservoir and crude oil properties, solvent selection, and huff-n-puff cycle duration on oil recovery were investigated. The results show that thermodynamic phase behavior, molecular diffusion, and convection could be related to oil recovery factor, production rate, and produced oil composition, forming a conceptual model for natural gas huff-n-puff in shale reservoirs. The second part of this dissertation presents the investigation of a novel EOR method targeting water-sensitive tight formations with sub-10-mD permeability. Mobility control is crucial for high recovery efficiency in these tight oil reservoirs with high heterogeneity. Preferential flow in high permeability zones (or "thief zones") results in poor sweep efficiency. Conventional conformance control techniques such as polymer gels or even aqueous foam may not be suitable for water-sensitive, low-permeability reservoirs. Therefore, a novel concept of non-aqueous foam for improving field gas miscible displacement has been developed. This foam process involves the injection of a raw mixture of natural gas liquids (MNGLs) with non-condensable gas and a foaming agent, which could improve the sweep efficiency by the generation of non-aqueous foam and maximize the displacement efficiency due to the solubility between the crude oil and MNGLs. A specialty surfactant has been developed which could stabilize non-aqueous foam in MNGLs-crude oil mixture for in-situ foam generation. A pore-scale study of this foam process has been conducted using microfluidics to relate oil displacement to foaming mechanisms. The findings from this microscopic study have been validated using core flooding experiments on tight rocks. It can be concluded from both pore- and core-scale studies that the in-situ propagation of non-aqueous foam could be achieved for the first time and delay the injectant breakthrough, resulting in significant improvement of sweep efficiency

Enhanced Oil Recovery Field Case Studies bridges the gap between theory and practice in a range of real-world EOR settings. Areas covered include steam and polymer flooding, use of foam, in situ combustion, microorganisms, "smart water"-based EOR in carbonates and sandstones, and many more. Oil industry professionals know that the key to a successful enhanced oil recovery project lies in anticipating the differences between plans and the realities found in the field. This book aids that effort, providing valuable case studies from more than 250 EOR pilot and field applications in a variety of oil fields. The case studies cover practical problems, underlying theoretical and modeling methods, operational parameters, solutions and sensitivity studies, and performance optimization strategies, benefitting academicians and oil company practitioners alike. Strikes an ideal balance between theory and practice Focuses on practical problems, underlying theoretical and modeling methods, and operational parameters Designed for technical professionals, covering the fundamental as well as the advanced aspects of EOR