Methodology for assessing original gas in place and estimated ultimate recovery from a tight marine formation using hydraulic fracture stimulation modelling
Matthew Goldman A and Raymond L. JohnsonA Geological Survey of Queensland, Level 3, 1 William Street, Brisbane, Qld, 4000, Australia.
B Unconventional Reservoir Solutions, 168 Ninth Avenue, St Lucia, Qld, 4067, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: rayj@unconreservoirs.com.au
The APPEA Journal 57(1) 136-149 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ16176
Accepted: 8 February 2017 Published: 29 May 2017
Abstract
Operators in Australia are currently exploring similar geological settings to the tight marine unconventional petroleum systems of the United States, in the hope of emulating the North American success. This study sets out the methodology and models required to undertake an analysis of a tight marine source and reservoir rock to estimate its production potential, with particular attention given to modelling the required hydraulic fracture stimulation. The project target formation is the tight marine Log Creek Formation, which forms the source rock to the overlying proved Gilmore Gas Field in the Adavale Basin in Central Queensland. The Marcellus Formation in the Appalachian Basin in the Northeastern United States is an assumed analogue to the Adavale Basin; data from the Marcellus Formation was used when unavailable for the Adavale Basin.
Initially, formation evaluation was undertaken to determine key parameters such as total organic carbon (TOC), mineralogy and stress regime. Once the formation had been characterised, a fracture stimulation model was built to determine the hydraulic fracture stimulation treatment design, which optimised the lateral landing depth, hydraulic fracture spacing, conductivity and half‐length. In particular, it is important to determine the lateral landing depth and fracture half‐length with confidence, as they will define the stimulated reservoir volume (SRV), which sets the upper boundary on original gas in place (OGIP) and estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) of gas. OGIP was estimated using a probabilistic model incorporating an adjustment for absorbed gas volume. Finally, a reservoir simulation was undertaken using a single well composite multi‐fracture model to obtain EUR.
Keywords: Adavale Basin, horizontal well, hydraulic fracturing, lateral landing depth, Log Creek Formation, unconventional resources.
Matthew Goldman is a Geoscientist at the Geological Survey of Queensland. Matthew completed his first degree in Theoretical Physics from York University in the UK in 1997. After graduating, he worked as a statistician for the UK Health Department before qualifying as a high school science teacher. Matthew immigrated to Australia in 2007, and in 2009 he joined the Geological Survey of Queensland where he has worked for the past eight years. In November 2016, Matthew completed his Masters in Petroleum Engineering through the joint program of the University of Queensland and Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. |
Raymond (Ray) L. Johnson, Jr. is presently Professor of Well Engineering and Production Technology at the University of Queensland. In addition, he is Principal at Unconventional Reservoir Solutions, serves as Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Adelaide and has been an Adjunct Fellow at the University of Queensland. He has a PhD in mining engineering, a MSc in petroleum engineering, a Graduate Diploma in Information Technology and a BA in Chemistry. Ray is active in the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), was past chair of the SPE Queensland Section and Co-Chair of the SPE Unconventional Reservoir Conference and Exhibition Asia Pacific (2013 and 2015). He has over 36 years of experience and has been involved in the technical committees for numerous SPE technical conferences focusing on reservoir geomechanics, hydraulic fracture design execution and evaluation, and unconventional resource development. |
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