Course Content

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to describe geomechanics in shale reservoirs and discuss differences between plays. Further, you will be able to discuss fractures, stress states and the geomechanical factors that affect drilling and operations in diverse shale plays.

Key Concepts

It is well known that shale gas plays have widely varying mineralogy and in situ conditions of temperature and reservoir pressure, resulting in significant differences in their mechanical properties and economic potential. What is less generally recognized is that different plays can also have very different patterns of natural fractures and are subject to very different states of stress. It is important to understand these variations in order to optimize drilling, completion, and stimulation practice. If these differences can be determined and their effects understood, it makes possible meaningful predictions of reservoir response, allowing operators to optimize well designs and manage production to maximize the value of the resource.

• Stress states and natural fracture patterns vary widely between and within North American shale plays
• These variations affect the shape and character of stimulated volumes, the requirements for safe drilling, and the optimal directions to drill to exploit natural fractures
• Knowledge of the stress state and natural fracture distribution and properties can be utilized to improve operations and to maximize the value of microseismic and other data

The one hour live portion will be followed by a full day of independent study (not a live event). The one-hour live e-symposium can be accessed from any computer anywhere in the world using a high-speed internet connection. After the event is over, you will receive via email information about accessing the asynchronous segment (not live) which consists of your independent study materials, to be accessed and studied at any time. You will be able to email responses to the readings, along with your study question answers for CEU credit (if you sign up for the extended package).