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Tight Gas Sands

Explorer Article

Energy industry companies and geoscience college students are invited to participate in the fifth annual AAPG/SEG Spring Student Expo, set March 10-12 at the Sarkeys Energy Center at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

This year's annual Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists' Core Conference, a cornerstone of the CSPG' technical offerings, will be held June 23-24 in Calgary, immediately following the AAPG Annual Convention.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Rocky Mountain high? Colorado drilling permits are expected to hit a record this year as drilling techniques boost results.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

The old question about reserve estimates: How much oil does the earth have? The new question: Does anyone have any idea?

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

Timing, teamwork and technology contributed to the success stories of the lives of the lives of the featured lecturers at the Michel T. Halbouty Lecture.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Article

They're young, they're old, male and female, company men and independent strivers. What, then, makes these varied people successful oil finders?

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Geophysical Corner

What was once unconventional can become commonplace. Remember when fixing a lunch in a microwave oven was rare?

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
Explorer Emphasis Article

Harsh reality of Canada: Competing head-to-head with the best opportunities available worldwide, Canadian exploration plays have attracted the attention of American E&P companies.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)
VG Abstract

Production from unconventional petroleum reservoirs includes petroleum from shale, coal, tight-sand and oil-sand. These reservoirs contain enormous quantities of oil and natural gas but pose a technology challenge to both geoscientists and engineers to produce economically on a commercial scale. These reservoirs store large volumes and are widely distributed at different stratigraphic levels and basin types, offering long-term potential for energy supply. Most of these reservoirs are low permeability and porosity that need enhancement with hydraulic fracture stimulation to maximize fluid drainage. Production from these reservoirs is increasing with continued advancement in geological characterization techniques and technology for well drilling, logging, and completion with drainage enhancement. Currently, Australia, Argentina, Canada, Egypt, USA, and Venezuela are producing natural gas from low permeability reservoirs: tight-sand, shale, and coal (CBM). Canada, Russia, USA, and Venezuela are producing heavy oil from oilsand. USA is leading the development of techniques for exploring, and technology for exploiting unconventional gas resources, which can help to develop potential gas-bearing shales of Thailand. The main focus is on source-reservoir-seal shale petroleum plays. In these tight rocks petroleum resides in the micro-pores as well as adsorbed on and in the organics. Shale has very low matrix permeability (nano-darcies) and has highly layered formations with differences in vertical and horizontal properties, vertically non-homogeneous and horizontally anisotropic with complicate natural fractures. Understanding the rocks is critical in selecting fluid drainage enhancement mechanisms; rock properties such as where shale is clay or silica rich, clay types and maturation , kerogen type and maturation, permeability, porosity, and saturation. Most of these plays require horizontal development with large numbers of wells that require an understanding of formation structure, setting and reservoir character and its lateral extension. The quality of shale-gas resources depend on thickness of net pay (>100 m), adequate porosity (>2%), high reservoir pressure (ideally overpressure), high thermal maturity (>1.5% Ro), high organic richness (>2% TOC), low in clay (<50%), high in brittle minerals (quartz, carbonates, feldspars), and favourable in-situ stress. During the past decade, unconventional shale and tight-sand gas plays have become an important supply of natural gas in the US, and now in shale oil as well. As a consequence, interest to assess and explore these plays is rapidly spreading worldwide. The high production potential of shale petroleum resources has contributed to a comparably favourable outlook for increased future petroleum supplies globally. Application of 2D and 3D seismic for defining reservoirs and micro seismic for monitoring fracturing, measuring rock properties downhole (borehole imaging) and in laboratory (mineralogy, porosity, permeability), horizontal drilling (downhole GPS), and hydraulic fracture stimulation (cross-linked gel, slick-water, nitrogen or nitrogen foam) is key in improving production from these huge resources with low productivity factors.

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American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG)

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