Course Content

Shale well construction and fracturing are both geology controlled, with probably more geologic impact in developing stimulated rock volume in an unconventional reservoir than in a conventional one.

This presentation will look at well placement vertically in the pay, well azimuth and well trajectory with explanations of how geology and post-depositional effects can make the difference between a successful well and a failure. Both the macro and micro scale will be used to look at flow paths in the shale and behavior of shale wells on the producing side.

Examples from several shales will be used to identify geologic knowledge that must be considered to make a successful shale completion.

The presentation will also cover how tight oil sands might be approached with the same technologies used in shale reservoir fracturing.

Case studies will be presented that cover the following:

• Barnett
• Bakken
• Marcellus
• Woodford
• Eagle Ford
• Tight oil sands

Structure of the E-Symposium

Each e-symposium consists of one-hour live e-symposium, along with material for one full day of independent study. The 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).