Primary funding is provided by

The SPE Foundation through member donations

and a contribution from Offshore Europe
The Society is grateful to those companies that allow their
professionals to serve as lecturers

Additional support provided by AIME

Society of Petroleum Engineers

Distinguished Lecturer Program
www.spe.org/dl

Releasing Shale-Gas Potential

with Fractured Horizontal Wells
Erdal Ozkan

Society of Petroleum Engineers

Distinguished Lecturer Program
www.spe.org/dl

US gas potential increased 4 to 6 times

from 1998 to 2008
(150 Tcf in 1998 and 500-1000 Tcf in 2008 Arthur, 2008)

This is
due to the
economic
success
of the
shale
plays

Source IAE, Lippman Consulting

Key Characteristics of Production

from Unconventional Reservoirs
Small pore sizes (nanoscale) 10-9 m dpore 10-6 m
Ultra tight formation 10-9 md k 10-3 md
Involvement of source rock
Natural fractures
Hydraulically fractured horizontal wells

Pore size distribution of Barnett

siliceous mudstone samples
Capillary pressure analysis

Most pore sizes are in

5 to 15 nanometers range

Mercury porosimeter analysis

80% of the pores have a pore
size less than 5 nanometers

Pore Sizes in Unconventional Reservoirs

Heterogeneous matrix pore-size distributions
Most matrix pore volume in nanopores
Pore network in shale sample (Ambrose et al., 2010)
Sample size: 4 m high, 5 m wide, and 2.5 m deep

3D Image Showing Surfaces

2D Image Showing Cross Section

2D cross-sectional image shows more kerogen and pore space than the surface

Porosity and Permeability Ranges

Nano-pores

Micro-pores
Conventional oil and gas
dpore 1m
k 1mD
Tight gas

Shale gas
10-1 m dpore 10-2 m
1 D k 10-3 D

1m dpore 10-3 m
1mD k 1D

FLOW REGIMES IN POROUS MEDIA

Moderate Velocity, No-Slip Flow (Darcys Law)
Linear and Laminar Flow: Moderate p, v, & k
Micro-pores

Low Velocity, Slip Flow (Klinkenberg effect)

Non-Linear Flow: Low p, v, & k
Nano-pores

Mixed Flow in Shale Matrix

Contribution of slip flow to apparent shale permeability

10

Ozkan et al. (2010 )

Fluid flow in Nano-Darcy Shale

numerical modeling requires gas permeabilities 2 to 4
orders of magnitude greater than observed to match flow
rates and ultimate recoveries Some other, higher
permeability pathway through shale seems necessary.
Cluff, Shanley, and Miller, AAPG 2007

Field Scale (m)

Core
Scale
(cm)

Micro Scale (mm)

FRACTURES IN SHALE
11

THERMAL MATURATION AND MICROFRACTURES

Volume changes in kerogen and generated hydrocarbons during
thermal maturation cause microfractures
kerogen

(Meissner, 2007)

shale

12

Hydraulic Fracturing Induces and

Rejuvenates Fractures in Shale
Microseismic Record of
Fracturing Events

Stimulated Reservoir Volume

(SRV) Representation

From Rimrock Energy, SPE 119896

13

Microfractures in shale
(currently not characterized)

Shale-matrix model with microfractures (Apaydin et al., 2011)

14

Pressure-Dependent Fracture Permeability

Experimental Data and Correlation (Cho, 2011)

k f k fi e

d f p f

Raghavan and Chin (2004)

15

Pressure-Dependent Natural-Fracture Permeability

Haynesville Well History Matching (Cho, 2011)

16

Pressure-Dependent Natural-Fracture Permeability

1200
ERROR IN PERMEABILITY
100 x (kfi-kf)/kf, %

PERMEABILITY, kf, md

2000

1000
1500

1000

800

kfi = 2000 md
pi = 5000 psi
df = 5E- 4 psi-1

600
400

500
200
0
1.E+01

1.E+02

1.E+03

PRESSURE, p, psi

0
1.E+04
17

Dual-Mechanism, Dual-Porosity,
Dual-Fractured Reservoir Model
Hydraulically Fractured Horizontal Well
(Ozkan, Apaydin, and Raghavan, 2010)

18

Whats the role of Hydraulic Fractures?

19

Effect of Matrix Permeability

Productivity
increases with
increasing
matrix
permeability
for km 10-5
When flow
capacity of
natural
fractures is
reached, no
additional
productivity is
possible

20

Effect of Natural Fracture Permeability

No difference in
productivity with
increasing
natural fracture
permeability
Natural fracture
permeability has
little effect on
productivity

Flow capacity of
the matrix is the
limiting factor
21

Effect of Natural Fracture Density

Natural fracture
density has
significant effect
on flow capacity
of matrix.
Greater surface
area for flow
allows for a
greater volume of
fluid to be moved

22

Effect of Hydraulic Fracture

Conductivity
Incremental
productivity
decreases as
conductivity
increases.
Volume of
fluid available
to flow is
limiting factor

Modeling Flow in Fractured Shale

Modeling Fractures as a Network of Natural Fractures
Physical System

24

Missing something?
Where are the reservoir fractures?

Pressure and Derivative, psi

Pressure Buildup Test in Shale Reservoir (Field Data)

PRESSURE
DERIVATIVE

No characteristic
dual-porosity
behavior
(no derivative dip)

Time, hr

25

Consequence of Using Conventional Tools

Transient dual-porosity model is more appropriate in shale

(What is in your reservoir simulator?)
26

Conclusions
Our potential to recover gas from shale has been
increasing due to

new technologies to fracture horizontal wells

better understanding of flow and production
mechanisms

Marginal economics of shale-gas projects

requires more improvements in

characterization and modeling capabilities

analysis and prediction tools and techniques
27