A Geostatistical Approach to Finding Relationships Between Reservoir Properties and Estimated Ultimate Recovery in Shale Gas System

Abstract

Unconventional shale gas resources have become a major component of the energy mix in North America, with future growth projected globally. The nature of storage and the transport of hydrocarbon gas are not yet fully understood in these plays. However, prioritization of the key factors and measurement of the relevance between the reservoir attributes and the estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) are still poorly understood in practical studies. In this paper, spatial fuzzy ranking was proposed to prioritize the relevance of several reservoir properties on the EUR in shale gas system. The prioritization procedure includes four steps. The first step in the analysis was to determine a set of reservoir attributes to make description of the reservoir features through logging data analysis. Other than ordinary parameters, such as porosity, permeability, and thickness, three new attributes—mud rocks content, organic carbon content, and maturity index—are discussed. Secondly, the fuzzy ranking method is employed to prioritize the relevance between the identified reservoir attributes and the EUR. Finally, the geostatistical method was used to prioritize correlation between reservoir attribute variables and the EUR. Application of the spatial fuzzy ranking methods to the records from 1346 wells in the Barnett Field prioritized the key factors that impact the EUR. The result shows that the EUR performance of wells in the area could be spatially modeled and predicted by using the proposed spatial fuzzy ranking method.

Copyright 2017, Shaanxi Petroleum Society.

This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2017 International Petroleum and Petrochemical Technology Conference in Beijing, China, 20–22 September 2017.

This paper was selected for presentation by the IFEDC&IPPTC Committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as presented, have not been reviewed by the IFEDC&IPPTC Committee and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the IFEDC&IPPTC Committee, its members. Papers presented at the Conference are subject to publication review by Professional Committee of Petroleum Engineering of Shaanxi Petroleum Society. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper for commercial purposes without the written consent of Shaanxi Petroleum Society is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of IFEDC&IPPTC. Contact email: paper@ifedc.org or paper@ipptc.org.