Technology Focus: Gas Production Technology (November 2010)

Abstract

Technology Focus Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. George Santayana Rarely a day goes by when a new shale-gas conference is not advertised; each will highlight the rapidly changing state of the art in fractured horizontal wells and shed light on what will always be a very complex and challenging way to complete wells. With increased interest and activity comes the need to evaluate and forecast the performance of these wells accurately with little production history as a basis. This problem has plagued engineers since the first wells were drilled in the 19th century. How does one predict the future of a new kind of well when few examples exist with enough production history to guide the forecast, and the reservoir behaviors are not understood well enough to simulate the performance mathematically? Lessons from the past may help. Typically, a new play is ignited by an operator that is stubborn enough to keep trying new things while ignoring years of failure and the peer consensus that the operator is crazy. Soon after the secret is discovered, this newly exposed fertile ground attracts other operators desperate for better opportunities. The increased demand for leases, equipment, and services and increased regulation drive the economic returns down, not to mention the glut of production if the play lives up to its promise. Meanwhile, a new set of contrarians will begin to question the assumptions that created the boom in the first place; because rarely is there enough history to definitively prove the long-term outcomes before most have lost interest and moved on to the next hot play. Buffering this emotional ebb and flow are operators who are not swayed by the prevailing thought. The selections for this month’s feature are examples from those who diligently look for patterns from the past to improve their accuracy in predicting the future. Gas Production Technology additional reading available at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org SPE 127919 • “Analysis of Data From the Barnett Shale Using Conventional Statistical and Virtual-Intelligence Techniques,” by Obadare O. Awoleke, Texas A&M University, et al. SPE 130151 • “Enhanced Gas Recovery—Challenges Shown in the Example of Three Gas Fields” by Torsten Clemens, OMV, et al. SPE 131714 • “The Permeability Factor in Coalbed-Methane-Well Completions and Production” by Ian Palmer, Higgs-Palmer Technologies