The contribution to production of the gas stored within the coal and shale beds adjacent to the main coal seam in the Mannville Group, in which a lateral is drilled, was investigated through a series of numerical simu...The contribution to production of the gas stored within the coal and shale beds adjacent to the main coal seam in the Mannville Group, in which a lateral is drilled, was investigated through a series of numerical simulations. The results indicate that the added gas from the minor coal seams, with interbedded shales with no gas, results in 1.4 times (×) more produced gas and 3.0× more produced water after 25 years of production than when only the main Mannville coal seam is considered. Including gas in the shales results in 1.7× more produced gas and 2.5× more produced water after 25 years of production than when only the main coal seam is considered. The produced gas recovered from the shales exceeds the produced gas recovered from the coals after ~8.5 years, resulting in 2.1× more produced shale gas than coal gas after 25 years of production. Over half (56%) of the produced coal gas after 25 years of production is recovered from the main coal seam while a quarter (22%) is recovered from the L1 seam, which is the thickest and nearest minor coal seam to the horizontal wellbore located in the main seam. The results from the numerical simulations provide insights that are not intuitive or otherwise predictable in developing complex reservoirs. Although the results are specifically for the Mannville producing fairway, undoubtedly the production from minor coal seams and interbedded gas shales should be considered in other producing and potential coal gas reservoirs to identify higher producible reserves and optimize drilling and completions strategies.展开更多
The modelling results from numerical simulations of the Early Cretaceous, Mannville coal measures with anisotropic permeability provide insights into development strategies not readily visualized or otherwise intuitiv...The modelling results from numerical simulations of the Early Cretaceous, Mannville coal measures with anisotropic permeability provide insights into development strategies not readily visualized or otherwise intuitive. The complex relationships between water and gas production, the contribution from multiple coal seams as well as from organic rich shales, and the impact of well interference combined with anisotropic fracture permeability are investigated through a series of numerical simulations of four well-pads (on the corners of a square mile of land with decreasing well spacing from 1, 3, to 4 laterals per pad). After 25 years of production, the two pads with optimally-oriented laterals with respect to the fracture permeability anisotropy produce 61% of the recovered gas for the 1 lateral/pad model, 52% for the 3 laterals/pad model, and 50% for the 4 laterals/pad model. Downspacing has a greater impact on increasing the gas production from pads with the poorly-oriented main laterals than from the pads with the optimally-oriented main laterals. The cumulative gas production at the end of the 25 year history is 4.2% higher for an optimally-oriented pad (pad1) and 1.1× higher for a poorly-oriented pad (pad3) for a model with 4 laterals/pad than 3 laterals/pad and an optimally-oriented pad is 1.1% higher for an optimally-oriented pad and 1.5× higher for a poorly-oriented pad for a model with 3 laterals/pad than 1 lateral/pad. Although downspacing from 3 to 4 laterals/pad has a greater impact on increasing the cumulative gas production from optimally-oriented pads than downspacing from 1 to 3 laterals/pad, the lower impact on poorly-oriented pads results in a lower total increase the cumulative gas production from the four pads. At the end of the 25-year production history, 9.0% more gas is recovered for the 4 lateral/pad model than the 3 lateral/pad model, which predicts 1.2× more gas than the 1 lateral/pad model. The recovered shale gas exceeds the recovered coal gas after ~7 years of production. The higher contribution of produced coal gas predicted due to downspacing results from a higher contribution of recovered gas from the main coal seam, while the contribution from the minor coal seams is lower. Downspacing has a minimal impact on the cumulative water production;after 25 years of production a difference of 1.0% is predicted between models with 4 and 3 laterals/pad and 1.7% between models with 1 and 3 laterals/pad. While downspacing increases the cumulative water production for the poorly-oriented pads (1.1× for 3 to 4 laterals/pad and 1.3× for 3 to 1 lateral/pad after 25 years), the cumulative water production for the optimally-oriented pads is lower over the majority of the production history (after ~4 years and 3.2% lower after 25 years for 3 to 4 laterals/pad and after ~6 months and 1.1× lower after 25 years for 1 to 3 laterals/pad).展开更多
A key unknown limiting assessment of risk posed by inducing anomalous seismicity during hydraulic fracturing is the potential maximum magnitude of an event. To provide insights into the variation in maximum magnitude ...A key unknown limiting assessment of risk posed by inducing anomalous seismicity during hydraulic fracturing is the potential maximum magnitude of an event. To provide insights into the variation in maximum magnitude that can be induced by a hydraulic fracturing stage, worst-case scenarios were simulated in 2D using coupled hydro-geomechanical models. The sensitivity of the magnitude to the hydro-geomechanical properties of the fault and matrix rock were quantitatively compared through parametric analysis. Our base model predicts a maximum event with moment magnitude (<em>M<sub>w</sub></em>) 4.31 and <em>M<sub>w</sub></em> values range from 3.97 to 4.56 for the series of simulations. The highest magnitude is predicted for the model with a longer fault and the lowest magnitude for the model with a smaller Young’s modulus. For our models, the magnitude is most sensitive to changes in the Young’s modulus and length of the fault and least sensitive to changes in the initial reservoir pressure (<em>i.e.</em> pore pressure) and the Poisson’s ratio.展开更多
文摘The contribution to production of the gas stored within the coal and shale beds adjacent to the main coal seam in the Mannville Group, in which a lateral is drilled, was investigated through a series of numerical simulations. The results indicate that the added gas from the minor coal seams, with interbedded shales with no gas, results in 1.4 times (×) more produced gas and 3.0× more produced water after 25 years of production than when only the main Mannville coal seam is considered. Including gas in the shales results in 1.7× more produced gas and 2.5× more produced water after 25 years of production than when only the main coal seam is considered. The produced gas recovered from the shales exceeds the produced gas recovered from the coals after ~8.5 years, resulting in 2.1× more produced shale gas than coal gas after 25 years of production. Over half (56%) of the produced coal gas after 25 years of production is recovered from the main coal seam while a quarter (22%) is recovered from the L1 seam, which is the thickest and nearest minor coal seam to the horizontal wellbore located in the main seam. The results from the numerical simulations provide insights that are not intuitive or otherwise predictable in developing complex reservoirs. Although the results are specifically for the Mannville producing fairway, undoubtedly the production from minor coal seams and interbedded gas shales should be considered in other producing and potential coal gas reservoirs to identify higher producible reserves and optimize drilling and completions strategies.
文摘The modelling results from numerical simulations of the Early Cretaceous, Mannville coal measures with anisotropic permeability provide insights into development strategies not readily visualized or otherwise intuitive. The complex relationships between water and gas production, the contribution from multiple coal seams as well as from organic rich shales, and the impact of well interference combined with anisotropic fracture permeability are investigated through a series of numerical simulations of four well-pads (on the corners of a square mile of land with decreasing well spacing from 1, 3, to 4 laterals per pad). After 25 years of production, the two pads with optimally-oriented laterals with respect to the fracture permeability anisotropy produce 61% of the recovered gas for the 1 lateral/pad model, 52% for the 3 laterals/pad model, and 50% for the 4 laterals/pad model. Downspacing has a greater impact on increasing the gas production from pads with the poorly-oriented main laterals than from the pads with the optimally-oriented main laterals. The cumulative gas production at the end of the 25 year history is 4.2% higher for an optimally-oriented pad (pad1) and 1.1× higher for a poorly-oriented pad (pad3) for a model with 4 laterals/pad than 3 laterals/pad and an optimally-oriented pad is 1.1% higher for an optimally-oriented pad and 1.5× higher for a poorly-oriented pad for a model with 3 laterals/pad than 1 lateral/pad. Although downspacing from 3 to 4 laterals/pad has a greater impact on increasing the cumulative gas production from optimally-oriented pads than downspacing from 1 to 3 laterals/pad, the lower impact on poorly-oriented pads results in a lower total increase the cumulative gas production from the four pads. At the end of the 25-year production history, 9.0% more gas is recovered for the 4 lateral/pad model than the 3 lateral/pad model, which predicts 1.2× more gas than the 1 lateral/pad model. The recovered shale gas exceeds the recovered coal gas after ~7 years of production. The higher contribution of produced coal gas predicted due to downspacing results from a higher contribution of recovered gas from the main coal seam, while the contribution from the minor coal seams is lower. Downspacing has a minimal impact on the cumulative water production;after 25 years of production a difference of 1.0% is predicted between models with 4 and 3 laterals/pad and 1.7% between models with 1 and 3 laterals/pad. While downspacing increases the cumulative water production for the poorly-oriented pads (1.1× for 3 to 4 laterals/pad and 1.3× for 3 to 1 lateral/pad after 25 years), the cumulative water production for the optimally-oriented pads is lower over the majority of the production history (after ~4 years and 3.2% lower after 25 years for 3 to 4 laterals/pad and after ~6 months and 1.1× lower after 25 years for 1 to 3 laterals/pad).
文摘A key unknown limiting assessment of risk posed by inducing anomalous seismicity during hydraulic fracturing is the potential maximum magnitude of an event. To provide insights into the variation in maximum magnitude that can be induced by a hydraulic fracturing stage, worst-case scenarios were simulated in 2D using coupled hydro-geomechanical models. The sensitivity of the magnitude to the hydro-geomechanical properties of the fault and matrix rock were quantitatively compared through parametric analysis. Our base model predicts a maximum event with moment magnitude (<em>M<sub>w</sub></em>) 4.31 and <em>M<sub>w</sub></em> values range from 3.97 to 4.56 for the series of simulations. The highest magnitude is predicted for the model with a longer fault and the lowest magnitude for the model with a smaller Young’s modulus. For our models, the magnitude is most sensitive to changes in the Young’s modulus and length of the fault and least sensitive to changes in the initial reservoir pressure (<em>i.e.</em> pore pressure) and the Poisson’s ratio.
