Geologic characteristics,exploration and production progress of shale oil and gas in the United States:An overview

We present a systematic summary of the geological characteristics,exploration and development history and current state of shale oil and gas in the United States.The hydrocarbon-rich shales in the major shale basins of the United States are mainly developed in six geological periods:Middle Ordovician,Middle-Late Devonian,Early Carboniferous(Middle-Late Mississippi),Early Permian,Late Jurassic,and Late Cretaceous(Cenomanian-Turonian).Depositional environments for these shales include intra-cratonic basins,foreland basins,and passive continental margins.Paleozoic hydrocarbon-rich shales are mainly developed in six basins,including the Appalachian Basin(Utica and Marcellus shales),Anadarko Basin(Woodford Shale),Williston Basin(Bakken Shale),Arkoma Basin(Fayetteville Shale),Fort Worth Basin(Barnett Shale),and the Wolfcamp and Leonardian Spraberry/Bone Springs shale plays of the Permian Basin.The Mesozoic hydrocarbon-rich shales are mainly developed on the margins of the Gulf of Mexico Basin(Haynesville and Eagle Ford)or in various Rocky Mountain basins(Niobrara Formation,mainly in the Denver and Powder River basins).The detailed analysis of shale plays reveals that the shales are different in facies and mineral components,and"shale reservoirs"are often not shale at all.The United States is abundant in shale oil and gas,with the in-place resources exceeding 0.246×10^(12)t and 290×10^(12)m^(3),respectively.Before the emergence of horizontal well hydraulic fracturing technology to kick off the"shale revolution",the United States had experienced two decades of exploration and production practices,as well as theory and technology development.In 2007-2023,shale oil and gas production in the United States increased from approximately 11.2×10^(4)tons of oil equivalent per day(toe/d)to over 300.0×10^(4)toe/d.In 2017,the shale oil and gas production exceeded the conventional oil and gas production in the country.In 2023,the contribution from shale plays to the total U.S.oil and gas production remained above 60%.The development of shale oil and gas has largely been driven by improvements in drilling and completion technologies,with much of the recent effort focused on“cube development”or“co-development”.Other efforts to improve productivity and efficiency include refracturing,enhanced oil recovery,and drilling of“U-shaped”wells.Given the significant resources base and continued technological improvements,shale oil and gas production will continue to contribute significant volumes to total U.S.hydrocarbon production.

The Geoscience Frontier of Gulong Shale Oil:Revealing the Role of Continental Shale from Oil Generation to Production

The clay mineral content of Daqing Gulong shale is in the range of about 35%–45%,with particle sizes less than 0.0039 mm.The horizontal fluidity of oil in Gulong shale is poor,with near-zero vertical flowability.As a result,Gulong shale has been considered to lack commercial value.In recent years,however,interdisciplinary research in geoscience,percolation mechanics,thermodynamics,and surface mechanics has demonstrated that Gulong shale oil has a high degree of maturity and a high residual hydrocarbon content.The expulsion efficiency of Gulong shale in the high mature stage is 32%–48%.Favorable storage spaces in Gulong shale include connecting pores and lamellar fractures developed between and within organic matter and clay mineral complexes.The shale oil mainly occurs in micro-and nano-pores,bedding fractures,and lamellar fractures,with a high gas–oil ratio and medium–high movable oil saturation.Gulong shale has the characteristics of high hardness,a high elastic modulus,and high fracture toughness.This study achieves breakthroughs in the exploration and development of Gulong shale,including the theories of hydrocarbon generation and accumulation,the technologies of mobility and fracturing,and recoverability.It confirms the major transition of Gulong shale from oil generation to oil production,which has extremely significant scientific value and application potential for China’s petroleum industry.

An Integrated Oil Production Enhancement Technology Based on Waterflooding Energy Recovery

A new integrated oil production enhancement technology based on water-flooding energy recovery is proposed.After providing an extensive review of the existing scientific and technical literature on this subject,the proposed integrated technology is described together with the related process flow diagram,the criteria used to select a tar-get facility for its implementation and the outcomes of the laboratory studies conducted to analyze emulsion formation and separation kinetics.Moreover,the outcomes of numerical simulations performed using Ansys CFX software are also presented.According to these results,using the proposed approach the incremental oil production may reach 1.2 t/day(with a 13%increase)and more,even at low flow rates(less than 10 t/day),thereby providing evidence for the benefits associated with this integrated technology.

Using deep neural networks coupled with principal component analysis for ore production forecasting at open-pit mines

Ore production is usually affected by multiple influencing inputs at open-pit mines.Nevertheless,the complex nonlinear relationships between these inputs and ore production remain unclear.This becomes even more challenging when training data(e.g.truck haulage information and weather conditions)are massive.In machine learning(ML)algorithms,deep neural network(DNN)is a superior method for processing nonlinear and massive data by adjusting the amount of neurons and hidden layers.This study adopted DNN to forecast ore production using truck haulage information and weather conditions at open-pit mines as training data.Before the prediction models were built,principal component analysis(PCA)was employed to reduce the data dimensionality and eliminate the multicollinearity among highly correlated input variables.To verify the superiority of DNN,three ANNs containing only one hidden layer and six traditional ML models were established as benchmark models.The DNN model with multiple hidden layers performed better than the ANN models with a single hidden layer.The DNN model outperformed the extensively applied benchmark models in predicting ore production.This can provide engineers and researchers with an accurate method to forecast ore production,which helps make sound budgetary decisions and mine planning at open-pit mines.

Investigation of Internal Turret Mooring System for Oil Production Storage Vessels

The internal turret mooring system for oil production storage vessels is a developing type ofoffshore floating production system suitable for deep water and harsh environmental application. In this paper, some achievements in our research work are presented. The description includes: dynamic analysis of mooring system, research on performance of turret assembly, influence of vessel dimensions and hull forms on mooring performance, model tests under combined action of environmental forces in basin, and hull structural strength analysis.

Identification of Sudanese Sesame Oil Quality Using a 680 nm Semiconductor Laser Spectrometer and Other Techniques

This study investigates the optical properties of sesame oil from traditional and industrial sources using a custom-designed semiconductor laser spectrometer, UV-Vis spectroscopy, and FTIR spectroscopy. Six samples were collected from traditional presses and factories in Khartoum State and White Nile State. The spectrometer, constructed with a 680 nm semiconductor laser and various resistor values, measured the absorbance of sesame oil samples. UV-Vis spectroscopy identified absorbance peaks at 670 nm and 417 nm, corresponding to chlorophyll a and b. FTIR analysis showed nearly identical spectra among the samples, indicating similar chemical compositions. Laser spectrometer analysis revealed specific absorbance values for each sample. The results highlight the feasibility of using a 680 nm semiconductor laser for analyzing sesame oil, providing a cost-effective alternative to other wavelengths. This study demonstrates the potential of integrating traditional methods with modern spectroscopic techniques for the quality assessment of sesame oil.

Theory and application of numerical simulation method of capillary force enhanced oil production

A kind of second-order implicit upwind fractional step finite difference methods are presented for the numerical simulation of coupled systems for enhanced （chemical） oil production with capillary force in the porous media. Some techniques, e.g., the calculus of variations, the energy analysis method, the commutativity of the products of difference operators, the decomposition of high-order difference operators, and the theory of a priori estimate, are introduced. An optimal order error estimate in the l2 norm is derived. The method is successfully used in the numerical simulation of the enhanced oil production in actual oilfields. The simulation results are satisfactory and interesting.

Distribution and treatment of harmful gas from heavy oil production in the Liaohe Oilfield, Northeast China

The distribution and treatment of harmful gas （H2S） in the Liaohe Oilfield, Northeast China, were investigated in this study. It was found that abundant toxic gas （H2S） is generated in thermal recovery of heavy oil. The H2S gas is mainly formed during thermochemical sulfate reduction （TSR） occurring in oil reservoirs or the thermal decomposition of sulfocompounds （TDS） in crude oil. H2S generation is controlled by thermal recovery time, temperature and the injected chemical compounds. The quantity of SO4^2- in the injected compounds is the most influencing factor for the rate of TSR reaction. Therefore, for prevention of H2S formation, periodic and effective monitoring should be undertaken and adequate H2S absorbent should also be provided during thermal recovery of heavy oil. The result suggests that great efforts should be made to reduce the SO4^2- source in heavy oil recovery, so as to restrain H2S generation in reservoirs. In situ burning or desulfurizer adsorption are suggested to reduce H2S levels. Prediction and prevention of H2S are important in heavy oil production. This will minimize environmental and human health risks, as well as equipment corrosion.

Progress and prospects of oil and gas production engineering technology in China

This paper summarizes the important progress in the field of oil and gas production engineering during the"Thirteenth Five-Year Plan"period of China,analyzes the challenges faced by the current oil and gas production engineering in terms of technological adaptability,digital construction,energy-saving and emission reduction,and points out the future development direction.During the"Thirteenth Five-Year Plan"period,series of important progresses have been made in five major technologies,including separated-layer injection,artificial lift,reservoir stimulation,gas well de-watering,and workover,which provide key technical support for continuous potential tapping of mature oilfields and profitable production of new oilfields.Under the current complex international political and economic situation,oil and gas production engineering is facing severe challenges in three aspects:technical difficulty increases in oil and gas production,insignificant improvements in digital transformation,and lack of core technical support for energy-saving and emission reduction.This paper establishes three major strategic directions and implementation paths,including oil stabilization and gas enhancement,digital transformation,and green and low-carbon development.Five key research areas are listed including fine separated-layer injection technology,high efficiency artificial lift technology,fine reservoir stimulation technology,long term gas well de-watering technology and intelligent workover technology,so as to provide engineering technical support for the transformation,upgrading and high-quality development of China’s oil and gas industry.

THEORY AND APPLICATION OF FRACTIONAL STEP CHARACTERISTIC FINITE DIFFERENCE METHOD IN NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF SECOND ORDER ENHANCED OIL PRODUCTION

A kind of second-order implicit fractional step characteristic finite difference method is presented in this paper for the numerically simulation coupled system of enhanced （chemical） oil production in porous media. Some techniques, such as the calculus of variations, energy analysis method, commutativity of the products of difference operators, decomposition of high-order difference operators and the theory of a priori estimates are introduced and an optimal order error estimates in l^2 norm is derived. This method has been applied successfully to the numerical simulation of enhanced oil production in actual oilfields, and the simulation results ate quite interesting and satisfactory.

Development and prospect of separated zone oil production technology

This article outlines the development of separated zone oil production in foreign countries,and details its development in China.According to the development process,production needs,technical characteristics and adaptability of oilfields in China,the development of separate zone oil production technology is divided into four stages:flowing well zonal oil production,mechanical recovery and water blocking,hydraulically adjustable zonal oil production,and intelligent zonal production.The principles,construction processes,adaptability,advantages and disadvantages of the technology are introduced in detail.Based on the actual production situation of the oilfields in China at present,three development directions of the technology are proposed.First,the real-time monitoring and adjustment level of separated zone oil production needs to be improved by developing downhole sensor technology and two-way communication technology between ground and downhole and enhancing full life cycle service capability and adaptability to horizontal wells.Second,an integrated platform of zonal oil production and management should be built using a digital artificial lifting system.Third,integration of injection and production should be implemented through large-scale application of zonal oil production and zonal water injection to improve matching and adjustment level between the injection and production parameters,thus making the development adjustment from"lag control"to"real-time optimization"and improving the development effect.

A Markov-switching dynamic regression analysis of the asymmetries related to the determinants of US crude oil production between 1982 and 2019

The structural changes brought about by shale oil revolution have inspired this paper of which the aim is to analyze the potential asymmetries related to the determinants of crude oil production in the USA.Thus,using a Markov-switching dynamic regression model in which parameters change when oil production moves from one regime to the other,it is found that for both oil production and oil relative importance,the regime that was dominant during the 1980s and the early 1990s when oil production in the USA was substantially high is the same regime that has once again become dominant in the decade corresponding to the shale oil revolution.Furthermore,the study reveals the existence of asymmetries in the relationship between US crude oil production and both manufacturing production and the consumer price index.Asymmetries are also found in the relationship between the relative importance US crude oil and manufacturing production.Finally,it is found that the intercept and the variance parameter also vary from one regime to the other,thus justifying the use of regime-dependent models.

Technology and Practice of Stabiliing Oil Production and Controlling Water Cut in Kalamkas Oilfield in Central Asia

In this paper, by in-depth geological research of Kalamkas Oilfield in Central Asia, the geological body has been re-ascertained; combined with fine study of reservoir engineering, based on the understanding of the distribution of remaining oil horizontal wells have been given full play to stabilizing oil production and controlling water cut, reducing the producing pressure drop, improving well productivity and other advantages, and the development and deployment has been optimized; horizontal wells have been applied to solve problems such as old well casing damages, shutting down wells, low-productivity and low- efficiency wells, and high water cut wells to improve the utilization rate of old wells; through separate layer system improved injection production pattern, adjustment wells have been optimized and deployed, and part measures wells have been preferably selected to tap the residual oil improve the degree of reserves control realize the stabilization of oil production and control of water cut in an old oilfield, and further improve the development effects.

Modeling and optimization for oil well production scheduling

In this paper,an oil well production scheduling problem for the light load oil well during petroleum field exploitation was studied.The oil well production scheduling was to determine the turn on/off status and oil flow rates of the wells in a given oil reservoir,subject to a number of constraints such as minimum up/down time limits and well grouping.The problem was formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear programming model that minimized the total production operating cost and start-up cost.Due to the NP-hardness of the problem,an improved particle swarm optimization(PSO) algorithm with a new velocity updating formula was developed to solve the problem approximately.Computational experiments on randomly generated instances were carried out to evaluate the performance of the model and the algorithm's effectiveness.Compared with the commercial solver CPLEX,the improved PSO can obtain high-quality schedules within a much shorter running time for all the instances.

Shale oil and gas exploitation in China:Technical comparison with US and development suggestions

The shale oil and gas exploitation in China is technically benchmarked with the United States in terms of development philosophy,reservoir stimulation treatment,fracturing parameters,fracturing equipment and materials,oil/gas production technology,and data/achievements sharing.It is recognized that the shale oil and gas exploitation in China is weak in seven aspects:understanding of flow regimes,producing of oil/gas reserves,monitoring of complex fractures,repeated stimulation technology,oil/gas production technology,casing deformation prevention technology,and wellbore maintenance technology.Combined with the geological and engineering factors of shale oil and gas in China,the development suggestions of four projects are proposed from the macro-and micro-perspective,namely,basic innovation project,exploitation technology project,oil/gas production stabilization project,and supporting efficiency-improvement project,so as to promote the rapid,efficient,stable,green and extensive development of shale oil and gas industry chain and innovation chain and ultimately achieve the goal of“oil volume stabilizing and gas volume increasing”.

Development and Application of WebGIS Middleware in Oil Production Engineering

WebGIS is the result of combining the technology of Internet with that of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). This paper aims at some problems in the development of GIS, such as the system of development is instable, and presents the method of adopting component technology to accomplish WebGIS middleware which has been successfully applied to the Oil Production Engineering information visible system. It showed in practice that the WebGIS middleware can be casily embedded in the web pages to accomplish GIS application system in a network environment. On the one hand, its application can reduce complexity of system and speed up the pace of development. On the other hand, it is certain to reduce the development costs and improve the maintainability. Key words WebGIS - middleware - oil production engineering CLC number TP 31 Biography: LIU Quan (1969-), male, Ph. D. candidate, research direction: include automated resoning, WebGIS.

Preparation and Cracking Performance of FCC Co-Catalyst for Enhancing Light Oil Production

In this paper, a FCC co-catalyst for enhancing the light oil production was prepared by the sol-gel method, and its effect on the performance of residue cracking catalysts was evaluated in a CCFFB reactor. The test results indicated that the liquid product yield increased obviously, after the surface of FCC equilibrium catalyst was impregnated with the co-catalyst. The yields of dry gas, slurry and coke decreased, while the diesel yield changed slightly. And the crackability of residue was increased; the rate of coke deposition on catalyst surface was decreased, with the thermal cracking reactions inhibited. All these results showed that the co-catalyst could improve the density of acid sites and change the catalyst acidity, which could promote to prolong the catalyst activity by depositing the co-catalyst on the surface of FCC equilibrium catalysts.