Comprehensive Evaluation of Geological and Engineering Sweet Spots of Shale Gas Reservoir: A Case Study of the Luzhou Block, Sichuan Basin

There is a huge amount of marine shale gas resources in the southern Sichuan Basin in China, and most of the resources are at the buried depth of 3500 - 4500 meters. At present, deep shale gas is in the early stage of exploration and development. In order to achieve large-scale efficient development, in addition to optimizing favorable blocks, it is also to identify the optimal target in the vertical direction combine geology, drilling, and fracturing. Therefore, Taking the Longmaxi formation shale in the Luzhou block as the research object, based on drilling, logging, and core experiment data, through single well and 3D geomechanical modeling methods, analyze the characteristics of organic matter abundance, porosity, pore pressure, collapse pressure, mineral composition and in-situ stress of different layers of shale in Longmaxi formation. Systematically summarized the main controlling factors of the “sweet spot” of deep shale gas and establish the comprehensive evaluation system of deep shale gas “sweet spots”, to clarify the optimal “sweet spots” of geology, drilling, and fracturing in the Longmaxi reservoir. Results show that the total organic carbon content, porosity, and gas saturation of the long111 layer are higher than other layers. The Long111 layer has a low collapse pressure and a high compressive strength, the risk of wellbore instability is relatively low. The stress difference coefficient of All layers is less than 0.3, and the brittleness index of the Long111 layer is 62.35%. A complex fracture network is easier to form after fracturing. The conclusion shows that the Long111 layer is the optimal reservoir section of the Longmaxi Formation. Ensure the drilled rate of the Long111 layer and maximize the length of the horizontal section can obtain higher production.

A systematic step-wise approach for shale gas assessment in undeveloped prospects:A case study of Lurestan shale gas area in Iran

Key parameters and evaluation methods of shale gas show that it is not possible to guarantee the commercial and economic development of shale gas by sorting out geological sweet spots only according to technical indicators.A research method combining technical indicators including total organic carbon content and vitrinite reflectance with economic indicators including internal rate of return and investment payback period is proposed to screen the best technological and economic development sweet spots in undeveloped areas.This method was used to evaluate the best technological and economic development sweet spots in Cretaceous shale gas reservoirs S_(1) and S_(2) of Lurestan area,Iran.Twenty-one geologic sweet spots were picked out based on effective reservoir thickness,vitrinite reflectance and gas content.Based on analogy method,the pressure gradient,clay mineral content,buried depth and other parameters were taken as comparative indicators,the Eagle Ford shale as comparison object,recovery factor and production curve were extracted to estimate the technologically recoverable reserves of the study area.On this basis,the economic indexes such as internal rate of return and investment payback period were used to evaluate the economy of the geological sweet spots.In the case of P_(10) distribution,the total technologically recoverable reserves and economically recoverable reserves are 7875×10^(8)m^(3) and 4306×10^(8)m^(3) respectively,11 geological sweet spots have commercial development value,among which,No.1 sweet spot has the highest value,with a net present value of 35×10^(8) USD.