Fundamental study and utilization on supercritical CO_(2) fracturing developing unconventional resources:Current status,challenge and future perspectives

Under the fact that considerable explo ration and production of unconventional re sources and wo rsening global climate,reducing carbon emission and rationally utilizing carbon resources have been drawn increasing attention.Supercritical CO_(2)(SC-CO_(2)) has been proposed as anhydrous fracturing fluid to develop unconventional reservoirs,since its advantages of reducing water consumption,reservoir contamination etc.Well understanding of SC-CO_(2)fracturing mechanism and key influencing factors will exert significant impact on the application of this technology in the field.In this paper,the fundamental studies on SC-CO_(2)fracturing from the aspects of laboratory experiment and simulation are reviewed.The fracturing experimental setups,fracture monitoring and characterizing methods,unconventional formation categories,numerical simulation approaches,fracturing mechanism and field application etc.,are analyzed.The fundamental study results indicate that compared with conventional hydraulic fracturing,SC-CO_(2)fracturing can reduce fracture initiation pressure and easily induce complex fracture networks with multiple branches.The field test further verifies the application prospect and the possibility of carbon storage.However,due to the limitation of reservoir complexity and attributes of SC-CO_(2),massive challenges will be encountered in SC-CO_(2)fracturing.According to the current research status,the limitations in basic research and field application are summarized,and the future development direction of this technology and relevant suggestions are proposed.

The concept and the accumulation characteristics of unconventional hydrocarbon resources

Unconventional hydrocarbon resources, which are only marginally economically explored and developed by traditional methods and techniques, are different from conventional hydrocarbon resources in their accumulation mechanisms, occurrence states, distribution models, and exploration and development manners. The types of unconventional hydrocarbon are controlled by the evolu- tion of the source rocks and the combinations of different types of unconventional reservoirs. The fundamental dis- tinction between unconventional hydrocarbon resources and conventional hydrocarbon resources is their non- buoyancy-driven migration. The development of the micro- to nano-scale pores results in rather high capillary resis- tance. The accumulation mechanisms of the unconven- tional and the conventional hydrocarbon resources are also greatly different. In conventional hydrocarbon resources, oil and gas entrapment is controlled by reservoir-forming factors and geological events, which is a dynamic balance process; while for unconventional hydrocarbon resources, the gas content is affected by the temperature and pressure fields, and their preservation is crucial. Unconventional and conventional hydrocarbons are distributed in an orderly manner in subsurface space, having three distribution models of intra-source rock, basin-centered, and source rock interlayer. These results will be of great significance to unconventional hydrocarbon exploration.

A Review on Shale Reservoirs as an Unconventional Play--The History,Technology Revolution,Importance to Oil and Gas Industry,and the Development Future

As a milestone of the entire energy industry,unconventional resources have inevitably swept the world in the last decade,and will certainly dominate the global oil and gas industry in the near future.Eventually,the ＂unconventional＂ will become ＂conventional＂.Along with the rapid development,however,some issues have emerged,which are closely related to the viability of unconventional resources development.Under the current circumstances of low crude oil and gas price,coupled with the prominent environmental concerns,the arguments about the development and production of unconventional resources have been recently heated up.This work introduced the fullblown aspects of unconventional resources especially shale reservoirs,by discussing their concepts and definitions,reviewing the shale gas and shale oil development history and necessity,analyzing the shale plays＇ geology and petroleum systems with respects to key hydrocarbon accumulation elements and mechanisms,and summarizing the technology resolution.This study also discussed the relevant key issues,including significant estimation uncertainty of technically recoverable resources,the equivocal understanding of complex geology preventing the production and technologies implementation optimization,the difficulties of experiences and technologies global expanding,and the corresponding risks and uncertainties.In addition,based on the latest production and exploration data,the future perspective of the unconventional resources was depicted from global unconventional resources assessments,technology development,and limitations constraining the development.

A"One Engine with Six Gears"System Engineering Methodology for the Economic Development of Unconventional Oil and Gas in China

Unconventional oil and gas resources have become the most important and realistic field for increasing China’s domestic oil and gas reserves and production.At present,the production scale does not match the massive amount of resources and the rapid growth of proven geological reserves.The challenges of technology,cost,management,and methodology restrict large-scale and economic development.Based on successful practices,a"one engine with six gears"system engineering methodology is put forward,which includes life-cycle management,overall synergy,interdisciplinary cross-service integration,marketoriented operation,socialized support,digitalized management,and low-carbon and green development.The methodology has been proved to be effective in multiple unconventional oil and gas national demonstration areas,including the Jimusar continental shale oil demonstration area.Disruptive views are introduced-namely,that unconventional oil and gas do not necessarily yield a low return,nor do they necessarily have a low recovery factor.A determination to achieve economic benefit must be a pervasive underlying goal for managers and experts.Return and recovery factors,as primary focuses,must be adhered to during China’s development of unconventional oil and gas.The required methodology transformation includes a revolution in management systems to significantly decrease cost and increase production,resulting in technological innovation.

Geological and Engineering‘Sweet Spots'in the Permian Lucaogou Formation,Jimusar Sag,Junggar Basin

Unconventional oil and gas resources require petrophysical logs to answer the question of how best to optimize geological and engineering‘sweet spots'.Therefore,the establishment of a key well with comprehensive descriptions of lithology,reservoir properties,hydrocarbon-bearing properties,electronic well log responses,source rock properties,brittleness,and in situ stress magnitude and direction is important for the effective exploration and production of unconventional hydrocarbon resources.Cores,thin sections,scanning electron microscopy(SEM)and comprehensive well log suites are used to build a key well for the Permian Lucaogou Formation,Jimusar Sag of the Junggar Basin.The results show that there are three main types of lithologies,including siltstone,mudstone and dolostone.Lithologies can be predicted using the combination of conventional well and image logs.The pore spaces consist of interparticle pores,intragranular dissolution pores and micropores.Nuclear Magnetic Resonance(NMR)T_(2)components longer than 1.7 ms are superposed as effective porosity.Permeability is calculated using the Coates model from NMR T_(2)spectra.The ratio of T_(2)components>7.0 ms to T_(2)components>0.3 ms is used to calculate oil saturation.TOC is calculated using theΔlog R method.Brittleness index is calculated using Poisson-Young's method,ranging from 13.42%-70.53%.In situ stress direction is determined,and in situ stress magnitudes(maximum horizontal stress SH_(max),minimum horizontal stress Sh_(min),vertical stress S_(v))are calculated using density and sonic logs.The strike-slip stress type(SH_(max)>S_(v)>Sh_(min))is encountered.The key well which comprehensively includes the above seven properties is established.Geological and engineering(geomechanical)‘sweet spots'are then optimized from the key well by fully analyzing lithology,reservoir property,oilbearing potential,in situ stress magnitude and brittleness.It is hoped that the results support engineers'and geologists'decisions for the future exploitation of unconventional hydrocarbon resources.

Analysis of the world oil and gas exploration situation in 2021

The global exploration investment, new oil and gas discoveries, exploration business adjustment strategies of oil companies in 2021, and future favorable exploration domains are systematically analyzed using commercial databases such as IHS and public information of oil companies. It has been found that the world oil and gas exploration situation in 2021 has continued the downturn since the outbreak of COVID-19. The investment and drilling workload decreased slightly, but the success rate of exploration wells, especially deepwater exploration wells, increased significantly, and the newly discovered reserves increased slightly compared with last year. Deep waters of the passive continental margin basins are still the leading sites for discovering conventional large and medium-sized oil and gas fields. The conventional oil and gas exploration in deep formations of onshore petroliferous basins has been keeping a good state, with tight/shale oil and gas discoveries made in Saudi Arabia, Russia, and other countries. While strengthening the exploration and development of local resources, national, international, and independent oil companies have been focusing on major overseas frontiers using their advantages, including risk exploration in deep waters and natural gas. Future favorable exploration directions in the three major frontiers, the global deep waters, deep onshore formations, and unconventional resources, have been clarified. Four suggestions are put forward for the global exploration business of Chinese oil companies: first, a farm in global deepwater frontier basins in advance through bidding at a low cost and adopt the “dual exploration model” after making large-scale discoveries;second, enter new blocks of emerging hot basins in the world through farm-in and other ways, to find large oil and gas fields quickly;third, cooperate with national oil companies of the resource host countries in the form of joint research and actively participate exploration of deep onshore formations of petroliferous basins;fourth, track tight/shale oil and gas cooperation opportunities in a few countries such as Saudi Arabia and Russia, and take advantage of mature domestic theories and technologies to farm in at an appropriate time.

Numerical Study of Gas Production from a Methane Hydrate Reservoir Using Depressurization with Multi-wells

With the implementation of the production tests in permafrost and offshore regions in Canada,US,Japan,and China,the study of natural gas hydrate has progressed into the stage of technology development for industrial exploitation.The depressurization method is considered as a better strategy to produce gas from hydrate reservoirs based on production tests and laboratory experiments.Multi-well production is proposed to improve gas production efficiency,to meet the requirement for industrial production.For evaluating the applicability of multi-well production to hydrate exploitation,a 2D model is established,with numerical simulations of the performance of the multi-well pattern carried out.To understand the dissociation behavior of gas hydrate,the pressure and temperature distributions in the hydrate reservoir are specified,and the change in permeability of reservoir sediments is investigated.The results obtained indicate that multi-well production can improve the well connectivity,accelerate hydrate dissociation,enhance gas production rate and reduce water production as compared with single-well production.

Natural gas hydrates-Insights into a paradigm-shifting energy resource

Experts have identified natural gas hydrates,which are found in the shallow seabed and beneath permafrost regions,as an energy source(mostly methane)that is greener than other petroleum fuel resources.With their worldwide distribution and abundance,gas hydrates have vast potential to become the next pillar of the energy industry.Although no entity has established methane extraction from hydrates at a commercial scale yet,extensive laboratory experiments have introduced several extraction strategies.Methods such as depressurization,thermal stimulation,and inhibitor injection are likely to disturb seabed integrity,which may result in catastrophic consequences.However,the CO_(2)replacement method is inferred to be preserving the seabed stability,offering an opportunity to reduce anthropogenic CO_(2)emissions safely.In this paper,we provide a comprehensive review of the progress of experimental work in developing methane-extraction methods for gas hydrate reservoirs.Depressurization combined with thermal stimulation can be proposed as a viable methane extraction method based on laboratory-scale experiments,however,a sustainable extraction method is yet to be developed to fieldscale when both economic and environmental perspectives are considered.A handful of field production runs have delivered positive outcomes to establish the exploitability of natural hydrate reservoirs,but thorough investigations and scientific collaborations are needed to develop hydrate accumulations as a commercially viable energy source.

Coordinated Exploration Model and its Application to Coal and Coal-associated Deposits in Coal Basins of China

China is a top world producer of coal resources with numerous coal-rich basins country-wide that also contain coalbed methane(CBM),an unconventional natural gas resource.Recent exploration of coal and CBM resources has also led to the discovery of rare,precious,and scattered metal minerals,including sandstone-type U and Ga–Ge–Li.High-grade and industrial-value deposits have been discovered in the Ordos,Junggar,and other basins across China during exploration for coal resources.Application of coordinated exploration theories and techniques in multiple energy and coal-associated ore deposits,such as coal and unconventional natural gas in coal,achieves efficient and practical exploration of natural resources.Based on the systematic study of accumulation and occurrence of coal and coal-associated mineral resources in coal basins,the basic idea of coordinated exploration for coal and coal-associated deposits is proposed,and multi-targets and multi-methods based on a coordinated exploration model of coal-associated deposits is developed.Coordinated exploration expands the main exploration objective from coal seams to coal-associated series,extending the exploration target from targeting coal only to coal-associated deposits.Entrance times for exploration are decreased to realize coordinated exploration for coal,unconventional natural gas and syngenetic/associated mineral resources in coal by implementing a’one-time approach’―one time in and out of a coal seam to minimize disturbance and time needed for extraction.According to the differences of geological background in China’s coal basins,four coordinated exploration model types,including co-exploration of coal and coal-associated unconventional natural gas,coal and solid minerals,coal and metal minerals,and coal with water resources are established.Other models discussed include a multi-target coordinated exploration model for the combination of coal,coal-associated gas,solid minerals,and metal minerals accordingly.The exploration techniques of coal and coal-associated resources include regional geological investigation and research and synthetic application of other techniques including seismic surveys,drilling,logging,and geochemical exploration.Particularly,applying the’multi-purpose drill hole’or reworking coalfield drill holes into parameter wells,adding sample testing and logging wells,determining gas-bearing layers by logging and gas content measurement,jointly measuring multiple logging parameters,sampling,and testing of coal-strata help in the exploration and evaluation of coal resources,coal-associated unconventional natural gas resources,and coal-associated element minerals.Accordingly,a system of integrated Space–Air–Ground exploration techniques for coordinated exploration of coal and coal-associated minerals is established.This includes high-resolution,hyperspectral remote-sensing technique,high-precision geophysical exploration and fast,precise drilling,testing of experimental samples,as well as coordinated exploration and determination methods of multi-target factors,multi-exploration means,multi-parameter configuration and optimization,big data fusions and interpretation techniques.In recent years,the application of this integrated system has brought significant breakthroughs in coal exploration in Inner Mongolia,Xinjiang and other provinces,discovering several large,ten-billionton coalfields,such as the Eastern Junggar and Tuha basins,and also in exploration and development of CBM from lowrank coals in Fukang,Xinjiang,discovery the Daying U Deposit in Inner Mongolia,the Junggar Ultralarge Ga Deposit,Lincang,Yunnan,and the Wulantuga,Inner Mongolia,Ge-bearing coal deposits,and the Pingshuo Ultralarge Li–Ge Deposit.

Petroleum Distribution Characteristics of the Americas and the Exploration Prospect Analysis

The world＇s present demand for oil and gas is still in a rapid growth period, and traditional oil and gas resources account for more than 60% of the global oil and gas supply. The Americas is the world＇s second largest production and consumption center of liquid fuel, and is also the world＇s largest natural gas producer. In 2016, the Americas had 85.3 billion tons of proven oil reserves and 18.7 trillion m3 of proven natural gas reserves, which account for 35.4% and 10.0% of world＇s total reserves, respectively. It produced 1267.1 Mt of oil and 1125.4 billion m3 of natural gas, which account for 28.9% and 31.7% of the world＇s total production, respectively. The crude oil and natural gas reserves are mainly distributed in the U.S., Canada and Venezuela. The U.S. is the earliest and most successful country in shale gas exploration and development, and its shale gas is concentrated in the southern, central and eastern U.S., including the Marcellcus shale, Barnett shale, EagleFord shale, Bakken shale, Fayettevis shale, Haynsvill shale, Woodford shale and Monterey/Santos shale. The potential oil and gas resources in the Americas are mainly concentrated in the anticline and stratigraphic traps in the Middle- Upper Jurassic slope deposition of the North Slope Basin, the Paleozoic Madsion group dolomite and limestone in the Williston Basin, dominant stratigraphic traps and few structural traps in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, the Eocene structural-stratigraphic hydrocarbon combination, structural- unconformity traps and structural hydrocarbon combination, and the Upper Miocene stratigraphic- structural hydrocarbon combination in the Maracaibo Basin of Venezuela, the stratigraphic-structural traps and fault horst, tilting faulted blocks and anticlines related to subsalt structure and basement activity in the Campos Basin, the subsalt central low-uplift belt and supra-salt central low-uplift belt in the Santos Basin of Brazil, and the structural-stratigraphic traps in the Neuquen Basin of Argentina. In addition, the breakthrough of seismic subsalt imaging technology makes the subsalt deepwater sea area of eastern Barzil an important oil and gas potential area.

Shale Lithofacies and Sedimentary Environment of the Third Member,Shahejie Formation,Zhanhua Sag,Eastern China

Researches into shale lithofacies,their sedimentary environments and relationship benefit understanding both of sedimentary cycle division and unconventional hydrocarbon exploration in lacustrine basins.Based on a 100~300-m-thick dark shale,mudstone and limestone encountered in the lower third member of the Eocene Shahejie Formation(Es3l member)in Zhanhua Sag,Bohai Bay Basin,eastern China,routine core analysis,thin sectioning,scanning electron microscopy(SEM),mineralogical and geochemical measurements were used to understand detailed facies characterization and paleoclimate in the member.This Es3l shale sediment includes three sedimentary cycles(C3,C2 and C1),from bottom to top,with complex sedimentary characters and spatial distribution.In terms of the composition,texture,bedding and thickness,six lithofacies are recognized in this succession.Some geochemical parameters,such as trace elements(Sr/Ba,Na/Al,V/Ni,V/(V+Ni),U/Th),carbon and oxygen isotopes(δ^(18)O,δ^(13)C),and total organic carbon content(TOC)indicate that the shales were deposited in a deep to semi-deep lake,with the water column being salty,stratified,enclosed and reductive.During cycles C3 and C2 of the middle-lower sections,the climate was arid,and the water was salty and stratified.Laminated and laminar mudstone-limestone was deposited with moderate organic matter(average TOC 1.8%)and good reservoir quality(average porosity 6.5%),which can be regarded as favorable reservoir.During the C1 cycle,a large amount of organic matter was input from outside the basin and this led to high productivity with a more humid climate.Massive calcareous mudstone was deposited,and this is characterized by high TOC(average 3.6%)and moderate porosity(average 4%),and provides favorable source rocks.

Preparation and performance evaluation of the slickwater using novel polymeric drag reducing agent with high temperature and shear resistance ability

Slickwater fracturing fluids are widely used in the development of unconventional oil and gas resources due to the advantages of low cost,low formation damage and high drag reduction performance.However,their performance is severely affected at high temperatures.Drag reducing agent is the key to determine the drag reducing performance of slickwater.In this work,in order to further improve the temperature resistance of slickwater,a temperature-resistant polymeric drag reducing agent(PDRA)was synthesized and used as the basis for preparing the temperature-resistant slickwater.The slickwater system was prepared with the compositions of 0.2 wt%PDRA,0.05 wt%drainage aid nonylphenol polyoxyethylene ether phosphate(NPEP)and 0.5 wt%anti-expansion agent polyepichlorohydrindimethylamine(PDM).The drag reduction ability,rheology properties,temperature and shear resistance ability,and core damage property of slickwater were systematically studied and evaluated.In contrast to on-site drag reducing agent(DRA)and HPAM,the temperature-resistant slickwater demonstrates enhanced drag reduction efficacy at 90℃,exhibiting superior temperature and shear resistance ability.Notably,the drag reduction retention rate for the slickwater achieved an impressive 90.52%after a 30-min shearing period.Additionally,the core damage is only 5.53%.We expect that this study can broaden the application of slickwater in high-temperature reservoirs and provide a theoretical basis for field applications.

Principal components methodology-A novel approach to forecasting production from liquid-rich shale(LRS)reservoirs

With increasing global demand for energy,the importance of unconventional shale oil and gas research cannot be over-emphasized.The oil and gas industry requires rapid and reliable means of forecasting production.Existing traditional decline curve analysis(DCA)methods have been limited in their ability to satisfactorily forecast production from unconventional liquid-rich shale(LRS)reservoirs.This is due to several causes ranging from the complicated production mechanisms to the ultra-low permeability in shales.The use of hybrid(combination)DCA models can improve results.However,complexities associated with these techniques can still make their application quite tedious without proper diagnostic plots,correct use of model parameters and some knowledge of the production mechanisms involved.This work,therefore,presents a new statistical data-driven approach of forecasting production from LRS reservoirs called the Principal Components Methodology(PCM).PCM is a technique that bypasses a lot of the difficulties associated with existing methods of forecasting and forecasts production with reasonable certainty.PCM is a data-driven method of forecasting based on the statistical technique of principal components analysis(PCA).In our study,we simulated production of fluids with different compositions for 30 years with the aid of a commercial compositional simulator.We then applied the Principal Components Methodology(PCM)to the production data from several representative wells by using Singular Value Decomposition(SVD)to calculate the principal components.These principal components were then used to forecast oil production from wells with production histories ranging from 0.5 to 3 years,and the results were compared to simulated data.Application of the PCM to field data is also included in this work.

Energy shift： decline of easy oil and restructuring of eo-politics

This paper critically assesses the geopolitical and geo-economic impact of novel fuel resources on both resource exporters and importers. Presently, very strong political and economic forces drive the utilisation of domestic, unconventional oil and gas recovery in the West as these enhance energy security and ease balance of payment issues. The additional capacity generated by this trend has, supported by other effects such as Saudi Arabia＇s decision to maintain current production, triggered a significant reduction ofoil prices. Consequently, it is now oil exporters that struggle with the balance of payment issues and often these countries base their fiscal budget completely on fossil fuel revenues. In fact, these unconventional resources help turn the tide while oil exporters are now politically significantly weakened due to the increased energy sufficiency of the West. The catch is that the extraction of unconventional types ofoil has many environmental implications. So, internalising the environ- mental externalities have to be considered. This paper, therefore, assesses, next to geopolitics and geo-economics, the environmental implications of this trend.