Quantitative characterization of the brittleness of deep shales by integrating mineral content,elastic parameters,in situ stress conditions and logging analysis

Deep shale reservoirs(3500–4500 m)exhibit significantly different stress states than moderately deep shale reservoirs(2000–3500 m).As a result,the brittleness response mechanisms of deep shales are also different.It is urgent to investigate methods to evaluate the brittleness of deep shales to meet the increasingly urgent needs of deep shale gas development.In this paper,the quotient of Young’s modulus divided by Poisson’s ratio based on triaxial compression tests under in situ stress conditions is taken as SSBV(Static Standard Brittleness Value).A new and pragmatic technique is developed to determine the static brittleness index that considers elastic parameters,the mineral content,and the in situ stress conditions(BIEMS).The coefficient of determination between BIEMS and SSBV reaches 0.555 for experimental data and 0.805 for field data.This coefficient is higher than that of other brittleness indices when compared to SSBV.BIEMS can offer detailed insights into shale brittleness under various conditions,including different mineral compositions,depths,and stress states.This technique can provide a solid data-based foundation for the selection of‘sweet spots’for single-well engineering and the comparison of the brittleness of shale gas production layers in different areas.

A Transient-Pressure-Based Numerical Approach for Interlayer Identification in Sand Reservoirs

Almost all sandstone reservoirs contain interlayers. The identification and characterization of these interlayers iscritical for minimizing the uncertainty associated with oilfield development and improving oil and gas recovery.Identifying interlayers outside wells using identification methods based on logging data and machine learning isdifficult and seismic-based identification techniques are expensive. Herein, a numerical model based on seepageand well-testing theories is introduced to identify interlayers using transient pressure data. The proposed modelrelies on the open-source MATLAB Reservoir Simulation Toolbox. The effects of the interlayer thickness, position,and width on the pressure response are thoroughly investigated. A procedure for inverting interlayer parametersin the reservoir using the bottom-hole pressure is also proposed. This method uses only transient pressuredata during well testing and can effectively identify the interlayer distribution near the wellbore at an extremelylow cost. The reliability of the model is verified using effective oilfield examples.

Simulation Method and Feature Analysis of Shutdown Pressure Evolution During Multi-Cluster Fracturing Stimulation

Multistage multi-cluster hydraulic fracturing has enabled the economic exploitation of shale reservoirs,but the interpretation of hydraulic fracture parameters is challenging.The pressure signals after pump shutdown are influenced by hydraulic fractures,which can reflect the geometric features of hydraulic fracture.The shutdown pressure can be used to interpret the hydraulic fracture parameters in a real-time and cost-effective manner.In this paper,a mathematical model for shutdown pressure evolution is developed considering the effects of wellbore friction,perforation friction and fluid loss in fractures.An efficient numerical simulation method is established by using the method of characteristics.Based on this method,the impacts of fracture half-length,fracture height,opened cluster and perforation number,and filtration coefficient on the evolution of shutdown pressure are analyzed.The results indicate that a larger fracture half-length may hasten the decay of shutdown pressure,while a larger fracture height can slow down the decay of shutdown pressure.A smaller number of opened clusters and perforations can significantly increase the perforation friction and decrease the overall level of shutdown pressure.A larger filtration coefficient may accelerate the fluid filtration in the fracture and hasten the drop of the shutdown pressure.The simulation method of shutdown pressure,as well as the analysis results,has important implications for the interpretation of hydraulic fracture parameters.

Effect of fracture fluid flowback on shale microfractures using CT scanning

The field data of shale fracturing demonstrate that the flowback performance of fracturing fluid is different from that of conventional reservoirs,where the flowback rate of shale fracturing fluid is lower than that of conventional reservoirs.At the early stage of flowback,there is no single-phase flow of the liquid phase in shale,but rather a gas-water two-phase flow,such that the single-phase flow model for tight oil and gas reservoirs is not applicable.In this study,pores and microfractures are extracted based on the experimental results of computed tomography(CT)scanning,and a spatial model of microfractures is established.Then,the influence of rough microfracture surfaces on the flow is corrected using the modified cubic law,which was modified by introducing the average deviation of the microfracture height as a roughness factor to consider the influence of microfracture surface roughness.The flow in the fracture network is simulated using the modified cubic law and the lattice Boltzmann method(LBM).The results obtained demonstrate that most of the fracturing fluid is retained in the shale microfractures,which explains the low fracturing fluid flowback rate in shale hydraulic fracturing.

Dynamic characteristics and influencing factors of CO_(2) huff and puff in tight oil reservoirs

CO_(2)huff and puff experiments of different injection parameters,production parameters and soaking time were carried out on large-scale cubic and long columnar outcrop samples to analyze dynamic characteristics and influencing factors of CO_(2)huff and puff and the contribution of sweeping mode to recovery.The experimental results show that the development process of CO_(2)huff and puff can be divided into four stages,namely,CO_(2)backflow,production of gas with some oil,high-speed oil production,and oil production rate decline stages.The production of gas with some oil stage is dominated by free gas displacement,and the high-speed oil production stage is dominated by dissolved gas displacement.CO_(2)injection volume and development speed are the major factors affecting the oil recovery.The larger the injected CO_(2)volume and the lower the development speed,the higher the oil recovery will be.The reasonable CO_(2)injection volume and development speed should be worked out according to oilfield demand and economic evaluation.There is a reasonable soaking time in CO_(2)huff and puff.Longer soaking time than the optimum time makes little contribution to oil recovery.In field applications,the stability of bottom hole pressure is important to judge whether the soaking time is sufficient during the huff period.The oil recovery of CO_(2)huff and puff mainly comes from the contribution of flow sweep and diffusion sweep,and diffusion sweep contributes more to the oil recovery when the soaking time is sufficient.

Evaluation of source rocks and prediction of oil and gas resources distribution in Baiyun Sag,Pearl River Mouth Basin,China

By conducting organic geochemical analysis of the samples taken from the drilled wells in Baiyun Sag of Pearl River Mouth Basin,China,the development characteristics of hydrocarbon source rocks in the sag are clarified.Reconstruct the current geothermal field of the sag and restore the tectonic-thermal evolution process to predict the type,scale,and distribution of resources in Baiyun Sag through thermal pressure simulation experiments and numerical simulation.The Baiyun Sag is characterized by the development of Paleogene shallow lacustrine source rocks,which are deposited in a slightly oxidizing environment.The source rocks are mainly composed of terrestrial higher plants,with algae making a certain contribution,and are oil and gas source rocks.Current geothermal field of the sag was reconstructed,in which the range of geothermal gradients is(3.5–5.2)℃/100 m,showing an overall increasing trend from northwest to southeast,with significant differences in geothermal gradients across different sub-sags.Baiyun Sag has undergone two distinct periods of extensional process,the Eocene and Miocene,since the Cenozoic era.These two periods of heating and warming events have been identified,accelerating the maturation and evolution of source rocks.The main body of ancient basal heat flow value reached its highest at 13.82 Ma.The basin modelling results show that the maturity of source rocks is significantly higher in Baiyun main sub-sag than that in other sub-sags.The Eocene Wenchang Formation is currently in the stage of high maturity to over maturity,while the Eocene Enping Formation has reached the stage of maturity to high maturity.The rock thermal simulation experiment shows that the shallow lacustrine mudstone of the Wenchang Formation has a good potential of generating gas from kerogen cracking with high gas yield and long period of gas window.Shallow lacustrine mudstone of the Enping Formation has a good ability to generate light oil,and has ability to generate kerogen cracking gas in the late stage.The gas yield of shallow lacustrine mudstone of the Enping Formation is less than that of shallow lacustrine mudstone of the Wenchang Formation and the delta coal-bearing mudstone of the Enping Formation.The numerical simulation results indicate that the source rocks of Baiyun main sub-sag generate hydrocarbons earlier and have significantly higher hydrocarbon generation intensity than other sub-sags,with an average of about 1200×10^(4)t/km^(2).Oil and gas resources were mainly distributed in Baiyun main sub-sag and the main source rocks are distributed in the 3^(rd)and 4~(th)members of Wenchang Formation.Four favorable zones are selected for the division and evaluation of migration and aggregation units:No.(1)Panyu 30 nose-shaped structural belt,No.(3)Liuhua 29 nose-shaped uplift belt and Liwan 3 nose-shaped uplift belt,No.(2)gentle slope belt of Baiyun east sag,and No.(8)Baiyun 1 low-uplift.

The Wellbore Temperature and Pressure Behavior during the Flow Testing of Ultra-Deepwater Gas Wells

The transientflow testing of ultra-deepwater gas wells is greatly impacted by the low temperatures of seawater encountered over extended distances.This leads to a redistribution of temperature within the wellbore,which in turn influences theflow behavior.To accurately predict such a temperature distribution,in this study a comprehensive model of theflowing temperature and pressurefields is developed.This model is based on principles offluid mechanics,heat transfer,mass conservation,and energy conservation and relies on the Runge-Kutta method for accurate integration in time of the resulting equations.The analysis includes the examination of the influence of various factors,such as gasflow production rate,thermal diffusivity of the formation,and thermal diffusivity of seawater,on the temperature and pressure profiles of the wellbore.The keyfindings can be summarized as follows:1.Higher production rates during testing lead to increasedflowing temperatures and decreased pressures within the wellbore.However,in the presence of a seawater thermocline,a crossover inflowing temperature is observed.2.An increase in wellbore pressure is associated with larger pipe diameters.3.Greater thermal diffusivity of the formation results in more rapid heat transfer from the wellbore to the formation,which causes lowerflowing temperatures within the wellbore.4.In an isothermal layer,higher thermal diffusivity of seawater leads to increased wellboreflowing temperatures.Conversely,in thermocline and mixed layer segments,lower temperatures are noted.5.Production test data from a representative deep-water gas well in the South China Sea,used to calculate the bottom-seafloor-wellhead temperature and pressurefields across three operating modes,indicate that the average error in temperature prediction is 2.18%,while the average error in pressure prediction is 5.26%,thereby confirming the reliability of the theoretical model.

Optimization method of fi rst-arrival waveform inversion based on the L-BFGS algorithm

The fi rst arrival waveform inversion(FAWI)has a strong nonlinearity due to the objective function using L2 parametrization.When the initial velocity is not accurate,the inversion can easily fall into local minima.In the full waveform inversion method,adding a cross-correlation function to the objective function can eff ectively reduce the nonlinearity of the inversion process.In this paper,the nonlinearity of this process is reduced by introducing the correlation objective function into the FAWI and by deriving the corresponding gradient formula.We then combine the first-arrival wave travel-time tomography with the FAWI to form a set of inversion processes.This paper uses the limited memory Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno(L-BFGS)algorithm to improve the computational effi ciency of inversion and solve the problem of the low effi ciency of the FAWI method.The overthrust model and fi eld data test show that the method used in this paper can eff ectively reduce the nonlinearity of inversion and improve the inversion calculation effi ciency at the same time.

Formation Laws of Inorganic Gas Pools in the Northern Jiangsu Basin

In the Northern Jiangsu basin there are high pure CO2 gas pools, low condensed oil-containing CO2 gas pools, high condensed oil-containing CO2 gas pools and He-containing natural gas pools, with the δ13Cco2 (PDB) values ranging from ?2.87%o to ?6.50%o, 3He/4He 3.71 × 10?6 to 6.42 × 10?6, R/Ra 2.64 to 4.5, 40Ar/36Ar 705 to 734, belonging to typical mantle source inorganic gas pools which are related to young magmatic activity. The gas layers occur in two major reservoir-caprock systems, the terrestrial Meso-Cenozoic clastic rock system and the marine Meso-Palaeozoic carbonate rock-clastic rock system. Controlled by the difference in the scale of traps in the two reservoir-caprock systems, large and medium-scale inorganic gas pools are formed in the marine Meso-Palaeozoic Group and only small ones are formed in the terrestrial Meso-Cenozoic strata. Inorganic gas pools in this basin are distributed along the two deep lithospheric faults on the west and south boundaries of the basin. Gas pools are developed at the intersected part of the ENE-trending faults that control the half graben and the E-W tenso-shear faults, mainly distributed near the Es1, Ny1 and Ny2-Q basalt eruption centres.

Shale gas reservoir characteristics of Ordovician-Silurian formations in the central Yangtze area, China

The characteristics of a shale gas reservoir and the potential of a shale gas resource of Ordovician-Silurian age in the north of the central Yangtze area were determined. Core samples from three wells in the study area were subjected to thin-section examination, scanning electron microscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance testing, X-ray diffraction mineral analysis, total organic carbon （TOC） testing, maturity testing, gas-bearing analysis, and gas component and isothermal adsorption experiments. A favorable segment of the gas shale reservoir was found in both the Wufeng Formation and the lower part of the Longmaxi Formation; these formations were formed from the late Katian to early Rhuddanian. The high-quality shale layers in wells J1, J2, and J3 featured thicknesses of 54.88 m, 48.49 m, and 52.00 m, respectively, and mainly comprised carbonaceous and siliceous shales. Clay and brittle minerals showed average contents of 37.5% and 62.5% （48.9% quartz）, respectively. The shale exhibited type Ⅱ1 kerogens with a vitrinite reflectance ranging from 1.94% to 3.51%. TOC contents of 0.22%-6.05% （average, 2.39%） were also observed. The reservoir spaces mainly included micropores and microfractures and were characterized by low porosity and permeability. Well J3 showed generally high gas contents, i.e., 1.12-3.16 m^3/t （average 2.15 m^3/t）, and its gas was primarily methane. The relatively thick black shale reservoir featured high TOC content, high organic material maturity, high brittle mineral content, high gas content, low porosity, and low permeability. Shale gas adsorption was positively correlated with TOC content and organic maturity, weakly positive correlated with quartz content, and weakly negatively correlated with clay content. Therefore, the Wufeng and Longmaxi formations in the north of the central Yangtze area have a good potential for shale gas exploration.

Effects of nano-pore system characteristics on CH4 adsorption capacity in anthracite

This study aims to determine the effects of nanoscale pores system characteristics on CH4 adsorption capacity in anthracite.A total of 24 coal samples from the southern Sichuan Basin,China,were examined systemically using coal maceral analysis,vitrinite reflectance tests, proximate analysis,ultimate analysis,low-temperature N2 adsorption-desorption experiments,nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)analysis,and CH4 isotherm adsorption experiments.Results show that nano-pores are divided into four types on the basis of pore size ranges:super micropores (<4 nm),micropores (4-10 nm),mesopores (10-100 nm),and macropores (>100 nm).Super micropores,micropores,and mesopores make up the bulk of coal porosity,providing extremely large adsorption space with large intemal surface area.This leads us to the conclusion that the threshold of pore diameter between adsorption pores and seepage pores is 100 nm.The "ink bottle"pores have the largest CH4 adsorption capacity, followed by semi-opened pores,whereas opened pores have the smallest CH4 adsorption capacity which indicates that anthracite pores with more irregular shapes possess higher CH4 adsorption capacity.CH4 adsorption capacity increased with the increase in NMR porosity and the bound water saturation.Moreover,CH4 adsorption capacity is positively correlated with NMR permeability when NMR permeability is less than 8 ×10^-3 md.By contrast,the two factors are negatively correlated when NMR permeability is greater than 8 × 10^-3 md.