Unconventional Reservoirs: Ideas to Commercialization

Abstract:

There is no shortage of coal, oil, and natural gas in the world. What are sometimes in short supply are fresh ideas. Scientific innovation combined with continued advances in drilling and completion technology revitalized the natural gas industry in North America by making production from shale economic. Similar advances are now happening in shale oil. The convergence of ideas and technology has created a commercial environment in which unconventional reservoirs could supply natural gas to the North American consumer for 50 years or more. And, although not as far along in terms of resource development, oil from the Eagle Ford and Bakken Shales and the oil sands in Alberta could have a similar impact.

Without advanced horizontal drilling, geosteering, staged hydraulic-fracture stimulation, synthetic and natural proppants, evolution of hydraulic fluid chemistry, and high-end monitoring and simulation, many of these plays would not exist. Yet drilling and completion technology cannot stand alone. Also required for success are creative thinking, favorable economics, and a tolerance for risk by operators. Current understanding and completion practices will leave upwards of 80% of oil and natural gas in the shale reservoirs. The opportunity to enhance recovery through advanced reservoir understanding and imaging, as well as through recompletions and infill drilling, is considerable. The path from ideas to commercialization will continue to provide economic results in unconventional reservoirs.