Oil and Gas
Oil and Gas | Unconventional Resources
Shale & Tight Oil for Technical Professionals
This three-day course focuses on the technologies currently being applied in evaluating and developing oil and wet gas from shale and other tight reservoirs. The course material is intended for engineers and geologists who are familiar with conventional oil and gas evaluation concepts and are seeking information on the unique aspects of shale evaluation and development. Included in the sessions are the unique concepts, data collection methods, evaluation techniques, development processes and completion technologies. Participants will be asked to complete class problems and case studies using data from existing and emerging shale plays.
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Schedule
Duration and Training Method
Three classroom days providing 2.4 CEU (Continuing Education Credits) or 24 PDH (Professional Development Hours)
Course Overview
Learning Outcomes
Participants will learn to
• Characterize and rank-order the key reservoir properties for successful shale development.
• Define how production rates correlate to specific well completion and hydraulic fracturing options.
• Assess the geologic features that create sweet spots and development tiers in specific plays.
• Characterize and quantify the hydrocarbon volumes contained in various shale plays using measurements
related to absorption, adsorption, pyrolysis, maturity, yields, and source rock kinetics.
• Assess geologic factors creating variability in hydraulic fracturing mechanics, objectives and effectiveness.
• Define the unique terms, abbreviations and concepts applied in unconventional reservoir development.
• Apply basic equations to quantify the appropriate fracture design, fracture spacing and well spacing.
• Evaluate methods to analyze and quality-check pyrograms, isotherms, desorption data, and log data.
• Understand the unique methods to forecast rates and drainage volumes for shale, and their limitations.
• List the recent and emerging technologies in the shale industry and their potential benefits.
• Evaluate case study information to define the unique attributes of selected shale plays.
Course Content
Day One
1. Overview
a. Development Overview
b. Geology Overview
c. Development Teams
d. Slang and Symbols
2. Wet Gas Concepts
a. NGL Yields
b. NGL Revenue Analysis
c. Phase Changes
3. Hydraulic Fracturing
a. Five Objectives
b. Mechanics
c. Stages
d. Terminology
4. Fracture Implementation
a. Planning and Procedures
b. Required Equipment
5. Insitu Stresses
a. Impacts on Completion Design
b. Max Stress from Field Tests
6. Case Studies (cover 2 or 3)
a. Monterey (California)
b. Duvernay (BC, Canada)
c. Marcellus (Northeast U.S.)
7. Electric Log Analysis
a. Key Concepts
b. Impacts of Organics
c. Eagle Ford Oil-in-Place
8. Source Rock
a. Hydrocarbon Sources
b. TIC & TOC
Day Two
9. Source Rock
a. Gas and Oil Windows
b. Geologic Terms
c. Source Rock Kinetics
10. Adsorption & Absorption
a. Concepts
b. Langmuir Isotherm
c. Adsorption Analysis
d. Free GIP
11. Source Rock Analysis
a. GC Core Analysis
b. S1 Core Analysis
c. Pyrogram Analysis
12. Reservoir Characterization
a. Natural Fractures
b. Locating Sweet Spots
c. Structural Terms
13. Reservoir Characterization
a. Core Testing
b. OOIP from S1
c. Permeability Analysis
d. Seismic Attributes
14. Development
a. Development Planning
b. Net Pay Analysis
c. Quick-look Economics
d. Development Cycles
15. Case Studies (cover 2 or 3)
a. China Shale Basins
b. Horn River (BC & NWT)
c. Barnett Development
16. Horizontal Wells
a. Evolution
b. Fracs in Horizontals
c. Completion Options
Day Three
17. Completion Comparisons
18. Fracture Monitoring
a. Nolte Plot
b. Microseismic
c. DTS & DAS
d. Surveys
19. Fracturing Design
a. Proppant Transport
b. Multi-Stage Frac
c. Proppant Design
d. Nprop
e. Fluid Additives
20. Completion Factors
a. Fracturing Details
b. Eagle Ford Factors
21. Environmental Issues
22. Production Forecasting
a. Decline Curve Analysis
b. Maximum Recovery
c. Type Curves
d. Diagnostic Plots
e. Forecasting Terms
f. Computer Simulation
23. Advanced Case Studies
a. Montney (BC, Canada)
b. Bakken
c. Barnett Evaluation
24. Production Correlations
a. Bakken
b. Eagle Ford Correlations
25. Final Class Review
26. Technical References
Who Should Attend and Prerequisites
The course is intended for engineers and geoscientists familiar with conventional oil and gas evaluation concepts who are seeking information on the unique aspects of shale and tight rock evaluation and development. The course is also appropriate for managers and technical support staff experienced in the technical aspects of evaluating, monitoring or developing plays.
Instructors
Steve Hennings
Steve Hennings, M.S., P.E. is the owner and principal consultant at Source Rock Engineering in Littleton, Colorado, USA. He is a registered professional engineer with a Bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering and a Master’s degree in Finance. Steve worked for a major energy company during his first 20 years in the oil & gas industry where he completed a wide variety of reservoir, well completion, and production engineering assignments. His very first assignment was to evaluate ways to optimize hydraulic fracturing treatments and improve forecasting methods, and Steve continues to focus attention on those issues. During his career he also led engineering and geoscience teams for: the largest U.S. oil field, the largest underground coal mine in Australia, and a prestigious petroleum laboratory and research center. For the past ten years Steve has focused exclusively on unconventional reservoirs in the United States, Canada, Australia, China, India and other countries. He also occasionally conducts private or public technical workshops to share lessons learned from his on-going participation in exploration and development efforts. Steve is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, and the Society of Mining Engineers. In 2008 he shared the annual Stefanko Award for his technical presentations.
Courses Taught
N646 - Hydraulic Fracturing Shale and Tight Rock: Technical Design and Analysis
N645 - Introduction to Shale and Tight Oil & Gas
N647 - Shale and Tight Oil & Gas for Petroleum Engineers and Geologists
N652 - Shale Reservoir Criteria & Cut-offs