TECHNICAL PROGRAMME | Primary Energy Supply – Future Pathways
Opportunities for Oil & Gas Supply Growth - Shales, Oil Sands, New Basins Other Unconventionals
Forum 2 | Hall 5 Digital Poster Plaza 1
13
October
12:30
14:30
UTC+3
As the world continues to consume oil and natural gas as a critical component of energy supply to fuel economic growth, improve standards of living, and support the development of ever-cleaner energy technologies, there remains a need to offset production reduction from existing sources. Where do we find these new oil and natural gas resources? Which basins have remaining exploration potential? How do we tap the remaining potential in shales, oil sands, and other unconventional petroleum resources?
While natural gas is increasingly important, especially for electricity generation and as a cleaner alternative to coal and oil, oil has historically been the backbone of energy supply and economic revenue for many Middle Eastern countries. The higher profitability and global demand for oil have often driven more investment into oil exploration and production. Since the early 1970s, the discovery of the massive South Pars/North Dome gas resources in Permo-Triassic reservoirs has opened a new horizon in this area for various Middle Eastern countries. In deep reservoirs (Permo-Triassic and deeper) in the Middle East, the expectation is generally for the discovery of gas, and many fields are already in production.
Exploring for oil in such challenging reservoirs demands advanced approaches. The combination of reservoir depth and extreme temperature and pressure makes conventional exploration and production techniques less effective or riskier. Therefore detailed geological, geophysical, and geochemical studies are crucial to better understand the subsurface conditions and to accurately identify any possible hydrocarbon presence.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, United Arab Emirates, and Oman have achieved successes in the past two decades, and the results of these studies can illuminate the future prospects for oil discovery in these reservoirs. Drawing on the experiences of Saudi Arabia and Qatar and carefully examining their studies and achievements in this area has led to various detailed studies in Iran, which have confirmed the presence of oil, both onshore and offshore, in the Permo-Triassic horizon. Paleohighs play a crucial role in hydrocarbon systems. These ancient structural highs can control where oil is generated, how it migrates, and where it gets trapped and preserved. Therefore, understanding the trend of paleohighs and the timing of their formation (especially the Qatar-Fars Arch in Iran) in relation to the migration and trapping of oil, has led to the discovery of various oil fields in the Permo-Triassic horizon in Iran. A change in approach and a more complete understanding of previously discovered Permo-Triassic gas reservoirs has also led to a new assessment of the potential for oil rims in previous assumed gas fields. This shift in perspective, from considering deep reservoirs as solely gas-bearing to the possibility of oil presence, has ultimately directed to the discovery of oil horizons in proven gas reservoirs.
Integrated geological studies, combining data from geology, geophysics, geochemistry, and petrophysics have indeed revolutionized oil exploration in challenging deep reservoirs (Permo-Triassic horizon). This multidisciplinary approach helps reduce uncertainties and better characterize reservoirs. For countries like Iran, this opens up new prospects, potentially boosting energy supply and economic benefits. It also encourages future exploration to be more data-driven and precise, improving success rates and resource management.
Exploring for oil in such challenging reservoirs demands advanced approaches. The combination of reservoir depth and extreme temperature and pressure makes conventional exploration and production techniques less effective or riskier. Therefore detailed geological, geophysical, and geochemical studies are crucial to better understand the subsurface conditions and to accurately identify any possible hydrocarbon presence.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, United Arab Emirates, and Oman have achieved successes in the past two decades, and the results of these studies can illuminate the future prospects for oil discovery in these reservoirs. Drawing on the experiences of Saudi Arabia and Qatar and carefully examining their studies and achievements in this area has led to various detailed studies in Iran, which have confirmed the presence of oil, both onshore and offshore, in the Permo-Triassic horizon. Paleohighs play a crucial role in hydrocarbon systems. These ancient structural highs can control where oil is generated, how it migrates, and where it gets trapped and preserved. Therefore, understanding the trend of paleohighs and the timing of their formation (especially the Qatar-Fars Arch in Iran) in relation to the migration and trapping of oil, has led to the discovery of various oil fields in the Permo-Triassic horizon in Iran. A change in approach and a more complete understanding of previously discovered Permo-Triassic gas reservoirs has also led to a new assessment of the potential for oil rims in previous assumed gas fields. This shift in perspective, from considering deep reservoirs as solely gas-bearing to the possibility of oil presence, has ultimately directed to the discovery of oil horizons in proven gas reservoirs.
Integrated geological studies, combining data from geology, geophysics, geochemistry, and petrophysics have indeed revolutionized oil exploration in challenging deep reservoirs (Permo-Triassic horizon). This multidisciplinary approach helps reduce uncertainties and better characterize reservoirs. For countries like Iran, this opens up new prospects, potentially boosting energy supply and economic benefits. It also encourages future exploration to be more data-driven and precise, improving success rates and resource management.
Objective/Scope:
Permeability is an important parameter for production prediction of a source rock reservoir as permeability decreases with production (i.e. the increase of effective stress) and it is indispensable to extract a reliable poroelastic coefficient of the formation in order to accurately characterize the permeability-effective stress relationship. This work outlines a new workflow to extract the poroelastic coefficient of a source rock reservoir using a set of permeability measurements.
Methods, Procedures, Process:
Several series permeability measurements of a source rock sample are carefully designed with increasing effective stress given a predetermined, estimated range of poroelastic coefficients, each series are with a constant differential pressure between the confining pressure and pore pressure, and all measurements are carried with pore pressure higher than the supercritical pressure of the measuring gas to minimize the effect of Knudsen diffusion and gas slippage. Each series of data are analyzed separately and results of subsets of the series of data are combined.
Results, Observations, Conclusions:
The data of each series of permeability measurements have a small range of effective stress thus have a uniform poroelastic coefficient and the changes of poroelastic coefficient within a large range of effective stress can be evaluated using several series of permeability measurements. Previous hypothesis postulated that the poroelastic coefficient may change with effective stress as the pore types are progressively affected, more microfractures and slit-shaped pores play a dominant role at low effective stress and round- or equant-dimensional pores play a dominant role at high effective stress. The results are compliant with this hypothesis that poroelastic coefficient starts from 1 when the microfractures and slit-shaped pores in source rock samples are dominant and decreases as more effective stress is applied.
Novel/Additive Information:
This study develops a practical method to extract the poroelastic coefficient for permeability of source rock samples within a large effective stress range.
Permeability is an important parameter for production prediction of a source rock reservoir as permeability decreases with production (i.e. the increase of effective stress) and it is indispensable to extract a reliable poroelastic coefficient of the formation in order to accurately characterize the permeability-effective stress relationship. This work outlines a new workflow to extract the poroelastic coefficient of a source rock reservoir using a set of permeability measurements.
Methods, Procedures, Process:
Several series permeability measurements of a source rock sample are carefully designed with increasing effective stress given a predetermined, estimated range of poroelastic coefficients, each series are with a constant differential pressure between the confining pressure and pore pressure, and all measurements are carried with pore pressure higher than the supercritical pressure of the measuring gas to minimize the effect of Knudsen diffusion and gas slippage. Each series of data are analyzed separately and results of subsets of the series of data are combined.
Results, Observations, Conclusions:
The data of each series of permeability measurements have a small range of effective stress thus have a uniform poroelastic coefficient and the changes of poroelastic coefficient within a large range of effective stress can be evaluated using several series of permeability measurements. Previous hypothesis postulated that the poroelastic coefficient may change with effective stress as the pore types are progressively affected, more microfractures and slit-shaped pores play a dominant role at low effective stress and round- or equant-dimensional pores play a dominant role at high effective stress. The results are compliant with this hypothesis that poroelastic coefficient starts from 1 when the microfractures and slit-shaped pores in source rock samples are dominant and decreases as more effective stress is applied.
Novel/Additive Information:
This study develops a practical method to extract the poroelastic coefficient for permeability of source rock samples within a large effective stress range.
Nanomaterials offer promising solutions for many challenges encountered throughout the oil-and-gas value chain, from exploration to production. Nevertheless, their performance can be compromised by the extreme temperatures and salinity conditions typical of subsurface reservoirs. This study reports a novel route to synthesize stable nanomaterials at a scale utilizing In-Kingdom chemicals, which is a significant breakthrough in the development of locally sourced materials for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) applications. Furthermore, we compared the stability and efficacy of locally produced Nanosurfactants (NS) with imported commercial ones for EOR applications, aiming to reduce reliance on outsourced materials and improve economics.
Our results indicate that locally sourced surfactants showed comparable results to the commercial imported Petronate-HL/L in terms of density, stability, and interfacial tension reduction. Notably, the local NS formulations achieved reductions of 96.67% and 99.86% in interfacial tension, similar to Petronate-HL/L's 99.73% reduction. The local NS also demonstrated excellent stability under high temperatures and salinity environment. Moreover, spontaneous imbibition experiments also demonstrate that both formulations are effective in enhancing the recovery of oil, further proving the possibility to utilize In-Kingdom synthesized nanomaterials for EOR applications. These findings suggest that the locally produced NS can be a viable alternative to imported materials, which can help reduce costs and improve the economic viability of EOR projects.
Novel/Additive Information:
This study demonstrates the feasibility of using Saudi-produced nanomaterials NS to replace imported ones for EOR treatments, aligning with Saudi Vision 2030's goal of reducing reliance on imported materials. The successful development and testing of locally sourced nanomaterials can have a significant impact on the oil and gas industry, enabling the country to become self-sufficient in oil and gas technologies.
Our results indicate that locally sourced surfactants showed comparable results to the commercial imported Petronate-HL/L in terms of density, stability, and interfacial tension reduction. Notably, the local NS formulations achieved reductions of 96.67% and 99.86% in interfacial tension, similar to Petronate-HL/L's 99.73% reduction. The local NS also demonstrated excellent stability under high temperatures and salinity environment. Moreover, spontaneous imbibition experiments also demonstrate that both formulations are effective in enhancing the recovery of oil, further proving the possibility to utilize In-Kingdom synthesized nanomaterials for EOR applications. These findings suggest that the locally produced NS can be a viable alternative to imported materials, which can help reduce costs and improve the economic viability of EOR projects.
Novel/Additive Information:
This study demonstrates the feasibility of using Saudi-produced nanomaterials NS to replace imported ones for EOR treatments, aligning with Saudi Vision 2030's goal of reducing reliance on imported materials. The successful development and testing of locally sourced nanomaterials can have a significant impact on the oil and gas industry, enabling the country to become self-sufficient in oil and gas technologies.
Objectives & Scope:
To reach Kuwait’s oil production target, production enhancement from tight carbonate reservoirs is essential. In this paper, it will be demonstrated how an integrated workflow that includes advanced reservoir characterization to optimize the stimulation design with enhanced zonal coverage in a heterogenous Jurassic reservoir.
Methods, Procedures & Process:
To accurately select the candidate based on precise determination of the reservoir permeability contrast across the different layers. Representative fluid samples have been captured to map the asphaltene envelope. The injection logging survey was a key input to determine the permeability profile and to evaluate the integrity of the patchy cement through temperature analysis. Pressure Transiet Analysis (PTA) were essential to evaluate the significance of the depletion across the different areas of the field as well as to determine the total skin of the reservoir. The integration of these data in a structured workflow enhanced the stimulation design.
Results, Observations & Conclusions:
Based on the significant permeability contrast, Single-Phase Retarded Acid (SPRA) and Bio-degradable Particulate Diverters (BPD) were found to be essential to unlock the tighter layers. Five wells were stimulated utilizing the above workflow resulting in 7 folds of increase in the oil production versus 4 folds of increase before implementing this workflow. Another important observation is the sustainability of these wells for over 1 year with less frequency in asphaltene clean-out treatments.
It can be observed that meticulous characterization, planning and execution for tight carbonate reservoirs is critical for a sustained production enhancement. This reservoir oil production has increased by 150% from existing wells with rigless intervention.
New Information to Existing Literature:
This paper demonstrates the economical development of deep tight carbonate reservoirs through fit-for-purpose workflows. The findings were utilized to update the full field development strategy.
To reach Kuwait’s oil production target, production enhancement from tight carbonate reservoirs is essential. In this paper, it will be demonstrated how an integrated workflow that includes advanced reservoir characterization to optimize the stimulation design with enhanced zonal coverage in a heterogenous Jurassic reservoir.
Methods, Procedures & Process:
To accurately select the candidate based on precise determination of the reservoir permeability contrast across the different layers. Representative fluid samples have been captured to map the asphaltene envelope. The injection logging survey was a key input to determine the permeability profile and to evaluate the integrity of the patchy cement through temperature analysis. Pressure Transiet Analysis (PTA) were essential to evaluate the significance of the depletion across the different areas of the field as well as to determine the total skin of the reservoir. The integration of these data in a structured workflow enhanced the stimulation design.
Results, Observations & Conclusions:
Based on the significant permeability contrast, Single-Phase Retarded Acid (SPRA) and Bio-degradable Particulate Diverters (BPD) were found to be essential to unlock the tighter layers. Five wells were stimulated utilizing the above workflow resulting in 7 folds of increase in the oil production versus 4 folds of increase before implementing this workflow. Another important observation is the sustainability of these wells for over 1 year with less frequency in asphaltene clean-out treatments.
It can be observed that meticulous characterization, planning and execution for tight carbonate reservoirs is critical for a sustained production enhancement. This reservoir oil production has increased by 150% from existing wells with rigless intervention.
New Information to Existing Literature:
This paper demonstrates the economical development of deep tight carbonate reservoirs through fit-for-purpose workflows. The findings were utilized to update the full field development strategy.
In SINOPEC operating plays, tight sandstone and shale reservoir are important successors for traditional hydrocarbon reservoir. These two types of unconventional reservoirs are characterized by large area, continuous distribution, Low resource endowment. Regardless the huge potential, a variety of challenges needs to be carefully reviewed during E&P strategic planning. For tight sandstone reservoir, it is apparently hard to predict sweetspot due to its inhomogenious nature which could impact its potential exploitation; the unique characteristics of shale gas make the high-precision geophysics-engineering sweetspot prediction especially important; at the same time, the natural production capacity of these two types of reservoirs is low, as a result, engineering modification is indispensable making the accuracy of microseismic-based modification monitoring needs further improvement in order to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
To address the exploration and development problems of tight sandstone reservoirs, innovative technologies such as reservoir parameter simulation based on multi-information fusion and prestack attenuation analysis were adopted to improve the prediction accuracy of gas-enriched reservoirs, and the coincidence rate was increased by 15%, resulting in an increase of over 20% of proved reserves.
In shale gas exploration, we have innovatively formed the geophysical sweetspot prediction technology series including simultaneous porosity-TOC inversion, multi-information fusion gas content identification and broadband impedance based high-quality shale thickness prediction; and the engineering sweetspot prediction technology series including prestack azimuthal anisotropy inversion, pressure prediction based on CPS model and RT method, and the coefficient of stress difference prediction. Innovative and optimized shale gas geophysics-engineering sweetspot prediction technologies increased the shale gas reservoir prediction coincidence rate by 10%.
For engineering modification monitoring, microseismic monitoring related technologies were studied. We formed a new acquisition method based on hybrid observation system for fracturing microseismic signals in deep and complex media and a weak signal enhancement processing method, realized effective monitoring of microseismic signals at depths of over 4,000 meters, and increased microseismic event detection capability by 20%. We constructed an intelligent processing flow of fracturing realizing unsupervised automatic monitoring and effectively enhanced the efficiency and automation of monitoring. The developed multidimensional and multidisciplinary integrated interpretation technology of fracturing provides a basis for estimating effectiveness of fracturing and fracturing schemes optimization.
The innovative technology and geophysics-engineering integration strategy is of great significance to improve the accuracy of tight sandstone and shale gas reservoir description and benefits the engineering modification. This abstract will share the practices of above effective and advanced mentioned technologies through the latest E&P application cases of tight sandstone and shale gas reservoir in typical basins in western China.
To address the exploration and development problems of tight sandstone reservoirs, innovative technologies such as reservoir parameter simulation based on multi-information fusion and prestack attenuation analysis were adopted to improve the prediction accuracy of gas-enriched reservoirs, and the coincidence rate was increased by 15%, resulting in an increase of over 20% of proved reserves.
In shale gas exploration, we have innovatively formed the geophysical sweetspot prediction technology series including simultaneous porosity-TOC inversion, multi-information fusion gas content identification and broadband impedance based high-quality shale thickness prediction; and the engineering sweetspot prediction technology series including prestack azimuthal anisotropy inversion, pressure prediction based on CPS model and RT method, and the coefficient of stress difference prediction. Innovative and optimized shale gas geophysics-engineering sweetspot prediction technologies increased the shale gas reservoir prediction coincidence rate by 10%.
For engineering modification monitoring, microseismic monitoring related technologies were studied. We formed a new acquisition method based on hybrid observation system for fracturing microseismic signals in deep and complex media and a weak signal enhancement processing method, realized effective monitoring of microseismic signals at depths of over 4,000 meters, and increased microseismic event detection capability by 20%. We constructed an intelligent processing flow of fracturing realizing unsupervised automatic monitoring and effectively enhanced the efficiency and automation of monitoring. The developed multidimensional and multidisciplinary integrated interpretation technology of fracturing provides a basis for estimating effectiveness of fracturing and fracturing schemes optimization.
The innovative technology and geophysics-engineering integration strategy is of great significance to improve the accuracy of tight sandstone and shale gas reservoir description and benefits the engineering modification. This abstract will share the practices of above effective and advanced mentioned technologies through the latest E&P application cases of tight sandstone and shale gas reservoir in typical basins in western China.
Johannes Alvarez
Chair
Enhanced Oil Recovery Manager Shale & Tight Business
Chevron Upstream
United States of America
Fahd Alghunaimi
Vice Chair
Manager of Production Chemicals & Advanced Materials Division
Saudi Aramco
Saudi Arabia
In SINOPEC operating plays, tight sandstone and shale reservoir are important successors for traditional hydrocarbon reservoir. These two types of unconventional reservoirs are characterized by large area, continuous distribution, Low resource endowment. Regardless the huge potential, a variety of challenges needs to be carefully reviewed during E&P strategic planning. For tight sandstone reservoir, it is apparently hard to predict sweetspot due to its inhomogenious nature which could impact its potential exploitation; the unique characteristics of shale gas make the high-precision geophysics-engineering sweetspot prediction especially important; at the same time, the natural production capacity of these two types of reservoirs is low, as a result, engineering modification is indispensable making the accuracy of microseismic-based modification monitoring needs further improvement in order to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
To address the exploration and development problems of tight sandstone reservoirs, innovative technologies such as reservoir parameter simulation based on multi-information fusion and prestack attenuation analysis were adopted to improve the prediction accuracy of gas-enriched reservoirs, and the coincidence rate was increased by 15%, resulting in an increase of over 20% of proved reserves.
In shale gas exploration, we have innovatively formed the geophysical sweetspot prediction technology series including simultaneous porosity-TOC inversion, multi-information fusion gas content identification and broadband impedance based high-quality shale thickness prediction; and the engineering sweetspot prediction technology series including prestack azimuthal anisotropy inversion, pressure prediction based on CPS model and RT method, and the coefficient of stress difference prediction. Innovative and optimized shale gas geophysics-engineering sweetspot prediction technologies increased the shale gas reservoir prediction coincidence rate by 10%.
For engineering modification monitoring, microseismic monitoring related technologies were studied. We formed a new acquisition method based on hybrid observation system for fracturing microseismic signals in deep and complex media and a weak signal enhancement processing method, realized effective monitoring of microseismic signals at depths of over 4,000 meters, and increased microseismic event detection capability by 20%. We constructed an intelligent processing flow of fracturing realizing unsupervised automatic monitoring and effectively enhanced the efficiency and automation of monitoring. The developed multidimensional and multidisciplinary integrated interpretation technology of fracturing provides a basis for estimating effectiveness of fracturing and fracturing schemes optimization.
The innovative technology and geophysics-engineering integration strategy is of great significance to improve the accuracy of tight sandstone and shale gas reservoir description and benefits the engineering modification. This abstract will share the practices of above effective and advanced mentioned technologies through the latest E&P application cases of tight sandstone and shale gas reservoir in typical basins in western China.
To address the exploration and development problems of tight sandstone reservoirs, innovative technologies such as reservoir parameter simulation based on multi-information fusion and prestack attenuation analysis were adopted to improve the prediction accuracy of gas-enriched reservoirs, and the coincidence rate was increased by 15%, resulting in an increase of over 20% of proved reserves.
In shale gas exploration, we have innovatively formed the geophysical sweetspot prediction technology series including simultaneous porosity-TOC inversion, multi-information fusion gas content identification and broadband impedance based high-quality shale thickness prediction; and the engineering sweetspot prediction technology series including prestack azimuthal anisotropy inversion, pressure prediction based on CPS model and RT method, and the coefficient of stress difference prediction. Innovative and optimized shale gas geophysics-engineering sweetspot prediction technologies increased the shale gas reservoir prediction coincidence rate by 10%.
For engineering modification monitoring, microseismic monitoring related technologies were studied. We formed a new acquisition method based on hybrid observation system for fracturing microseismic signals in deep and complex media and a weak signal enhancement processing method, realized effective monitoring of microseismic signals at depths of over 4,000 meters, and increased microseismic event detection capability by 20%. We constructed an intelligent processing flow of fracturing realizing unsupervised automatic monitoring and effectively enhanced the efficiency and automation of monitoring. The developed multidimensional and multidisciplinary integrated interpretation technology of fracturing provides a basis for estimating effectiveness of fracturing and fracturing schemes optimization.
The innovative technology and geophysics-engineering integration strategy is of great significance to improve the accuracy of tight sandstone and shale gas reservoir description and benefits the engineering modification. This abstract will share the practices of above effective and advanced mentioned technologies through the latest E&P application cases of tight sandstone and shale gas reservoir in typical basins in western China.
Payam Hassanzadeh
Speaker
Senior Geochemistry Specialist, Project Manager
National Iranian Oil Company-Exploration Directorate
While natural gas is increasingly important, especially for electricity generation and as a cleaner alternative to coal and oil, oil has historically been the backbone of energy supply and economic revenue for many Middle Eastern countries. The higher profitability and global demand for oil have often driven more investment into oil exploration and production. Since the early 1970s, the discovery of the massive South Pars/North Dome gas resources in Permo-Triassic reservoirs has opened a new horizon in this area for various Middle Eastern countries. In deep reservoirs (Permo-Triassic and deeper) in the Middle East, the expectation is generally for the discovery of gas, and many fields are already in production.
Exploring for oil in such challenging reservoirs demands advanced approaches. The combination of reservoir depth and extreme temperature and pressure makes conventional exploration and production techniques less effective or riskier. Therefore detailed geological, geophysical, and geochemical studies are crucial to better understand the subsurface conditions and to accurately identify any possible hydrocarbon presence.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, United Arab Emirates, and Oman have achieved successes in the past two decades, and the results of these studies can illuminate the future prospects for oil discovery in these reservoirs. Drawing on the experiences of Saudi Arabia and Qatar and carefully examining their studies and achievements in this area has led to various detailed studies in Iran, which have confirmed the presence of oil, both onshore and offshore, in the Permo-Triassic horizon. Paleohighs play a crucial role in hydrocarbon systems. These ancient structural highs can control where oil is generated, how it migrates, and where it gets trapped and preserved. Therefore, understanding the trend of paleohighs and the timing of their formation (especially the Qatar-Fars Arch in Iran) in relation to the migration and trapping of oil, has led to the discovery of various oil fields in the Permo-Triassic horizon in Iran. A change in approach and a more complete understanding of previously discovered Permo-Triassic gas reservoirs has also led to a new assessment of the potential for oil rims in previous assumed gas fields. This shift in perspective, from considering deep reservoirs as solely gas-bearing to the possibility of oil presence, has ultimately directed to the discovery of oil horizons in proven gas reservoirs.
Integrated geological studies, combining data from geology, geophysics, geochemistry, and petrophysics have indeed revolutionized oil exploration in challenging deep reservoirs (Permo-Triassic horizon). This multidisciplinary approach helps reduce uncertainties and better characterize reservoirs. For countries like Iran, this opens up new prospects, potentially boosting energy supply and economic benefits. It also encourages future exploration to be more data-driven and precise, improving success rates and resource management.
Exploring for oil in such challenging reservoirs demands advanced approaches. The combination of reservoir depth and extreme temperature and pressure makes conventional exploration and production techniques less effective or riskier. Therefore detailed geological, geophysical, and geochemical studies are crucial to better understand the subsurface conditions and to accurately identify any possible hydrocarbon presence.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, United Arab Emirates, and Oman have achieved successes in the past two decades, and the results of these studies can illuminate the future prospects for oil discovery in these reservoirs. Drawing on the experiences of Saudi Arabia and Qatar and carefully examining their studies and achievements in this area has led to various detailed studies in Iran, which have confirmed the presence of oil, both onshore and offshore, in the Permo-Triassic horizon. Paleohighs play a crucial role in hydrocarbon systems. These ancient structural highs can control where oil is generated, how it migrates, and where it gets trapped and preserved. Therefore, understanding the trend of paleohighs and the timing of their formation (especially the Qatar-Fars Arch in Iran) in relation to the migration and trapping of oil, has led to the discovery of various oil fields in the Permo-Triassic horizon in Iran. A change in approach and a more complete understanding of previously discovered Permo-Triassic gas reservoirs has also led to a new assessment of the potential for oil rims in previous assumed gas fields. This shift in perspective, from considering deep reservoirs as solely gas-bearing to the possibility of oil presence, has ultimately directed to the discovery of oil horizons in proven gas reservoirs.
Integrated geological studies, combining data from geology, geophysics, geochemistry, and petrophysics have indeed revolutionized oil exploration in challenging deep reservoirs (Permo-Triassic horizon). This multidisciplinary approach helps reduce uncertainties and better characterize reservoirs. For countries like Iran, this opens up new prospects, potentially boosting energy supply and economic benefits. It also encourages future exploration to be more data-driven and precise, improving success rates and resource management.
Objectives & Scope:
To reach Kuwait’s oil production target, production enhancement from tight carbonate reservoirs is essential. In this paper, it will be demonstrated how an integrated workflow that includes advanced reservoir characterization to optimize the stimulation design with enhanced zonal coverage in a heterogenous Jurassic reservoir.
Methods, Procedures & Process:
To accurately select the candidate based on precise determination of the reservoir permeability contrast across the different layers. Representative fluid samples have been captured to map the asphaltene envelope. The injection logging survey was a key input to determine the permeability profile and to evaluate the integrity of the patchy cement through temperature analysis. Pressure Transiet Analysis (PTA) were essential to evaluate the significance of the depletion across the different areas of the field as well as to determine the total skin of the reservoir. The integration of these data in a structured workflow enhanced the stimulation design.
Results, Observations & Conclusions:
Based on the significant permeability contrast, Single-Phase Retarded Acid (SPRA) and Bio-degradable Particulate Diverters (BPD) were found to be essential to unlock the tighter layers. Five wells were stimulated utilizing the above workflow resulting in 7 folds of increase in the oil production versus 4 folds of increase before implementing this workflow. Another important observation is the sustainability of these wells for over 1 year with less frequency in asphaltene clean-out treatments.
It can be observed that meticulous characterization, planning and execution for tight carbonate reservoirs is critical for a sustained production enhancement. This reservoir oil production has increased by 150% from existing wells with rigless intervention.
New Information to Existing Literature:
This paper demonstrates the economical development of deep tight carbonate reservoirs through fit-for-purpose workflows. The findings were utilized to update the full field development strategy.
To reach Kuwait’s oil production target, production enhancement from tight carbonate reservoirs is essential. In this paper, it will be demonstrated how an integrated workflow that includes advanced reservoir characterization to optimize the stimulation design with enhanced zonal coverage in a heterogenous Jurassic reservoir.
Methods, Procedures & Process:
To accurately select the candidate based on precise determination of the reservoir permeability contrast across the different layers. Representative fluid samples have been captured to map the asphaltene envelope. The injection logging survey was a key input to determine the permeability profile and to evaluate the integrity of the patchy cement through temperature analysis. Pressure Transiet Analysis (PTA) were essential to evaluate the significance of the depletion across the different areas of the field as well as to determine the total skin of the reservoir. The integration of these data in a structured workflow enhanced the stimulation design.
Results, Observations & Conclusions:
Based on the significant permeability contrast, Single-Phase Retarded Acid (SPRA) and Bio-degradable Particulate Diverters (BPD) were found to be essential to unlock the tighter layers. Five wells were stimulated utilizing the above workflow resulting in 7 folds of increase in the oil production versus 4 folds of increase before implementing this workflow. Another important observation is the sustainability of these wells for over 1 year with less frequency in asphaltene clean-out treatments.
It can be observed that meticulous characterization, planning and execution for tight carbonate reservoirs is critical for a sustained production enhancement. This reservoir oil production has increased by 150% from existing wells with rigless intervention.
New Information to Existing Literature:
This paper demonstrates the economical development of deep tight carbonate reservoirs through fit-for-purpose workflows. The findings were utilized to update the full field development strategy.
Objective/Scope:
Permeability is an important parameter for production prediction of a source rock reservoir as permeability decreases with production (i.e. the increase of effective stress) and it is indispensable to extract a reliable poroelastic coefficient of the formation in order to accurately characterize the permeability-effective stress relationship. This work outlines a new workflow to extract the poroelastic coefficient of a source rock reservoir using a set of permeability measurements.
Methods, Procedures, Process:
Several series permeability measurements of a source rock sample are carefully designed with increasing effective stress given a predetermined, estimated range of poroelastic coefficients, each series are with a constant differential pressure between the confining pressure and pore pressure, and all measurements are carried with pore pressure higher than the supercritical pressure of the measuring gas to minimize the effect of Knudsen diffusion and gas slippage. Each series of data are analyzed separately and results of subsets of the series of data are combined.
Results, Observations, Conclusions:
The data of each series of permeability measurements have a small range of effective stress thus have a uniform poroelastic coefficient and the changes of poroelastic coefficient within a large range of effective stress can be evaluated using several series of permeability measurements. Previous hypothesis postulated that the poroelastic coefficient may change with effective stress as the pore types are progressively affected, more microfractures and slit-shaped pores play a dominant role at low effective stress and round- or equant-dimensional pores play a dominant role at high effective stress. The results are compliant with this hypothesis that poroelastic coefficient starts from 1 when the microfractures and slit-shaped pores in source rock samples are dominant and decreases as more effective stress is applied.
Novel/Additive Information:
This study develops a practical method to extract the poroelastic coefficient for permeability of source rock samples within a large effective stress range.
Permeability is an important parameter for production prediction of a source rock reservoir as permeability decreases with production (i.e. the increase of effective stress) and it is indispensable to extract a reliable poroelastic coefficient of the formation in order to accurately characterize the permeability-effective stress relationship. This work outlines a new workflow to extract the poroelastic coefficient of a source rock reservoir using a set of permeability measurements.
Methods, Procedures, Process:
Several series permeability measurements of a source rock sample are carefully designed with increasing effective stress given a predetermined, estimated range of poroelastic coefficients, each series are with a constant differential pressure between the confining pressure and pore pressure, and all measurements are carried with pore pressure higher than the supercritical pressure of the measuring gas to minimize the effect of Knudsen diffusion and gas slippage. Each series of data are analyzed separately and results of subsets of the series of data are combined.
Results, Observations, Conclusions:
The data of each series of permeability measurements have a small range of effective stress thus have a uniform poroelastic coefficient and the changes of poroelastic coefficient within a large range of effective stress can be evaluated using several series of permeability measurements. Previous hypothesis postulated that the poroelastic coefficient may change with effective stress as the pore types are progressively affected, more microfractures and slit-shaped pores play a dominant role at low effective stress and round- or equant-dimensional pores play a dominant role at high effective stress. The results are compliant with this hypothesis that poroelastic coefficient starts from 1 when the microfractures and slit-shaped pores in source rock samples are dominant and decreases as more effective stress is applied.
Novel/Additive Information:
This study develops a practical method to extract the poroelastic coefficient for permeability of source rock samples within a large effective stress range.
Nanomaterials offer promising solutions for many challenges encountered throughout the oil-and-gas value chain, from exploration to production. Nevertheless, their performance can be compromised by the extreme temperatures and salinity conditions typical of subsurface reservoirs. This study reports a novel route to synthesize stable nanomaterials at a scale utilizing In-Kingdom chemicals, which is a significant breakthrough in the development of locally sourced materials for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) applications. Furthermore, we compared the stability and efficacy of locally produced Nanosurfactants (NS) with imported commercial ones for EOR applications, aiming to reduce reliance on outsourced materials and improve economics.
Our results indicate that locally sourced surfactants showed comparable results to the commercial imported Petronate-HL/L in terms of density, stability, and interfacial tension reduction. Notably, the local NS formulations achieved reductions of 96.67% and 99.86% in interfacial tension, similar to Petronate-HL/L's 99.73% reduction. The local NS also demonstrated excellent stability under high temperatures and salinity environment. Moreover, spontaneous imbibition experiments also demonstrate that both formulations are effective in enhancing the recovery of oil, further proving the possibility to utilize In-Kingdom synthesized nanomaterials for EOR applications. These findings suggest that the locally produced NS can be a viable alternative to imported materials, which can help reduce costs and improve the economic viability of EOR projects.
Novel/Additive Information:
This study demonstrates the feasibility of using Saudi-produced nanomaterials NS to replace imported ones for EOR treatments, aligning with Saudi Vision 2030's goal of reducing reliance on imported materials. The successful development and testing of locally sourced nanomaterials can have a significant impact on the oil and gas industry, enabling the country to become self-sufficient in oil and gas technologies.
Our results indicate that locally sourced surfactants showed comparable results to the commercial imported Petronate-HL/L in terms of density, stability, and interfacial tension reduction. Notably, the local NS formulations achieved reductions of 96.67% and 99.86% in interfacial tension, similar to Petronate-HL/L's 99.73% reduction. The local NS also demonstrated excellent stability under high temperatures and salinity environment. Moreover, spontaneous imbibition experiments also demonstrate that both formulations are effective in enhancing the recovery of oil, further proving the possibility to utilize In-Kingdom synthesized nanomaterials for EOR applications. These findings suggest that the locally produced NS can be a viable alternative to imported materials, which can help reduce costs and improve the economic viability of EOR projects.
Novel/Additive Information:
This study demonstrates the feasibility of using Saudi-produced nanomaterials NS to replace imported ones for EOR treatments, aligning with Saudi Vision 2030's goal of reducing reliance on imported materials. The successful development and testing of locally sourced nanomaterials can have a significant impact on the oil and gas industry, enabling the country to become self-sufficient in oil and gas technologies.
