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Geological and Geomechanical Modeling of the Haynesville Shale: A Full Loop for Unconventional Fractured Reservoirs

Authors:
W. Sebastian Bayer at SEB SOLUTIONS LLC.
W. Sebastian Bayer
  • SEB SOLUTIONS LLC.
Marcus Wunderle at Apache Corp
Marcus Wunderle
  • Apache Corp
Ewerton Araujo
Ewerton Araujo
Ewerton Araujo
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
Rene Alcalde
Rene Alcalde
Rene Alcalde
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
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URTeC: 2460295
Geological and Geomechanical Modeling of the Haynesville Shale:
A Full Loop for Unconventional Fractured Reservoirs
W. Sebastian Bayer*, Marcus Wunderle, Ewerton Araujo, Rene Alcalde, Calvin Yao,
Fred Suhy, Thomas Jo, Fleur Bases, Abu M. Sani, Yiwei Ma, Abhishek Bansal, Eric
Peterson, Rohan Goudge, Ankur Awasthi, and Mukul Bhatia BHP Billiton Petroleum.
Copyright 20 16, Unconv entional Res ources Tec hnology Conf erence (URT eC)
DOI 10.15530/ urtec-2016-2 460295
This paper w as prepared for presenta tion at the Unconventi onal Resou rces Technol ogy Confere nce held in San Antoni o, Texas, US A, 1-3 Au gust 2016.
The URTeC Technical P rogram Com mittee acce pted this pres entation on t he basis of in formation con tained in an abstract su bmitted by the author(s). The contents of this paper
have not been reviewed b y URTeC and URTeC d oes not warr ant the accur acy, reliability , or timeliness of any inform ation herein. All informatio n is the respon sibility of, a nd, is
subject to c orrections by t he author(s). Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained fro m this paper does so at their own risk. T he informati on herein doe s not
necessarily r eflect any po sition of URT eC. Any rep roduction, dis tribution, or storage of an y part of this paper without the w ritten consent of URTe C is prohibit ed.
Summary
The Haynesville Shale remains a prolific gas resource amongst the Unconventional Plays in the US. The continued
viability and the commercial success of the play are highly dependent on the optimization of field development
plans through drilling, completions, and production improvements.
This paper presents an integrated solution that includes geologic, geophysical, and geomechanical properties. The
workflow includes a Discrete Fracture Network (DFN), modeled hydraulic fractures, and well diagnostics data, to
improve the understanding of the subsurface. The goal is to provide valuable input to optimize the development plan
and completions strategy in the Haynesville Shale.
The development of the integration platform (3D geo-cellular model) involved detailed seismic interpretation based
on a sequence stratigraphic framework, definition of stratigraphic-mechanical units, and incorporation of a robust
petrophysical analysis set in a structurally controlled grid. The structural framework of the model was enhanced
using over 100 carefully interpreted geo-steered horizontal wells to improve accuracy and grid calibration to the
well paths. The natural fracture analysis included core description and fracture counts complemented by borehole
image data, which coupled with a geomechanical stratigraphic characterization study, assisted in understanding the
field wide fracture intensity distribution and orientation.
The hydraulic fracture conductivity and net pressure profiles, along hydraulic fracture planes, were developed using
a planar geometry fracture simulator. The results served as input to the geomechanical model and as the basis for
hydraulic fracture stage design setup in the dynamic model.
A 3D geomechanical model was constructed using the geologic model, based on the pore pressure and mechanical
properties from calibrated 1D-geomechanical models. Computational geomechanical simulations allowed us to
identify reactivated natural fractures, which produced synthetic-microseismic events, and the Critically Stressed
Fracture Volumes (CSFV). These inputs were used in the subsequent identification of Stimulated Rock Volumes
(SRV). Interpretations are supported by tracer data and other field observations that assisted in establishing inter-
well connectivity.
The products from these processes will be incorporated into a reservoir simulation model. History matching of
production data will be conducted for validation and refinement. History matched models will be used to identify
and evaluate the impact of key drivers of optimization studies to various field development scenarios in order to
enhance well completion and well spacing strategies in the development plan.
... In the Permian Basin, teams solved water resource needs, well interference patterns, and modeled petrophysical parameters to create better well designs (Swain and Behm, 2019). In the GOM North Louisiana Haynesville play, a successful team shared a high-quality database, clearly defined goals, good communications, complementary skills, and supportive culture (Bayer et al., 2016). Deep-water conventional success also requires a coordinated technology team effort. ...
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... Fracture simulators are routinely used to test well completion design and develop the fracture treatment plan, in conjunction with flow simulation to determine whether the drained rock volume (DRV) delivers a satisfactory production rate. A common denominator in such models is the integration of data using a variety of tools and methods (Bayer et al., 2016): log and core data in petrophysical studies with play scale models of facies changes and organic content, hydrocarbon maturity, geomechanical properties, stress anisotropy and natural fracture networks. ...
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  • Jun 2019
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