Investigation of the Effect of Natural Fractures on Multiple Shale-Gas Well Performance Using Non-Intrusive EDFM Technology

Wei Yu, Xiaohu Hu, Malin Liu and Weihong Wang
Additional contact information
Wei Yu: State Key Laboratory of Shale Oil and Gas Enrichment Mechanisms and Effective Development, Beijing 100083, China
Xiaohu Hu: State Key Laboratory of Shale Oil and Gas Enrichment Mechanisms and Effective Development, Beijing 100083, China
Malin Liu: Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Weihong Wang: State Key Laboratory of Shale Oil and Gas Enrichment Mechanisms and Effective Development, Beijing 100083, China

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 5, 1-16

Abstract: The influence of complex natural fractures on multiple shale-gas well performance with varying well spacing is poorly understood. It is difficult to apply the traditional local grid refinement with structured or unstructured gridding techniques to accurately and efficiently handle complex natural fractures. In this study, we introduced a powerful non-intrusive embedded discrete fracture model (EDFM) technology to overcome the limitations of exiting methods. Through this unique technology, complex fracture configurations can be easily and explicitly embedded into structured matrix blocks. We set up a field-scale two-phase reservoir model to history match field production data and predict long-term recovery from Marcellus. The effective fracture properties were determined thorough history matching. In addition, we extended the single-well model to include two horizontal wells with and without including natural fractures. The effects of different numbers of natural fractures on two-well performance with varying well spacing of 200 m, 300 m, and 400 m were examined. The simulation results illustrate that gas productivity almost linearly increases with the number of two-set natural fractures. Furthermore, the difference of well performance between different well spacing increases with an increase in natural fracture density. A larger well spacing is preferred for economically developing the shale-gas reservoirs with a larger natural fracture density. The findings of this study provide key insights into understanding the effect of natural fractures on well performance and well spacing optimization.

Keywords: well spacing; shale gas; natural fractures; embedded discrete fracture model; well interference (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/5/932/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/5/932/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:5:p:932-:d:212630

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().