The Impact of the Geometry of the Effective Propped Volume on the Economic Performance of Shale Gas Well Production

Andres Soage, Ruben Juanes, Ignasi Colominas and Luis Cueto-Felgueroso
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Andres Soage: Group of Numerical Methods in Engineering, Universidadeda Coruña, Campus de Elviña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain
Ruben Juanes: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Ignasi Colominas: Group of Numerical Methods in Engineering, Universidadeda Coruña, Campus de Elviña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain
Luis Cueto-Felgueroso: Department of Civil Engineering: Hydraulics, Energy and Environment, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28006 Madrid, Spain

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-22

Abstract: We analyze the effect that the geometry of the Effective Propped Volume (EPV) has on the economic performance of hydrofractured multistage shale gas wells. We study the sensitivity of gas production to the EPV’s geometry and we compare it with the sensitivity to other parameters whose relevance in the production of shale gas is well known: porosity, kerogen content and permeability induced in the Stimulated Recovery Volume (SRV). To understand these sensitivities, we develop a high-fidelity 3D numerical model of shale gas flow that allows determining both the Estimated Ultimate Recovery (EUR) of gas as well as analyzing the decline curves of gas production (DCA). We find that the geometry of the EPV plays an important role in the economic performance and gas production of shale wells. The relative contribution of EPV geometry is comparable to that of induced permeability of the SRV or formation porosity. Our results may lead to interesting technological developments in the oild and gas industry that improve economic efficiency in shale gas production.

Keywords: decline curve analysis (DCA); geometry effective propped volume (EPV); economic performance shale gas; ellipsoidal hydrofractures; shale gas 3D production model (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: 2021
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