Numerical Simulation of Embedded Discrete-Fracture Seepage in Deep Carbonate Gas Reservoir

Yufeng Gong, Shuo Zhai (), Yuqiang Zha, Tonghao Xu, Shu Liu, Bo Kang and Bolin Zhang
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Yufeng Gong: Energy College, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
Shuo Zhai: Energy College, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
Yuqiang Zha: China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) Ltd., Zhanjiang 524057, China
Tonghao Xu: Chengdu Huarun Gas Engineering Co., Ltd., Chengdu 610045, China
Shu Liu: Energy College, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
Bo Kang: Chengdu North Petroleum Exploration and Development Technology Co., Ltd., Chengdu 610059, China
Bolin Zhang: Chengdu North Petroleum Exploration and Development Technology Co., Ltd., Chengdu 610059, China

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 19, 1-17

Abstract: Existing fractured gas reservoir development techniques are mainly based on dual medium numerical-simulation models, which can, to a certain extent, effectively simulate natural fractures with high fracture density; however, these models have some limitations, particularly in terms of simulating the fracture morphology and distribution. Considering carbonate gas reservoirs with complex fractures, in this paper, we establish a numerical-simulation model of embedded discrete-fracture seepage in horizontal wells of carbonate gas reservoirs, in order to compare and study the development effect of carbonate gas reservoirs under different horizontal well fracture parameters. The fracture distribution and structure in carbonate gas reservoirs is obtained using an ant-tracking approach based on 3D seismic bodies, and a numerical-simulation model based on the embedded discrete-fractures model is solved using the open-source program MRST. We considered the following parameters: half fracture length, fracture permeability, and horizontal segment length. By changing the fracture parameters of horizontal wells and comparing the gas-production trends, technical optimization in gas reservoir development can be realized. The results show that the embedded discrete-fracture model can effectively solve the difficult problem of characterizing fluid seepage in fractures of different scale in carbonate gas reservoirs. Although gas production increases with increasing fracture length, fracture conductivity, horizontal section length, and natural fracture conductivity, the contributions of these parameters to gas well production capacity are greatly influenced by the natural fractures.

Keywords: carbonate gas reservoirs; horizontal well; numerical simulation; ant-tracking technology; embedded discrete-fracture model; seepage characteristics; fracture conductivity; parameter optimization (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: 2022
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