New Insight into Enhancing Organic-Rich Shale Gas Recovery: Shut-in Performance Increased through Oxidative Fluids

Qiuyang Cheng, Lijun You (), Na Jia (), Yili Kang, Cheng Chang and Weiyang Xie
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Qiuyang Cheng: Shale Gas Research Institute, PetroChina Southwest Oil & Gas Field Company, Chengdu 610056, China
Lijun You: State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China
Na Jia: Program of Petroleum Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Regina, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada
Yili Kang: State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China
Cheng Chang: Shale Gas Research Institute, PetroChina Southwest Oil & Gas Field Company, Chengdu 610056, China
Weiyang Xie: Shale Gas Research Institute, PetroChina Southwest Oil & Gas Field Company, Chengdu 610056, China

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 11, 1-25

Abstract: Oxidizing stimulation of organic-rich shale reservoirs, as a supplement of hydraulic fracturing, was proposed to enhance shale gas recovery. Previous publications revealed that the interaction between organic-rich shale and oxidative fluids causes the components’ dissolution, which induces lots of pores and microfractures, resulting in rock microfracturing without confined pressure and associated increments of the matrix permeability, and improving unpropped fracture conductivity. However, the enhancement of shale gas recovery with oxidative fluids still lacks an implementation clue targeted for specific engineering problems. In recent years, water–rock interaction inducing microfractures indicates a positive effect of retained fracturing fluid on the stimulation after the fracturing operation, which sheds light in the enhancement of shale gas production by shut-in. The objectives of this study are to provide a new perspective whereby the shut-in performance to enhance shale gas recovery could be increased by the injection of oxidative fluids into the formation during the fracturing operation. Firstly, the mechanisms of shut-in performance increased by oxidative dissolution, which illustrate the increment of the density of fracture networks, the improvement of fracture network conductivity, and the promotion of gas desorption and diffusivity, are demonstrated. Then, the feasibility of using oxidative fluids to increase shut-in performance, which follows the geological and engineering characteristics of organic-rich shale reservoirs, is evaluated. Finally, according to the analysis of production performance for two typical types of shale gas wells, in which one is a low gas production and a high fracturing fluid recovery (LGP-HFR) and the other is a high gas production and a low fracturing fluid recovery (HGP-LFR), a shut-in strategy with oxidative fluids to enhance shale gas recovery is developed. This indicates that the injection of oxidative fluids during the fracturing operation may become a promising and cost-effective approach to enhance shale gas recovery.

Keywords: organic-rich shale; formation damage; shut-in; oxidation; dissolution; water–rock interaction (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: 2023
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