Data Integration for the Optimization of Evaluation in the Development of Shale Projects

Héctor Domínguez
Unconventionals Project Manager, Weatherford

The development of shale projects has instigated an exponential growth in industry operations in the first country to develop resource plays (USA). The operative method is concentrated in the optimization of operations such as drilling, completion, implementing methods to cut the time required for horizontal drilling, and in optimized logistics to obtain the highest number of operations in the least possible time.

This operations model has not left behind evaluation, and it integrates seismic, well data, and the analysis of the productive formations (TOC, Ro, brittleness, etc.) along with the evaluation of the results of production, and the analysis of fracture growth via 3D imaging and micro-seismic, production logs (PLT), etc. One of the key concerns for the entire process is the obvious need that the investment in each well is reflected in production, which, generally speaking, 30% of the fractures generate between 1-5% of the production of the well.

The work presented today presents the development of a method that integrates the data necessary to optimize the program of drilling and completion of a shale well with an emphasis on fracture design and the collateral operations of com pletion, testing, and production. The method supports the integration of nano-scale analysis in the lab based on cores and samples obtained during drilling), with well logs (electric logs with geological control) and a geologic model of the reservoir. Finally, this information will be used to design an operative program for well completion.

The characteristics of the development of the industry and of shale projects in Argentina, with the evident differences of scale with respect to what has been done in other regions of the world (especially the US) make it all the more necessary to count on the tolos that allow us to obtain the best cost-benefit relationship and to assure viable projects.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90165©AAPG 2012 GEOSCIENCE TECHNOLOGY WORKSHOP, 2-4 December 2012, Buenos Aires, Argentina