Summary

Oil and gas are produced from fractured shale reservoirs in several basins in North America and elsewhere. Naturally occurring (or artificially stimulated) fracture networks enable successful well completion in rocks with low matrix permeability that otherwise would be unproductive. Fractured shale reservoirs include both conventional and unconventional petroleum accumulations. Conventional accumulations have the usual requirements of source, migration pathway, timing, trap, and seal. Unconventional fractured shale reservoirs are source rocks (usually shales or carbonates) in which the petroleum accumulation is continuous and not limited by structural position or downdip oil-water contacts. Production from fractured shale continuous accumulations has at least two requirements: (1) sufficient thermal maturity for the rock to contain moveable quantities of petroleum, and (2) a fracture network that can be intersected by a well bore.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90937©1998 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, Salt Lake City, Utah