Detailed Characterization and Redevelopment of the 80-year-old Hugoton Field

Martin Dubois1 ,   Saibal Bhattacharya2

¹Improved Hydrocarbon Recovery, LLC ,  ²Kansas Geological Survey

Modern, fine-scaled reservoir characterization and flow simulation in an industry-Kansas Geological Survey study identified original and remaining gas in place. The full-field reservoir modeling project covered the Kansas and Oklahoma portions of North America's largest gas field where 35 tcf gas has been produced to date. The study indicated that approximately 67% of the original gas has been produced and the remaining gas in this giant stratigraphic trap is mostly in lower permeability pay zones of the 550-foot thick, layered reservoir system consisting of thirteen fourth-order marine-nonmarine sequences. The study resulted in field rules changes in Kansas in 2007 that allow commingling of the Hugoton (Chase Group) with the Panoma (Council Grove Group) in the allowed three wells per unit, and a fourth well if demonstrated that new gas reserves can be accessed by it. A more recent reservoir characterization and simulation study was completed on a 9-section area to quantify incremental benefits of an additional (fourth) well per unit. The study shows that the majority (approximately 75%) of the produced gas in a fourth well is incremental and is mobilized from less-drained tighter zones. Simulations further suggest three wells per unit are insufficient to effectively drain low permeability zones across the entire unit and that a fourth well adds 0.3 to 0.5 bcf recoverable per unit. Adding a fourth well in a unit could, theoretically, increase the ultimate gas recovery from the Hugoton field in Kansas by 5%, or approximately 2 tcf.

AAPG Search and Discover Article #90097 © 2009 Tulsa Geological Society, Tulsa, Oklahoma

 

 

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