This paper analyzes and quantifies characteristic production behavior using historical data from 1084 shale gas wells in the Eagle Ford shale play from 2010 to 2014. Decline curve analysis, using Hyperbolic and Stretched Exponential models, are used to derive average decline rates and other characteristic parameters for shale gas wells. Both Hyperbolic and Stretched Exponential models fit well ...

Water loss in low permeability reservoirs during hydraulic fracturing well completions typically results in a decrease in natural gas production due to capillary trapping near the fractures. Shale gas reservoirs, however, have shown a trend of improved gas production with increased loss of completion fluids to the shale. This nonintuitive relationship between water imbibition and enhanced gas p...

Shale gas resources are abundantly distributed with low porosity and permeability. Horizontal well and fracturing are prior considerations. Fracturing is a widely-used technology to enhance gas production. In this paper, the author (a) investigated the present stimulation of Barnett and Haynesvile gas fields (Fig. 1) in America, Sichuan basin (Fig. 2) in China and Cooper basin (Fig. 3) in Austr...

Today, many governments are considering the exploration and production of unconventional resources, shale gas in particular, for reasons of security of supply and reduction of import dependency. Large-scale development of these resources promises to significantly lower import dependency of gas supply of many countries. Whether the promise will be met remains uncertain though, not only because o...

Shale gas currently provides 20% of domestic supply, is targeted by half of the gas-directed drilling rigs, and represents the large majority of domestic resources. However, modern shale plays, their development strategies and their engineering analysis are young by comparison to those of conventional reservoirs. Uncertainty in shale gas reserves has significant implications at both the micro a...

The organopores play an important role in determining total volume of hydrocarbons in shale gas reservoir. The Lower Silurian Longmaxi Shale in southeast Chongqing was selected as a case to confirm the contribution of organopores (microscale and nanoscale pores within organic matters in shale) formed by hydrocarbon generation to total volume of hydrocarbons in shale gas reservoir. Using the mat...

Wastewater produced by hydraulic fracturing (" fracking ") for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale is already overwhelming disposal options and will continue to do so as gas development increases, according to newly published research. The investigation did not evaluate environmental consequences of the wastewater. But lead author Brian Lutz, an assistant professor in the Kent State University D...

Advanced techniques have greatly promoted the exploitation of shale gas from shale matrix with low permeability. But the gas transport mechanism in shale is still unclear. Due to the multi-scale pore systems in a shale reservoir, viscous flow, slip flow, Knudsen diffusion and adsorption/desorption should be applied to the flowing equation so that it can properly predict gas flow dynamics. Multi...

The rapid rise of shale gas development through horizontal drilling and high volume hydraulic fracturing has expanded the extraction of hydrocarbon resources in the U.S. The rise of shale gas development has triggered an intense public debate regarding the potential environmental and human health effects from hydraulic fracturing. This paper provides a critical review of the potential risks tha...

Natural gas extraction is experiencing what has been called a quiet revolution. The industry historically viewed natural gas as trapped in reservoirs, where it collects over thousands of years after exiting source rock. Though hard to find, the reservoirs easily give up large amounts of their holdings when penetrated by drilling. But what if natural gas could be extracted directly from source r...