shale

The development of an economically efficient drilling program in shale-gas plays is a challenging task, requiring a large number of wells; even with many wells, the average well production and the variation of well performance (economics) remain highly uncertain.

Large amounts of clay minerals are present in shale; shale’s resulting instability is a major problem while drilling.

This article reviews methods used to understand the complexities associated with production from shale.

Multiwell modeling of shale plays is not performed frequently. In projects in which a main objective is well spacing or completion optimization, a comprehensive multiwell reservoir-simulation study is required.

Shale gas is fast becoming a source of energy of paramount significance for the coming years. Although commercial production has been achieved in numerous plays throughout the world, the actual physics involved is poorly understood.