Eagle Ford Shale play economics: U.S. versus Mexico

Weijermars, Ruud; Sorek, Nadav; Sen, Deepthi; Ayers, Walter B.

doi:10.1016/j.jngse.2016.12.009

Cited by 32 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Shale oil reservoirs are widely distributed globally in countries such as the United States, China, and Argentina (Kerr, 2010; Lindsay et al., 2018; Weijermars et al., 2017). They are important for the supply of hydrocarbons.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A parametric study of hydraulic fracturing interference between fracture clusters and stages based on numerical modeling

Chen

Guo

et al. 2020

Energy Exploration & Exploitation

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Shale oil reservoirs are usually developed by horizontal wells completed with multi-stage hydraulic fractures. The fracture interference between clusters in a single stage and between consecutive stages has an impact on the stimulation quality in terms of fracture geometries and fracture widths. This study introduces a non-planar hydraulic fracture model based on the extended finite element method and its use in quantifying the effects of relevant parameters on multi-stage fracture quality in a realistic shale oil scenario. The numerical model is validated with field diagnostics based on vertical seismic profiling. Relevant parameters including stress contrast, fracturing fluid viscosity, cluster density, and fracturing in consecutive stages are quantitatively analyzed in the numerical study. Results show that effects of stress contrast on fracture quality are greater than those of fracturing fluid viscosity, while the effects are more significant in outer fractures instead of the inner fracture. Denser cluster design leads to greater inhibition for the growth of inner fractures which eventually divert them transversely. In fracturing for consecutive stages, the opening of fractures in the subsequent stages is inhibited and the fracture geometries are also altered by the inter-stage interference caused by the previous stage. Based on field data and numerical modeling, this study identifies key parameters and quantifies their effects on inter-fracture and inter-stage interference in multi-stage hydraulic fracturing in horizontal wells.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A parametric study of hydraulic fracturing interference between fracture clusters and stages based on numerical modeling

Chen

Guo

et al. 2020

Energy Exploration & Exploitation

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“…The estimated costs are also compared to alternative sources of electricity, including other fossil-fuel options, renewables and nuclear power. While previous studies considered different cost aspects of shale gas (BNEF, 2013;Weijermars, 2013;Amion, 2014;Chen et al, 2015;Weijermars et al, 2017), as far as we are aware, this is the first study to integrate different aspects and estimate full life cycle costs (LCC) of shale gas from 'cradle to grave'. It is also the first study to compare its cost to other gas and electricity options as well as to consider the potential future effects of shale gas on the UK economy and household energy bills.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic viability of UK shale gas and potential impacts on the energy market up to 2030

2018

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The UK is in the early stages of developing a shale gas industry and to date six test wells have been drilled but none yet exploited commercially. Some argue that shale gas could reduce energy prices and improve national energy security. However, the costs of bringing commercial-size wells into operation are uncertain and the impact shale gas could have on the UK energy market is currently unknown. Therefore, this paper evaluates the economic viability of developing a UK shale gas industry and the impacts it could have on the UK gas and electricity markets and consumer energy bills up to 2030. The estimated life cycle (levelised) costs of shale gas production range from 0.47-56.74 pence/MJ (0.61-73 US$ cents/MJ), with an average value of 4.64 pence/MJ. The break-even price at which shale gas can be sold varies between 0.95 and 114.44 pence/MJ, averaging at 9.47 pence/MJ, depending on the volume of gas produced by a shale gas well. The latter is two times higher than imported liquefied natural gas, around 30% more expensive than UK natural gas and three times greater than the price of US shale gas. Electricity from shale gas is on average 17% more expensive than from domestic conventional gas but still more competitive than most other electricity options, including coal and renewables. However, the impact of shale gas on the energy market would be limited across the expected range of shale gas penetration into the gas and electricity mixes, suggesting that it would have little effect on energy prices. This is reflected in an almost negligible impact on consumer energy bills. The potential of shale gas to boost the UK economy is also limited, contributing 0.017%-0.033% to the GDP. This is an order of magnitude lower than the contribution of US shale gas to its GDP (0.2%), indicating that the economic success of shale gas in the US may not be replicated in the UK. These findings will be of interest to shale gas developers and policy makers not only in the UK but in other countries considering exploitation of shale gas resources.

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“…The first wave was the rapid expansion, between 2005 and 2010, of hydraulically fractured shale gas wells in the Barnett and other gassy shale plays (Haynesville, Fayetteville, Woodford, Eagle Ford, and Marcellus) with major growth currently confined to the Marcellus shale [1]. The second wave was a shift by North-American operators, starting in 2008, from gas to liquid-rich shale plays like the Eagle Ford and the Bakken [2,3]. The third wave has only just begun with the hydraulic fracturing of multi-stage wells now being successfully applied to re-develop thick shale formations in the Permian Basin.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shale Reservoir Drainage Visualized for a Wolfcamp Well (Midland Basin, West Texas, USA)

Weijermars¹,

Harmelen²

2018

Energies

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Closed-form solution-methods were applied to visualize the flow near hydraulic fractures at high resolution. The results reveal that most fluid moves into the tips of the fractures. Stranded oil may occur between the fractures in stagnant flow zones (dead zones), which remain outside the drainage reach of the hydraulic main fractures, over the economic life of the typical well (30-40 years). Highly conductive micro-cracks would further improve recovery factors. The visualization of flow near hypothetical micro-cracks normal to the main fractures in a Wolfcamp well shows such micro-cracks support the recovery of hydrocarbons from deeper in the matrix, but still leave matrix portions un-drained with the concurrent fracture spacing of 60 ft (~18 m). Our study also suggests that the traditional way of studying reservoir depletion by mainly looking at pressure plots should, for hydraulically fractured shale reservoirs, be complemented with high resolution plots of the drainage pattern based on time integration of the velocity field.

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Eagle Ford Shale play economics: U.S. versus Mexico

Cited by 32 publications

References 9 publications

A parametric study of hydraulic fracturing interference between fracture clusters and stages based on numerical modeling

A parametric study of hydraulic fracturing interference between fracture clusters and stages based on numerical modeling

Economic viability of UK shale gas and potential impacts on the energy market up to 2030

Shale Reservoir Drainage Visualized for a Wolfcamp Well (Midland Basin, West Texas, USA)

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