Shale Gas Hydraulic Fracturing in the Dutch Posidonia Shale

Recently the oil and gas industry is looking at the Posidonia shale in the Dutch subsurface for production of the unconventional shale gas. This is a form of gas production originating from the U.S.A. After the initial success this gas has become a major energy source in the United States. Shale gas can be present in extremely low permeable shales with high organic content. Through use of hydraulically induced fractures along a horizontal well it is possible to economically produce from these almost impermeable shale formations. Many different completions and techniques have been developed to increase production and enhance profitability. This work presents a survey of the experiences in hydraulic fracturing in the U.S.A., including completions and operations to optimize production. We first review the most important completions, and we identify a number of operations frequently carried out by North American operators to increase production from gas shales. Secondly we identify desirable attributes for shale gas fields, against which a potential project can be scored. Upon review of Posidonia attributes the shale is indeed identified as a potential play, and comparison with three successful American fields provides potentially successful completion and fracturing options. Furthermore this work proposes a reservoir model for the Posidonia shale. Herein the influence of the fracturing parameters fracture density, half-length and conductivity is investigated to determine if common U.S. operations will also be effective in the Netherlands. Based on the simulations we perform an economic evaluation for a Posidonia well in the Netherlands.

Subject

Shale
Hydraulic Fracturing
Eclipse
Adsorbed Gas

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Student theses

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master thesis

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