f Advanced Drilling and Completion Solutions for Unconventional Shale Gas

Natural gas and oil production from shale reservoirs has reshaped the petroleum industry in North America and is posed to have a major impact in other locations around the world. Traditionally shale has been seen as a source rock, a trap or a drilling hazard within the petroleum industry. Today, however, many of these source rocks have proven to yield commercial production of hydrocarbons when the correct technologies are applied to understand the reservoir potential of a given formation and proper drilling and completion techniques are used. This presentation will examine some of the basic geological requirements that need to be assessed to determine if a particular shale reservoir has good production potential. It will then look at drilling and completion solutions have proven successful in different shale reservoirs. Guidelines to optimize the completion design based on specific reservoir properties will be discussed. New validation technologies, including microseismic fracture mapping will be discussed showing their significance in maximizing the productive capacity from a given well and improving our understanding in the production mechanisms. New technology in the area of stimulation fluids and equipment development will also be discussed.