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DOE - Fossil Energy Techline - Issued on: October 14, 1999 DOE Selects 3 Projects to Locate Fractured Tight Gas ReservoirsAdvanced Resources International, GeoSpectrum, and State University of New York Submit Winning ProjectsThe Department of Energy has selected three new research efforts that could encourage gas companies to drill with greater confidence in a wider range of naturally-fractured, tight (dense) reservoirs that hold massive amounts of untapped natural gas. DOE will provide nearly $3 million to Advanced Resources International, Inc., Arlington, VA; GeoSpectrum, Inc., Midland, TX, and State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, to demonstrate advanced technologies that can reveal natural fractures in gas-bearing formations. If successful, the projects will show that advanced fracture detection technologies developed in the Energy Department's natural gas program can be applied in a greater number of geologic settings. The presence of fractures in reservoir is especially important for future gas production from tight gas reservoirs. The fractures can serve as conduits for natural gas in rocks so dense that very little gas would flow otherwise through the rock structure. The vast amounts of natural gas in these tight gas reservoirs -- an estimated 460 trillion cubic feet, or nearly three times the proved gas reserves in the United States -- will become increasingly important to meet rapidly rising demands for clean-burning natural gas. In fact, tight gas reservoirs are expected to account for 25% of all U.S. gas production in the next decade. Industry's current success rate of drilling economic exploration wells in tight gas reservoirs is very small - about one in 15. In addition, an estimated 60% of the tight/unconventional gas resource is located under federal land. These DOE projects will show industry improved ways to increase their success rate by locating areas more favorable for gas production while increasing federal revenue from gas production on federal land. Previously, the effectiveness of the advanced tools in the three projects have been measured by comparing their projections with data from previously drilled fields. In the new efforts, the tools will be applied in fields before any wells are drilled, a much more rigorous and risky test. By demonstrating these tools in a manner more comparable to actual industry practice, the Energy Department hopes to show the gas industry that risks associated with drilling exploration wells in new areas can be reduced. The nearly $3 million in DOE funding will be supplemented by more than $20 million in cost sharing from the research partners. Much of the cost-sharing will be in the form of the costs for drilling wells to verify that a reservoir is actually fractured in the manner indicated by the advanced technologies. Participants will provide seismic data and conduct well logging, coring and pressure testing to confirm the presence of natural fractures. DOE's Federal Energy Technology Center, the principal technology arm of the department's Fossil Energy program, will negotiate final contracts and oversee these projects (dollar figures are subject to negotiations):
DOE conducted R&D in natural fracture detection and characterization for more than 25 years. In fact, two of the three projects are a direct outgrowth of previously DOE-funded research. Advanced Resources International has validated their methodology by correlating areas of predicted high natural fracture density with the best producers in the field. GeoSpectrum's work will directly build upon the methodology that was validated under two past DOE projects conducted by Advanced Resources International and Blackhawk Geometrics. The methodology being demonstrated by SUNY has been developed by personnel involved in the project over the last 10 years. - End of TechLine - For more information: Technical contact: |