To meet future global oil and gas demands, the energy industry will need creative thinking that leads to the discovery and development of new fields. Unconventional gas resources, especially those in frontier (exploratory) basins, will play an important role in fulfilling future energy needs. To develop unconventional gas resources, we must first identify their occurrences and quantify their potential. Basin analog systems investigation (BASIN) is a computer software that can rapidly and inexpensively evaluate the unconventional gas resource potential of frontier basins. BASIN is linked to a database that includes petroleum systems and reservoir properties data from 25 intensely studied North American “reference” basins that have both conventional and unconventional oil and gas resources. To use BASIN, limited data from a frontier or “target” basin are used to query the database of North American reference basins and rank these reference basins as potential analogs to the frontier basin. Based on analog comparisons, we can predict unconventional gas resources and make preliminary engineering decisions concerning resource development and the best drilling, completion, stimulation, and production practices to use in the frontier basin. Initial software validation shows consistent results. If a basin is selected as the target basin while the same basin is also in the reference basin list, the results show that the basin is a 100% analog to itself. Other basins in the reference basin list are less than 100% analogs. Also, BASIN performed favorably when it was tested against analog basin decisions made by of a team of industry experts. BASIN rapidly and inexpensively identifies and ranks reference basins as analogs to a frontier basin, providing insights to potential gas resources and indicating the preliminary best engineering practice for resource development. It is an effective tool that provides guidance to inexperienced professionals and new perceptions for seasoned experts.
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December 2008
Research Papers
Basin Analog Investigations Answer Characterization Challenges of Unconventional Gas Potential in Frontier Basins
Kalwant Singh,
Kalwant Singh
Department of Petroleum Engineering,
Texas A&M University
, College Station, Texas 77843
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Stephen A. Holditch,
Stephen A. Holditch
Department of Petroleum Engineering,
Texas A&M University
, College Station, Texas 77843
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Walter B. Ayers, Jr.
Walter B. Ayers, Jr.
Department of Petroleum Engineering,
Texas A&M University
, College Station, Texas 77843
Search for other works by this author on:
Kalwant Singh
Department of Petroleum Engineering,
Texas A&M University
, College Station, Texas 77843
Stephen A. Holditch
Department of Petroleum Engineering,
Texas A&M University
, College Station, Texas 77843
Walter B. Ayers, Jr.
Department of Petroleum Engineering,
Texas A&M University
, College Station, Texas 77843J. Energy Resour. Technol. Dec 2008, 130(4): 043202 (7 pages)
Published Online: October 28, 2008
Article history
Received:
January 23, 2008
Revised:
August 29, 2008
Published:
October 28, 2008
Citation
Singh, K., Holditch, S. A., and Ayers, W. B., Jr. (October 28, 2008). "Basin Analog Investigations Answer Characterization Challenges of Unconventional Gas Potential in Frontier Basins." ASME. J. Energy Resour. Technol. December 2008; 130(4): 043202. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3000104
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