Title: A comprehensive comparative study of flow regimes, volumetrics, and hydraulic fractures performance for MIP wells of MSEEL

Authors: W. David Purvis; Gary D. Holloway; Bryce E. Gagliardi; Zane T. Hall; Taylor B. Shelton; John C. Skelton; William T. Thompson; Mohammad Heshmati

Addresses: Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, Mississippi State University, 323 President Cir, Mississippi State, MS, 39762, USA ' Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, Mississippi State University, 323 President Cir, Mississippi State, MS, 39762, USA ' Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, Mississippi State University, 323 President Cir, Mississippi State, MS, 39762, USA ' Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, Mississippi State University, 323 President Cir, Mississippi State, MS, 39762, USA ' Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, Mississippi State University, 323 President Cir, Mississippi State, MS, 39762, USA ' Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, Mississippi State University, 323 President Cir, Mississippi State, MS, 39762, USA ' Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, Mississippi State University, 323 President Cir, Mississippi State, MS, 39762, USA ' Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, Mississippi State University, 323 President Cir, Mississippi State, MS, 39762, USA

Abstract: Reservoir and fluid properties, production rates, wellhead pressures, and hydraulic fracturing data are used to perform rate transient analysis for four MIP wells of Marcellus Shale Energy and Environment Laboratory in West Virginia, USA. Flow regimes, original gas in places, performance of these wells, stimulated reservoir volume areas, and hydraulic fractures performances are analysed. Several RTA analysis techniques are employed and the pros and cons of each are discussed. It is shown that a log-log plot of pseudo-normalised gas flow rate vs. pMBT is the most promising for flow regime identification. Effect of completion design, e.g., lateral length and cluster spacing, on the performance of these wells is studied as well. It is also shown that although A √ k could be used to study relative performance of these shale gas wells, A √ k per number of fracture clusters provides a more reliable measure of their relative performance. [Received: October 22, 2021; Accepted: April 22, 2022]

Keywords: Marcellus Shale; shale gas; rate transient analysis; RTA; fracture performance; stimulated reservoir volume.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2023.127327

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2023 Vol.32 No.1, pp.1 - 23

Received: 21 Oct 2021
Accepted: 22 Apr 2022
Published online: 30 Nov 2022 *

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