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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Earth Sci.
Sec. Solid Earth Geophysics
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feart.2024.1437255
This article is part of the Research Topic Experimental and Numerical Simulations of Rock Physics View all articles

Data-Driven Multi-Scale Geomechanical Modelling of Unconventional Shale Gas Reservoirs: A Case Study of Duvernay Formation, Alberta, West Canadian Basin

Provisionally accepted
Yue Xiao Yue Xiao *Weidong Jiang Weidong Jiang Chong Liang Chong Liang
  • Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development (RIPED), Beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The Duvernay formation in Canada is one of the major oil and gas source formations in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, located at its deepest point. While it demonstrates promising development potential, challenges arise in the urgent need for integration of geology and engineering models, as well as in optimizing sweet spots, particularly as infill wells and pads become central operational objectives for the shale gas field. A lack of geomechanical understanding of the shale gas reservoirs presents a significant obstacle in addressing these challenges. To overcome this, we implemented data acquisition and prepared historical models and profiles, resulting in an extended high-resolution geological and reservoir property model with a fine grid system. Subsequently, a 3D full-field multiscale geomechanical model was constructed for the main district by integrating seismic data (100 m), geological structures (km), routine logs (m), core data (cm), and borehole imaging (0.25 m), following a well-designed workflow. The predicted fracturability index (brittleness) ranges from 0.6 to 0.78, and a lower horizontal stress difference (STDIFF) is anticipated in the target formation, Upper Duvernay_D, making it a favourable candidate for hydraulic fracturing treatment. Post-analysis of the multidisciplinary models and various data types provides guidelines for establishing a specific big database, which serves as the foundation for production performance analysis and aggregate sweet spot analysis. Fourteen geological and geomechanical candidate parameters are selected for the subsequent sweet spot analysis. This study highlights the effectiveness of multiscale geomechanical modelling as a tool for the integration of multidisciplinary data sources, providing a bridge between geological understanding and future field development decisions. The workflows also offer a data-driven framework for selecting parameters for sweet spot analysis and production dynamic analysis.

    Keywords: Data-driven, Nature Fractures Evaluation, Multi-Scale Geomechanical Model, Duvernay Formation, Unconventional shale gas

    Received: 23 May 2024; Accepted: 08 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Xiao, Jiang and Liang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yue Xiao, Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development (RIPED), Beijing, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.