In recent years, major breakthroughs in the understanding of unconventional oil and gas resources (typically represented by tight sandstone, carbonate rock and shale oil/gas) have made important contributions to economic and social development. Unconventional oil and gas reservoirs have low porosity, low permeability, strong heterogeneity, and complex diagenesis. Therefore, the quantitative characterization of pores and fractures at different scales has become the focus and challenge of high-efficiency reservoir discovery. Pores and fractures of different sizes not only affect the storage and migration capacities of unconventional oil and gas reservoirs, but also have an important impact on safe drilling and oil and gas development programs.
After years of research and engineering practices, there has been great progress in the quantitative characterization of pores and fractures at different scales in tight reservoirs in the world. The systematic geological theories and the quantitative characterization techniques of pores and fractures in tight reservoirs have been greatly improved. However, with the deepening of tight oil and gas exploration, the integration of geology and engineering is likely to become an important research trend in the future. The existing research results still cannot solve many geological evaluations and engineering application problems, such as the quantitative characterization and model construction of multi-scale pores, multi-disciplinary fracture prediction technology, three-dimensional fracture modeling, the coupling mechanism of micro and macro fractures, coupling mechanism of natural and artificial fractures, prediction of in-situ stress distribution in deep complex formations, and wellbore stability issues.
This Research Topic aims to introduce the geology and engineering challenges and advances in recent years in terms of the quantitative characterization of pores and fractures at different scales, the distribution of deep complex in-situ stresses, the stability of deep complex formations, and the coupling of natural and artificial fractures. We sincerely invite potential authors to submit original papers or comments on how to promote theoretical research and engineering applications such as multi-scale pore and fracture characterization, geomechanical evaluation, etc., so as to further improve the level of unconventional oil and gas exploration and development.
Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
• Formation mechanism and control factors of multi-scale natural fractures;
• Quantitative characterization and prediction of multi-scale pores and fractures;
• Logging and seismic evaluation technology of tight reservoir pore and fracture systems;
• Techniques for characterizing the diagenetic evolution of multi-scale pores and fracture systems;
• Coupling mechanism of natural and artificial fractures;
• Coupling mechanism of micro and macro fractures;
• Distribution and quantitative evaluation of in-situ stresses in deep complex formations;
• Drilling and borehole stability evaluation of deep complex fractured formations;
• Prediction of geomechanical sweet spots in fractured reservoirs;
• Impact of multi-scale pores and fractures on oil and gas development;
• Acidizing and fracturing schemes for fractured reservoirs.
In recent years, major breakthroughs in the understanding of unconventional oil and gas resources (typically represented by tight sandstone, carbonate rock and shale oil/gas) have made important contributions to economic and social development. Unconventional oil and gas reservoirs have low porosity, low permeability, strong heterogeneity, and complex diagenesis. Therefore, the quantitative characterization of pores and fractures at different scales has become the focus and challenge of high-efficiency reservoir discovery. Pores and fractures of different sizes not only affect the storage and migration capacities of unconventional oil and gas reservoirs, but also have an important impact on safe drilling and oil and gas development programs.
After years of research and engineering practices, there has been great progress in the quantitative characterization of pores and fractures at different scales in tight reservoirs in the world. The systematic geological theories and the quantitative characterization techniques of pores and fractures in tight reservoirs have been greatly improved. However, with the deepening of tight oil and gas exploration, the integration of geology and engineering is likely to become an important research trend in the future. The existing research results still cannot solve many geological evaluations and engineering application problems, such as the quantitative characterization and model construction of multi-scale pores, multi-disciplinary fracture prediction technology, three-dimensional fracture modeling, the coupling mechanism of micro and macro fractures, coupling mechanism of natural and artificial fractures, prediction of in-situ stress distribution in deep complex formations, and wellbore stability issues.
This Research Topic aims to introduce the geology and engineering challenges and advances in recent years in terms of the quantitative characterization of pores and fractures at different scales, the distribution of deep complex in-situ stresses, the stability of deep complex formations, and the coupling of natural and artificial fractures. We sincerely invite potential authors to submit original papers or comments on how to promote theoretical research and engineering applications such as multi-scale pore and fracture characterization, geomechanical evaluation, etc., so as to further improve the level of unconventional oil and gas exploration and development.
Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
• Formation mechanism and control factors of multi-scale natural fractures;
• Quantitative characterization and prediction of multi-scale pores and fractures;
• Logging and seismic evaluation technology of tight reservoir pore and fracture systems;
• Techniques for characterizing the diagenetic evolution of multi-scale pores and fracture systems;
• Coupling mechanism of natural and artificial fractures;
• Coupling mechanism of micro and macro fractures;
• Distribution and quantitative evaluation of in-situ stresses in deep complex formations;
• Drilling and borehole stability evaluation of deep complex fractured formations;
• Prediction of geomechanical sweet spots in fractured reservoirs;
• Impact of multi-scale pores and fractures on oil and gas development;
• Acidizing and fracturing schemes for fractured reservoirs.
