Oil & Gas Geology ›› 2022, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (2): 467-476.doi: 10.11743/ogg20220218

• Methods and Technologies • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Reservoir pressure prediction for marine organic-rich shale: A case study of the Upper Ordovician Wufeng-Lower Silurian Longmaxi shale in Fuling shale gas field, NE Sichuan Basin

Pengwei Wang1,2,3(), Xiao Chen4, Zhongbao Liu1,2,3, Wei Du1,2,3, Donghui Li1,2,3, Wujun Jin1,2,3, Ruyue Wang1,2,3   

  1. 1.State Key Laboratory of Shale Oil and Gas Enrichment Mechanisms and Effective Development,Beijing 100083,China
    2.Key Laboratory of Shale Oil and Gas Exploration & Production,SINOPEC,Beijing 100083,China
    3.Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Production,SINOPEC,Beijing 100083,China
    4.CNOOC International Ltd. ,Beijing 100027,China
  • Received:2021-06-10 Revised:2022-01-04 Online:2022-04-01 Published:2022-03-11

Abstract:

The pressure prediction for shale reservoirs is essential for evaluating shale reservoir quality, understanding shale gas accumulation mechanism, identifying gas-bearing property and seeking favorable shale gas exploration areas. High-to-over-mature marine shale reservoirs rich in organic matters are commonly characterized by considerable nano-scale organic pores and abnormally high pressure caused by gas generation. At present, shale reservoir pressure prediction is practically based on the development and evolution of inorganic pores while ignoring the nano-scale organic pore growth, resulting in an illusion of “pressure anomaly” or inaccurate prediction of reservoir pressure. This study proposes a reservoir pressure prediction method for marine organic-rich shale. With the assumption that organic pores coexist with abnormal pressure in shale reservoirs, this method serves to calculate the acoustic logging responses of organic pores, correct the acoustic logging curve, and establish a new pressure prediction model. The new method is verified with Wufeng-Longmaxi shale reservoir in Fuling gas field as an example. Compared with the Eaton method, an original calculation method, the results of the revised method match well with the measured data (R2=0.81). Also, the prediction error of the revised method is relatively small and in normal distribution, indicating that this method is suitable for the pressure prediction in the marine shale reservoir. The predicted pressure in Phase I Production Zone in Jiaoshiba area is generally characterized by high value in the center, low value in the surroundings, and locally high value in the southeast. These are well correlated with open flow capacity, further indicating the reliability of the method. It is of great practical significance to improving the unconventional shale reservoir pressure prediction and promoting the exploration in overpressured shale gas.

Key words: organic pore, reservoir pressure prediction, marine shale, Wufeng-Longmaxi Formations, Fuling shale gas field, Sichuan Basin

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