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Papers by Son Dang

Research paper thumbnail of Impact of Solvent Extraction on Surface Area Measurements in Organic-Rich Shales Using Nitrogen Adsorption

Proceedings of the 5th Unconventional Resources Technology Conference

Research paper thumbnail of In-Situ Fractionation in Liquids-Rich Shales and its Implications for EOR: Experimental Verification and Modeling Study

Proceedings of the 6th Unconventional Resources Technology Conference

The URTeC Technical Program Committee accepted this presentation on the basis of information cont... more The URTeC Technical Program Committee accepted this presentation on the basis of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). The contents of this paper have not been reviewed by URTeC and URTeC does not warrant the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information herein. All information is the responsibility of, and, is subject to corrections by the author(s). Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this paper does so at their own risk. The information herein does not necessarily reflect any position of URTeC. Any reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper by anyone other than the author without the written consent of URTeC is prohibited.

Research paper thumbnail of Fracturing Fluids Effect on Mechanical Properties in Shales

Proceedings of the 8th Unconventional Resources Technology Conference

The URTeC Technical Program Committee accepted this presentation on the basis of information cont... more The URTeC Technical Program Committee accepted this presentation on the basis of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). The contents of this paper have not been reviewed by URTeC and URTeC does not warrant the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information herein. All information is the responsibility of, and, is subject to corrections by the author(s). Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this paper does so at their own risk. The information herein does not necessarily reflect any position of URTeC. Any reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper by anyone other than the author without the written consent of URTeC is prohibited.

Research paper thumbnail of Pore-Type Partitioning in Unconventional Tight Reservoirs: Impact on Formation Damage and Long-Term Production

SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering, 2020

SummaryWettability is an important petrophysical property, which governs irreducible fluid satura... more SummaryWettability is an important petrophysical property, which governs irreducible fluid saturations, relative permeability, and fluid invasion in rocks. Unlike conventional reservoirs, which have relatively uniform pore surface properties, the concept of wettability is not clear in organic-rich tight reservoirs. These rocks do not only have a nanoporous system but also possess multiple pore types with different interfacial affinities. Previous studies have shown that the unconventional reservoirs consist of three major pore types: inorganic pores (assumed to be water-wet), organic pores (assumed to be oil-wet, controlled by organic matter and thermal maturity), and mixed-wet pores (controlled by organic-inorganic distribution) (Curtis et al. 2012).This study revisits the concept of pore-type partitioning in tight rocks. We propose and demonstrate a new workflow to evaluate pore partitioning. First, all the specimens were vacuum dried at 100°C for 6 days to remove the free fluids ...

Research paper thumbnail of Effects of Temperature and Gas Pressurization on the Interpretation of NMR Hydrocarbon Measurements in Organic-Rich Shale

Proceedings of the 7th Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Reducing Ambiguity in Source Rock Analyses

Proceedings of the 4th Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of Alterations in Pore Topology of Organic-Rich Shale Samples Due to the Removal of Dead Oil, Bitumen, and Kerogen

Research paper thumbnail of Novel Techniques to Measure Oil-Gas Diffusion at High Pressure and High Temperature Conditions: Application for Huff-N-Puff EOR in Shales

The URTeC Technical Program Committee accepted this presentation on the basis of information cont... more The URTeC Technical Program Committee accepted this presentation on the basis of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). The contents of this paper have not been reviewed by URTeC and URTeC does not warrant the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information herein. All information is the responsibility of, and, is subject to corrections by the author(s). Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this paper does so at their own risk. The information herein does not necessarily reflect any position of URTeC. Any reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper by anyone other than the author without the written consent of URTeC is prohibited.

Research paper thumbnail of Understanding Source Rock Maturation from Generation and Microstructure Viewpoints

Research paper thumbnail of Measurement of Effective Tortuosity in Unconventional Tight Rock using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Proceedings of the 9th Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of Stimulated Reservoir Volume Evaluation Using Shear Wave

Research paper thumbnail of Mechanical stratigraphy of Mississippian strata using machine learning and seismic-based reservoir characterization and modeling, Anadarko Basin, Oklahoma

Interpretation, 2021

The Sooner Trend in the Anadarko (Basin) in Canadian and Kingfisher counties play primarily produ... more The Sooner Trend in the Anadarko (Basin) in Canadian and Kingfisher counties play primarily produces oil and gas from Mississippian strata. The interval consists of interbedded argillaceous mudstones and calcareous siltstones. Such a contrast in rock composition is linked directly to the mechanical stratigraphy of the strata. Brittle (calcareous siltstones) and ductile beds (argillaceous mudstones) are related to the sequence-stratigraphic framework at different scales. We have used seismic and well-log data to estimate and map the geomechanical properties’ distribution and interpret the mechanical stratigraphy of rocks within the Mississippian strata. First, we defined the parasequences that form the main reservoir zones of the Meramecian-Mississippian strata. Once we established the stratigraphic framework, we estimated and compared rock brittleness index (BI) using two independent laboratory-based measurements from the core. The first method, the mineralogical-derived BI, uses mi...

Research paper thumbnail of Does EOR in unconventionals change the rock?

Research paper thumbnail of Attribute analyses of acoustic emissions in hydraulic fracturing

Interpretation, 2021

Hydraulic fracturing (HF) and horizontal drilling are essential to the development of shale gas a... more Hydraulic fracturing (HF) and horizontal drilling are essential to the development of shale gas and oil. Production depends on the stimulation success. During fracture initiation, propagation, and closure, cracks emit acoustic waves; these can be monitored in real time as microseismics in the field and as acoustic emissions (AEs) in the laboratory. AEs are the laboratory equivalent of field-scale microseismics and contain detailed information about HF fracture mechanics. The number of acoustic events correlates with the number of induced fractures and hence the stimulation volume. Three HF protocols under dry conditions were carried out on Tennessee sandstone: (1) a constant injection rate, (2) a precyclic injection, and (3) a variable-rate injection test. All three tests were performed under the same principal stress conditions: vertical stress of 10.3 MPa (1500 psi), minimum horizontal stress of 3.5 MPa (500 psi), and maximum horizontal stress of 20.7 MPa (3000 psi). In total, 16 ...

Research paper thumbnail of Stratigraphic variability of Mississippian Meramec chemofacies and petrophysical properties using machine learning and geostatistical modeling, STACK trend, Anadarko Basin, Oklahoma

Interpretation, 2021

Mississippian Meramec deposits and reservoirs in the Sooner Trend in the Anadarko (Basin) in Cana... more Mississippian Meramec deposits and reservoirs in the Sooner Trend in the Anadarko (Basin) in Canadian and Kingfisher counties (STACK) play of Oklahoma are comprised of silty limestones, calcareous sandstones, argillaceous-calcareous siltstones, argillaceous siltstones, and mudstones. We used core-derived X-ray fluorescence (XRF) data and established environmental proxies to evaluate the occurrence of specific elements (Al, K, Ti, Zr, Sr, Ca, and Si) and to illustrate their stratigraphic variability. For the Mississippian Meramec, six indicator elements or element ratios serve as proxies for clay (Al and K), detrital sediment (Ti and Zr), carbonate deposits (Sr and Ca), calcite cement (Sr/Ca), and quartz (Si/Ti and Si/Al). We used an unsupervised K-means classification to cluster elemental data from which we interpret three chemofacies: (1) calcareous sandstone, (2) argillaceous-calcareous siltstone, and (3) detrital mudstone. We used random forest to relate core-derived chemofacies ...

Research paper thumbnail of Comprehensive Experimental Study of Huff-n-Puff Enhanced Oil Recovey in Eagle Ford: Key Parameters and Recovery Mechanism

Day 2 Tue, September 01, 2020, 2020

Huff-n-puff gas injection enhanced oil recovery has received increased attention especially in th... more Huff-n-puff gas injection enhanced oil recovery has received increased attention especially in the unconventional plays like the Eagle Ford, where oil recovery is as low as 5 - 10%. An increase in 1% of recovery could realize a potential of 2.3 billion barrels of oil, which has an enormous economic value. Through a laboratory investigation of huff-n-puff conducted on preserved Eagle Ford samples; we evaluate different factors that can affect the recovery performance such as minimum miscibility pressure (MMP), surface area, soaking time, injection pressure, composition of injection gas and injection gas rate. In addition, different recovery mechanisms such as a vaporization (concentration gradient) and a miscible flowback (pressure gradient) were also investigated. Two sets of experiments were conducted utilizing a high-pressure chamber: one with Eagle Ford oil, providing MMP values using a VIT technique and vaporization test with different soaking times (2 days, 4 days, and 6 days)....

Research paper thumbnail of Novel technique to measure mutual bulk fluid diffusion using NMR 1-D gradient

E3S Web of Conferences, 2020

Many modelling and theoretical studies have shown that diffusion can be a significant transport m... more Many modelling and theoretical studies have shown that diffusion can be a significant transport mechanism in low-permeability porous media. Understanding the process allows engineers to better predict reservoir performance during both primary production and enhanced recovery in unconventional reservoirs. Direct measurement of effective diffusion in tight rocks is difficult, due to small pore volumes and the lack of techniques to actually monitor the process. Conventional diffusion measurements generally require fluid sampling, which induces a pressure transient which changes the mass transfer mechanism. Previously, we introduced a novel technique to measure tortuosity in nano-porous media by simultaneously monitoring methane versus nitrogen concentrations at high pressure using transmission Infrared Spectroscopy (IR). To complete the estimation of effective diffusion, bulk fluid diffusion coefficient also needs to be measured. In this study, we demonstrate the usage of Nuclear Magne...

Research paper thumbnail of Effects of gas pressurization on the interpretation of NMR hydrocarbon measurements in organic rich shales

E3S Web of Conferences, 2020

The estimation of total hydrocarbons (HCs) in place is one of the most important economic challen... more The estimation of total hydrocarbons (HCs) in place is one of the most important economic challenges in unconventional resource plays. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has proven to be a valuable tool in directly quantifying both hydrocarbons and brines in the laboratory and the field. Some major applications of NMR interpretation include pore body size distributions, wettability, fluid types, and fluid properties. However, for tight formations, the effects of the factors on NMR relaxation data are intertwined. One purpose of this study is to review the interpretation of NMR response of HCs in a tight rock matrix through illustrated examples. When comparing NMR data between downhole wireline and laboratory measurement, three important elements need to be considered: 1) temperature differences, 2) system response differences, and 3) pressure (mainly due to the lost gasses.) The effect of temperature on HCs would be presented with experimental results for bulk fluids. Whereas, the eff...

Research paper thumbnail of Relative Permeability and Production-Performance Estimations for Bakken, Wolfcamp, Eagle Ford, and Woodford Shale Formations

SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering, 2018

Summary Relative permeability and residual water/gas saturations of organic-rich samples were det... more Summary Relative permeability and residual water/gas saturations of organic-rich samples were determined from low-pressure nitrogen-adsorption/desorption measurements on shale samples. Adsorption/desorption isotherm measurements were performed on 100 organic-rich shale samples from the Bakken, Wolfcamp, Eagle Ford, and Woodford Formations, and were then interpreted to obtain pore-size distribution (PSD) using a modified Barrett-Joyner-Halenda (BJH) method (Barrett et al. 1951). A bimodal-fractal model was then applied to the PSD estimates to compute percolation and fractal parameters, which were incorporated in percolation theory (PT), effective-medium theory (EMT), and critical-path analysis (CPA) models to generate the relative permeability curves and residual saturations of the 100 samples. Robustness of this relatively new estimation technique for shale-reservoir samples is evaluated in this study. Petrophysical correlations of relative permeability and residual saturations with...

Research paper thumbnail of Relative Permeability and Residual Saturation Estimates for <break/>Organic-Rich Shale Samples From Bakken, Wolfcamp, Eagle Ford and Woodford Formations

SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, 2017

Relative permeability and residual saturations of organic-rich samples were determined from low-p... more Relative permeability and residual saturations of organic-rich samples were determined from low-pressure nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements on the samples. Robustness of this relatively new estimation technique for shale-reservoir samples is evaluated in this study. Petrophysical correlations of relative permeability and residual saturations with kerogen maturity, kerogen content, kerogen removal, and sample cleaning are developed for purposes of improved understanding of the saturation-dependent transport behavior of shale reservoirs. These correlations enable comparative predictions of intra-well and inter-well production performances. Adsorption-desorption isotherm measurements were performed on 100 organic-rich shale samples from Bakken, Wolfcamp, Eagle Ford and Woodford formations. Total organic content varied in the range of 1 to 9 wt.% and the porosity varied in the range of 1 to 10 %. The adsorption-desorption measurements were interpreted to obtain pore size distri...

Research paper thumbnail of Impact of Solvent Extraction on Surface Area Measurements in Organic-Rich Shales Using Nitrogen Adsorption

Proceedings of the 5th Unconventional Resources Technology Conference

Research paper thumbnail of In-Situ Fractionation in Liquids-Rich Shales and its Implications for EOR: Experimental Verification and Modeling Study

Proceedings of the 6th Unconventional Resources Technology Conference

The URTeC Technical Program Committee accepted this presentation on the basis of information cont... more The URTeC Technical Program Committee accepted this presentation on the basis of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). The contents of this paper have not been reviewed by URTeC and URTeC does not warrant the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information herein. All information is the responsibility of, and, is subject to corrections by the author(s). Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this paper does so at their own risk. The information herein does not necessarily reflect any position of URTeC. Any reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper by anyone other than the author without the written consent of URTeC is prohibited.

Research paper thumbnail of Fracturing Fluids Effect on Mechanical Properties in Shales

Proceedings of the 8th Unconventional Resources Technology Conference

The URTeC Technical Program Committee accepted this presentation on the basis of information cont... more The URTeC Technical Program Committee accepted this presentation on the basis of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). The contents of this paper have not been reviewed by URTeC and URTeC does not warrant the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information herein. All information is the responsibility of, and, is subject to corrections by the author(s). Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this paper does so at their own risk. The information herein does not necessarily reflect any position of URTeC. Any reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper by anyone other than the author without the written consent of URTeC is prohibited.

Research paper thumbnail of Pore-Type Partitioning in Unconventional Tight Reservoirs: Impact on Formation Damage and Long-Term Production

SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering, 2020

SummaryWettability is an important petrophysical property, which governs irreducible fluid satura... more SummaryWettability is an important petrophysical property, which governs irreducible fluid saturations, relative permeability, and fluid invasion in rocks. Unlike conventional reservoirs, which have relatively uniform pore surface properties, the concept of wettability is not clear in organic-rich tight reservoirs. These rocks do not only have a nanoporous system but also possess multiple pore types with different interfacial affinities. Previous studies have shown that the unconventional reservoirs consist of three major pore types: inorganic pores (assumed to be water-wet), organic pores (assumed to be oil-wet, controlled by organic matter and thermal maturity), and mixed-wet pores (controlled by organic-inorganic distribution) (Curtis et al. 2012).This study revisits the concept of pore-type partitioning in tight rocks. We propose and demonstrate a new workflow to evaluate pore partitioning. First, all the specimens were vacuum dried at 100°C for 6 days to remove the free fluids ...

Research paper thumbnail of Effects of Temperature and Gas Pressurization on the Interpretation of NMR Hydrocarbon Measurements in Organic-Rich Shale

Proceedings of the 7th Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Reducing Ambiguity in Source Rock Analyses

Proceedings of the 4th Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of Alterations in Pore Topology of Organic-Rich Shale Samples Due to the Removal of Dead Oil, Bitumen, and Kerogen

Research paper thumbnail of Novel Techniques to Measure Oil-Gas Diffusion at High Pressure and High Temperature Conditions: Application for Huff-N-Puff EOR in Shales

The URTeC Technical Program Committee accepted this presentation on the basis of information cont... more The URTeC Technical Program Committee accepted this presentation on the basis of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). The contents of this paper have not been reviewed by URTeC and URTeC does not warrant the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information herein. All information is the responsibility of, and, is subject to corrections by the author(s). Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this paper does so at their own risk. The information herein does not necessarily reflect any position of URTeC. Any reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper by anyone other than the author without the written consent of URTeC is prohibited.

Research paper thumbnail of Understanding Source Rock Maturation from Generation and Microstructure Viewpoints

Research paper thumbnail of Measurement of Effective Tortuosity in Unconventional Tight Rock using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Proceedings of the 9th Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of Stimulated Reservoir Volume Evaluation Using Shear Wave

Research paper thumbnail of Mechanical stratigraphy of Mississippian strata using machine learning and seismic-based reservoir characterization and modeling, Anadarko Basin, Oklahoma

Interpretation, 2021

The Sooner Trend in the Anadarko (Basin) in Canadian and Kingfisher counties play primarily produ... more The Sooner Trend in the Anadarko (Basin) in Canadian and Kingfisher counties play primarily produces oil and gas from Mississippian strata. The interval consists of interbedded argillaceous mudstones and calcareous siltstones. Such a contrast in rock composition is linked directly to the mechanical stratigraphy of the strata. Brittle (calcareous siltstones) and ductile beds (argillaceous mudstones) are related to the sequence-stratigraphic framework at different scales. We have used seismic and well-log data to estimate and map the geomechanical properties’ distribution and interpret the mechanical stratigraphy of rocks within the Mississippian strata. First, we defined the parasequences that form the main reservoir zones of the Meramecian-Mississippian strata. Once we established the stratigraphic framework, we estimated and compared rock brittleness index (BI) using two independent laboratory-based measurements from the core. The first method, the mineralogical-derived BI, uses mi...

Research paper thumbnail of Does EOR in unconventionals change the rock?

Research paper thumbnail of Attribute analyses of acoustic emissions in hydraulic fracturing

Interpretation, 2021

Hydraulic fracturing (HF) and horizontal drilling are essential to the development of shale gas a... more Hydraulic fracturing (HF) and horizontal drilling are essential to the development of shale gas and oil. Production depends on the stimulation success. During fracture initiation, propagation, and closure, cracks emit acoustic waves; these can be monitored in real time as microseismics in the field and as acoustic emissions (AEs) in the laboratory. AEs are the laboratory equivalent of field-scale microseismics and contain detailed information about HF fracture mechanics. The number of acoustic events correlates with the number of induced fractures and hence the stimulation volume. Three HF protocols under dry conditions were carried out on Tennessee sandstone: (1) a constant injection rate, (2) a precyclic injection, and (3) a variable-rate injection test. All three tests were performed under the same principal stress conditions: vertical stress of 10.3 MPa (1500 psi), minimum horizontal stress of 3.5 MPa (500 psi), and maximum horizontal stress of 20.7 MPa (3000 psi). In total, 16 ...

Research paper thumbnail of Stratigraphic variability of Mississippian Meramec chemofacies and petrophysical properties using machine learning and geostatistical modeling, STACK trend, Anadarko Basin, Oklahoma

Interpretation, 2021

Mississippian Meramec deposits and reservoirs in the Sooner Trend in the Anadarko (Basin) in Cana... more Mississippian Meramec deposits and reservoirs in the Sooner Trend in the Anadarko (Basin) in Canadian and Kingfisher counties (STACK) play of Oklahoma are comprised of silty limestones, calcareous sandstones, argillaceous-calcareous siltstones, argillaceous siltstones, and mudstones. We used core-derived X-ray fluorescence (XRF) data and established environmental proxies to evaluate the occurrence of specific elements (Al, K, Ti, Zr, Sr, Ca, and Si) and to illustrate their stratigraphic variability. For the Mississippian Meramec, six indicator elements or element ratios serve as proxies for clay (Al and K), detrital sediment (Ti and Zr), carbonate deposits (Sr and Ca), calcite cement (Sr/Ca), and quartz (Si/Ti and Si/Al). We used an unsupervised K-means classification to cluster elemental data from which we interpret three chemofacies: (1) calcareous sandstone, (2) argillaceous-calcareous siltstone, and (3) detrital mudstone. We used random forest to relate core-derived chemofacies ...

Research paper thumbnail of Comprehensive Experimental Study of Huff-n-Puff Enhanced Oil Recovey in Eagle Ford: Key Parameters and Recovery Mechanism

Day 2 Tue, September 01, 2020, 2020

Huff-n-puff gas injection enhanced oil recovery has received increased attention especially in th... more Huff-n-puff gas injection enhanced oil recovery has received increased attention especially in the unconventional plays like the Eagle Ford, where oil recovery is as low as 5 - 10%. An increase in 1% of recovery could realize a potential of 2.3 billion barrels of oil, which has an enormous economic value. Through a laboratory investigation of huff-n-puff conducted on preserved Eagle Ford samples; we evaluate different factors that can affect the recovery performance such as minimum miscibility pressure (MMP), surface area, soaking time, injection pressure, composition of injection gas and injection gas rate. In addition, different recovery mechanisms such as a vaporization (concentration gradient) and a miscible flowback (pressure gradient) were also investigated. Two sets of experiments were conducted utilizing a high-pressure chamber: one with Eagle Ford oil, providing MMP values using a VIT technique and vaporization test with different soaking times (2 days, 4 days, and 6 days)....

Research paper thumbnail of Novel technique to measure mutual bulk fluid diffusion using NMR 1-D gradient

E3S Web of Conferences, 2020

Many modelling and theoretical studies have shown that diffusion can be a significant transport m... more Many modelling and theoretical studies have shown that diffusion can be a significant transport mechanism in low-permeability porous media. Understanding the process allows engineers to better predict reservoir performance during both primary production and enhanced recovery in unconventional reservoirs. Direct measurement of effective diffusion in tight rocks is difficult, due to small pore volumes and the lack of techniques to actually monitor the process. Conventional diffusion measurements generally require fluid sampling, which induces a pressure transient which changes the mass transfer mechanism. Previously, we introduced a novel technique to measure tortuosity in nano-porous media by simultaneously monitoring methane versus nitrogen concentrations at high pressure using transmission Infrared Spectroscopy (IR). To complete the estimation of effective diffusion, bulk fluid diffusion coefficient also needs to be measured. In this study, we demonstrate the usage of Nuclear Magne...

Research paper thumbnail of Effects of gas pressurization on the interpretation of NMR hydrocarbon measurements in organic rich shales

E3S Web of Conferences, 2020

The estimation of total hydrocarbons (HCs) in place is one of the most important economic challen... more The estimation of total hydrocarbons (HCs) in place is one of the most important economic challenges in unconventional resource plays. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has proven to be a valuable tool in directly quantifying both hydrocarbons and brines in the laboratory and the field. Some major applications of NMR interpretation include pore body size distributions, wettability, fluid types, and fluid properties. However, for tight formations, the effects of the factors on NMR relaxation data are intertwined. One purpose of this study is to review the interpretation of NMR response of HCs in a tight rock matrix through illustrated examples. When comparing NMR data between downhole wireline and laboratory measurement, three important elements need to be considered: 1) temperature differences, 2) system response differences, and 3) pressure (mainly due to the lost gasses.) The effect of temperature on HCs would be presented with experimental results for bulk fluids. Whereas, the eff...

Research paper thumbnail of Relative Permeability and Production-Performance Estimations for Bakken, Wolfcamp, Eagle Ford, and Woodford Shale Formations

SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering, 2018

Summary Relative permeability and residual water/gas saturations of organic-rich samples were det... more Summary Relative permeability and residual water/gas saturations of organic-rich samples were determined from low-pressure nitrogen-adsorption/desorption measurements on shale samples. Adsorption/desorption isotherm measurements were performed on 100 organic-rich shale samples from the Bakken, Wolfcamp, Eagle Ford, and Woodford Formations, and were then interpreted to obtain pore-size distribution (PSD) using a modified Barrett-Joyner-Halenda (BJH) method (Barrett et al. 1951). A bimodal-fractal model was then applied to the PSD estimates to compute percolation and fractal parameters, which were incorporated in percolation theory (PT), effective-medium theory (EMT), and critical-path analysis (CPA) models to generate the relative permeability curves and residual saturations of the 100 samples. Robustness of this relatively new estimation technique for shale-reservoir samples is evaluated in this study. Petrophysical correlations of relative permeability and residual saturations with...

Research paper thumbnail of Relative Permeability and Residual Saturation Estimates for <break/>Organic-Rich Shale Samples From Bakken, Wolfcamp, Eagle Ford and Woodford Formations

SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, 2017

Relative permeability and residual saturations of organic-rich samples were determined from low-p... more Relative permeability and residual saturations of organic-rich samples were determined from low-pressure nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements on the samples. Robustness of this relatively new estimation technique for shale-reservoir samples is evaluated in this study. Petrophysical correlations of relative permeability and residual saturations with kerogen maturity, kerogen content, kerogen removal, and sample cleaning are developed for purposes of improved understanding of the saturation-dependent transport behavior of shale reservoirs. These correlations enable comparative predictions of intra-well and inter-well production performances. Adsorption-desorption isotherm measurements were performed on 100 organic-rich shale samples from Bakken, Wolfcamp, Eagle Ford and Woodford formations. Total organic content varied in the range of 1 to 9 wt.% and the porosity varied in the range of 1 to 10 %. The adsorption-desorption measurements were interpreted to obtain pore size distri...