Advanced fracture modeling in the Uinta Basin (Utah) for optimized primary and secondary recovery. Final report, September 1998
The completed study focused on an area fracture-controlled highly unpredictable, fracture-controlled production near the Duchesne Fault Zone, Uinta Basin, in northeastern Utah. Production is seriously influenced by numerous high-angle faults and associated fractures--represented at the surface by a set of parallel, N80{degree}W-trending lineaments, and intricate fracture patterns in outcrop. Specific production is erratic and secondary recovery design is difficult because well-specific structural characterization and local fracture patterns are poorly understood. Furthermore, numerical models to simulate fluid flow in fractured reservoirs were either overly simplistic (did not adequately account for mechanical contrasts between matrix and fractures) or were extremely complex, requiring volumes of data typically not available to the operator. The contractors proposed implementing advanced geological, geomechanical and reservoir engineering methods to recognize and model the complex fracture networks exhibited at the surface and suggested in the shallow subsurface in the Duchesne Fault Zone. The intended methodology was to be developed in a data-limited environment, recognizing that operators in the basin will not have the financial resources or motivation to perform sophisticated and expensive reservoir engineering programs. User-friendly models for permeability, stress, and production using key geological and geophysical data, developed in this study can then be used to determine: economic placement of future operations, assessment of recoverable hydrocarbons, and forecasting of primary and secondary recovery.
- Research Organization:
- TerraTek, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC22-94PC91008
- OSTI ID:
- 307849
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/PC/91008-21; ON: DE98000500; TRN: AHC29905%%26
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Dec 1998
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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