Nanostructural control of methane release in kerogen and its implications to wellbore production decline

Ho, Tuan Anh; Criscenti, Louise J.; Wang, Yifeng

doi:10.1038/srep28053

Title: Nanostructural control of methane release in kerogen and its implications to wellbore production decline

Journal Article · Thu Jun 16 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Scientific Reports

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/srep28053· OSTI ID:1257808

Ho, Tuan Anh ^[1]; Criscenti, Louise J. ^[1]; Wang, Yifeng ^[1]

Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

In spite of the massive success of shale gas production in the US in the last few decades there are still major concerns with the steep decline in wellbore production and the large uncertainty in a long-term projection of decline curves. A reliable projection must rely on a mechanistic understanding of methane release in shale matrix–a limiting step in shale gas extraction. Here we show that methane release in nanoporous kerogen matrix is characterized by fast release of pressurized free gas (accounting for ~30–47% recovery) followed by slow release of adsorbed gas as the gas pressure decreases, and we use molecular simulations to demonstrate it. The first stage is driven by the gas pressure gradient while the second stage is controlled by gas desorption and diffusion. We further show that diffusion of all methane in nanoporous kerogen behaves differently from the bulk phase, with much smaller diffusion coefficients. The MD simulations also indicate that a significant fraction (3–35%) of methane deposited in kerogen can potentially become trapped in isolated nanopores and thus not recoverable. Finally, our results shed a new light on mechanistic understanding gas release and production decline in unconventional reservoirs. The long-term production decline appears controlled by the second stage of gas release.

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Research Organization:: Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC04-94AL85000

OSTI ID:: 1257808

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1257813

Report Number(s):: SAND2016-1324J; SAND2016-3375J; 619327

Journal Information:: Scientific Reports, Vol. 6; ISSN 2045-2322

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 95 works

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