Development of a Modified Material Balance Equation for Fractured Shale Gas Reservoir considering Water Influx

Abstract

Material Balance Equation for fractured shale gas reservoir can be a widespread model if the factor of water influx is considered. However, industries are also concentrating on the development and optimization of the methods which focus the abnormal behavior of the reservoir. Because of the low permeability, artificial or natural fractures are needed to produce gas from shale gas reservoir. This study presents a modified Material Balance Equation (MBE) which considers the flow conditions, the water influx and the hydrocarbon storage of fractures. Flow conditions are introduced through a velocity term by using Darcy’s law and Erguns’s model. The inclusion of velocity term expresses the dynamic behavior of the reservoir which allows estimating the reserve during production. To get a proper guideline regarding recovery technique, both fracture and matrix storage should be considered and therefore, these both storages are considered during the development of the model. Later, water influx term is included in the derived model of Dumore by which hydrocarbon gets more driving force to flow through the producing well. The inclusion of these crucial factors into conventional MBE maximize the final recovery which is noticed from a comparative study.