Effect of Water Salinity on Shale Reservoir Productivity

Samiha Morsy, J. J. Sheng

Abstract


It is well known that rocks containing water-reactive clays may swell when contacting with fresh water. In a conventional formation, this swelling may cause wellbore stability problem or damage formation by reducing its permeability. However, the effect of water salinity on shale rocks may be different. This issue is investigated in this paper.

Shale rocks were immersed in water of different salinities. Shale rocks used were Mancos, Marcellus, Barnett and Eagle Ford. Different concentrations of NaCl and KCl salt solutions from 0% to 30% by weight were added in the water. It was observed that Mancos core plugs were crushed into loose grains (fragmented) at low salinity solutions up to 15%. Barnett core plugs showed consecutive cracks along bedding planes at low salinities. Minor cracks were seen on Marcellus, while no cracks at all were found in Eagle Ford core plugs at low salinities. When the shale plugs were saturated with oil, 2-15% oil was recovered by water spontaneous imbibition, depending on water salinity and rock mineralogy. Similar observations were made when shale core plugs were applied to an overburden pressure.

The results from this paper help us to understand the drive mechanisms in shale oil and shale gas reservoirs. It also stimulates us to explore new ways to improve oil and gas recovery in shale reservoirs.

Key words: Water salinity; Shale reservoir; Oil and gas recovery


Keywords


Water salinity; Shale reservoir; Oil and gas recovery

Full Text:

PDF

References


[1] Bleam, W. F. (1993). Atomic theories of phyllosilicates: Quantum chemistry, statistical mechanics, electrostatic theory, and crystal chemistry. Reviews of Geophysics, 31(1), 51-73.

[2] Delville, A. J. (1995). Monte Carlo simulations of surface hydration: An application to clay wetting. Journal of Physical Chemistry, 99(7), 2033-2037.

[3] Chang, F. R. C., Skipper, N. T., & Sposito, G. (1995). Computer simulation of interlayer molecular structure in sodium montmorillonite hydrates. Langmuir, 11(7), 2734-2741.

[4] Boek, E. S., Coveney, P. V., & Skipper, N. T. (1995). Monte Carlo molecular modeling studies of hydrated Li-, Na-, and K-smectites: Understanding the role of potassium as a clay swelling inhibitor. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 117(50), 12608-12617.

[5] Skipper, N. T., Chang, F.-R. C., & Sposito, G. (1995). Monte-Carlo simulation of interlayer molecular-structure in swelling clay-minerals .1. methodology. Clays Clay Miner, 43(3), 285-293.

[6] Karaborni, S., Smit, B., Heidug, W., Urai, J., & Oort, V. (1996). The Swelling of Clays: Molecular simulations of the hydration of montmorillonitee. Science, 271(23), 1102-1104.

[7] Chang, F.-R. C., Skipper, N. T., Refson, K., Greathouse, J. A., & Sposito, G. (1999). In Sparks, D. L., Grundl, T. J. (Eds.), In mineral-water interfacial reactions: Kinetics and mechanism (pp. 88-106). Washington, DC: American Chemical Society.

[8] Young, D. A., & Smith, D. E. (2000). Simulations of clay mineral swelling and hydration: dependence upon interlayer ion size and charge. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 104(39), 9163-9170.

[9] Cha´vez-Pa´ez, M., Van Workum, K., De Pablo, L., De Pablo, J. J. (2001). Monte Carlo simulations of Wyoming sodium montmorillonite hydrates. Chemical Physics, 114(3), 1405-1413.

[10] Hensen, E. J. M., Tambach, T. J., Bliek, A., & Smit, B. (2001). Adsorptionisotherms of water in Li-, Na-, and K-montmorillonite by molecular simulation. Chemical Physics, 115(7), 3322-3329.

[11] Foster, M. D. (1954). The relation between composition and swelling in clays. Clays and clay minerals, 3(1), 205-220.

[12] Plummer, C. C., Mc Geary, D., & Carlson, D. H. (1999). Physical Geology. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Companies.

[13] Hendricks, S. B. (1945). Base exchange of crystalline silicates. Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 37(1), 625-630.

[14] Mungan, N. (1965). Permeability reduction through changes in pH and salinity. Journal of Petroleum Technology, 17(2), 1449-1453.

[15] Lever, A., & Dawe, R. A. (1984). Water-sensitivity and migeration of fines in the Hopeman sandstone. Journal of Petroleum Geology, 7(1), 97-107.

[16] Gray, D. H., & Rex, R. W. (1966). Formation damage in sandstones caused by clay dispersion and migration. Clays and Clay Minerals, 14(1), 355-366.

[17] Jones, F. O. (1964). Influence of chemical composition of water on clay blocking of permeability. Journal of Petroleum Technology, 16(4), 441-446.

[18] Khilar, K. C., Fogler, H. S., & Ahluwalia, J. S. (1983). Sandstone water sensitivity: existence of a critical rate of salinity decrease for particle capture. Chemical engineering science, 38(5), 789-800.

[19] Kia, S. F., Fogler, H. S., Reed, M. G., & Vaidya, R. N. (1987). Effect of salt composition on clay release in Berea sandstones. SPE production engineering, 2(04), 277-283.

[20] Vaidya, R. N. (1991). Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Michigan, MI.

[21] Mohan, K. K., Vaidyab, R. N., Reed, M. G., & Fogler, H. S. (1993). Colloids and Surfaces A. Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 73(1), 231-254.

[22] Bennion, D. B., Thomas, F. B., Bietz, R. F., & Bennion, D. W. (1999). Remediation of water and hydrocarbon phase trapping problems in low permeability gas reservoirs. Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology, 38(8), 39-48.

[23] Van Oort, E. (1994, August). A novel technique for the investigation of drilling fluid induced borehole instability in shales. Paper SPE/ ISRM 28064 presented at the SPE/ISRM Conference on Rock Mechanics in Petroleum Engineering, Delft.

[24] Van Oort, E., Ripley, D., Ward, I., Chapman, J. W., Williamson, R., & Aston, M. (1999, March). Silicate-based drilling fluids: Competent, cost-effective and benign solutions to wellbore stability problems. SPE/IADC Drilling Conference, New Orleans (LA).

[25] Van Oort, E. (2003). On the physical and chemical stability of shales. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 38(3), 213–235.

[26] Van Oort, E., Hale, A. H., & Mody, F. K. (1996). Transport in shales and the design of improved water-based shale drilling fluids. SPE Drilling and Completion, 11(3), 137-146.

[27] Nolen-Hoeksema, R. (2013). Elements of hydraulic fracturing. Oilfield Review, 25(2), 51-52.

[28] Alexander, T., Baihly, J., Boyer, C., Clark, B., Waters, G., Jochen, V., et al. (2011). Shale Gas Revolution. Oilfield Review, 23(3), 40-57.

[29] Morsy, S., Sheng, J. J., & Ezewu, R. O. (2013, August). Potential of Waterflooding in Shale Formations. Paper presented in SPE Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition.

[30] Wang, D., Butler, R., Liu, H., & Ahmed, S. (2010, January). Flow Rate Behavior in Shale Rock. Paper presented in SPE Eastern Regional Meeting.

[31] Dehghanpour, H., Lan, Q., Saeed, Y., Fei, H., & Qi, Z. (2013). Spontaneous imbibition of brine and oil in gas shales: Effect of water adsorption and resulting microfractures. Energy & Fuels, 27(6), 3039-3049.

[32] Abousleiman, Y. N., Hoang, S. K., & Tran, M. H. (2010). Mechanical characterization of small shale samples subjected to fluid exposure using the inclined direct shear testing device. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, 47(3), 355-367.

[33] Hu, Y., Devegowda, D., Striolo, A., Ho, T. A., Phan, A., Civan, F., & Sigal, R. F. (2013, April). A pore scale study describing the dynamics of slickwater distribution in shale gas formations following hydraulic fracturing. Paper presented in SPE Unconventional Resources Conference-USA.

[34] Borstmayer, R., Stegent, N., Wagner, A., & Mullen, J. (2011). Approach Optimizes Completion Design. The American Oil & Gas Reporter, 8.

[35] Fan, L., Martin, R., & Thompson, J. (2011). An integrated approach for understanding oil and gas reserves potential in eagle ford shale formation. Paper presented in SPE Canadian Unconventional Resources Conference, Canada.

[36] Torsaeter, M., Vullum, P. E., & Nes, O. M. (2012, January). Nanostructure vs. Macroscopic properties of mancos shale. Paper presented in SPE Canadian Unconventional Resources Conference.

[37] Bruner, K. R., & Smosna, R. (2011). A comparative study of the Mississippian Barnett shale, Fort Worth basin, and Devonian Marcellus shale, Appalachian basin (DOE/NETL-2011/1478). USA: Department of Energy, US Federal Government.

[38] Sarker, R., & Batzle, M. (2010, January). Anisotropic elastic moduli of the Mancos B shale-An experimental study. Paper presented in 2010 SEG Annual Meeting.

[39] Rickman, R., Mullen, M., Petre, E., Grieser, B., & Kundert, D. (2009). Petrophysics key in stimulating shales. American Oil and Gas Reporter, 3, 121-127.

[40] Haszeldine, R. S., Quinn, O., England, G., Wilkinson, M., Shipton, Z. K., Evans, J. P., & Graham, C. M. (2005). Natural geochemical analogues for carbon dioxide storage in deep geological porous reservoirs, a United Kingdom perspective. Oil & Gas Science and Technology, 60(1), 33-49.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/5604

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c)



Share us to:   

Reminder

  • How to do online submission to another Journal?
  • If you have already registered in Journal A, then how can you submit another article to Journal B? It takes two steps to make it happen:

1. Register yourself in Journal B as an Author

  • Find the journal you want to submit to in CATEGORIES, click on “VIEW JOURNAL”, “Online Submissions”, “GO TO LOGIN” and “Edit My Profile”. Check “Author” on the “Edit Profile” page, then “Save”.

2. Submission

  • Go to “User Home”, and click on “Author” under the name of Journal B. You may start a New Submission by clicking on “CLICK HERE”.

We only use three mailboxes as follows to deal with issues about paper acceptance, payment and submission of electronic versions of our journals to databases:
caooc@hotmail.com; aped@cscanada.net; aped@cscanada.org

 Articles published in Advances in Petroleum Exploration and Development are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC-BY). 

ADVANCES IN PETROLEUM EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT Editorial Office

Address:1055 Rue Lucien-L'Allier, Unit #772, Montreal, QC H3G 3C4, Canada.

Telephone: 1-514-558 6138
Website: Http://www.cscanada.net
Http://www.cscanada.org
E-mail:office@cscanada.net;  office@cscanada.org

Copyright © 2010 Canadian Research & Development Centre of Sciences and Cultures