Unconventional Techniques in Conventional, Low Productivity Oil Plays Could Breathe New Life into Old Fields, Unlocking 141 B...
May 13 2015 - 7:05PM
Business Wire
More than 170 plays identified, and three examples from
France, Tunisia and China illustrate techniques operators are
already trying to revive old plays
As much as 141 billion barrels of potential incremental
hydrocarbon resources could be unlocked if drilling and completion
techniques refined in U.S. shale plays are applied to conventional,
low-productivity oil plays outside of North America, according to
new analysis from IHS (NYSE: IHS), the leading global source of
critical information and insight.
Curious as to what the potential might be if newer techniques
were applied to old plays, IHS Energy researchers conducted a
high-level assessment that identified more than 170 mature oil
plays worldwide with untapped oil potential that might benefit from
horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing.
“While our analysis was an initial, high-level assessment of low
productivity plays outside the U.S., we were quite surprised at the
impressive potential for increased recovery using these
unconventional techniques,” said Susan Farrell, vice president of
upstream energy research at IHS, and one of the authors of the IHS
analysis. “As many of the world’s oil and gas producers struggle to
lower costs and optimize existing assets, we wondered what kind of
impact the application of newer technological innovations could
deliver to the industry in terms of expanding conventional resource
potential outside North America.”
The rock properties in these mature plays are less than
desirable for production using conventional techniques, and as a
result, many of them have produced only a small portion of the
total oil in place. Of the estimated 141 billion barrels of
potentially recoverable oil using unconventional techniques, the
IHS assessment determined that 135 billion of those barrels exist
in plays that would likely require hydraulic fracture stimulation
to produce, while approximately 6 billion barrels sit in plays that
may not require hydraulic fracturing.
“Drilling horizontal wells allows access to thinner zones, where
vertical wells are not commercially productive,” said Leta K.
Smith, Ph.D., director of upstream energy research at IHS Energy,
and the principal analyst behind the IHS analysis. “Also,
horizontal wells allow engineers to connect compartmentalized
portions of the reservoir with one well instead of many vertical
wells, which addresses cost and footprint considerations as well as
increasing the well-to-reservoir contact ratio.”
In addition, the study said, modern seismic and
measurement-while-drilling (MWD) technologies would allow operators
to achieve better placement of fractures to take advantage of
natural fracturing and other geologic features for maximizing
production and avoiding water zones. “Combined with other
technologies developed for shale development, such as pad drilling,
these improvements could breathe new life into some of these older,
conventional fields,” Smith said.
Three recent examples were cited in the IHS analysis that showed
operators already leveraging some of these newer techniques to
address different geologic and production challenges. They included
the Saint Martin de Bossenay field in the Paris (France) basin; the
Tahe Complex in China’s Tarim basin, and the Bir Ben Tartar field
in Tunisia.
The Saint Martin de Bossenay field was first discovered in 1959.
By 1996, the field’s wells produced mostly water and it was
abandoned. Recently, the field was redeveloped using modern
technology, including seismic specifically targeting non-produced
portions of the field. Hydraulic fracturing was not used, since it
is not permitted in France. Following redevelopment, the field’s
recovery factor improved from 40 percent to 44 percent--adding 1
million barrels to the 2P (proven plus probable reserves).
According to the IHS analysis, the numbers of low-productivity
conventional fields that could benefit from new technologies are
relatively evenly distributed across the various regions of the
world, but two-thirds of the estimated potential incremental oil
volumes are in the Middle East and Latin American countries. The
top four countries outside of North America for potential
incremental oil recovery in low-productivity conventional plays
include Iran, Russia, Mexico and China.
While many of the top-15 countries identified as potential for
increased production are access-limited for international oil
companies, Mexico, in third-place, holds substantial incremental
oil. With the upcoming opening of the country’s upstream sector,
Smith said, Mexico may see new investment in these types of
resources. “For operators with experience in these drilling and
completion techniques,” she said, “Mexico may be an attractive
option for future investment, along with some of the 14 countries
identified outside the Middle East, including Brazil, the U.K.,
Norway, Congo and Indonesia.”
IHS Energy will be presenting at the 77th EAGE Conference and
Exhibition 2015 in Madrid, June 1-4, booth number 331. To speak
with Susan Farrell or Leta Smith regarding the IHS Energy Analysis
of The Use of Unconventional Drilling and Completion Techniques in
Conventional, Low-Quality Oil Fields Outside of North America,
please contact Melissa Manning at melissa.manning@ihs.com. For more
information on the IHS Energy analysis or the IHS Energy Upstream
Industry Future service, please contact javan.meinwald@ihs.com.
About IHS
(www.ihs.com)
IHS (NYSE: IHS) is the leading source of information, insight
and analytics in critical areas that shape today’s business
landscape. Businesses and governments in more than 165 countries
around the globe rely on the comprehensive content, expert
independent analysis and flexible delivery methods of IHS to make
high-impact decisions and develop strategies with speed and
confidence. IHS has been in business since 1959 and became a
publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange in 2005.
Headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, USA, IHS is committed to
sustainable, profitable growth and employs more than 8,800 people
in 32 countries around the world.
IHS is a registered trademark of IHS Inc. All other company and
product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. © 2015
IHS Inc. All rights reserved.
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