Publications Details

Geotechnology for tight gas reservoirs

Northrop, D.A.

This annual report summarizes progress which has been made in Fiscal Year 1989 on this program of geotechnology for tight gas reservoirs. Most of the studies are an outgrowth of the results and experience from the Multiwell Experiment -- an unprecedented investigation of western gas reservoirs typical of the Mesaverde Formation. Results are presented in the following study areas: (1) tectonism, subsidence and fracturing of these reservoirs, (2) mechanism for the formation of regional fractures in flat-lying basins, (3) the case against natural hydraulic fracturing, (4) characterization and implications of dickite-mineralized fractures, (5) significance of coring-induced fractures, (6) determination of an effective stress law for permeability in tight sandstones, and (7) stress azimuths for two well sites in the Piceance Basin. In addition, technology transfer aspects and impact of the Multiwell Experiment are summarized. 27 refs., 28 figs., 1 tab.