Production

Marcellus Wells: Ultimate Production Accurately Predicted From Initial Production

In this work, the authors perform automatic decline analysis on Marcellus Shale gas wells and predict ultimate recovery for each well.

Gas well location in the Marcellus Shale
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In this work, the authors perform automatic decline analysis on Marcellus Shale gas wells and predict ultimate recovery for each well. A minimal model is used that captures the basic physics and geometry of the extraction process. A key discovery is that wells can have their estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) predicted early in life with surprising accuracy.

Introduction

There are many challenges to production in the Marcellus, ranging from the regulatory and price environment to the highly variable responses of rock to hydro­fracture treatment. The complete paper’s primary goal is to generate scenarios for future gas production from the Marcellus by use of varying gas prices and other assumptions.

The first step in this process is determining technically recoverable reserves, which requires deciding how much each well will produce over its lifetime.

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