Improved Drilling and Fracturing Fluids for Shale Gas Reservoirs

Project funded by Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America(RPSEA)

Executive Summary

The development of shale gas plays is largely dependent on the cost of drilling and fracturing horizontal wells. Rapid decline rates require that new wells be drilled just to maintain production. A reduction in the cost and environmental footprint of drilling and fracturing will lead to a significant expansion of shale gas development. This proposal aims at developing materials and methods for substantially reducing drilling and completion costs and maximizing gas well productivities in shale gas reservoirs. We propose to accomplish this by developing nanoparticle based water-based drilling fluids that are compatible with reactive gas shales and cost a lot less than the oil-based fluids being used today.

Gas shales often have a high clay content that can cause wellbore stability problems that necessitate the use of oil-based fluids for drilling. This significantly increases drilling costs and the environmental footprint. Recent work conducted in the PI's lab shows that the addition of nanoparticles (in the size range of the pore throats of the shale) to the drilling fluid results in a dramatic reduction in the reactivity of the shale with the drilling fluid. The use of such fluids provides a significant cost savings when drilling water-sensitive shales with water-based fluids without the danger of wellbore collapse.

In summary, this proposal aims at developing novel drilling fluids that will provide an operator the following key deliverables:

• Novel, water-based drilling fluids for water sensitive shales that will significantly reduce the cost of drilling horizontal wells in shale gas reservoirs.

• Data and recommendations on the use of these novel drilling fluids in gas shales.

Participants involved in the project: