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Berkeley Lab Experts Helping Test Novel Monitoring Solutions for Unconventional Oil Recovery with Reduced Environmental Footprint3 min read

by Christina Procopiou on January 25, 2018

Energy Resources Program Area Energy Resources Program Domain GC-Sustainable Earth Research Highlight Sustainable Energy Systems Program

Scientists from the Energy Geosciences Division at Berkeley Lab are part of a research team led by Texas A&M University that is working to develop a new field laboratory in the hydrocarbon-producing geological formation known as Eagle Ford Shale. The team, which has been awarded an $8 million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) for research and development of unconventional oil and natural gas recovery, will test next-generation monitoring solutions for hydraulic fracturing and enhanced oil recovery.

The researchers will be creating the Eagle Ford Shale Laboratory in Central Texas, working with operator WildHorse Resource Development Corporation, which will provide three wells for testing (one existing well for re-fracturing and two new stimulation wells). WildHorse will invest about $15 million to drill and complete these research wells.

Principal investigator Dan Hill, Noble Chair holder and professor in the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University, is leading the effort to develop methods that improve the effectiveness of shale oil production. According to the DOE, the hydraulic fracturing methods used a few years ago have left large portions of the reservoirs in contact with wells unstimulated, and in many thick shale reservoirs, there are also large untouched reserves lying above or below the stimulated region.

“By focusing on increased recovery from previously fractured wells that were left behind because of low production, this project will allow oil production at a much lower environmental footprint,” says Jens Birkholzer, director of the Energy Geosciences Division at Berkeley Lab.

As director of the Energy Geosciences Division at Berkeley Lab, Jens Birkholzer will be working with co-principal investigators Mark Zoback of Stanford University and Matt Averill of WildHorse Resource Development Corporation.

Birkholzer believes the project has great potential for the future of enhanced oil recovery. “By focusing on increased recovery from previously fractured wells that were left behind because of low production, this project will allow oil production at a much lower environmental footprint,” he says.

This project marks the first time that researchers investigating unconventional reservoirs will conduct active seismic monitoring using fiber optics in observation wells that will provide real-time monitoring of fracture propagation and stimulated volume for both new stimulation and re-fracturing of legacy wells.

The team’s research has the potential to enable operators of thousands of existing fractured horizontal wells to better select re-fracturing candidates and design re-fracture treatments that could increase oil production from previously accessed reservoirs. Once the two new wells are stimulated, researchers plan to apply advanced monitoring technologies designed to enable the optimization of geosteering and hydraulic fracture technologies. A gas injection enhanced oil recovery pilot test in the re-fractured well will be the final phase of the project.

This project marks the first time that researchers investigating unconventional reservoirs will conduct active seismic monitoring using fiber optics in observation wells that will provide real-time monitoring of fracture propagation and stimulated volume for both new stimulation and re-fracturing of legacy wells. The team will also be able to conduct time-lapse seismic monitoring of reservoir changes during initial production and enhanced oil recovery from a re-fractured well.

 

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EESA Scientists Investigate How Tropical Soil Microbes Might Respond to Future Droughts2 min read

March 14, 2023

As the most biologically diverse terrestrial ecosystems on Earth, tropical rainforests are just as critical to sustaining environmental and human systems as they are beautiful. Their unique climate with high temperatures, humidity, and precipitation promotes high primary productivity, which offsets high respiration, resulting in these ecosystems being one of the largest carbon sinks on Earth,…

Doubling Protected Lands for Biodiversity Could Require Tradeoffs With Other Land Uses, Study Finds4 min read

March 3, 2023

This article first appeared on lbl.gov. Scientists show how 30% protected land targets may not safeguard biodiversity hotspots and may negatively affect other sectors – and how data and analysis can support effective conservation and land use planning Although more than half the world’s countries have committed to protecting at least 30% of land and oceans…

Six Berkeley Lab Scientists Named AAAS Fellows6 min read

This article first appeared at lbl.gov Six researchers have been elected into the 2022 class of the American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has announced their 2022 Fellows, including six scientists from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). This lifetime honor, which follows…

Kenichi Soga named to National Academy of Engineers1 min read

February 23, 2023

Faculty scientist Kenichi Soga was named to the National Academy of Engineering (NA), one of the highest honors that can be achieved as an American engineer. Soga is the Donald H. McLaughlin Chair in Mineral Engineering and a Chancellor’s Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and has conducted groundbreaking research from infrastructure sensing to…

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