October Monthly Luncheon

The bulk permeability of shale reservoirs has contributions from matrix, open natural fractures (if present), un-propped hydraulic fractures, and propped hydraulic fractures to varying degrees. Through the joint industry projects conducted by Core Laboratories, the permeability and/or conductivity for these have been measured. These data have all demonstrated a decline to varying degrees with increasing overburden pressure, which can be a proxy for drawdown and pore pressure depletion and has significant implications on well performance. The presentation will review case history comparisons of open-choke and restricted-rate wells and its effect on EUR and whether the initial permeability loss due to high drawdown is reversible and what would happen if an open-choke well is later rate-restricted.