Case study of using basin analysis to evaluate UGR in frontier basins
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As gas production from conventional gas reservoirs in the United States decreases, the industry is turning more attention to the exploration and development of UGRs (unconventional gas resources). This trend is expanding quickly worldwide. However, unlike in many mature North American basins where significant development of UGRs is now routine, many countries are just turning to the UGRs. Therefore, insightful resource assessment is important for tapping UGRs in the frontier basins. To evaluate the UGRs in frontier basins that are under-explored with limited knowledge, basin analysis has been proposed to address the evaluation from four perspectives: 1) basin characterization; 2) basin analog between frontier basins and mature North American basins; 3) investigation of both conventional and unconventional resources in these mature North American basins; 4) study of methods to quantitatively predict UGRs in frontier basins by using information from analogous North American basins. The comprehensive study of basin analysis does not only validate the resource triangle featured by the large ratio of unconventional TRRs (technically recoverable resources) to conventional TRRs, but also makes it possible to quantitatively assess unconventional resources in under-explored basins worldwide. To exemplify the basin analysis in evaluating the UGRs of frontier basins, two world hotspots for UGRs exploration are selected as the target basins: Neuqun basin in South America and Berkine basin in North Africa. Recent assessment reports and exploration activities have indicated that the two basins have substantial potential of unconventional gas resources. As case study, the basin analysis is used to identify the analogous North American reference basins for the Neuqun basin and Berkine basin, and characterize their distributions of UGRs. Furthermore, the quantitatively- estimated unconventional TRRs are compared with those from EIA (Energy Information Administration) and companies to support the effectiveness of basin analysis results. Copyright 2011, Society of Petroleum Engineers.
