Unconventional Gas Water Management

One of the major challenges associated with the exploration and production of unconventional gas is how they manage significant volumes of flowback and produced water. Water management have a crucial role to play in successful developments of unconventional gas. The economic success of oil and gas development projects depends very much on our ability to successfully manage water.

This course discusses methods, equipment and tools used for testing, diagnosing, and minimizing water production from unconventional oil and gas wells. Reservoir engineering and surface facility aspects of water handling, treatment, re-injection and injection well fracturing are extensively discussed. New technologies which allow beneficial re-use of produced water/frac water are presented. The impact of the growth of thermal fractures and fractures driven by particle plugging on injector performance are discussed. Significant cost savings can be achieved in all aspects of water production, handling and disposal through better diagnostic tools, better water handling and better treatment, reuse and re-injection strategies. The course covers the fundamental theory, and the latest technological developments.

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, the delegates will be able to:

• Use new technologies which allow beneficial re-use of produced water/frac water
• Evaluate basic regulations governing use/re-use of fresh/produced water
• Manage the risks of unconventional gas E&P Activities
• Specify water quality requirements for a water injection/fracturing project
• Simulate the impact of water quality on injector/fracturing performance
• Make facilities decisions to ensure good long-term well injectivity/disposal
• Conduct diagnosis of water production problems
• Identify potential sources of water for injection/fracturing
• Dispose produced water on surface and under what conditions
• Select possible remediation methods for water shutoff in oil reservoirs
• Test injection wells to identify injection profiles
• Simulate the impact of solids and thermal effects on injection well performance

Who Should Attend?

This course is intended for reservoir, production, completion and surface facilities engineers responsible for providing reservoir engineering support, facilities planning and drilling and fracturing recommendations for oil and gas assets, engineers and other personnel involved in providing equipment and chemicals for diagnosing / reducing water production, improving injector performance and treating produced water.

Course Outline

Day 1

• Fundamentals of Unconventional Gas
• Causes of excess water production
• Data collection for problem identification
• Identifying the causes of excess water production

Day 2

• Managing the Risks of Unconventional Gas
• Water Management of Unconventional Gas Production
• Wellbore and near-wellbore water shutoff technologies
• Selection of water control treatment

Day 3

• Analysis and treatment of produced water
• Recycling of frac / produced water
• Scale, bacteria and corrosion problems

Day 4

• Water quality requirements for re-injection and surface disposal
• Fractured injection wells

Day 5

• Economic and environmental considerations
• The Role of Oil in Water Testing in Unconventional Gas Operations

Course Fees

This rate includes participant’s manual, Hand-Outs, buffet lunch, coffee/tea on arrival, morning & afternoon of each day.

Course Methodology

A variety of methodologies will be used during the course that includes:

• (30%) Based on Case Studies
• (30%) Techniques
• (30%) Role Play
• (10%) Concepts
• Pre-test and Post-test
• Variety of Learning Methods
• Lectures
• Case Studies and Self Questionaires
• Group Work
• Discussion
• Presentation

Course Timings

Daily Course Timings
08:00 - 08:20 Morning Coffee / Tea
08:20 - 10:00 First Session
10:00 - 10:20 Coffee / Tea / Snacks
10:20 - 12:20 Second Session
12:20 - 13:30 Lunch Break & Prayer Break
13:30 - 15:00 Last Session