Course Description

This two day course, designed for Engineers and Geoscientists, provides a comprehensive integrated treatment on the description, characterization and valuation of tight gas, shale and coal bed (seam) methane plays. Beginning with practical definitions and geo-formational processes, R&A describes the geologic ingredients and how to measure them for use in screening for successful resource plays. This is followed by the techniques to probabilistically estimate the in-place and recoverable resource potential. The geologic ingredients are then revisited in spatial form to address the geologic concerns that form the risk system to grade the plays. The second part of the course focuses on the reserve booking and economic evaluation of resource plays. R&A reviews the development of production and reserve type curves, and how the geologic segmentation and completion technology utilized for the play can be adapted to build the appropriate type curve. The economic assessment of these plays is developed through a staged investment approach.

Day one deals largely with the geologic attributes of the three main types of resource plays, and concerns that may hinder their potential to be commercially successful. Each play type has at least one exercise or case history to address the geologic potential and associated concerns. Day two is focused on the reservoir engineering and economic assessment of resource plays. The review begins with the development of an understanding of the flow regimes within these reservoirs. For example, Fick’s law is reviewed to develop an understanding of the role that diffusion plays in coals and shale gas production. The day ends with a methodology to high grade various Resource plays based on statistical assessment methods.

Participants will leave knowing how to determine the uncertainty in the mean outcome based on limited well information and how to develop confidence in achieving a target versus well count. The impact of reserve bookings using probabilistic methods for 1P and 2P reserves and the significant impact of aggregation at the project level is detailed. This is followed by guidance for the economic assessment of resource plays. Finally, these techniques are integrated into probabilistic play assessment processes and valuation techniques to best achieve your strategies. R&A staged approach to resource play assessment focuses the evaluation team on the key decision variables at each stage and helps assure that that off-ramp decision (exiting the opportunity) are clearly determined and communicated.

Course Outline

Part I: Introduction
1. What are Unconventional accumulations?
a. Types: Tight gas, CBM, Shale gas,
b. Characteristics and Locations of major areas of interest in NA
2. Consequences of differences in unconventional plays
3. Primer/refresher on Statistics, the language of Uncertainty & estimating under Uncertainty, and probability analysis

Part II: Tight Gas characteristics and Assessment
1. Historical perspective and Paradigm shift of understanding
2. Requirements for a Tight Gas accumulation
3. Volumetric and Chance Assessment

Part III: CBM characteristics and Assessment
1. Definition of Coal, formation and description
2. Langmuir equation: elements of uncertainty
3. Volumetric Uncertainties
4. Chance Assessment

Part IV: Shale Gas characteristics and Assessment
1. Mechanisms of Formation and Exploitation history
2. Volumetric uncertainties
3. Chance Assessment

Part V: Reservoir Flow in Coals and Shales
1. Multiple Flow regimes
a. Desorption, Fick’s Law of diffusion, Darcy flow
2. Impact of permeability

Part VI: SEC/PRMS considerations
1. Reporting categories and Conceptual applications
2. Booking PUDs in resource plays, a statistical approach
3. Impact on Proved and Proved plus Probable bookings, deterministic versus probabilistic

Part VII: Valuation Techniques
1. Staged Assessment Approach
2. Decision Tree Assessment principles
3. Developing Type Curves with production history
4. Developing Type Curves from limited Data – the Rate Envelope
5. Assessing the confidence in meeting a target and the range in the mean outcome versus well count
6. Assessing the probabilities of pilot and commercial success
7. Portfolio management in resource plays

Part VIII: Technology Overview
1. Micro-seismic
2. Brief overview of other technologies utilized

Part IX: Play Assessment
1. Steps in the Assessment of a Resource play
2. Selection process to high-grade opportunities to pursue

Course Documentation

RA UCR 2-Day Course 071910.pdf (50.9k)