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Project Details

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Project Information Sheet 2000-04

Fractured reservoir exploration and production of natural gas in Rocky Mountain basins

Funding Source:	U.S. Department of Energy
Period of Contract:	1 Oct 1999 to 30 Sep 2000
Status:	active — Definition of status type
Project Director:	John Comer and Peter Ortoleva (IU Dept. of Geological Sciences)

Issue

Natural gas is a relatively clean-burning fuel that is an important part of the long-term strategy to provide power and reduce emissions from the burning of fossil fuels in the United States. It is estimated that roughly 350 trillion cubic feet of gas--more than 20 years worth of consumption at current rates--are in densely packed ("tight") U.S. reservoirs from which is it difficult to extract natural gas. Technologies must be developed to locate and extract these resources.

Objective

The study will demonstrate the utility of computer simulations for predicting the location and characteristics of naturally fractured gas reservoirs in the Piceance Basin of Colorado.

Approach

The project will model the evolution of fractures in Upper Cretaceous strata of the Piceance Basin using the unique simulator CIRF.B developed at Indiana University in the Laboratory of Computational Geodynamics. Simulations will be parameterized for all the relevant reaction, transport, and mechanical processes that operate during the evolution of a sedimentary basin. Three-dimensional predictions at both the field and basin scale and will be evaluated using existing production, engineering, and geological data. Comprehensive data from the U.S. Department of Energy multiwell experiment site will be used to calibrate the simulator.

Products

Products will include a detailed evaluation of the simulation results and the final predicted locations and characteristics of naturally fractured strata that are potential natural gas reservoirs.

Benefits

The application of the simulator CIRF.B promises to provide new insights about the evolution and distribution of naturally fractured gas reservoirs in sedimentary basins. The project will demonstrate a new technology that should improve our ability to produce the natural gas in densely packed ("tight") reservoirs.

Locations Affected:

Outside Indiana

Information Updated January 30, 2007

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