Abstrct
The explosive growth of shale gas production in the US has sparked a global race to determine which other regions from around the world have the potential to replicate this success. One of the main areas offocus is the Asia Pacific region, specifically Pakistan.
In this paper, real results from seven different US shale basins-Marcellus, Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Barnett, Woodford (West-Central Oklahoma), Fayetteville and Bakken- have been used to develop a comprehensive sequence of shale exploitation strategy for emerging shale plays. The study involves integration of shale gas exploitation knowledge reinforced by a decade of experience across most of the North American shale gas basins, with published data. Different reservoir properties have been compared to develop a comprehensive logic of the effective techniques to produce from shale-gas reservoirs. We have validated the sequence with real results from US shale production ventures, published case histories, and by global experts who have been directly involved in shale reserves evaluation and production.
Subsequently, several different reservoir attributes of Pakistan shale plays have been compared with US basins, in an attempt to identify analogues.
It is the intent of this paper to diminish the difficult and often expensive learning cycle time associated with a commercially successful shale project, as well as to attempt to illustrate the most influential factors that determine optimum production. A very few papers in the petroleum literature that provide an extensive and systematic approach towards shale exploitation strategy for given shale-reservoir conditions
