Identifying, Quantifying and Completing Shale Gas Plays:Data Integration for Reservoir Optimization

George Waters, Schlumberger

With the dramatic success of the Barnett Shale in the Ft. Worth Basin the industry is furiously working to discover the “Next Barnett.”  While indeed the Barnett is successful, many of its characteristics are somewhat unique making “look alikes” difficult to find. 

From geochemistry, to petrophysics, to completion evaluation, there is a wealth of data that is needed to determine whether a new shale gas play has the potential to be the “Next Barnett.”  But, if the information from these various sources is not utilized in an integrated evaluation process the value of it will not be maximized.  This presentation will review the characteristics that make the Barnett shale what it is and demonstrate the process by which shale gas reservoirs can be evaluated and exploited to maximize gas recovery and value to an operator.