Table of Contents
What is shale gas development?
Shale gas or unconventional gas is extracted from the impermeable shale through a process called hydraulic fracturing (also known as hydrofracking or fracking). A crude form of this technique, involving nitroglycerine, was used for the first time around the 1860s to explore for oil and gas.
What is the shale formation?
Shale formations are a worldwide occurrence (see Chapter 2). Shale is a geological rock formation rich in clay, typically derived from fine sediments, deposited in fairly quiet environments at the bottom of seas or lakes, having then been buried over the course of millions of years.
What is gas development?
Oil and gas development means exploration for, and drilling, production, and processing of, oil, gas, or other gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons, and flowlines and the treatment of waste associated with such exploration, drilling, production and processing.
Where is shale gas produced?
Shale gas is a form of natural gas (mostly methane), found underground in shale rock. It is classified as ‘unconventional’ because it is found in shale , a less permeable rock formation than sandstone, siltstone or limestone in which ‘conventional’ gas is found, and it is generally distributed over a much larger area.
What is shale gas and why is it important?
Shale gas is natural gas that is found trapped within shale formations. Shale gas has become an increasingly important source of natural gas in the United States since the start of this century, and interest has spread to potential gas shales in the rest of the world.
What is development cost in oil and gas?
Development costs are those incurred to provide. access to proven reserves, provide facilities and. facilities for extraction, treatment, accumulation and. storage of oil and gas.
What is finding and development costs?
The definition of Finding and Development Cost (F&DC) is the sum total of Development and Exploration expenditures over the years, divided by additions of proven reserves over the same period.
What is UTC oil and gas?
The unit technical cost (UTC) is the profitability indicator used in the oil and gas industry to determine the cost of producing a barrel of oil.
Why is shale gas important?
Shale gas is having a beneficial impact on supplies and consumer prices for natural gas, as well as additional environmental benefits: Natural gas provides a quarter of overall U.S. energy; It is used to generate a quarter of the nation’s electricity.
What are lifting costs oil and gas?
Lifting costs (also called production costs) are the costs to operate and maintain wells and related equipment and facilities per barrel of oil equivalent (boe) of oil and gas produced by those facilities after the hydrocarbons have been found, acquired, and developed for production.
How do you calculate unit development cost?
Unit cost is determined by combining the variable costs and fixed costs and dividing by the total number of units produced. For example, assume total fixed costs are $40,000, variable costs are $20,000, and you produced 30,000 units.
How do you calculate oil price per barrel?
FINDING COST PER BOE The figure is determined by dividing the costs incurred during a specified period by the volume (barrels or Mcfs) of reserves added during the same period. For example, if the incurred costs were $100,000 and the reserves added were 20,000 bbl, the finding cost would be $5/bbl.
How much does it cost to produce a barrel of shale oil?
The production cost of a barrel of shale oil ranges from as high as US$95 per barrel to as low US$25 per barrel, although there is no recent confirmation of the latter figure.
What is UTC in oil and gas?
What is shale gas?
Shale gas is natural gas that is found trapped within shale formations. Shale gas has become an increasingly important source of natural gas in the United States since the start of this century, and interest has spread to potential gas shales in the rest of the world.
How has shale gas changed the natural gas industry?
Over the past decade, the combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has allowed access to large volumes of shale gas that were previously uneconomical to produce. The production of natural gas from shale formations has rejuvenated the natural gas industry in the United States.
Are there any environmental issues associated with shale gas drilling?
However, there are some potential environmental issues that are also associated with the production of shale gas. Shale gas drilling has significant water supply issues. The drilling and fracturing of wells requires large amounts of water.
How to determine the properties of shale gas formations?
Another important point to take into account is that such properties can be determined at the location of the wells where the well log and core data are available. However, different geophysical workflows need to be used on 3D surface seismic data to characterize the shale gas formations [2,4].