from http://www.energyreview.net/storyview.asp?storyid=56421§ionsource=s0
30/03/06
While opportunities in this sector are growing, it takes technical knowledge to get the best from a shale gas field, Trimble said. Even the well-established Barnett Shale fields in Texas had only recently seen the application of optimal methods.
Trimble said special formation evaluation and reservoir engineering methods and completion techniques were needed.
"It took 20 years for producers to figure out the best way to frac the Barnett Shale," Trimble said.
"Even today, it probably takes a year for operators to develop optimal completion models for new fields. Massive hydraulic fracturing treatments and horizontal and multi-branched well bores are needed. No one model will work best everywhere. A lot of finetuning is needed."
Even once a relatively large number of wells are in place, and optimal well completion and fracture stimulation methods are used, production is modest, according to Channon.
"Flow rates from a single shale gas well are nothing to get excited about," he said.
"They are usually well under 100,000 cubic feet per day. You need to have a large acreage position.
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