Drilling by the Numbers New research suggests an easier,less costly alternative to traditional exploration

摘要

STATE COLLEGE-A new method for exploring natural gas in the Marcellus Shale,developed by Penn State researchers,shows that potential high-yield areas can be found more easily and with lower costs.Traditionally,natural gas hot spots are determined using a combination of current well production data and geological tests.Researchers Zhenke Xi and Eugene Morgan of Pennsylvania State University,in a paper titled"Combining Decline-Curve Analysis and Geostatistics to Forecast Gas Production in the Marcellus Shale,"published in SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering,detailed a method for approximating available gas in untapped areas using well production data taken from more than 5,600 existing wells.