EXPLOITATION OF UNCONVENTIONAL PETROLEUM ACCUMULATIONS

The present book is the organic continuation of József Pápay's 2003 book entitled Development of Petroleum Reservoirs: Theory and Practice.This book deals with the exploitation methods of unconventional accumulations (so-called hard or immobile petroleum; i.e. expensive petroleum), whereas the earlier book is about the recovery technologies of conventional reservoirs (so-called mobile petroleum; i.e. cheap petroleum). The two books integrate almost every type of exploitation methods with respect to reservoir engineering.In the first part of this book both the uniformity and difference of exploitation mechanisms for conventional and unconventional petroleum resources are demonstrated. The book deals with the recovery of each type of unconventional accumulation from the aspect of petroleum reservoir engineering in the case of oil sand, shale oil, coal-bed methane, tight gas, shale gas, and methane hydrate resources. On the basis of the present stage of knowledge, both theoretical and practical questions are discussed, including the expected results of recovery technologies.In the second part of this book – in the Appendices – special features of these exploitation methods and driving mechanisms are discussed. This is useful for both conventional and unconventional accumulation because a strict differentiation between them is not possible. The topics are the following: stress dependent rock parameters, two- and three-phase relative permeabilities, simulation of multiphase flows in fractured reservoirs, fracture hydraulic characterization, and Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) technology.