Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) invited Nautec to present at a 2 day workshop in Kuwait, to demonstrate the methodology for conducting a hydrocarbon in place (HIP) assessments of Kuwait’s Shale Gas resources including:

  • Identify a potential Shale Gas play (source rock)
  • Establish the areal extent and thickness
  • Define the prospective area (limits and cut-offs e.g. depth and thickness)
  • Hydrocarbon charge magnitude and maturity (likely GOR)
  • Reservoir characterisation and fractureability
  • Estimate the Shale Gas-in-place (and liquids)
  • Calculate the technically recoverable resource and the Prospective Resource
  • Consideration of the Chance of Success (COS) commercial

Following the presentation, KOC invited Nautec to provide a technical proposal for the evaluation of the Shale Gas potential of the Makhul Formation in Kuwait. Nautec evaluated Reserve and Resource estimates using the Society of Petroleum Engineers Petroleum Resources Management System (SPE PRMS) 2007 guidelines.

The Scope

Nautec will need to review in detail both volumes of the 2012 report in order to provide intelligent comment. Nautec recognises areas where we are able to assist in rounding out the 2012 report and HIP estimations in a second round of work and provide an updated report in 2016. The 2012 HIP calculation is based on a single ‘Best Estimate’ value determined as either gas OR oil.  There is more likely to be a range of outcomes including (sensible) high and low case volumes and a mix of hydrocarbons (oil, gas CO2 and H2S).

Nautec’s integrated project team provide the knowledge and skills to deliver a full review of the geological, engineering, economic, environmental and legal aspects of the Makhul Formation Shale Gas project.

Nautec will be able assist the KOC gas strategy 2030 by performing a study that will provide an atlas/report that will introduce the range of potential plays available; indicate which of the potential plays are currently prospective, assess their individual resource potential, give advice on their economic evaluation, provide technical data bases, and give assistance in designing and implementing acquisition, appraisal and development strategies.

Added Value

Initial data gathering phase – the object of this stage is to produce a brief characterisation of the project, and to establish baseline criteria to evaluate the project.

Identification of Data Requirements, Availability, Accessibility and Gap Analysis.

Following discussions among the Nautec team, a list of data requirements was prepared for the project. This covers the technical data as well as non-technical data.

Availability and accessibility are not expected to be issues in this case, given the types of data required.

Gap analysis will be an ongoing issue. The team will identify as many of the gaps in data as possible at the beginning of the process, so that steps can be taken to alleviate the situation.

In other cases, recommendations to obtain new data, such as by drilling and coring wells will be made.

  1. Review existing data sets (remaining preserved core, core, SWC and cuttings).
  2. Review upcoming well locations and potential to carry out additional sampling, such as core or pressurised core.
  3. Review recent adsorption analysis by KOC and comment on the procedure and any improvements that can be made.
  4. Propose additional experimentation on existing rock samples.
  5. Review wireline log TOC calculations and correlation to core and cuttings measurements from pyrolysis.
  6. Using existing samples, suggest program for limited Tight Rock Analysis (TRA).
  7. Using existing samples, suggest program for limited Digital Rock Properties (DRP), and vRock.
  8. Sw is a poorly understood factor.  Nautec to provide theoretical concepts and suggest measurement techniques beyond those already employed.
  9. Review Basin Modelling, number of points, recommend additional locations. Suggest hydrocarbon composition prediction method (complex as it should take into account previous expulsion episodes).
  10. Review FVF calculation and impact of overpressure and temperature on Z factor. Inclusion of Bo for oil component (depending on predicted shale rock hydrocarbon composition).
  11. Free Gas space porosity correction for Adsorbed space. Nautec suggest method to determine/calculate.
  12. Recovery Factor (RF) and EUR’s, poorly understood, very complex and probably best assessed using analogues. Nautec to review US analogues to determine if parts of successful plays have a higher correlation to Kerogen than whole plays.
  13. Program/protocol for sampling cores (TRA, DRP, isotherms etc).