| The problem with typical Marcellus shale wells is the lack of information that has been accumulated and the amount of information that is commercially available to the public. The Marcellus formation is a relatively new play and details involving ways to maximize production through well and fracture design has yet to be published. The Marcellus shale is important due to its large size and the economic impact that it could have on the U.S. While some companies have certain ideas about the best way to produce the Marcellus shale other companies have different ideas. Through reservoir simulation, the Marcellus could be studied to find effects of these parameters. The objective of this study is to compare and contrast the gas production in vertical wells, to the gas production in the horizontal wells of the Marcellus shale play. Along with the horizontal well study, the effects of varying fracture half lengths and horizontal wellbore lateral lengths on gas production in these shale wells are investigated. In each of the studies, only one parameter is changed at a time. Parameters include, propped fracture half length, number of fractures, number of wells, type of wells, horizontal lateral length and fracture spacing. An economic analysis is then conducted to understand the optimal design for these Marcellus shale wells. |
