Research Areas
Current Research
NSERC/Alliance Grant 2(2 years: 2022-2023)
NOVEL pilot process for simultaneously testing co2 sequestration and cyclic gas injection in unconventional reservoirs
- Experimental Evaluation of CO2 Storage and Cyclic Gas Injection
- Construction and Testing of “Flow-through-Fracture” Experimental Setup
- Selection of Reservoir Fluids and Samples to be Tested, Routine Core Testing
- Construction of Gas Adsorption Rig for Estimating CO2 and Natural Gas Storage Capacity
- Experimental Simulation of CO2 storage/HNP Piloting Procedure using Single Core Plug Samples
- Numerical Simulation of CO2 Storage and Cyclic Gas Injection using Vertical Wells
- Selection of Reservoirs/Wells to be Studied
- Calibration of Numerical Model to Vertical Well or MFHW Primary Production
- Compositional Numerical Simulation of CO2 Storage/HNP Piloting
- Numerical Simulation of CO2 Storage and Cyclic CO2 Injection using MFHWs
NSERC/Alliance Grant(3 years: 2020-2023)
Advancing Field- and Lab-Based Reservoir and Hydraulic Fracture Characterization Methods to Support Sustainable Development of Unconventional Resources
- Development of new field-testing methods that allow reservoir quality, and potential for hydraulic fracturing, to be quantified along a horizontal well before the main fracture stimulation treatment (Pre-HF; HF: hydraulic fracturing)
- Development of new field-testing methods that allow fracture stimulation effectiveness to be quantified along a multi-fractured horizontal well (MFHW) during the main fracture stimulation treatment (Syn-HF)
- Development of new rate-transient analysis (RTA) methods for the analysis of flowback and online production (Post-HF), that account for complexities of MFHW evaluation such as multi-phase flow, reservoir heterogeneity, and inter-well communication, in order to improve reservoir and hydraulic fracture property evaluation
- Development of new, and refine existing, laboratory methods to constrain key inputs for models used for all the above-mentioned objectives
NSERC/Discovery Grant(5 years: 2020-2025)
Experimental Evaluation of Unconventional Reservoir Sample Properties Using Rate and Pressure Transient Analysis Methods
- To investigate and extend the dynamic range (permeability limits) of the rate-transient analysis (RTA) permeameter (RTAPK) recently developed in TOC Laboratory
- To construct a new RTAPK device, and develop new data analysis methods, for estimating single-phase liquid (brine, oil) permeability, and two-phase liquid-liquid and gas-liquid relative permeability
- To perform a fundamental investigation of the impact of reservoir and fracture heterogeneity and multi-phase flow on flow regimes determined using the RTAPK method
- To determine if anomalous diffusion can be detected with the RTAPK method, and if so, evaluate the petrophysical and rock fabric controls on this transport mechanism
NSERC/Accelerator Supplement(3 years: 2020-2023)
Discovery Grants Program – Accelerator Supplements
Experimental Evaluation of Unconventional Reservoir Sample Properties Using Rate and Pressure Transient Analysis Methods
- Our current Discovery Grant was subsequently awarded one of the NSERC’s Discovery Accelerator Supplements (DAS) for 2020. The DAS Program provides substantial and timely resources to researchers who have a superior research program that is highly rated in terms of originality and innovation.
Previous Research
NSERC/CRD Grant(3 years: 2016-2019)
Advancing Rate-Transient Analysis for Improved Characterization and Forecasting of Canada’s Unconventional Light Oil Reservoirs
- Improving single-well analysis for ULO reservoirs
- Integrated modeling: hydraulic fracturing, flowback to online production
- Multi-phase flow
- Non-Darcy flow and pore confinement effects
- Use of geochemical data to constrain the RTA
- Integration of RTA/PTA analysis
- Development of multi-stage/multi-well analysis methods for ULO reservoirs
- Integration of lab-based characterization methods to constrain RTA
NSERC/CRD Grant(3 years: 2016-2019)
Evaluation of CO2/Lean Gas Huff’n’Puff Pilot Opportunities in Liquid-Rich Shale (LRS): An Economically Viable Option for Reducing Canada’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
- Evaluate the primary controls on CO2-Lean gas storage and transport in LRS using advanced core analysis methods/provide input for cyclic solvent injection (CSI) pilot simulation and design
- Influence of entrained organic matter on gas/liquid storage and transport
- Relative adsorption of CO2 and hydrocarbon gas components
- Propped and unpropped fracture permeability quantification as a function of stress
- Mechanical and elastic properties of cores with propped and unpropped fractures
- Gas-Liquid relative permeability quantification
- Quantification of incremental oil/condensate recovery
- Controls on fluid-rock interaction and wettability
- Advance in-field reservoir and hydraulic fracture characterization methods for use in CSI pilot simulation and design/provide input for CSI pilot simulation and design
- Use of cuttings to evaluate reservoir quality variations in horizontal wells
- Use of cuttings/flowback data for fracture height prediction
- Redesign of DFITs
- Evaluate controls on LRS recovery and design pilots for co-optimization of greenhouse gas sequestration and hydrocarbon liquid recovery using compositional numerical simulation
NSERC/Discovery Grant(5 years: 2014-2019)
The Evolution of Petrophysical Properties During Thermal Maturation, as a Function of Various Hydrocarbon Fractions
- Determination of the implications of various hydrocarbon fractions on petrophysical properties, such as porosity, pore size distribution and permeability
NSERC/CRD Grant(3 years: 2014-2017)
Advanced Reservoir and Hydraulic Fracture Characterization of Unconventional Light Oil Reservoirs
- Develop new methods to characterize pore structure and permeability
- Establish controls on fluid storage and transport at the nano/micro/meso scale
- Develop new methods for analyzing pre-frac injection (“mini-frac”) data
- Develop new methods for predicting hydraulic fracture properties in highly-heterogeneous (layered) ULO reservoirs
- Develop and apply new methods for post-stimulation hydraulic fracture and reservoir characterization
- Use data from characterization efforts to perform reservoir simulations designed to optimize primary and enhanced recovery in each ULO play type
- Develop new inter-well connectivity methods
- Characterization of vertical and lateral heterogeneity for each play type
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Research Lab
Analyses List
List and details of experimental analyses offered by Tight Oil Consortium
Research
Services
Examples of multidisciplinary research services that are offered by Tight Oil Consortium
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Workflow
General TOC experimental workflow (all sample types)
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Infrastructure
A list of infrastructures available in TOC and SEM labs with images and reference examples