Unconventional Hydrocarbon Resources: - Geological Statistics

Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology (2022) 12:1463–1488
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13202-021-01404-x
REVIEW PAPER-PRODUCTION ENGINEERING
Unconventional hydrocarbon resources: geological statistics,

petrophysical characterization, and field development strategies
Temoor Muther1 · Haris Ahmed Qureshi2 · Fahad Iqbal Syed1 · Hassan Aziz3 · Amaar Siyal4 ·
Amirmasoud Kalantari Dahaghi1 · Shahin Negahban1
Received: 28 August 2021 / Accepted: 26 November 2021 / Published online: 8 December 2021
© The Author(s) 2021
Abstract
Hydrocarbons exist in abundant quantity beneath the earth's surface. These hydrocarbons are generally classified as conven-
tional and unconventional hydrocarbons depending upon their nature, geology, and exploitation procedure. Since the conven-
tional hydrocarbons are under the depletion phase, the unconventional hydrocarbons have been a major candidate for current
and future hydrocarbon production. Additionally, investment and research have increased significantly for its exploitation.
Having the shift toward unconventional hydrocarbons, this study reviews in depth the technical aspects of unconventional
hydrocarbons. This review brings together all the important aspects of unconventional reservoirs in single literature. This
review at first highlights the worldwide unconventional hydrocarbon resources, their technical concept, distribution, and
future supplies. A portion of this study also discusses the resources of progressive unconventional hydrocarbon candidates.
Apart from this, this review also highlights the geological aspects of different unconventional hydrocarbon resources includ-
ing tight, shale, and coalbed methane. The petrophysical behavior of such assists including the response to well logs and
the discussion of improved correlation for petrophysical analysis is a significant part of this detailed study. The variation
in geology and petrophysics of unconventional resources with conventional resources are also presented. In addition, the
latest technologies for producing unconventional hydrocarbons ranging from fractured wells to different fluid injections are
discussed in this study. In the end, the latest machine learning and optimization techniques have been discussed that aids in
the optimized field development planning of unconventional reservoirs.
Keywords Unconventional hydrocarbons · Machine learning · Optimization algorithms · Shale and tight resources ·
Geology · Petrophysics · Coalbed methane · Unconventional reservoir development
Introduction respectively, with a total of 5 × 1012 t in total (Caineng et al.

2014, 2013). Due to a large quantity of unconventional
Petroleum hydrocarbons are one of the major energy sources hydrocarbons and their resources, there is a paradigm shift in
worldwide (Caineng et al. 2014). They can be highly catego- exploring and utilizing these resources for energy demands
rized into conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons. (Song et al. 2015). Moreover, the conventional resources
These conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons exist are getting exhausted day by day and most of the oil and gas
in huge quantities around the world at a ratio of around 2:8, has already been produced with traditional methods. With
the advancement of technology, unconventional petroleum
resources are getting easier to produce which was in the
* Temoor Muther early times considered as unproducible assets (Hamada
temoormuther@ku.edu; temoormuther@ymail.com 2016). This is the reason why currently the unconventional
1
Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, hydrocarbon resources are given major consideration in
University of Kansas, Lawrence, USA terms of their exploration and production.
2
Al-Sadim Oil Services, Tripoli, Libya The unconventional hydrocarbons can be defined as those
3 which require unconventional technologies to recover them
Department of Petroleum and Gas Engineering, Dawood
University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan from subsurface as they cannot be produced with ordinary
4 production well by simply pumping it in their natural state
Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE
13
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1464 Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology (2022) 12:1463–1488
without being diluted or heated (Gordon 2012). The param-

eters which differentiate unconventional hydrocarbons from
conventional hydrocarbons are the geologic nature of the
reservoir (Song et al. 2015), the complex petrophysical sys-
tem (Hamada 2016), and the techniques for hydrocarbons’
extraction (Heikal 2008a).
Conventional hydrocarbons deposits are highly porous
and permeable with a closed trap. Moreover, they have a
uniform pressure system and oil–water contact (Zou et al.
2013a). They can be produced easily with few wellbores,
and it does not require any stimulation technique to recover
the hidden fluids. Unconventional hydrocarbon deposits are,
however, difficult to characterize and produce as they do not
naturally flow through the rock (Hamada 2016). They have Fig. 1 World Proven Oil Reserves (Thakur and Rajput 2011)
far less porosity and permeability. Also, they require stimu-
lation and other conversion or extraction techniques such as
enhanced oil recovery (EOR) for a feasible production (Zou
et al. 2013a; Sprunger et al. 2021; Syed et al. 2021a; Kerr
et al. 2020; Li et al. 2019a; Hawthorne et al. 2019; Jin et al.
2019). This makes them economically far more expensive
than conventional methods. However, they have large total
volumes in the world which makes them prospective candi-
dates for future oil and gas production worldwide.
This paper provides a review of unconventional hydro-
carbons and their resources. It includes the description of
unconventional liquids and gases, geology of unconventional
accumulation, characterization of these resources, petro-
physical characteristics, and development techniques to pro-
duce those reservoirs. Moreover, this paper also introduces
the description of different countries with unconventional
hydrocarbon resources potential.
Fig. 2 Liquid Supply Worldwide (MBDOE) (ExxonMobil 2018)
Unconventional liquids
oil. Many of them, approximately 60%, are distributed in the
Unconventional liquids are the type of fluids that require a South and North Americas, whereas considerable amounts
non-traditional extraction method to recover more liquid. are distributed in Eurasian and the rest are evenly distributed
These liquids are much heavier than the lowest quality of around the world (Kapustin and Grushevenko 2018).
conventional oil found. Moreover, they are sourer than typi- With the increase in the demand and consumption of liq-
cal conventional oil (Gordon 2012). Unconventional liquids uid, the supply of unconventional liquids is surely going
can be categorized into the following groups depending to increase. Moreover, the technological advancement will
on the density, viscosity, and hydrogen/carbon ratio in the also lead to the production of more unconventional liquids
oil. They are heavy and extra-heavy oil, bitumen, shale oil which adds to the overall supply of liquid worldwide. The
(Thakur and Rajput 2011). Some analysts also include gas projection of liquid supply up to 2040 is shown in Fig. 2. Oil
to liquid (GTL), coal to liquid (CTL), and biofuels in the sands, tight oil, deep water, and NGLs are getting stronger
unconventional category (Gordon 2012). gains. Up to 2040, the global liquids supply of tight oil and
Unconventional liquids constitute a higher percentage NGLs is forecasted to exceed 30 percent.
of oil than conventional under the subsurface (see Fig. 1). According to the EIA 2013 report, the total risked shale
According to an estimate, about 45,000 billion barrels of oil in place and the total technically recoverable risked shale
unconventional oil is held by earth and approximately 1000 oil resources of the world are estimated to be 5,799 billion
billion barrels can be produced (Thakur and Rajput 2011). barrels and 286.9 billion barrels (Kuuskraa et al. 2013). The
As per recent estimates, technically recoverable reserves for distribution of this shale oil in place is shown in Table 1.
these three unconventional oils are about 350 billion tons of Meanwhile, another recent report by World Energy Council
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Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology (2022) 12:1463–1488 1465
Table 1 Shale oil resources of the world (Kuuskraa et al. 2013) more from the resources. These resources are easier to locate
Continent Risked oil in place Risked technically
as they are laterally extensive. The unconventional proven
(billion barrels) recoverable (billion original gas in place of shale, tight, and coalbed methane in the
barrels) world is 83,400 trillion cubic feet while the possible reserves
are estimated to be 184,200 trillion cubic feet (Dong et al.
North America 437 21.9
(excluding USA) 2011). Today, coalbed methane (CBM), tight gas, and shale
Australia 403 17.5 gas contribute significantly to world gas production. Typically,
South America 1152 59.7 the natural gas from tight and shale resources is considered in
Europe 1551 88.6 the general title of unconventional gas. Coalbed methane is
Africa 882 38.1 found in coal seams, and when it is formed, different types of
Asia 1375 61.1 gases are produced which includes methane, that is why, it is
Sub-total 5799 286.9 called coalbed methane (CBM). It is produced by pumping the
USA 954 47.7 water in the coal seams to reduce the pressure that holds the
Total 6753 334.6 gas. Coal bed methane (CBM) is generally found in shallow
coal deposits. Tight gas is generally found in highly porous and
very low permeable sandstones, whereas shale gas is associ-
2016 presented the USA as the largest tight oil reserves ated with the source rock shale which has very low perme-
in the world followed by China, Argentina, and Australia ability (Mokhatab et al. 2019). Gas hydrates also come under
(World Energy Resources. 2020). This country-wise tight the category of unconventional gas. Gas hydrates are ice-like
oil distribution is presented in Fig. 3. solids that are formed at low temperature and high pressure
with the amalgamation of water and hydrate forming meth-
ane gas. These are humongous reserves that are found in deep
Unconventional gas oceans in water sediments. The reserves in this resource are
enormous; however, at present there is no such viable develop-
Unconventional gas resources cannot be produced at an eco- ment scheme for the exploitation of this resource. With these
nomical flow rate unless the well, either vertical or horizontal, resources, different other gases also come under the unconven-
is stimulated by large hydraulic fractures or a multilateral well- tional gas category. These include biogas, gas in the pressured
bore is drilled, or different other techniques to exploit much zone, flue gas, landfill gas, and synthetic gas (Speight 2019).
Fig. 3 Tight oil resources in the world (World Energy Resources. 2020)
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The demand for natural gas is currently increas-

ing (see Fig. 4). Globally the demand is forecasted to increase
by 40% from 2016 to 2040. This requires the production of
more unconventional gas to supply the need of the world.
Currently, out of total recoverable resources of natural gas, a
sum of less than 15% has been produced. Out of remaining
natural gas resources, a value of around 45% can be produced
from coalbed methane, tight gas, and shale gas (refer Fig. 5)
(ExxonMobil 2018). The total distribution of tight, coal bed
methane, and shale gas around the world is shown in Table 2.
Different countries unconventional

hydrocarbons potential
USA
Fig. 5 Remaining gas resources worldwide (ExxonMobil 2018, 2019)
The USA contains vast unconventional resources spread
from the East to West Coast. The unconventional resource in Table 3. The total unproved technical recoverable tight/
contributor by region and their respective basins is presented shale oil reserves from those basins are estimated to be 174.0
billion bbls, whereas the gas recoverable gas quantities are
estimated to be 1611.1 TCF. With this, the technical recover-
able coalbed methane reserves of the USA are found to be
104.9 TCF as per a recently published report (EIA 2017).
US shale gas proved reserves are estimated to be 342,135
billion cubic feet, all from the lower 48 states, with a major-
ity of reserves contributing from Texas and Pennsylvania
(refer Fig. 6). Meanwhile, the CBM proved reserves of
around 11,878 BCF with again the contribution from the
lower 48 states (refer Fig. 7) (U.S. EIA 2019).
China
China consists of vast unconventional resources in major

prospective basins including Songliao, Sichuan, Jiang-
han, Junggar, Subei, Tarim, Ordos, Bohai Bay, and the
Yangtze Platform (Zhu 2019; U.S. Energy Information
Fig. 4 Energy demand (%) forecast (ExxonMobil 2018)
Table 2 Total distribution of Continent Resources/1012 m3

global unconventional resources
in the world (IEA 2009) Tight gas Coalbed methane Shale gas Total
North America 38.8 85.4 108.8 233.0

Latin America 36.6 1.1 59.9 97.6
Europe 12.2 7.7 15.5 35.4
Formal Soviet Union 25.5 112.0 17.7 155.2
Middle East & North Africa 23.3 0.0 72.2 95.5
Africa South 22.2 1.1 7.8 31.1
Asia–Pacific 51.0 48.8 174.3 274.1
Total oil equivalent 209.6 256.1 456.2 921.9
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Table 3 Tight/shale resources Region Resource play Region Resource play

regions of USA (EIA 2017)
East Appalachian Rocky Mountain/ Denver
Illinois Dakotas Grater Green River
Michigan Paradox
Gulf Coast Black Warrior Powder River
TX-LA-MS Salt San Juan
Western Gulf (Eagle Ford) Southwestern Wyoming
Midcontinent Anadarko Uinta Piceance
Arkoma Wind River
Black Warrior South West Fort Worth
Northern Great Plains Montana Thrust Belt Permian
North Central Montana West Coast Columbia
Powder River San Joaquin/Los Angeles
Williston (Bakken)
Administration. 2015a; Guoxin and Rukai 2020). The distri-

bution statistics of China by major region is shown in Fig. 8.
China is estimated to have 650.44 × 1012 m3 of shale gas
and 95.16 × 1012 m3 of tight gas. The recoverable shale gas
and tight gas resources are 161.50 × 1012 m3 and 15.89 × 1012
m3, respectively. The tight gas reserves are majorly concen-
trated in Tarim, Ordos, Songliao, and Sichuan basins, whereas
the shale gas is majorly found in Middle Lower Yangtze,
Ordos Basin, and Sichuan Basin. Further details of China’s
gas reserves are presented in Fig. 9 (Zheng et al. 2018).
China’s tight and shale oil potential is vast; however,
their estimates are unclear and vary based on the analysis
and estimation of different institutions. As per the US EIA
2013 report, the shale oil recoverable reserves are estimated
Fig. 6 US shale gas proved reserves (U.S. EIA 2019) to be 32.2 billion bbls (approximately equal to 45 × 108 t)
(U.S. Energy Information Administration. 2015a). In the
recent literature, low and medium maturity shale oil recov-
erable resources are estimated between 700 and 900 × 108
t with an economically recoverable quantity between 150
and 200 × 108 t. Additionally, the medium and high matu-
rity shale oil geological resources are found to be about
100 × 108 t. The geological resources of tight oil in China
are found to be around 178.2 × 108 t with 17.65 × 108 t of
technically recoverable (Guoxin and Rukai 2020).
Australia
The unconventional resources in Australia are very abundant.

The unconventional hydrocarbon in Australia exists in the
form of coal seam gas (CSG), tight gas/oil, and shale gas/
oil. The development of CSG in Australia has been started
Fig. 7 US CBM proved reserves (U.S. EIA 2019)
13
Fig. 8 China’s unconventional resources by basin (MMboe) (Zhu 2019)
Fig. 9 China’s gas reserves

(Zheng et al. 2018)
way back in 1996, whereas tight and shale oil/gas exploration

has taken its boom in the late 2000s (Hashimoto et al. 2012).
Australia has around 235 Tcf CSG underground with 33
Tcf as economic demonstrated resources (EDR) and sub-
economic demonstrated resources (SDR) of around 60 Tcf,
and this CSG contributes around 6% of the total world’s
CSG resources (Geoscience Australia and BREE 2012). The
majority of CSG deposits are distributed in the Surat and
Bowen basins of Queensland, whereas the smaller amount
contributes to the Sydney basin in New South Wales (NSW)
(Ross et al. 2013). Figure 10 demonstrates the 2P reserves
of CSG by different basins in Australia. Meanwhile, the gas
resources of Australia are presented in Fig. 11.
The identified tight gas resource in Australia is mostly
concentrated in Gippsland Basin (1.7 tcf), Cooper Basin
(8 tcf), and Perth Basin (10 tcf) (Geoscience Australia
and BREE 2012). Meanwhile, the shale gas reserves are Fig. 10 Australia CSG 2P reserves (by basin) (Geoscience Australia
mostly concentrated in the Cooper basin, Georgina basin, and BREE 2012)
13
Fig. 11 Australia Gas Resources (Geoscience Australia and BREE

2012) Fig. 12 Reserves in Pakistan (Jadoon 2011)
Maryborough basin, Beetaloo basin, Perth basin, and Can- Indus Basin, and Kirthar Foldbets regions in Pakistan (see
ning basin. These basins are assessed by EIA; however, few Fig. 14). Also, other resources are present in the Potwar
unassessed basins may contain the potential of shale gas. region, Lower Indus Basin, and offshore areas near Karachi
These assessed basins contain a total of 2016 Tcf of risked (see Fig. 15) (Alam 2010).
shale gas with 437 Tcf being technically recoverable (U.S. Pakistan has also huge reserves of shale oil and shale
Energy Information Administration. 2015b). The first shale gas. According to a survey (supported by US Agency for
gas operation in Australia begins in the Cooper basin in 2012 International Development—USAID), Pakistan has 10,159
(Ross et al. 2013). Tcf of shale gas out of which 200 Tcf is technically recov-
Except for these gas sources, the estimated risked shale erable reserves and 95 Tcf is risked technically recover-
oil-in-place reserves from the six assessed basins are found able reserves. Moreover, Pakistan has 2323 Billion barrels
to be 403 billion bbls with an amount of 17.5 billion bbls as of shale oil out of which 58 Billion barrels are technically
technically recoverable (U.S. Energy Information Adminis- recoverable reserves and 14 Billion barrels are risked tech-
tration. 2015b). nically recoverable reserves. In addition to this, Pakistan
stands 9th in the world in terms of technically recover-
able shale oil resources (Bhutta 2015; Kiani 2015; Wang
Pakistan et al. 2016a). This amount is quite higher than the esti-
mated reports of the United States Energy Information
Pakistan has a large number of gas resources, however, its
conventional resources are in a decline phase. Moreover, the
gas demand in the country is also increasing. Pakistan con-
sumes 100% of its natural gas production, and the remaining
shortfall is managed through LNG import which requires
high foreign exchange (Inam et al. 2018). Pakistan has a
large volume of unconventional gas trapped in sand and
shale reservoirs. As per the survey, Pakistan is estimated
to have 24–40 TCF tight gas reserves in various horizons
(Alam 2010). The approximate reserves of Pakistan are
shown in Fig. 12.
Moreover, the potential formations containing tight gas
in Pakistan are Pirkoh Limestone, Sui Upper Limestone,
Sember sands and siltstones, Habib Rahi Limestone, and
Lower Goru Tight Sands. The approximate distribution of
tight gas in Sulaiman Foldbelt, Indus Basin, and Kirthar
Foldbets is shown in Fig. 13. Moreover, the above poten-
tial formations are largely distributed in Sulaiman Foldbelt, Fig. 13 Distribution of Tight Gas in Pakistan (Ayaz et al. 2012)
13
Fig. 14 Total known Tight Gas Resources in Pakistan (Alam 2010;

Heikal 2008b) Fig. 15 Tight Gas in other parts of Pakistan (Alam 2010; Heikal
2008b)
Administration (USEIA) published before. Table 4 shows

the data of various resources on shale gas and oil resources siltstone, dolomite, and sandy carbonates shale, etc. Numer-
of Pakistan. ous unconventional are naturally fractured and/or layered
Pakistan's prospective shale resources are largely concen- (Kumar and Shandilya 2013). They are also character-
trated in the Lower Indus Basin, predominantly in the South- ized as the resources continuously occupied in the core of
ern and Central Indus Basin (Zahid et al. 2016; Abbasi et al. basins without having usual traps (Zou et al. 2013b). These
2014). The Northern Indus Basin and Balochistan Basin also resources are also defined with the help of permeability-
show the potential of shale oil/gas (see Fig. 14) (Zahid et al. viscosity cross-plot curve which states them the resources
2016). The prospective formations in the Lower Indus Basin that can be recovered at commercial production rate by alter-
include Sembar Formation, Lower Goru—shale members, ing their viscosity, reservoir rock properties, and changing
Mughal Kot Formation, and Ghazij Formation. The Upper permeability-viscosity ratio (refer Fig. 16) (Cander 2012).
Indus Basin also has some prospective shale formations Unconventional resources are higher in volume but of
including Patala Formation, Sardhai Formation, and Hangu, lower grade and quality as compared to conventional res-
Chichali, Datta formations (Ayaz et al. 2012). ervoirs, as presented by Grey and Masters's concept of
resource triangle. These resources have generally lower
permeabilities with shale resources having the least perme-
Geology of unconventional resources ability range (see Figs. 17 and 18). Also, they require high-
cost technology to be commercially viable (Masters 1979;
Unconventional resources (referring to tight, shale, and Holditch et al. 2007; Gomaa et al. 2014).
coal) are stacked and continuous sedimentary layers that There are two main geological factors (primary
have comparatively low permeability and porosity and are and secondary) that govern the development of such
generally associated with conventional reservoir rocks. The resources. The primary factors include mineralogy, grain
resources may be sandstone (most common), limestone, size and sorting, lithification, provenance, depositional
13
Table 4 Shale reserves in Pakistan

Report Shale gas Shale oil Reference
resources (TCF) Technically recoverable resources Technically recoverable
reserves (TCF) (Bbbls) reserves (Bbbls)
USEIA 2011 206 51 – – Kuuskraa et al. 2011)

USEIA 2013 586 105 227 9.1 Kuuskraa et al. 2013)
Study with USAID 2015 10,159 200 2323 58 Bhutta 2015; Kiani 2015)
dissolution. Tectonics plays a critical part in the devel-

opment of unconventional resources. Tectonics largely
affects the pressure and thermal gradient (Kumar and
Shandilya 2013; Speight 2017).
The pore throat structure of the various unconventional
and conventional resources differentiates them from each
other. The oil and gas accumulation of conventional
resources has a pore throat diameter of 1 µm or more than
it. The oil and gas accumulation and migration that occurs
in this type of resource is by buoyancy factor. In contrast
with these, the unconventional resources have a pore throat
diameter lesser than 1 µm, and oil migration and accumu-
lation occurs by different mechanisms including overpres-
sure, buoyancy, stable temperature, and stable pressure
(see Fig. 19) (Zou et al. 2013b).
Geologic features of Shale resources
The shale formation mainly consists of clay minerals that

Fig. 16 Classification of Unconventional resources based on Viscos- are firmed up so tightly that the rock becomes imperme-
ity and Natural Productivity (Zou et al. 2013b) able. In addition, these formations contain no trap or cap
rock eventually having apparent or no boundary. They act
both as a source and the reservoir rock, which implies
that the kerogen is matured at the same place where it is
deposited because of very low permeability values (Aad-
nøy and Looyeh 2019). Shale formations have far less
permeability (often in the ranges of 0.001 to 0.0001 mD)
than tight sandstone and carbonate (ranges between 0.1
and 0.001 millidarcy). The porosity in unconventional
reservoirs is generally below 10% (Geology of Shale and
Tight Resources 2016; Syed et al. 2021b). Shale reservoirs
have nanoscale organic pores and pore throat volume, and
these pores are the major source of gas accumulation in
shale reservoirs. They have a pore diameter in the range
of 50 mm – 400 mm. These nanopores in shale account for
more than 90% of their total pores (Zou et al. 2017). Along
Fig. 17 Resource triangle (Rahim et al. 2012) with this, the total organic carbon, stress, pore structure,
and adsorption/desorption phenomena widely contribute
to the storage and transport mechanism of shale forma-
environment, and flow regime. The secondary factors tion (Memon et al. 2020a). Besides, absorption is another
include the development of fractures, tectonics, and important factor contributing to shale resource volume
diagenesis including compaction, cementation, and (Memon et al. 2020b, 2020c). Due to such complex
13
Fig. 18 Permeability ranges of

various reservoirs
Fig. 19 Pore throat structure of conventional and Unconventional resources (Zou et al. 2013b)
characteristics including the low permeability, presence characterization, detection of calcite types of cement, and
of micro-fractures, and sensitivity to contacting fluids, it environment in which the deposition had occurred. It serves
is a difficult task to evaluate its geological nature in labora- as the standard logging tool for tight geological evaluation
tory experiments (Gomaa et al. 2014). (Shrivastva and Lawatia 2011). Most of the tight gas reser-
voirs are anisotropic and heterogeneous in nature (Abdelaziz
Geologic features of Tight resources Lafi Khlaifat 2011). Due to this reason, the production from
the tight gas reservoir is generally lower than the conven-
A tight reservoir is generally a sandstone reservoir (tight tional reservoirs (Stark et al. 2007).
sand) with low permeability. It may also consist of siltstone,
silty sandstone, dolomites, and argillaceous limestones
(Speight 2017). These formations are associated with high Geologic features of Coalbed Methane resources
heterogeneities, have a complex pore structure system, and
relatively low potential for a natural drive (Li et al. 2018). Coalbed methane just like the shale resources does not
These complex pore structures are the combination of vari- migrate at very long distance and is trapped on the bed of
ous small to very small pores resulting from several pro- coal in the form of methane. Coalbed methane (CBM) res-
cesses such as the fine-grained sediments deposition, post- ervoirs are the fast-growing unconventional reservoirs in
depositional diagenesis altering the original structure of which methane is adsorbed on the surface of micro-pores.
pores, and the presence of different clay and shale minerals Coal seams are identical to naturally fractured rock in which
in the pores (Rushing et al. 2008). Petrographically, tight for- fluid flow can be described by the means of the dual-porosity
mations are distinguished from the other formations by the model (Shi and Durucan 2005). In the CBM reservoirs, the
loss of primary porosity during the process of diagenesis and coal matrix (micro-pores) is the main place in which meth-
the existence of most porosity in the dissolved pore spaces ane gas is stored, and macro-pores (cleats) are the main track
(Soeder and Chowdiah 1990). For the geological evaluation for the flow of gas, which are saturated with water at the
of tight gas formation, borehole images provide a plethora of start (Clarkson et al. 2010). To produce this methane gas
information which include sedimentology evaluation, texture from the surface of coal, these cleats need to be dewatered
13
which results in the decrease in reservoir pressure, thereby • Porosity Logs

creating pressure drawdown which leads to desorption of • Acoustic logs
gas from the coalbed. This gas diffuses from the coal matrix
to macro-pores and from the macro-pores to the wellbore Due to the low porosity in unconventional, the resistiv-
(Darcy law) (Seidle 2011). ity log indicates high resistivity (approximately 70 Ωm). In
tight shaly sands, the neutron porosities are affected by the
Geologic features of gas hydrate resources thermal neutron absorbers which result in a very high neu-
tron porosity. Because of this, the hydrocarbon zones in such
The gas hydrate is a physical combination of water and formation can be miss-interpreted by neutron density logs.
natural gases. The natural gas, i.e., methane, is trapped in Shale content present in tight reservoirs does not affect the
a very large amount in geological hydrate accumulations porosities from Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). Their
such as coarse-grained hydrate-bearing sediments (Abbasi signal amplitude provides comprehensive information about
et al. 2021). They are usually distributed in the Arctic and the porosity that is free from lithological effects. Relaxation
marine sediments (Lee and Holder 2001). The accumula- time illustrates some other petrophysical parameters like dis-
tion of gas hydrates is highly dependent on the fluid migra- tribution of sand and pore sizes, permeability, hydrocarbon
tion including both the water and gas into the gas hydrate identification, and capillary pressure (Shrivastva and Lawa-
stability zone (GHSZ). In addition, the gas hydrate accu- tia 2011). Borehole images usually carried out by formation
mulations can be categorized into stratigraphy, structural, image logs could interpret the structural features of uncon-
and combination accumulations based on the gas hydrate ventional, such as faults and fractures along with their ori-
concentrations within GHSZ and fluid migrations (Milkov entation and morphology (refer Fig. 20) (Costin et al. 2019).
and Sassen 2002). To produce such gas, the hydrates should By the study of rock physics, one can identify and com-
be dissociated into water and gas. This is done by slurry prehend the relations between the rock and fluid proper-
mining, pressure reduction, and thermal injection (Lee and ties (gas vs. oil vs. water, fractures, rock-type, mineralogy
Holder 2001). stress, formation pressure & temperature, porosity) and seis-
mic attributes (reflectivity and attenuation, velocity, AVO,
impedance) (Asquith et al. 2004).
Petrophysical characterization The role of core analysis is vital in the accurate determina-
of unconventional resources tion of various properties. The study of cores, along with the
thin sections, with the added support of tools like SEM, XRD,
Petrophysical parameters play a vital role in assisting the CT, and micro-CT scan is widely used to determine the exact
optimum exploration of unconventional resources. Porosity, nature of the matrix such as its microstructures and pore char-
permeability, lithology, and water saturation are some of the acteristics (Shrivastva and Lawatia 2011; Kazak et al. 2020;
most important rock properties which are used for the petro- Gao et al. 2019; Sun et al. 2019; Chen et al. 2019a). The cores
physical characterization of different unconventional reser- give the direct indication of various unconventional resources’
voirs (Syed et al. 2020b). The well logging greatly assists in properties and it assists in the understanding of sand texture,
the petrophysical evaluation and identifying the scheme of
deposition and the tightness of the reservoir. For the major-
ity of a shale well, cased hole logging is used instead of
open-hole logging due to economic constraints. If the well
is drilled vertical, then open-hole logging is recommended
for the petrophysical interpretation of unconventional reser-
voirs. After running the cased hole logging, cased sonic logs
are run which determines the rock mechanical properties
such as the brittleness, Poisson ratio, and young modulus
(Strother and Valadares 2013).
The following logs are important for the evaluation of
resources to exploit unconventional fluids:
• Resistivity Logs
• NMR Logs
• Spectral Gamma Ray Logs
• Borehole imaging logs Fig. 20 Fracture Development (Image log) (Shrivastva and Lawatia
• Density Logs 2011)
13
nature of facies, reservoir morphology, depositional environ- et al. 2004). If the GR readings and resistivity readings are
ment, orientation, sand distribution, diagenetic alteration, high, then running the Spectral GR log will tell the percent-
and structure. The thin section analysis of the rock deduces age of uranium, thorium, and potassium. If the oil and gas
texture, detail mineralogy, matrix, sorting of grains, type are present in the unconventional shale formations, then the
of porosity, and cementing material (Kumar and Shandilya readings of uranium, GR log, and resistivity will be higher,
2013; Speight 2017). With this, the digital rock physics imple- and the porosity log shows the high porosity. However, the
mentation including the understanding of segmented images readings of thorium and potassium will be lower because
through pore network modeling and/or implementation of uranium is the only radioactive element that is present in
machine learning technology widely aided in understanding the organic matter in the source rock. Due to this, every
and calculating different core sample properties including clay is not a shale, but every shale is clay. Thus, the shale
the porosity, pore structures, and sizes, and permeability, etc. formations that have a high amount of organic matter, carbon
(Blunt et al. 2013; Wildenschild and Sheppard 2013; Arm- content, porosity, and show a high uranium signal compared
strong et al. 2018; Chung et al. 2019; Yamanaka et al. 2019; to potassium and thorium are typically proved to be produc-
Wang et al. 2020; Wan et al. 2020; Santos et al. 2020; Rab- tive (Parker et al. 2009).
bani and Babaei 2019; Sudakov et al. 2019; Tembely et al. The water saturation of conventional formations can be
2021; Alqahtani et al. 2020; Yun et al. 2020; Karimpouli and predicted from the Archie equation; however, the presence
Tahmasebi 2019). of clay in the shale formation causes the resistivity of the
Apart from these methods, different penetration fluid meth- formation to decrease which results in the overestimation of
ods including mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), low-tem- water saturation. Meanwhile, most shale formations show a
perature nitrogen adsorption/desorption (LTNA), and nuclear high resistivity more than certain baseline resistivity of clay
magnetic resonance (NMR) are also used to evaluate micro- due to the presence of kerogen content, gas saturation, and
pore characteristics of unconventional reservoirs. The MIP total organic carbon (Parker et al. 2009). Thus, to calculate
and LTNA involve the injection of non-wetting fluid into the the water saturation involving shale formations, Simandoux
unconventional sample and recording the injection pressure modified the Archie equation by using the volume of clay/
and fluid volume. With these data available, different theo- shale. The formula for calculating the water saturation is
retical models are used to calculate the specific surface area presented in Eq. 1 (Asquith et al. 2004). Other than this tech-
and pore size distribution (Chen et al. 2018, 2019b; Clarkson nique, the water saturation can also be calculated by Wax-
et al. 2013; Okolo et al. 2015; Jijun et al. 2015). Both these man–Smits, Dual water methods, Indonesia, and Schlum-
techniques have different experimental environments; there- berger methods which seeks to use the electrical properties
fore, their detection ranges are different. The combination of of clay present in the shale.
both results allows the evaluation of nano- to micro-scale pore � �0.5
systems in unconventional reservoirs (Clarkson et al. 2013; 0.4 × Rw ⎡⎢ Vshale 2
Vshale 5 × 𝜙2
⎤
⎥
Okolo et al. 2015). These methods, however, have restric- Sw = − + + (1)
𝜙2 ⎢ Rsh R2sh Rw × Rt ⎥
tions as they reflect only interconnected pores (Chen et al. ⎣ ⎦
2018). NMR technology reduces this limitation and allows
where Sw = water saturation, Rw = formation water resistivity,
the evaluation of pore volume and size in saturated liquid
Rt = true resistivity, ϕ = porosity, Vshale = shale volume, and
samples irrespective of the connectivity of the pores (Chen
Rsh = shale resistivity.
et al. 2019a; Jijun et al. 2015). Apart from this, Rock–Eval
For the calculation of the porosity of shale formations,
pyrolysis is highly used to determine the total organic content
three porosity logs data and core analysis are used. From
(TOC) of the samples (Hazra et al. 2017).
all the porosity logs, density logs are used to determine the
porosity of shale formations by incorporating TOC (total
Petrophysical characterization of shale reservoirs
organic content) in the equation of density log. The equation
for calculating the porosity of shale formation is given by
The lithology of unconventional shale reservoir rock is iden-
Eq. 2 (Zhang et al. 2015; Xiuwen et al. 2011):
tified by the means of GR log and resistivity log. A good
number of unconventional activities around the globe are ( )
𝜌ma − 𝜌b + VTOC ∗ 𝜌TOC − 𝜌ma
concentrated mainly on clastic. Because of the occurrence 𝜙= (2)
𝜌ma − 𝜌f
of clay minerals, the GR log demonstrates high API read-
ings that misrepresent the reservoir as a non-reservoir. This whereas
uncertainty is resolute by using the Spectral GR log which ( )
deduces the occurrence of radioactive minerals in the forma- 𝜌b = 𝜌ma 1 − 𝜙 − VTOC + 𝜌f ∗ 𝜙 + 𝜌TOC ∗ VTOC (3)
tion. The Spectral GR log is used to confirm the presence of
unconventional oil and gas in the shale formations (Asquith
13
where 𝜌b = density log reading, 𝜌ma = matrix density, ( ( ) ) 1n

(a) Rw
𝜌f = fluid density,𝜌TOC = organic matter density, VTOC = con- Sw = ( ) (4)
tent of organic matter. Rt (𝜙m )
It is complicated sometimes to measure the porosity of
shale formations because of the complex logging response where a = tortuosity factor, m = cementation factor, n = Satu-
and lithology of the formation. The porosity of shale forma- ration factor.
tion can also be calculated with a model built by core calibra- The porosity of tight formation is measured by the
tion logs (Zhang et al. 2015). Some of the laboratory methods means of the neutron, density, and sonic log. High hydro-
like imaging methods are used to determine the porosity and gen atoms and lower neutron counts in the neutron poros-
permeability of shale formation, but it depends upon the reso- ity log indicate the high porosity and vice versa, while the
lution of images and image processing methods due to which density log measures the number of electron density of
they have a high amount of ambivalence (Klaver et al. 2015). the formation. It is also used for detecting the lithology
The permeability of the shale formations is calculated by of tight formations. The density log measures the bulk
using Magnetic Resonance Logging (MRIL). The T1 (Polari- density of the formations. Using this bulk density from the
zation time interval) spectrum data method has made possible density log, matrix density by knowing the lithology, and
the applications of MRIL to the shale-gas volumetric calcula- fluid density, density log can measure the density-porosity
tions and reservoir properties. This new T1 allows to separate of tight formation. Neutron density crossover can also be
any gas signal and made an authentic calculation of clay-bound used to identify the lithology and porosity of tight forma-
water, capillary bound water, and free-fluid porosity which tion on conditions that the formation is free from clay and
can be used with the Coates Model to calculate the effective gas (Shrivastva and Lawatia 2011). The presence of tight
shale permeability (Parker et al. 2009). It is not possible to gas in the formation causes the readings to be read too
measure the permeability of shale formations by traditional high in the density log and low in the neutron porosity log
techniques due to the low flow rate and time required to reach making the crossover of both logs. This crossover of neu-
steady-state conditions. Therefore, unsteady methods such as tron porosity log helps in the identification of gas zones
GRI (Gas Research Institute) and pressure pulse decay helps in tight reservoirs. The porosity of the gas-bearing zone in
in measuring the permeability of shale formation. GRI is a fast tight formation is predicted by Eq. 5 given as:
method for measuring the permeability of shale formations as √
low as 1 nano Darcy, but it results in inaccurate permeability 𝜙2n + 𝜙2D 1 ( ) 2( ) (5)
𝜙NDgas = ≈ 𝜙n + 𝜙D
under stress conditions. The pulse decay method under stress 2 3 3
conditions measures the permeability, but its results are very
sensitive to pore volume measurements. The laboratory tool where 𝜙NDgas = gas-bearing formation porosity, 𝜙D = density
Precision Petrophysical Analysis Laboratory (PPAL) measures porosity, 𝜙n = neutron porosity.
the porosity and permeability of shale under in-situ conditions The porosity of the formation can also be measured by
(Zamirian et al. 2015, 2016). the NMR tool which uses the strong electromagnetic field
to align the hydrogen proton present in the formation by
Petrophysical characterization of tight reservoirs measuring their signals (Asquith et al. 2004).
The permeability of tight formation can be determined by
The lithology of tight formation is important for identifying using NMR logs and Kozeny correlation. The permeability
the porosity of formations. Porosity logs require lithology or of the reservoir is directly proportional to the amount of pore
matrix constant before determining the porosity. The formation size and effective porosity. The larger the pore size, effective
factor used in the Archie equation for determining the water porosity, the greater will be permeability of the formation.
saturation varies with the lithology. Thus, the porosity and By using NMR logs, two methods are used to determine
water saturation calculations depend upon the lithology of the the permeability of formations which are the Coates model
formations. The method for determining the lithology of tight and the SDR model. The Coates model or free-fluid method
formations is the same as that of conventional reservoirs, i.e., equation for permeability determination is given as:
it is determined by the SP log and GR log. Water saturation of ( )4 ( )2
𝜙NMR FFI
the tight formation can be determined from the resistivity log k= (6)
and by using the Archie equation. By knowing the porosity c BVI
from logs, a, m, n, and Rt, water saturation in a clean formation where k = NMR-derived permeability, 𝜙NMR = NMR-derived
can be determined from the Archie equation which is given as effective porosity, FFI = proportion of movable fluid occupy-
(Asquith et al. 2004; Archie 1942): ing effective porosity, BVI = proportion of capillary-bound
fluids occupying effective porosity, c = constant.
13
This method does not apply to the formation where there (a) Fractured vertical well
is the presence of heavy fluids because it is not possible to (b) Horizontal well drilling with or without fractures
distinguish high viscosity fluids from the bound fluids. The (c) Multilateral well
Kozeny correlation can be used to find the permeability of (d) Waterless fracturing
formation by using Eq. 7 (Asquith et al. 2004). (e) Miscible gas injection
( 2) (f) Coalbed methane gas injection methods
r
K= 𝜙 (7)
8𝜏 Fractured vertical well
where 𝜏 = tortuosity co-efficient, r = grain size radius.
The fracturing of the vertical well occurs through hydrau-
Log-derived permeability of the tight formation can be
lic fracturing. Fracturing is a well stimulation operation in
determined by the three methods which are Wyllie and Rose
which the permeability of the reservoir rock is increased
Method, Timur Method, Coates, and Dumanoir (Asquith
by creating multiple fractures into the reservoir (Ghosh
et al. 2004; Coates and Dumanoir 1973).
et al. 2014). These fractures can have a breadth of about
5 to 35 mm and a length of more than 100 m. The purpose
Petrophysical characterization of coalbed methane
of fracturing is to enhance the flow capacity by increasing
effective height (h) and permeability (k). The hydraulic frac-
The petrophysical characterization of CBM reservoirs consists
turing job is done using fracturing fluid which is pumped
of porosity, permeability, and reservoir quality index (RQI). The
from the surface at sufficiently high pressure to create the
economical production of coalbed methane reservoirs depends
fractures. Firstly, the pad fluid is injected at a pressure
on the four characteristics of a coal seam which are: permeability,
greater than the formation breakdown pressure. Fracturing
coal seam thickness, gas pressure, and gas content (McKee et al.
operations at the well site are carried out by heavy truck-
1988). The permeability of the coalbed is one of the important
mounted pumps and blenders, fluid tanks, and proppant
characteristics which are generated by natural fractures present
tanks (Muther et al. 2020a; Economides et al. 1994).
in the coal. The coal formation may squeeze due to the emission
As the fracture initiates, the fluid is continuously injected
of gas from coalbed and expand again on resorption (Shedid and
to extend the fractures further to the desired length. After-
Rahman 2009). During the primary production phase of meth-
ward slurry fluid that contains proppants, is transported into
ane gas from coalbed, two phenomena occur which makes the
the fracture. These proppants are used to keep the fracture
coal permeability decrease: first, the compaction of the reservoir
open and provide a path for fluid to flow through fractures
results in an increment of horizontal stress. Second, gas desorp-
after the pressure is released from the surface. After the job
tion results in the shrinkage of the coal matrix and increases cleat
is done, the remaining fracturing fluid in the reservoir is
permeability. Different models are used to describe the varia-
flushed out of the well (Muther et al. 2020b). This is used to
tion in the permeability of CBM reservoirs which include the
exploit the shale, tight sand, and limestone formations suc-
Mckee et al. model (McKee et al. 1988), Shi-Durucan model
cessfully. A summary of the treatment schedule for a fracture
(Shi and Durucan 2005), and Shedid. A. et al. correlation (Shedid
treatment taken from the literature is shown in Table 5. A
and Rahman 2009). In addition, the characterization of the free
comparison of well productivity with and without fracture
and adsorbed gas is very important as they play a huge role in
is presented in Fig. 21.
accurate reserve estimation. Generally, the adsorbed gas in coal
For hydraulic fracturing optimization, the most impor-
is measured through partial pressure of methane or the evalua-
tant parameter which controls the majority of production is
tion of water bubble point pressure to estimate critical desorption
fracture half-length. Meanwhile, fracture permeability also
pressure (CDP) (Pope et al. 2006; Carlson 2006). One important
plays a major share in the production (Muther et al. 2020b;
challenge to estimating adsorbed gas content is the uncertainty
Guo et al. 2007; McGuire and Sikora 1960). Hence, proper
of heterogeneous coal thickness. In addition, the uncertainties in
consideration should be given to these values for improving
initial water saturation and natural fracture porosity also present
the fracturing and well performance from low permeable
difficulties inaccurate calculations (Kalam et al. 2015; Altowilib
reservoirs. With this, the variation in fracture geometry also
et al. 2020).
influences the production performance. A comparative vari-
ation in productivity under different geometry scenarios is
given in Fig. 22.
Exploitation techniques of unconventional
resources
Horizontal well drilling with or without fractures
Considering such complex nature of unconventional hydro-
Horizontal well drilling is used to increase the contact area
carbon resources, they are generally be produced by follow-
of the reservoir, thereby increasing the production, and
ing fundamental techniques:
13
Table 5 A summary of fracture treatment in a single fractured vertical well (Muther et al. 2020b)
Stage # Stage type Elapsed Fluid type Clean volume (gal) Prop conc. (ppg) Stage Slurry rate (bpm) Proppant type
time prop.
min:sec (klbs)
1 Pad 8:55 PrimeFRAC 15 6000 0.00 0.0 16.00

2 Slurry 10:28 PrimeFRAC 15 1000 1.00 1.0 16.00 CarboProp 20/40
6 Slurry 59:58 PrimeFRAC 15 13,000 5.00 65.0 16.00 CarboProp 20/40
8 Flush 72:07 PrimeFRAC 15 6948 0.00 0.0 16.00
Design clean volume (bbls) 1046.4; Design proppant pumped (klbs) 127.0; Design slurry volume (bbls) 1154.1; Wellbore Volume 6948 gal
(164.5 bbls)
Fig. 21 Well flow rates and cumulative production comparison (Holditch 2006)
Fig. 22 Fracture Geometry

Comparison (Muther et al.
2020a)
enhancing the well deliverability of tight formations. Hori- well fracturing. Figure 23 shows the development scheme
zontal drilling has a lot of pros as it can enhance the well in unconventional deposits.
yield, oil and gas recovery, and minimize the well integrity The well recovery potential and the unconventional res-
problems (Memon et al. 2018). Horizontal drilling with frac- ervoir performance can be highly affected by the number
turing has made enormous importance in the exploration of fracturing clusters in a horizontal well. With the fracture
and exploitation of unconventional resources (Gomaa et al. half-length and permeability controlling the majority of
2014). By carrying out fracturing with horizontal well, it has recovery potential in an unconventional reservoir, the frac-
made the exploitation of competent tight and shale forma- ture cluster, however, in a horizontal well can significantly
tions which were not possible to exploit using the vertical improve the recovery. Meanwhile, the optimum clusters
13
should be identified before their selection. A schematic

representing fracture clusters is presented in Fig. 24. With
this, the effect of several clusters in a horizontal is shown in
Fig. 25 (Syed et al. 2020a).
The trend of using multi-fractured horizontal wells is
increasing worldwide for the exploitation of unconventional
reservoirs. In the USA, 69% of its all wells drilled for the
development of hydrocarbon include multi-frac horizontal
well technology and 83% of the total linear footage drilled
(refer Fig. 26) (EIA 2018).
Multi‑lateral well fracturing
Multi-lateral well fracturing is used to carry out the frac-

turing job from drilling a single well, and from that, the
cluster of multi strings is used to reduce the cost of land
occupation and maximize the production of wells. This is
used to reduce the cost of surface pipelines and eventually
maximize the recovery of unconventional shale and tight
Fig. 23 Development scheme in unconventional deposits (Intermount formations. The plug and perforating (PNP) and coil tub-
Oil and Gas BMP Project. 2020) ing activated completion system (CTACS) can be used in
the multi-lateral well fracturing to carry out the fracturing
in shale formations (Aaron Burton 2013). Increasing the
number of stages and using these completion techniques
can maximize the recovery factor of oil and gas production
Fig. 24 Fracture clusters’ repre-

sentation (Syed et al. 2020a)
Fig. 25 Fracture clusters’ per-

formance (Syed et al. 2020a)
13
Fig. 26 Well drilling footage (EIA 2018)
from the unconventional formation. However, increasing

the number of stages increases the cost of fracturing. In
the recent literature, a pilot well study suggests that it is
highly possible to drill, stimulate, and successfully produce
hydrocarbons through multi-lateral well completion (Wilcox
et al. 2019). A schematic description of such a technology
is shown in Fig. 27.
Waterless fracturing
Another technique that is used for the exploitation of uncon-

ventional shale and tight resources is waterless fracturing
(Wang et al. 2016b), since hydraulic fracturing consumes a
plethora amount of water and fracturing a well of shale for-
mations in drought areas is difficult (Wang et al. 2016b). The
major problem in the shale reservoirs is the reservoir het-
erogeneity and to overcome this obstacle needs an amount
of 10 million gallons of water. There are various types of Fig. 27 Multi-lateral well technology with hydraulic fractures in the
waterless fracturing, some of them are explosive, plasma laterals (Wilcox et al. 2019)
pulsed power, gas gun, and extreme overbalance techniques
(Unal et al. 2018), while other use CO2, LN2, and gaseous
nitrogen (GN2) as base fracturing fluids (Wang et al. 2016b; pressurized to high overbalance by using the nitrogen gas.
Memon et al. 2020d; Li et al. 2019b). This energy which is stored in tubing conveyed by gas is
The explosive technique involves the highest amount of released during the perforation job, thereby creating frac-
pressure and the least amount of time to create the fractures in shale and tight formations. The latest waterless frac-
tures in the formation followed by the plasma pulsed power turing technique which is widely used in the area of scarcity
technique and extreme overbalance (Unal et al. 2018). The of water resources is pulsed plasma fracturing in which the
explosive techniques use a negligible amount of water and fractures are created by using the high energy plasma pulsed.
use the explosive, propellant, dynamite, and stim gun to cre- The pressure which is generated by the plasma shockwave is
ate a pressure of around 1 million psi to fracture the forma- around 10,000–1,000,000 psi which creates the fractures in
tions and create a channel for allowing the oil and gas to multiple directions. The fracture propagation can be moni-
produce to the surface. The extreme overbalance technique tored by electromagnetic waves which are created during this
uses the tubing conveyed perforating gun which is highly technique (Xiao et al. 2018).
13
Table 6 LN2 fracturing application for improving properties of shale enhanced hydrocarbon recovery from such a complex tight/
sample (Memon et al. 2020d) shale system (Zhang et al. 2021b; Syed et al. 2022).
Parameters Improvement In addition, the applicability of single-well-based huff-
n-puff CO2 is found to be a productive option in unconven-
Porosity 3.78% to max. 6.92%
tional reservoirs due to its underlying complexities such as
Permeability Low confining stress:
dual-porosity, ultra-tight permeability, and no/minimal inter-
1.13 mD to 2 mD (in 30 min
treatment) well geological connectivity. A schematic representing the
1.13 mD to 3.9 mD (in 60 min mechanism of CO2 huff-n-puff at pore scale is presented in
treatment) Fig. 28. The huff-n-puff process works in three stages: (1)
1.13 mD to 5.2 mD (in 90 min
injection of C O2, (2) C
O2 soaking and (3) flow back. The
treatment)
High confining stress: soaking period is an important stage where the CO2 dif-
0.004 md to a maximum of fuses into the oil resulting in the oil swelling and reduction
1.4 md under the stress of in its viscosity (Syed et al. 2022; Wang et al. 2021a). In
7000 psi
addition, the performance of the huff-n-puff is dependent
on the efficient CO2 diffusion and miscibility of the (Zhang
et al. 2021a).
In the recent literature, the application of cryogenic L
N2
fracturing improves the porosity and permeability under
CBM gas injection methods
various confining stress and treatment time of an uncon-
ventional shale sample (Memon et al. 2020d, 2021). The
Coalbed methane is produced by gas injection methods.
improvements are summarized in Table 6.
Mostly CO2 is used for the production of methane from the
coal seams. The swelling effect is created by injecting carbon
Miscible gas injection
dioxide gas which accelerates the methane desorption and
diffusion process, thereby maintaining the reservoir pressure
The injection of gas to enhance hydrocarbon recovery has
which keeps the macro-pores opens and results in maximiz-
been widely used in many reservoirs (Syed 2012; Syed et al.
ing the production of methane gas. However, nitrogen gas is
2012, 2019, 2020c). Specifically, enhancing the hydrocarbon
also used for the desorption of methane from coal seams, but
recovery through gas injection such as C O2, N2, hydrocar-
it results in the early breakthrough of injected gas. The com-
bon gas in tight/shale reservoirs is getting a lot of attention
bination of N2 and CH4 enhances the production of methane.
nowadays owing to its high volatility, low viscosity, and
Several techniques have been used for enhancing the recov-
easier flow in low-permeable media (Sorensen et al. 2015;
ery of methane gas from these unconventional reservoirs;
Ren et al. 2016). Out of these gases, C O2 is a highly fea-
one of them is injecting a mixture of both these gases N2 and
sible option to recover hydrocarbon from unconventional
CH4 with less carbon-dioxide concentrations and continues
reservoirs, which is proved through various laboratory meas-
by raising its proportion results the better recovery of meth-
urements, field trials, and extensive numerical simulations.
ane gas (Sayyafzadeh et al. 2015).
The main contributing factors causing the success of CO2
injection are viscosity reduction, oil swelling, wettability
alteration, and molecular diffusion (Zhang et al. 2021a; Syed
et al. 2011). Environmentally C O2 injection will result in a Recent advances in unconventional
greenhouse effect through its trapping into the nano- tight resources development optimization
pores of unconventional reservoirs (Ren et al. 2016; Al-
Yaseri et al. 2022). The combination of a hydraulic frac- As specified earlier that multiple techniques help in the
turing network with CO2 capability results in an efficient development of unconventional resources. However,
the optimization of these techniques is necessary to be
Fig. 28 Miscible CO2 injection

mechanism in a shale oil reser-
voir (Syed et al. 2022)
13
considered for maximizing the production from such and optimization algorithm, an efficient decision on well
resources. Recent advances in computational power and placement and control in such reservoirs containing geologi-
machine learning technologies have paved the way to opti- cal uncertainties can be made. The gradient-based recov-
mize such resources with a minimal computational expense. ery optimization and derivative-free methods are usually
The machine learning methods such as Artificial Neural adopted for such purposes. In general, the methods such as
Networks (ANN), Deep Neural Networks (DNN), Long- PSO, GA, Simultaneous Perturbation Stochastic Approxi-
Short-Term Memory (LSTM), Support Vector Machines mation (SPSA) algorithm, Stochastic Simplex Approximate
(SVM), Random Forest Regression (RF), Decision Tree Gradient (StoSAG), and Simulated Annealing (SA) have
(DT) have been used to predict future production perfor- been used for vertical, horizontal, deviated well, and intel-
mance and expected ultimate recovery (EUR) of unconven- ligent well placements. For incorporating geological uncer-
tional reservoirs. Such networks are also utilized to estimate tainties in the optimization problem, Probability Density
gas demand, determine the impact of reservoir and fracture Functions (PDF), different sampling methods, and Monte-
parameters on production, design maximum reservoir con- Carlo simulation techniques are usually used; however, they
tact (MRC), and predict petrophysical and geomechanical require high computational loads because of the high num-
properties in an unconventional reservoir (Syed et al. 2021a, ber of realization for efficient optimization problems. Dif-
2020b; Muther et al. 2021a; Lee et al. 2019; Asala et al. ferent researchers reduced this computational expense by
2017; Alabboodi and Mohaghegh 2016; Alqahtani 2015; solving optimization problems through a statistical proxy,
Kamari et al. 2017; Wang et al. 2021b; Liang and Zhao retrospection optimization (RO), and reduced sampling
2019; Pham et al. 2021a). In addition, applications of these strategy. Also, sequential iterative approaches on short- and
machine learning techniques along with different optimiza- long-term periods and surrogate treatments (ST) have also
tion algorithms have been utilized to optimize hydrocarbon been proposed for such optimization. In addition, clustering
recovery specifically through CO2 injection (Syed et al. has been usually adopted for determining the representative
2022; Esmaili and Mohaghegh 2016). In addition, closed- set of samples for realization. Also, the Net Present Value
loop reservoir management (CLRM) techniques have also (NPV) is usually taken as an objective function (Jesmani
been implemented to find the optimal production strategies et al. 2020; Salehian et al. 2021a, 2021b, 2020; Chen et al.
and avoid wrong decisions due to the presence of uncertain- 2012; Shirangi and Durlofsky 2016; Wang et al. 2012; Sefat
ties in the reservoir (Bowie 2018). et al. 2016; Moraes et al. 2019; Mohsin Siraj et al. 2017;
Similarly, various machine learning and optimization Brito and Durlofsky 2021; Lu and Reynolds 2020; Fonseca
techniques have been presented to optimize hydraulic frac- et al. 2020).
ture design to recover most hydrocarbons from unconven-
tional reservoirs. ANN and DNN have been widely used by
various researchers to optimize hydraulic fracture design. Discussion
Different design parameters are included in the network to
study their impacts on production and optimize the over- Unconventional liquids and gases are the two main resources
all fracture design. The parameters include well log data; of unconventional hydrocarbons. The factors which make
production history; fracture parameters including fracture them called unconventional liquids and gases are their den-
length, width, height, permeability, conductivity, matrix- sity, viscosity, hydrogen/carbon ratio in the oil and most
fracture permeability ratio, fracture tonnage, pump rate, importantly the geological properties of the rock (resource)
stage count, injection volume, etc.; well completion param- itself, which includes low to very low porosity and perme-
eters such as perforation design; etc. (Sprunger et al. 2021; ability (shale, tight and coalbed methane rocks). With the
Muther et al. 2021a; Thanh et al. 2020; Barros et al. 2020; increasing demand for oil and gas, these unconventional
Luo et al. 2018; Gu et al. 2016; Pham et al. 2021b, c). More- hydrocarbon resources must be extracted and produced to
over, different techniques such as Particle Swarm Optimiza- their full potential to bridge the gap between the world's
tion (PSO), Genetic Algorithm (GA), Cohort Intelligence energy demand and supply which is expected to increase
(CI), Teaching–Learning Based Optimization (TLBO) have between 15 and 55% in various regions of the world. Again,
also been used for fracture design optimization (Muther their exploration and production are critical in terms of
et al. 2021b; Mohaghegh et al. 1999; Odedele and Ibrahim sustainable energy as these resources are spread at higher
2017). volumes all over the world as compared to conventional
In addition, well placement and control optimization is resources. These resources, however, present a variety of
critical in unconventional reservoirs to maximize the pro- challenges in exploration and production that varies from
duction capabilities from the reservoir. Many computational one area to another depending on the technological advance-
methods have been adapted to solve such optimization prob- ments, project economics, and availability of the subject
lems. Depending upon the choice of optimization function experts.
13
These unconventional resources have complex geology coming years will be swelling due to the growing number
with developed heterogeneities and uncertainties. The of industries around the world which will ultimately compel
geological development of such resources is bifurcated the exploration and production (E&P) companies to launch
into two main factors including the primary and second- more research and development (R&D) projects and invest
ary. Mineralogy, grain size and sorting, lithification, prov- huge money on unconventional driven projects.
enance, depositional environment, and flow regime come
under primary factors, whereas development of fractures,
tectonics, and diagenesis, including compaction, cemen- Conclusion
tation, and dissolution, lies under secondary geological
factors. Due to such complex processes, the pores' throats This review paper focuses on the study of unconventional
and their connections are very small developing the low hydrocarbons including their nature, geology, and exploi-
porosities and ultra-low permeabilities with underlying tation procedure. It further discusses the state-of-the-art
heterogeneities including the important natural fractures technologies currently available to produce and charac-
and adsorption phenomena. terize unconventional hydrocarbons. The very reason for
Due to such complex structure and processes involved, focusing on unconventional methods is because of their
their characterization is highly intricate but important huge existence around the world as compared to conven-
to consider since these complex features highly impact tional ones. Considering the detailed discussion about the
the fluid flow from such resources. Different core analy- unconventional fluids and their resources, the following
sis techniques including SEM, XRD, micro-CT, etc., and major points can be summarized:
logging tools such as porosity logs, density logs, gamma-
ray logs, borehole images, resistivity logs, etc. are highly • It has been analyzed that there are a huge number of
used to characterize such resources effectively. Since hydrocarbons trapped in unconventional resources
these resources vary with conventional reservoirs in many with lower permeability reservoirs containing a higher
aspects; hence, the conventional correlations and analysis amount of oil and gas.
are modified to include various geological and petrophysi- • The geology of unconventional reservoirs is highly
cal complexities of unconventional resources. Currently, ubiquitous. The tightness of the formation, the hetero-
digital rock physics and the power of machine learning for geneous layers distribution, mineralogy, pore throat
lithology, and petrophysical features identification have structure, sorption, and others are responsible for its
paved the way for fast and accurate analysis. ubiquitous nature. Such a nature restricts the hydrocar-
Again, due to the ubiquitous nature of unconvention- bon flow in the reservoirs.
als, state-of-the-art technologies including the multistaged • The petrophysical distribution of unconventional res-
hydraulic fracturing in the vertical well; horizontal well; ervoirs is completely different from conventional res-
and multilateral well, waterless fracturing, gas injection, ervoirs. Some complex lithological responses present
and enhanced oil recovery methods are utilized to recover challenges in evaluating the exact porosities and per-
hydrocarbon from such reservoirs with better econom- meabilities of the formation. Meanwhile, different con-
ics. The execution of these methods is only finalized once ventional correlations have been updated and new cor-
the reservoir geological and petrophysical properties are relations have been presented to accommodate various
determined. unconventional resource factors to accurately estimate
Due to the advancement in computational technologies, water saturation, permeability, and porosity. Moreover,
machine learning methods and optimization algorithms specialized equipment has also been designed for the
have been widely used to understand the nature of uncon- above purpose.
ventional reservoirs and deal with challenges they pose • Different geological and petrophysical parameters must
in terms of geological and petrophysical characterization, also be identified with great certainty for the determi-
optimization of the production strategies, developing a nation of unconventional hydrocarbons.
field plan, and optimization of the economics of the pro- • The development of unconventional hydrocarbons is
ject. This advancement resulted in making unconventional highly dependent on the economics and availability of
reservoir decisions with less computational cost and in a highly intense production techniques. The advanced
short time. techniques including horizontal and multilateral wells,
In a nutshell, there is a huge potential of trapped uncon- different fracturing techniques, and gas injection can
ventional hydrocarbons that need to be extracted with be used widely for the unconventionals’ exploitation.
advanced technology keeping in mind the economics, tech- Meanwhile, the technical parameters of such techniques
nical, and technological feasibility of the projects. It can should be studied in depth for proper implementation
be said without any doubt that the demand for fossil fuel in and improvement in hydrocarbon production.
13
• The developments in computational techniques such as Archie GE (1942) The electrical resistivity log as an aid in determin-
machine learning and optimization methods have allowed ing some reservoir characteristics. Trans AIME 146(01):54–62
Armstrong RT et al (2018) Porous media characterization using
the exploration, characterization, and development of Minkowski functionals: theories, applications and future direc-
unconventional reservoirs with less computational effort. tions. Transp Porous Media 130(1):305–335
Asala HI, Chebeir J, Zhu W, Gupta I, Taleghani AD, Romagnoli J
(2017) A machine learning approach to optimize shale gas supply
Funding This research did not receive any specific grant from funding chain networks. In SPE annual technical conference and exhibi-
agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. tion. OnePetro
Asquith GB, Krygowski D, Gibson CR (2004) Basic well log analysis.
American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Tulsa, OK
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hydrocarbon resource plays in Pakistan: an overview Awaken-
Conflict of interest Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest. ing a South East Asian Sleeping Giant-Technological Solutions
to Unlock the Vast Unconventional Reserves of Pakistan. Search
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attri- and Discovery Article, 80216
bution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adapta- Barros EGD, Van den Hof PMJ, Jansen JD (2020) Informed production
tion, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long optimization in hydrocarbon reservoirs. Optim Eng 21(1):25–48
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, Bhutta Z (2015) Pakistan has 10,159 Tcf of shale gas deposits: USAID.
provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes The Express Tribune. https://tribun e.c om.p k/s tory/9 94883/hydro
were made. The images or other third party material in this article are carbon-presence-pakist an-has-10159-tcf-of-shale-gas-depos
included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated its-usaid/
otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in Blunt MJ et al (2013) Pore-scale imaging and modelling. Adv Water
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Unconventional Hydrocarbon Resources: - Geological Statistics

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Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology (2022) 12:1463–1488

REVIEW PAPER-PRODUCTION ENGINEERING

Unconventional hydrocarbon resources: geological statistics,

Introduction respectively, with a total of 5 × ­1012 t in total (Caineng et al.

without being diluted or heated (Gordon 2012). The param-

The demand for natural gas is currently increas-

Different countries unconventional

China consists of vast unconventional resources in major

Table 2 Total distribution of Continent Resources/1012 ­m3

North America 38.8 85.4 108.8 233.0

Table 3 Tight/shale resources Region Resource play Region Resource play

Administration. 2015a; Guoxin and Rukai 2020). The distri-

The unconventional resources in Australia are very abundant.

Fig. 7 US CBM proved reserves (U.S. EIA 2019)

Fig. 8 China’s unconventional resources by basin (MMboe) (Zhu 2019)

Fig. 9 China’s gas reserves

way back in 1996, whereas tight and shale oil/gas exploration

Fig. 11 Australia Gas Resources (Geoscience Australia and BREE

Fig. 14 Total known Tight Gas Resources in Pakistan (Alam 2010;

Administration (USEIA) published before. Table 4 shows

Table 4 Shale reserves in Pakistan

USEIA 2011 206 51 – – Kuuskraa et al. 2011)

dissolution. Tectonics plays a critical part in the devel-

Geologic features of Shale resources

The shale formation mainly consists of clay minerals that

Fig. 18 Permeability ranges of

which results in the decrease in reservoir pressure, thereby • Porosity Logs

where 𝜌b = density log reading, 𝜌ma = matrix density, ( ( ) ) 1n

1 Pad 8:55 PrimeFRAC 15 6000 0.00 0.0 16.00

Fig. 22 Fracture Geometry

should be identified before their selection. A schematic

Multi‑lateral well fracturing

Multi-lateral well fracturing is used to carry out the frac-

Fig. 24 Fracture clusters’ repre-

Fig. 25 Fracture clusters’ per-

Fig. 26 Well drilling footage (EIA 2018)

from the unconventional formation. However, increasing

Another technique that is used for the exploitation of uncon-

Fig. 28 Miscible ­CO2 injection

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Introduction respectively, with a total of 5 × 1012 t in total (Caineng et al.

Table 2 Total distribution of Continent Resources/1012 m3

Fig. 28 Miscible CO2 injection