What is the Barnett Shale formation?

The Barnett Shale is a geological formation located in the Bend Arch-Fort Worth Basin. It consists of sedimentary rocks dating from the Mississippian period (354–323 million years ago) in Texas. The formation underlies the city of Fort Worth and underlies 5,000 mi² (13,000 km²) and at least 17 counties.

What is the Barnett Shale Texas?

The Barnett Shale is a geological formation and rich source of natural gas located in the Fort Worth Basin in Northeast Texas. The shale consists of sedimentary rock made of clay and quartz and spans 5,000 square miles, beneath about 18 North Texas counties.

Why does hydraulic fracturing have to be done?

Deeper coal formations might require hydraulic fracturing to release the natural gas. Tight Sands. Tight sands are gas-bearing, fine-grained sandstones or carbonates with a low permeability. Unless natural fractures are present, almost all tight sand reservoirs require hydraulic fracturing to release gas.

What is driving the refracturing boom in the Barnett Shale?

For example, a Mitchell Energy Corp. refrac program in the Barnett Shale in the late 1990s demonstrated enhanced production from vertical Barnett gas wells as a result of refracture reorientation. This advancement of technology is driving the boom in refracturing.

What is Barnett Shale gas reservoir?

The Barnett shale gas reservoir is among the unconventional resources in the United States which have been successfully developed due to hydraulic fracturing treatments. It covers 12950 km 2 and the gas-shale zone is located at a depth of 8000 ft.

Is Barnett Shale rock brittle and fracable?

For the rock to be brittle and fracable in Barnett shale, the brittleness ratio has to be more than 50 and fracability ratio must be less than 1. These two equations were developed based on the Barnett Shale reservoir, which has the best E and Poisson’s ratio as compared to other shale plays across North America.

How successful are refracs in the shale?

Successful design and application of refracs depends on finding and refining the refracture treatment. At first, refracs in shales were thought to only be extending the reach of the fracture stimulation through using large volumes of slickwater, replacing the higher-cost foam or gelled fracturing fluids.