A Reaction-Transport-Mechanical Approach to Modeling the Interrelationships Among Gas Generation, Overpressuring, and Fracturing: Implications for the Upper Cretaceous Natural Gas Reservoirs of the Piceance Basin, Colorado¹

Dorothy F. Payne,² Kagan Tuncay,³ Anthony Park,³ John B. Comer,⁴ and Peter Ortoleva³

©Copyright 2000. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.
¹Manuscript received November 9, 1998; revised manuscript received July 12, 1999; final acceptance October 15, 1999.
²Laboratory for Computational Geodynamics, Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405. Present address: USGS Water Resources Division, Peachtree Business Center, 3039 Amwiler Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30360-2824.
³Laboratory for Computational Geodynamics, Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405.
⁴Indiana Geological Survey, 611 North Walnut Grove, Bloomington, Indiana 47405-2208.
This study forms part of the dissertation research for D. F. Payne, for which valuable funding assistance was provided by Phillips Petroleum in the form of a Graduate Research Fellowship. Additional funding was provided by Advanced Resources International, Chevron U.S.A., U.S. Department of Energy Basic Energy Research Program, and Gas Research Institute. Thanks are also extended to Barrett Resources International for supplying data and information, and to Tom Hoak of Kestrel Geosciences for the benefit of his knowledge about Piceance basin research activities.

ABSTRACT

Predicting reservoir characteristics in tight-gas sandstone reservoirs, such as those of the Upper Cretaceous units of the Piceance basin, is difficult due to the interactions of multiple processes acting on sediments during basin development. To better understand the dynamics of these systems, a forward numerical model, which accounts for compaction, fracturing, hydrocarbon generation, and multiphase flow (BasinRTM) is used in a one-dimensional simulation of the U.S. Department of Energy's Multiwell Experiment (MWX) site in the Piceance basin. Of particular interest is the effect of gas generation on the dynamics of the system.