Unconventional gas resources refer to natural gas reserves in the tight sands or carbonates, shales, and in coals. There are many factors that differentiate these unconventional reservoirs from the conventional reservoirs. Unlike conventional reservoirs, unconventional reservoirs have large areal extent, not easily accessible, have significantly high development cost, and are characterised by extremely low flow capacity and high in-situ stress conditions. To produce from vast geographical areas requires drilling significantly large number of wells to achieve a large reservoir contact.
The completion assembly needs to be robust to ascertain that wells can be fractured even with high fracture gradients. The mechanisms to produce from such unconventional sources are very difficult and challenging—extensive reservoir engineering and management skills are required for successful development and exploitation of hydrocarbons. The application of novel technologies and methodologies in exploration, drilling, completion, fracturing, and production is required to enhance production and to make these resources commercial.
The most significant part in the development of unconventional gas is the successful implementation of hydraulic fracturing technology. However, the prerequisites to have an optimum fracture treatment cover a wide range of factors—proper selection of well location, drilling azimuth, landing point, reservoir contact, completion strategy, use of best fluids and proppant types, and critical design of fracture treatment with regards to fracture stages, pump schedule, volume, and injection rate.
The Unconventional Gas Fracturing workshop will focus and emphasise on the following critical factors:

• Reservoir Evaluation—Petrophysics, logging and coring, geology, geophysics.
• Drilling and Geomechanics—Directional drilling, pad drilling, wellbore stability, static geomechanical model from offset wells, real-time geomechanics, real-time microseismic.
• Completion Options—Open hole, plug and perf, multistage frac assembly, mechanical packers, swell packers.
• Perforation Options—Deep penetration, slotting, big holes.
• Fracturing Fluids—Gel loading, non-damaging fluids, shear and temperature tolerant, additives (breakers, buffers, and other chemicals).
• Proppant—Mesh, concentration, types, RCP, rod-shaped proppants, strength.
• Fracture Treatment Design—Optimisation based on production increase and economics.
• Execution and Monitoring—Pressure response, microseismic.
• Post Frac Cleanup and Testing—Fracture fluid degradation, fluid volume monitoring, forced closure, rate and pressure measurement.
• Pressure Transient Testing—Pre and post-fracture buildup test, fracture signature, fracture conductivity and geometry.
• Production Data Analysis—Short and long-term production monitoring.
• Assessing actual conductivity and fracture dimension—evaluation of field data to compute post-frac conductivity and fracture-length.
• Re-fracturing—Need, design, implementation, and results
• Case Studies.
• New Technologies—Completion and fracture fluids and proppants, fracturing technology.
• Water Resources and Management—Use of water from sources like sea, producing formation, and other brackish aquifers.
• Best Practices—Fracturing efficiency, cleanup procedure, minimise formation damage.
• Logistical challenges, transportation, horsepower, and supply chain management.