Strategic Reservoir Management for Sustainable Tight Gas Extraction: Navigating Future Prospects and Challenges in Exploration

Abstract

Abstract The growing global energy demand has brought unconventional resources into focus, with tight gas sandstones holding significant importance and promise. Tight gas sandstones are characterized by low permeability but contain substantial amounts of natural gas. Efficient gas production from these reservoirs necessitates a comprehensive understanding of their geological and physical properties, including sedimentary facies, depositional setting, diagenesis, flow units, porosity, permeability, fluid saturation, capillary pressure, and pore size distribution. This paper provides an overview of tight gas sandstone reservoirs, their distribution, and their global significance. The main challenges in tight gas extraction include environmental concerns, regulatory frameworks, water usage, reservoir characteristics, and economics. To overcome these challenges, cutting-edge production and retrieval approaches are employed, including horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing, and advanced wellbore imaging. Additionally, artificial intelligence is increasingly applied in reservoir characterization to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of reservoir modeling and evaluation. This research explores the application of different AI techniques in characterizing tight gas reservoirs, aiming to minimize uncertainty in estimating rock properties and identifying pay zones within gas fields. The strategic management of tight gas reservoirs is crucial for sustainable development, and this paper highlights the technological advancements and sustainable practices that have significantly improved extraction efficiency, emphasizing the role of reservoirs in enhancing energy security and generating economic gains.