A Workflow for Integrated Geological Modeling for Shale Gas Reservoirs: A Case Study of the Fuling Shale Gas Reservoir in the Sichuan Basin, China

Table 2

Modeling methods and evaluation of hydraulic fracturing in shale gas reservoirs.

Method	Hydraulic fracture propagation simulation	Hydraulic fracture inversion modeling
Key technologies	(1) Hydraulic fracture morphology description; (2) Hydraulic fracture simulation method and algorithm; (3) Simulation of hydraulic fracture properties	(1) Hydraulic fracture path simulation; (2) Correlation between the microseismic event density distribution attributes and the fracture degree; (3) Calculate the fracture location and distribution direction in the process of fracturing; (4) Construct the discrete fracture network model of compressional fractures; (5) Calculation of hydraulic fracture sweep volume
Advantages	Combined with the natural fracture model; The simulation results reflect the controlling factors of hydraulic fracture distribution	Effectively integrate microseismic information; The simulated results are consistent with the actual hydraulic fracture distribution
Disadvantages	With many assumptions, the uncertainty of natural fracture simulation is transmitted to a large extent by the simulation results; The simulation results cannot guarantee that the hydraulic fracture distribution is consistent with the actual fracture location	The simulation results do not reflect the influence of natural fractures and shale reservoir properties on hydraulic fractures; The simulation results cannot guarantee that the distribution of hydraulic fracture conforms to the theory of elongation