Despite the abundance of shale reserves throughout the world, successful exploitation of shale presents a unique set of challenges for the geoscientist. Deposits are known to have significant variation in geology, geochemistry and geo-mechanical properties from one basin to another, and often within the same play. Production of shale gas comes mainly from targeting sweet spots in the reservoir, making evaluation of the density and structural orientation of the fracture systems critical.

The development phase presents challenges around steering horizontal wells within narrow pay zones and a thorough understanding of rock properties is required to avoid geo-hazards and design effective hydraulic fracture jobs to stimulate the maximum volume of reservoir and optimize recoverable reserves. 

Speed in decision-making and operational efficiency are critical to success. With narrow economics, drilling efficiency is imperative for all operators. IHS unconventional solutions can be applied to key North American and global shale resource basins and plays including the Eagle Ford, Montney, Marcellus, Horn River, Poland Shale Plays and more.

Shale Play Spotlight: Eagle Ford

• An Eagle’s Eye View of a Top Unconventional Play – The Eagle Ford
• View Discover Unconventional Opportunities with IHS Kingdom, Petra and GeoSyn Webinar
• View Analysis of the Eagle Ford using Pre- and Post-Stack Seismic Attributes Video

Gas and oil are both being increasingly unlocked from tight resources, namely, lower permeability rocks. Using the same technology developed to release gas from shale beds, extended-reach horizontal drilling and multi-stage fracs, producers are transforming the US oil industry. With these new technologies at hand, producers have been able to redevelop mature fields by enhancing oil recoveries, as well as expand established gas plays into new oil windows. The change is happening fast, and tight oil could account for 50 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the next decade.

Of course, there are a number of above ground risks that producers face in this new world including government regulation, new taxes and the growing public concern of environmental safety issues surrounding fraccing. IHS has the research, insight and critical information to assist you in meeting these challenges in the changing energy landscape.

IHS Unconventional Solutions can be applied to key North American tight oil resource basins and plays including the Bakken, Eagle Ford, Viking, Montney, Niobrara and more.

Tight Oil Play Spotlight: Eagle Ford

• New Study Assesses the Potential for North American Tight Oil
• IHS Herold Global Upstream M&A Review Excerpt

The North American energy industry is on the wave of new Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) supply that offers significant opportunities for all participants along the NGLs value chain. However, the enormous potential of these new NGLs supplies is accompanied by a number of challenges to companies interested in fully realizing the benefits afforded by these new NGLs-related business opportunities. North American NGLs production is poised to increase sharply in conjunction with expected rapid growth in gas production, particularly from shale gas and tight oil formations. As the principal contributors to the growth in NGLs supplies, shale gas plays prove to have surprisingly diverse compositions. Within certain shale plays there can be a fine line between significant volumes of associated gas liquids and relatively "dry" gas. However in some shale gas plays, such as the Marcellus, gas located in some of the wetter portions of the play may not be produced because either the facilities to extract and transport the liquids are inadequate or local market demand is insufficient to support NGLs development.

The market value of associated gas liquids generally provides an economic benefit and increases the viability of shale gas project economics, especially in low gas price environments. In an environment of ample NGLs supplies, finding markets to absorb the associated gas liquids may be a challenge, as traditional end uses become saturated, increasing the likelihood that gas liquids prices could become depressed. IHS Unconventional Solutions can be applied to key North American NGLs resource basins and plays including the Marcellus, Horn River, Montney and more.

NGLs Spotlight: Marcellus

• Rebalancing NGLs in an Unconventional North America
• IHS Herold Global Upstream M&A Review Excerpt

The Canadian Oil Sands lie at the intersection of crucial challenges between balancing economic growth, energy security and safeguards for the environment. The choices that governments, companies and communities make in managing the interplay of these challenges will be critical in determining the pace and outcome of investments in the oil sands. Development of the oil sands poses a number of opportunities and challenges, with a wide spectrum of views on each. IHS has the tools to highlight these challenges through various reports and datasets, all of which identify complex topics clearly, recognize what is known and unknown and provide a concise summary of the issues and uncertainties.

Canadian Oil Sands in Spotlight

• Special Report: Assessing Environmental Regulations in the Canadian Oil Sands, December 2011
  
• Special Report: Major Sources of US Oil Supply: The Challenge of Comparisons, October 2011
  
• Special Report: The Role of the Canadian Oil Sands in the US Market: Energy Security, Changing Supply Trends, and the Keystone XL Pipeline, June 2011 
  
• Special Report: Oil Sands, Greenhouse Gases, and European Oil Supply: Getting the Numbers Right,  April 2011
  
• Special Report: Canadian Oil Sands Face US GHG Policy Uncertainty, April 2011
  
• Special Report: Oil Sands Technology: Past, Present, and Future, January 2011 
  
• Special Report: Oil Sands, Greenhouse Gases, and US Oil Supply: Getting the Numbers Right, September 2010
  
• Special Report: The Role of Canadian Oil Sands in US Oil Supply, April 2010
  
• Multiclient Study: Growth in the Canadian Oil Sands: Finding the New Balance, May 2009
  
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on the IHS CERA Oil Sands, Greenhouse Gases, and US Oil Supply: Getting the Numbers Right?
  
• IHS Herold Global Upstream M&A Review Excerpt