Tight gas

An illustration of tight gas compared to other types of gas deposits.

Tight gas is natural gas produced from reservoir rocks with such low permeability that massive hydraulic fracturing is necessary to produce the well at economic rates. Tight gas reservoirs are generally defined as having less than 0.1 millidarcy (mD) matrix permeability and less than ten percent matrix porosity. Although shales have low permeability and low effective porosity, shale gas is usually considered separate from tight gas, which is contained most commonly in sandstone, but sometimes in limestone. Tight gas is considered an unconventional source of natural gas.

Rock with permeabilities as little as one nanodarcy, reservoir stimulation may be economically productive with optimized spacing and completion of staged fractures to maximize yield concerning cost.

Examples

Some examples of tight gas reservoirs are:

• Muddy Sandstone/J Sandstone — Wattenberg Gas Field, Denver Basin, Colorado, USA
• Mesaverde Group — Piceance Basin, Colorado, USA
• Rotliegend — Germany and Netherlands
• Utica - Appalachian Basin, USA & Parts of Canada

See also

• Shale gas
• Tight oil
• Tight gas training