Micro-heterogeneity in low-permeability sandstone oil reservoirs significantly influences the uniformity of water injection during development. This leads to the formation of preferred channels for water injection, causing premature water breakthroughs in oil wells. Not only does this reduce oil displacement efficiency, but it also enriches residual oil in the formation, which ultimately impacts the overall recovery rate. This study employed various methods, including thin-section casting, qualitative analysis through scanning electron microscopy, quantitative analysis of X-ray diffraction, high-pressure mercury intrusion and particle size, and experimental techniques, such as wettability and micro-displacement, to investigate the impact mechanism of micro-heterogeneity on water injection development in low-permeability oil reservoirs. A typical low-permeability sandstone oil reservoir in the Ordos Basin was used as a case study. The results reveal that the reservoir’s micro-heterogeneity is determined by the heterogeneity of the interstitial material, porosity, and particle size. Micro-heterogeneity plays a critical role in the flow characteristics and oil displacement efficiency of low-permeability oil reservoirs. The less the micro-heterogeneity, the better the water injection development outcome. This study suggests a technical policy adjustment method that is critical for guiding the development of low-permeability water injection oil reservoirs, thereby improving the effectiveness of water injection development.

Wellbore instability mainly occurs in shale formations, and it is of great significance to deeply analyze the characteristics of shale-failure behavior to evaluate the stability of the shale surrounding the well wall during drilling. Through a uniaxial compression experiment and DIC technology, the whole strain field of shale specimens with prefabricated holes and cracks under uniaxial compression is measured. The experimental data of load, displacement and strain field are analyzed comprehensively. The results show that the fracture location and expansion path of shale are closely related to the evolution of the strain field. The evolution of the strain field directly affects the failure behavior of the rock. Under the action of load, local high strain will first appear around the initial shale defects (pores and fractures), and stress concentration will occur. With the increase of load, cracks and failures will first appear in the local high-strain zone, and the failure will spread along the region and path and eventually lead to the overall failure of the rock. The establishment of a description method for shale-failure behavior through strain-field evolution can effectively analyze the crack behavior of shale with initial defects such as holes and cracks and provide theoretical and experimental bases for the stability evaluation of the shale surrounding the well wall, including shale-strength prediction and shale-failure mechanism.

The fracture toughness of shale is a basic parameter that can provide effective theoretical support for wellbore stability and hydraulic fracturing of a shale reservoir. Due to the composition and microstructure, there are many problems in evaluating the mechanical properties of shale in a macroscopic test. In this paper, the composition and pore distribution of shale were studied by X-ray diffraction and nuclear magnetic resonance. Scanning electron microscopy was used to characterize the pore structure. The setting of experimental parameters and the selection of the indenter were discussed. Micro-indentation technique was proposed and applied to fracture toughness analysis of shale. The results show that Berkovich indenter is more suitable for shale indentation test than Vickers indenter. Fracture toughness of shale indentation is obviously affected by surface roughness and indentation position. Fracture toughness of shale decreases slightly with the increase of the indentation load. The energy analysis result presents that the effect of cracking on the ratio of total/unloading work is minimal when there is no significant stripping on the shale surface. Compared with the experimental method, energy methods can obtain all the analysis parameters from a single indentation test. The results of comparative analysis with macroscopic experiments display that micro-indentation test can effectively predict the macroscopic fracture toughness of shale.

Damage mechanics and rheological mechanics are combined to solve the shale sidewall instability problems in oil and gas drilling engineering. The microcracks in the shale sidewall rocks and the rheological effect caused by the physical and chemical interplay between the inflow fluid and underground fluids are studied. According to nuclear magnetic resonance analysis, mechanics experiments and theoretical analysis, the hydration damage variables characterized by the NMR T₂ spectrum are established. A creep model for shale considering hydration and creep damage is proposed. It shows the creep characteristics and evolution process from spreading, propagation, and transfixion to the collapse of the initial imperfection, after the hydration of shale sidewall surrounding rocks. It is the basic theory proposed to study side wall creep damage instability. The results show that the creep of the shale is a nonlinear rheology. Due to the influence of hydration, the pore structure of the rock sample was redistributed, and the signal amplitude of the measured T₂ curve changed significantly. During the course of the loading process, the rock samples undergo three stages: decay creep, constant velocity creep and acceleration creep. The creep strain of the sample increased with increased moisture content, and the creep rate increased with increased stress. Graphical Abstract Graphical Abstract

The accurate prediction of gas well production is one of the key factors affecting the economical and efficient development of tight gas wells. The traditional oil and gas well production prediction method assumes strict conditions and has a low prediction accuracy in actual field applications. At present, intelligent algorithms based on big data have been applied in oil and gas well production prediction, but there are still some limitations. Only learning from data leads to the poor generalization ability and anti-interference ability of prediction models. To solve this problem, a production prediction method of tight gas wells based on the decline curve and data-driven neural network is established in this paper. Based on the actual production data of fractured horizontal wells in three tight gas reservoirs in the Ordos Basin, the prediction effect of the Arps decline curve model, the SPED decline curve model, the MFF decline curve model, and the combination of the decline curve and data-driven neural network model is compared and analyzed. The results of the case analysis show that the MFF model and the combined data-driven model have the highest accuracy, the average absolute percentage error is 14.11%, and the root-mean-square error is 1.491, which provides a new method for the production prediction of tight gas wells in the Ordos Basin.

In the process of high flow rate fracture and high gas production, the sealing performance of the premium connection decreases due to the dynamic load and vibration of downhole tubing strings, which may cause accidents. Existing static analysis methods cannot effectively explain this phenomenon. The main objective of this paper is to propose a novel analytical method for evaluating the sealing performance of a premium connection. In this paper, a dynamic model of sealing surfaces of the premium connection is established based on the vibration equation of elastic rod, and the hysteresis characteristics and energy dissipation mechanism of sealing surfaces are analyzed. Considering the influence of spherical radius, internal pressure, axial cyclic load amplitude, and modal vibration, a spherical-conical premium connection finite element model is established to analyze the influence laws of the connection’s energy dissipation and sealing performance. The results show that the sealing performance of the premium connection under dynamic load can be effectively analyzed by using energy dissipation theory compared with traditional static contact analysis. Compared with the vibration of the tubing string, the dynamic loads caused by the change of fluid pressure and flow rate in the tubing string have a significant influence on the connection’s sealing performance. When the internal pressure and axial cyclic loads are 80 MPa, 400 kN, or 60 MPa and 500 kN respectively, serious plastic deformation occurs in the thread and sealing surfaces, and the energy dissipation of the sealing surfaces increases significantly, which could lead to sealing failure.