Engineering Problems in the Development of Unconventional Oil and Gas Reservoirs
A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Systems".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026 | Viewed by 234
Special Issue Editors
Interests: microscale rock mechanics
Interests: hydraulic fracturing simulation; geomechanical modeling; machine-learning-assisted fracturing optimization; integrated simulation of fracturing and production; gas storage stability analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Unconventional hydrocarbon accounts for approximately 80% of the total oil and gas resources all over the world. The development of unconventional reservoirs constitutes a significant guarantee for realizing the transformation of the global energy mix. Due to its low porosity and low permeability, multiscale structure spanning nanometers to kilometers, strong heterogeneity, and complex geological conditions, unconventional oil and gas extraction involves numerous engineering challenges. The representative engineering problems include cross-scale reservoir characterization and evaluation, stress field and natural fracture description and evolution, prediction and real-time tracking of artificial fracture network propagation, rapid and safe drilling, and dynamic optimization of fracturing stimulation methods.
This Special Issue aims to assemble original research works attempting to solve aforementioned problems. Relevant aspects include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Laboratory experiments involving advanced techniques;
- Simulation coupling multi-physical fields;
- Machine learning used for enhancing unconventional reservoirs;
- Correlations among multiple scales;
- Filed applications of new theories and methodologies.
Dr. Junliang Zhao
Prof. Dr. Huiying Tang
Dr. Haibin Chang
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Processes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- unconventional reservoir
- engineering problem
- laboratory experiment
- multi-physical simulation
- machine learning
- cross-scale characterization
- field application
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.


