The Impact of the Geochemical Coupling on the Fate of Fracturing Fluid, Reservoir Characteristics and Early Well Performance in Shale Reservoirs.

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Mehana ◽  
Mashhad Fahes
Keyword(s):  
Well Performance ◽  
Fracturing Fluid ◽  
Reservoir Characteristics ◽  
Shale Reservoirs ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Fluid Reservoir

Data-Driven Causal Analyses of Parent-Child Well Interactions for Well Spacing Decisions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rohan Sakhardande ◽  
Deepak Devegowda
Keyword(s):  
Causal Inference ◽  
Randomized Clinical Trials ◽  
Drug Efficacy ◽  
Complex Problem ◽  
Petroleum Engineering ◽  
Well Performance ◽  
Well Spacing ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Naive Approach ◽  
Parent Child

Abstract The analyses of parent-child well performance is a complex problem depending on the interplay between timing, completion design, formation properties, direct frac-hits and well spacing. Assessing the impact of well spacing on parent or child well performance is therefore challenging. A naïve approach that is purely observational does not control for completion design or formation properties and can compromise well spacing decisions and economics and perhaps, lead to non-intuitive results. By using concepts from causal inference in randomized clinical trials, we quantify the impact of well spacing decisions on parent and child well performance. The fundamental concept behind causal inference is that causality facilitates prediction; but being able to predict does not imply causality because of association between the variables. In this study, we work with a large dataset of over 3000 wells in a large oil-bearing province in Texas. The dataset includes several covariates such as completion design (proppant/fluid volumes, frac-stages, lateral length, cluster spacing, clusters/stage and others) and formation properties (mechanical and petrophysical properties) as well as downhole location. We evaluate the impact of well spacing on 6-month and 1-year cumulative oil in four groups associated with different ranges of parent-child spacing. By assessing the statistical balance between the covariates for both parent and child well groups (controlling for completion and formation properties), we estimate the causal impact of well spacing on parent and child well performance. We compare our analyses with the routine naïve approach that gives non-intuitive results. In each of the four groups associated with different ranges of parent-child well spacing, the causal workflow quantifies the production loss associated with the parent and child well. This degradation in performance is seen to decrease with increasing well spacing and we provide an optimal well spacing value for this specific multi-bench unconventional play that has been validated in the field. The naïve analyses based on simply assessing association or correlation, on the contrary, shows increasing child well degradation for increasing well spacing, which is simply not supported by the data. The routinely applied correlative analyses between the outcome (cumulative oil) and predictors (well spacing) fails simply because it does not control for variations in completion design over the years, nor does it account for variations in the formation properties. To our knowledge, there is no other paper in petroleum engineering literature that speaks of causal inference. This is a fundamental precept in medicine to assess drug efficacy by controlling for age, sex, habits and other covariates. The same workflow can easily be generalized to assess well spacing decisions and parent-child well performance across multi-generational completion designs and spatially variant formation properties.

scholarly journals A New Analysis Model for Potential Contamination of a Shallow Aquifer from a Hydraulically-Fractured Shale

Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 3010
Author(s):  
Weihong Peng ◽  
Menglin Du ◽  
Feng Gao ◽  
Xuan Dong ◽  
Hongmei Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Migration Time ◽  
Shallow Aquifer ◽  
Contaminant Migration ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
Shallow Aquifers ◽  
Shale Formations ◽  
Migration Mechanism ◽  
Shale Reservoirs ◽  
Time Required ◽  
The Impact

Hydraulic fracturing (HF) is widely used in shale gas development, which may cause some heavy metals release from shale formations. These contaminants could transport from the fractured shale reservoirs to shallow aquifers. Thus, it is necessary to assess the impact of pollution in shallow aquifers. In this paper, a new analysis model, considering geological distributions, discrete natural fractures (NFs) and faults, is developed to analyze the migration mechanism of contaminants. Furthermore, the alkali erosion of rock caused by high-pH drilling of fluids, is considered in this paper. The numerical results suggest that both NFs and alkali erosion could reduce the time required for contaminants migrating to aquifers. When NFs and alkali erosion are both considered, the migration time will be shortened by 51 years. Alkali erosion makes the impact of NFs, on the contaminant migration, more significant. The migration time decreases with increasing pH values, while the accumulation is on the opposite side. Compared with pH 12.0, the migration time would be increased by 45 years and 29 years for pH 11.0 and 11.5, respectively. However, the migration time for pH 12.5 and 13.0 were found to be decreased by 82 years and 180 years, respectively. Alkali erosion could increase the rock permeability, and the elevated permeability would further enhance the migration velocity of the contaminants, which might play a major role in assessing the potential contamination of shallow aquifers.

Evaluating Infill Well Performance and Fracture Driven Interactions Using Intervention Based Distributed Fiber Optics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Attia ◽  
Matthew Lawrence
Keyword(s):  
Fiber Optics ◽  
Fracture Network ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Well Performance ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Geological Features ◽  
Production Output ◽  
Long Carbon Fiber ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Distributed Fiber Optics (DFO) technology has been the new face for unconventional well diagnostics. This technology focuses on measuring Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) and Distrusted Temperature Sensing (DTS) to give an in-depth understanding of well productivity pre and post stimulation. Many different completion design strategies, both on surface and downhole, are used to obtain the best fracture network outcome; however, with complex geological features, different fracture designs, and fracture driven interactions (FDIs) effecting nearby wells, it is difficult to grasp a full understanding on completion design performance for each well. Validating completion designs and improving on the learnings found in each data set should be the foundation in developing each field. Capturing a data set with strong evidence of what works and what doesn't, can help the operator make better engineering decisions to make more efficient wells as well as help gauge the spacing between each well. The focus of this paper will be on a few case studies in the Bakken which vividly show how infill wells greatly interfered with production output. A DFO deployed with a 0.6" OD, 23,000-foot-long carbon fiber rod to acquire DAS and DTS for post frac flow, completion, and interference evaluation. This paper will dive into the DFO measurements taken post frac to further explain what effects are seen on completion designs caused by interferences with infill wells; the learnings taken from the DFO post frac were applied to further escalate the understanding and awareness of how infill wells will preform on future pad sites. A showcase of three separate data sets from the Bakken will identify how effective DFO technology can be in evaluating and making informed decisions on future frac completions. In this paper we will also show and discuss how DFO can measure real time FDI events and what measures can be taken to lessen the impact on negative interference caused by infill wells.

Effect of Gas/Oil Capillary Pressure on Minimum Miscibility Pressure for Tight Reservoirs

SPE Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (02) ◽  
pp. 820-831 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaiyi Zhang ◽  
Bahareh Nojabaei ◽  
Kaveh Ahmadi ◽  
Russell T. Johns
Keyword(s):  
Capillary Pressure ◽  
Hyperbolic Equations ◽  
Fluid Pressure ◽  
Gas Oil ◽  
Minimum Miscibility Pressure ◽  
Tight Reservoir ◽  
Tie Lines ◽  
Tight Reservoirs ◽  
Shale Reservoirs ◽  
The Impact

Summary Shale and tight reservoir rocks have pore throats on the order of nanometers, and, subsequently, a large capillary pressure. When the permeability is ultralow (k < 200 nd), as in many shale reservoirs, diffusion might dominate over advection, so that the gas injection might no longer be controlled by the multicontact minimum miscibility pressure (MMP). For gasfloods in tight reservoirs, where k > 200 nd and capillary pressure is still large, however, advection likely dominates over diffusive transport, so that the MMP once again becomes important. This paper focuses on the latter case to demonstrate that the capillary pressure, which has an impact on the fluid pressure/volume/temperature (PVT) behavior, can also alter the MMP. The results show that the calculation of the MMP for reservoirs with nanopores is affected by the gas/oil capillary pressure, owing to alteration of the key tie lines in the displacement; however, the change in the MMP is not significant. The MMP is calculated using three methods: the method of characteristics (MOC); multiple mixing cells; and slimtube simulations. The MOC method relies on solving hyperbolic equations, so the gas/oil capillary pressure is assumed to be constant along all tie lines (saturation variations are not accounted for). Thus, the MOC method is not accurate away from the MMP but becomes accurate as the MMP is approached when one of the key tie lines first intersects a critical point (where the capillary pressure then becomes zero, making saturation variations immaterial there). Even though the capillary pressure is zero for this key tie line, its phase compositions (and, hence, the MMP) are impacted by the alteration of all other key tie lines in the composition space by the gas/oil capillary pressure. The reason for the change in the MMP is illustrated graphically for quaternary systems, in which the MMP values from the three methods agree well. The 1D simulations (typically slimtube simulations) show an agreement with these calculations as well. We also demonstrate the impact of capillary pressure on CO2-MMP for real reservoir fluids. The effect of large gas/oil capillary pressure on the characteristics of immiscible displacements, which occur at pressures well below the MMP, is discussed.

Recognition of Fracturing by Stimulated Reservoir Volume (SRV) in Shale Gas Wells

2011 ◽  
Vol 361-363 ◽  
pp. 349-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Hui Kou ◽  
Wei Dong Liu ◽  
Dong Dong Hou ◽  
Ling Hui Sun
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Network ◽  
Single Fracture ◽  
Well Performance ◽  
Stimulated Reservoir Volume ◽  
Fracture Length ◽  
Reservoir Volume ◽  
Tight Gas Sands ◽  
Well Pattern ◽  
Complex Fracture Network ◽  
Shale Reservoirs

Ultra-low permeability shale reservoir require a large fracture network to maximal well performance. In conventional reservoirs and tight gas sands, single fracture length and conductivity are the key drivers for stimulation performance. In shale reservoirs, where complex fracture network are created, single fracture length and conductivity are insufficient to stimulate. This is the reason for the concept of using stimulated reservoir volume as a correlation parameter for well performance. This paper mainly illustrates perforation with interlaced row well pattern and multi-fracture fracturing technology and refracturing applied in vertical wells. Moreover, it establishes the seepage differential equation of multi-fracture.

scholarly journals Performance Analysis of Hydrocarbon Wells Based on the Skin Zone

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
S H AL-Obaidi ◽  
Falah H Khalaf ◽  
Hiba H Alwan
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
Computational Method ◽  
Rock Properties ◽  
Well Test ◽  
Well Performance ◽  
Skin Factor ◽  
Wellbore Pressure ◽  
Skin Zone ◽  
Bottom Zone ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this research is to study the area near the bottom of the hydrocarbon well, which is usually affected by drilling and development operations, and to find a modern method that improves the transfer of fluid from the reservoir to the well.The area near the wellbore of an oil and gas formation is a very active and unstable zone. Field studies have shown that during the process of drilling the first well into the pay zone, a new area of disturbed permeability and porosity forms around the wellbore. This disturbed area is called the skin zone and is characterized by different properties. The skin zone can also form during the completion processes of hydrocarbon wells.In terms of well test processing for any hydrocarbon well, the term "skin effect" should be understood as the effect of changes in the lower wellbore zone (i.e., changes in rock properties, changes in formation fluid, formation structure, geologic section, etc.) on bottom wellbore pressure. This indicates a change in the permeability of the bottom zone of the borehole during drilling and development.In this paper, a new computational method is proposed in which the investigation of hydrocarbon well condition can be performed in two ways. The first way represents replacing the true radius of the wellbore (rw) with an effective radius (rwe). Under this condition, the skin factor term reflects only the effect of changes in the bottom wellbore zone. The second way is that the skin factor indicates not only the amount of change in the bottom wellbore zone, but also the effect of hydrodynamic imperfection of the hydrocarbon well performance during production, while maintaining the value of the well radius. After evaluating these parameters, it is possible to conclude the effectiveness of the implemented measures in the bottom wellbore zone of the formation. At the same time, the value of the skin factor after the performed works regarding the impact on the bottom zone can determine the positive or negative impact on the operation of the hydrocarbon well.

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