This paper presents the results of an investigation of the comparative effectiveness of various fracture propping agents and their relationship to production performance based on actual field results of production performance based on actual field results of twenty-five wells producing from the same formation at approximately the same depth and similar downhole reservoir conditions. All are located in thirteen fields of the Anadarko Basin in Roger Mills and Beckham Counties, Oklahoma (Fig. 1). Every Red Fork well listed in the records of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission for these counties which had been fractured and treated with a propping agent was examined. All wells for which valid production information was available are included. Three of a total of 28 wells were eliminated because of ambiguous data.
A comparison is made of the actual production of wells measured before and after hydraulic fracture stimulation treatments that employed one or more of the various propping agents; sand, glass beads, resin coated sand, or sintered bauxite. The size and t of treatment varied from well to well.
The relation between actual field results laboratory tests under simulated field conditions is reviewed for the several types of proppants.
Hydraulic fracturing to increase the rate of recovery of petroleum was introduced to oil and gas industry in 1947. Since then many materials have been used as propping agents in the hydraulic fracturing process. Some of the earlier materials used were process. Some of the earlier materials used were sand, steel shot, aluminum pellets, plastic, and walnut shells. With the exception of sand, all of the earlier materials failed and are no longer used as propping agents. Later, in the development of materials used in the hydraulic fracturing process, new products such as glass beads were introduced and tested by the industry as propping agents. In recent years other new products, which include resin coated sand and sintered bauxite, have been introduced into the market and tested as propping agents.
Operators drilling deep wells into tight formations which require stimulation by fracturing have had a choice of propping agents which included sand, resin coated sand, glass beads and sintered bauxite. All of these materials have been used as propping agents in the hydraulic fracturing process of stimulating the Red Fork formation of the Anadarko Basin in Roger Mills and Beckham Counties, Oklahoma.
The main objective of this paper is to compare the efects of various propping agents based on actual well production when the propping agents were all subjected to, as closely as possible, the same downhole conditions in the same reservoir.
Another objective of this paper is to determine if the results obtained in laboratory tests of propping agents under simulated reservoir conditions could be correlated to actual well production results.
The results presented in this paper are all from wells completed in the same producing formation in the same geographical area. No two wells are exactly alike and accordingly evaluation of well performance should be made on an overall basis, not performance should be made on an overall basis, not as a well-to-well comparison.
The type of propping agent used in a well is not the sole determining factor in well productivity, but the results of this study strongly indicate that the use of high-strength proppant is directly related to sustained high levels of production. The results reported in this paper are intended to show a general trend for all of the wells completed in one formation in a limited area. The scope of this paper does not include an in-depth examination of each well involving such parameters as in situ permeability and porosity, net gas pay, created fracture length and width, etc. These parameters combined with pressure buildup data and detail log analyses would provide pressure buildup data and detail log analyses would provide additional information on the effects of propping agent on well productivity in this formation.
