An oil and natural gas producer should continuously analyze industry fundamentals such as supply, demand, storage, transportation, and pricing to make informed operational and business decisions. An oil and gas producer should be able to adapt to frequently changing industry environment by adjusting its operation: increasing or curtailing production, drilling and connecting new wells, obtaining new financing, locking in future natural gas prices, etc. In order to provide an input to the decision-making process, the adaptive management methodology needs to be applied. Forecasts of hydrocarbon resources, production, infrastructure, and pricing are very sensitive to technological improvements, pricing changes, new discoveries, and other major events, the impacts of which are difficult to predict. One method to improve the quality of a forecast is to apply adaptive management process. The adaptive management methodology implies assuming supply and demand strategy, creating multiple scenarios for allocating oil or gas demand to different areas or regions, evaluating these scenarios, and performing detailed forecast for selected scenarios. One important step of adaptive management is monitoring of actual drilling and production activities. Based on this information original assumptions can be updated. The result of the analysis is production, prices, and infrastructure forecast. The paper presents an example of a production forecast that is generated using adaptive management process.

Estimating the effective permeability and microfracture (MF) conductivity for unconventional reservoirs can be challenging; however, a new method for estimating using a stochastic approach is discussed. This new analysis method estimates matrix permeability and the unpropped and propped MF conductivities during laboratory testing where MFs were propped with ultrafine particles (UFPs). Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulations form the basis of the method used to estimate effective permeability of the core sample. First, the stochastic model was implemented to calculate effective matrix permeability of a small core taken from unfractured Eagle Ford and Marcellus formation samples using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images and adsorption data to obtain the pore-size distribution (PSD) within the sample. The KMC approach then evaluated the effect of various parameters influencing the conductivity of laboratory-created MFs. Case studies considered for this work investigate the conductivity improvement of a manmade MF as a function of the UFPs used as proppants that maintain width under high stress, the UFP (proppant) concentration, and the UFP flow perpendicular into a secondary or adjacent MF zone (2 nd MF) penetrating the face of an opened MF during flow testing under stress. The leakoff area widths considered were 1, 2, and 3 mm and can be propped or unpropped. Results obtained for the unfractured Eagle Ford and Marcellus samples closely correlate with other computational and experimental data available. For the laboratory-prepared nonpropped and propped MF samples, the effective propped width was determined to have the greatest effect on the MF conductivity, which increased by two orders of magnitude in the presence of the UFPs. The remaining two factors—proppant concentration and length of 2 nd MFs—helped improve the effective MF conductivity in a linear manner; the highest proppant concentration and the 2 nd MF zone resulted in the highest fracture conductivity achieved. Insight obtained from this study can be used to optimize fracturing designs by including UFPs and to create strategies for maximizing hydrocarbon recovery during development of unconventional resources where MFs are opened during stimulation treatments.

The recent and rapid success of using high viscosity friction reducers (HVFRs) in hydraulic fracturing treatments is due to several advantages over other fracture fluids (e.g. linear gel), which include better proppant carrying capability, induce more complex fracture system network with higher fracture length, and overall lower costs due to fewer chemicals and less equipment on location. However, some concerns remain, like how HVFRs rheological properties can have impact on proppant transport into fractures. The objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the influence the rheological characterization of HVFRs have on proppant static settling velocity within hydraulic fracturing process. To address these concerns, comprehensive rheological tests including viscosity profile, elasticity profile, and thermal stability were conducted for both HVFR and linear gel. In the steady shear-viscosity measurement, viscosity behavior versus a wide range of shear rates was studied. Moreover, the influence of elasticity was examined by performing oscillatory-shear tests over the range of frequencies. Normal stress was the other elasticity factor examined to evaluate elastic properties. Also, the Weissenberg number was calculated to determine the elastic to viscous forces. Lastly, quantitative and qualitative measurements were carried out to study proppant settling velocity in the fluids made from HVFRs and linear gel. The results of rheological measurement reveal that a lower concentration of HVFR-2 loading at 2gpt has approximately more than 8 times the viscosity of linear gel loading at 20ppt. Elastic measurement exposes that generally HVFRs have a much higher relaxation time compared to linear gel. Interestingly, the normal stress N1 of HVFR-2, 2gpt was over 3 times that of linear gel loading 20ppt. This could conclude that linear gel fracture fluids have weak elastic characterization compared to HVFR. The results also concluded that at 80 C° linear gel has a weak thermal stability while HVFR-2 loses its properties only slightly with increasing temperature. HVFR-2 showed better proppant settling velocity relative to guar-based fluids. The reduction on proppant settling velocity exceed 75% when HVFR-2 loading at 2gpt was used compared to 20ppt of linear gel. Even though much work was performed to understand the proppant settling velocity, not much experimental work has investigated the HVFR behavior on the static proppant settling velocity measurements. This paper will provide a better understanding of the distinct changes of the mechanical characterization on the HVFRs which could be used as guidance for fracture engineers to design and select better high viscous friction reducers.

The significant temperature difference between the fractured and non-fractured regions during the stimulation fluid flow-back period can be very useful for fracture diagnosis. The recent developments in downhole temperature monitoring systems open new possibilities to detect these temperature variations to perform production logging analyses. In this work, we derive a novel analytical solution to model the temperature signal associated with the shut-in during flow-back and production periods. The temperature behavior can infer the efficiency of each fracture. To obtain the analytical solution from an existing wellbore fluid energy balance equation, we use the Method of Characteristics with the input of a relevant thermal boundary condition. The temperature modeling results acquired from this analytical solution are validated against those from a finite element model for multiple cases. Compared to the warm-back effect in the non-fractured region after shut-in, a less significant heating effect is observed in the fractured region because of the warmer fluid away from the perforation moving into the fracture (after-flow). Detailed parametric analyses are conducted on after-flow velocity and its variation, flowing, geothermal, and inflow temperature of each fracture, surrounding temperature field, and casing radius to investigate their impacts on the wellbore fluid temperature modeling results. The inversion procedures characterize each fracture considering the exponential distribution of temperature based on the analytical solutions in fractured and non-fractured regions. Inflow fluid temperature, surrounding temperature field, and after-flow velocity of each fracture can be estimated from the measured temperature data, which present decent accuracies analyzing synthetic temperature signal. The outputs of this work can contribute to production logging, warm-back, and wellbore storage analyses to achieve successful fracture diagnostic.

High viscosity friction reducers (HVFRs) are an important component of slickwater hydraulic fracturing applications. To continue to treat multiple clusters effectively within longer laterals, even for stages near the toe area, a high molecular weight HVFR polymer, such as polyacrylamide, is commonly used to overcome pipe friction at 1 gal/Mgal or lower. To carry proppant into fractures, it is commonly assumed that the higher viscosity the HVFR yields, the better the proppant transport, necessitating higher HVFR concentrations than 1 gal/Mgal. However, a field study within the Anadarko Basin demonstrates that viscosity is not necessarily the best indicator of how efficient HVFRs carry proppant. Instead, HVFR elasticity might play a more important role during proppant transport. Secondly, HVFRs 1 gal/Mgal or higher could potentially plug the proppant pack or form a filter cake on the rock surface, causing formation damage. Although previous laboratory methods to determine potential formation damage exist, results are difficult to correlate with field applications; hence, the conclusions remain elusive. A relatively new analysis procedure yielding improved assessments of residual HVFR concentrations for both flowback and produced waters, which aid understanding potential formation damage after hydraulic fracturing, is discussed.

Managing adequately pressure drawdown should be a key technical reservoir management driver due to its major impact on cash flow, acceleration and final recovery factor for operating hydraulically fracture shale gas condensate producers. Permeability should be regarded as a key dynamic property for ultra-low permeability shale reservoirs that influences shale hydrocarbon recovery. It is paramount to develop a pressure depletion plan that captures the pressure drawdown strategy and the changes in flow capacity associated to the interaction of the nano-Darcy rock and hydraulic fractures with stress dependent permeability effects. Defining the adequate drawdown strategy would aid maximizing the economic recovery. Considering the variability of permeability with pressure drawdown should be part of the reservoir management lifecycle for unconventional shale reservoirs. This study focus on evaluating the impact of pressure drawdown strategy on initial rates and recovery for a Duvernay Gas condensate producer with an initial condensate yield of 100-150 stb/mmscf. A sector compositional reservoir simulation model was built for a horizontal multistage hydraulically fracture Duvernay shale gas condensate producer. A full assessment of variability of permeability in the nano-Darcy rock and in the propped hydraulic fracture stages near the wellbore region was accomplished. Aggressive, moderate and conservative pressure drawdown strategies were evaluated, considering multiple operational pressure drawdown incremental ranges from 14.5 to 95 psia per day. Results clearly indicate that implementing daily pressure drawdown increments of 22 to 29 psia per day would provide a similar recovery factor than imposing daily pressure drawdowns of 44 to 95 psia per day. However, there is a golden operating window opportunity to accelerate recovery by imposing maximum drawdown from the early days of production and bringing significant benefits of accelerating recovery with an associate increase in revenue but the benefits of this acceleration vanished in less than one year due to substantial changes in hydraulic fracture conductivity and also in the nano-Darcy rock permeability in the near wellbore region. The reduction of nano-Darcy permeability is a function of pressure, time and distance from the hydraulic fractures. According to our results, the best reservoir management practice for operating lean/medium Gas Condensate unconventional shale producers should be maximizing pressure drawdown at the early stage of the life cycle and deferring the installation of production string to maximize inflow-outflow.

This paper presents a data driven approach to answer the question of whether premium, high strength white sand proppant, while more expensive than regional (brown) sand, is justified due to its alleged ability to make better producing wells. For this study, 739 horizontal wells with production, and stimulation data were used in a robust statistical approach to conclude that, for the most common set of well characteristics, white sand will produce a superior NPV weighted economic outcome than lower cost regional (brown) sand alternatives. While there are wells in this analysis that did not produce this robust conclusion of "white sand is better", none of them produced an outcome that "brown sand was better". Rather, several of the wells simply had results that were statistically inconclusive. This paper serves as a good example of what data are needed to perform such an analysis and the challenges of normalizing ‘first order effects’ that dominate the influence on well productivity (TVD, lateral length, and proppant intensity) while attempting to ascertain the influence of 'second order’ factors such as Sand Type. Becoming familiar and adept at these analysis methods should facilitate the statistical verification of other second order effects on finding the optimal stimulation treatment.

Sooner Trend Anadarko Canadian Kingfisher, also known as STACK, is a booming unconventional oil play in North America. As one of the main features that makes the asset profitable, multiple targeting benches raise a challenge of optimization. Well-developed natural fracture system brings in another level of complexity to estimate well spacing. This study introduces an integrated workflow to better understand the fluid flow mechanism in the reservoir and optimize development strategy. From borehole image log, natural fracture orientation and density was interpreted and statistically populated into geologic model along with petrophysical properties. To account for productivity enhancement due to natural fractures, enhanced permeability was embedded into the simulation model according to the distribution of discrete fracture network. After being history matched, the reservoir model was used to test the sensitivity on well spacing, landing zone and hydraulic fracturing pump schedule. Both infill drilling program and green field development scenarios were tested and compared to optimize our field development study. Production history match indicates that natural fractures serve as fluid flow conduit and contribute significantly to the production in Osage. Pressure transient observation shows a similar reservoir behavior in the Osage as opposed to the Woodford. Multiple wells experience productivity reduction over longer production history, indicating near-field damage (such as scaling) and/or far-field damage (such as fracture closure). Introduction of skin factor and pressure dependent permeability captured the trend on productivity behavior in the history match. In addition, the simulation study shed light on the hydraulic fracture geometry that provides direct insight on well spacing and landing zone analyses. Results from the infill drilling program show that staggered design with 3 Osage and 4 Woodford wells per section yields the higher oil recovery. However, using the greenfield sensitivities, and depending on the pumping schedule, hydraulic fractures from Woodford wells show upward growth, draining both formations effectively even without Osage wells. This study provides valuable information about the development strategy in STACK unconventional resources, particularly for scenarios with natural fracture system and multiple targeting zones. The simulation workflow considers well interference in both horizontal and vertical directions simultaneously to optimize oil recovery and reduce operational cost.

Optimizing spacing of infill wells and fractures can lead to large rewards for shale field operators, and these considerations have influences on primary and tertiary development of the field. Although several studies have been employed to show the existence of well interference, few models have also implemented Huff-n-Puff and injection containment methods to optimize further hydraulic fracture designs and pressure containment to improve the efficiency of Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). This study has performed a rigorous workflow for estimating the impacts of spatial variations in fracture conductivity and complexity on fracture geometries of interwell interference. Furthermore, we applied a non-intrusive embedded discrete fracture model (EDFM) method in conjunction with a commercial compositional reservoir simulator to investigate the impact of well interference through connecting fractures by multi-well history matching to propose profitable opportunities for Huff-n-Puff application. First, based on a robust understanding of fracture properties, updated production data and multi-pad wellbore image logging data from Eagle Ford, the model was constructed to perform nine wells sector model history matching. Later, inter-well connecting fractures were employed for enhanced history matching where results varied significantly from unmeasured fracture sensitivities. The result is the implementation of Huff-n-Puff models that capture inter-well interference seen in the field and their affordable impact sensitivities focused on variable injection rates/locations and multi-point water injection to mimic pressure barriers. The simulation results strengthened the understanding of modeling complex fracture geometries with robust history matching and support the need to incorporate containment strategies. Moreover, the simulation outcomes show that well interference is present and reduces effectiveness of the fracture hits when connecting natural fractures. As a result of the inter-well long fractures, the bottom hole pressure behavior of the parent wells tends to equalize, and the pressure does not recover fast enough. Furthermore, the EDFM application is strongly supported by complex fracture propagation interpretation and ductility to be represented in the reservoir. Through this study, multiple containment scenarios were proposed to contain the pressure in the area of interest. The model has become a valuable template to inform the impacts on well location and spacing, completion design, initial huff-n-puff decisions, subsequent containment strategies (e.g. to improve cycle timing and efficiency), and to expand to other areas of the field. The simulation results and understandings afforded have been applied to the field satisfactorily to support pressure containment benefits that lead to increased pressure build, reduced gas communication, reduced offset shut-in volumes, and ultimately, improvements in net utilization and capital efficiency.

One of the considerations in hydraulic fracturing treatment optimization in unconventional (shale/tight/CBM) reservoirs is creating fracture complexity through reducing or possibly eliminating or neutralizing the in-situ stress anisotropy (differential stress) to enhance hydraulic fracture conductivity and connectivity by activating planes of weakness (natural fractures, fissures, faults, cleats, etc.) within the formation in order to create secondary or branch fractures (induced stress-relief fractures) and connect them to the main bi-wing hydraulic fractures. However, actual field experience has shown that some reservoirs under certain treatment designs exhibit excessive fracture complexity due to excessive induced stresses or stress shadowing that can result in pressureout or screenout, and thus, poor well completion and productivity performance. Therefore, it is crucial to identify the reservoir candidates and treatment strategies that are suitable for enhancing fracture complexity to avoid fracturing treatment scenarios that will have an adverse effect on the well productivity. In this work, a three-dimensional hydraulic fracture extension simulator is coupled with a reservoir production simulator to screen for the reservoir candidates and fracturing treatment scenarios that can lead to enhancing fracture complexity, conductivity, and connectivity and positive well production performance. Furthermore, scenarios are identified under which excessive fracture complexity (due to excessive induced stresses or stress shadowing) results in poor well completion performance. The results indicate that fracture complexity can be enhanced under the following treatment scenarios: (1) low-viscosity slickwater with smaller proppant sizes under high treatment rates, (2) hybrid fracture treatment (low-viscosity slickwater containing smaller proppants and low proppant concentrations with high treatment rates followed by viscous treatment fluids containing larger proppants and higher proppant concentrations), (3) simultaneous fracturing of multiple intervals at close spacing, and, (4) out-of-sequence pinpoint fracturing (fracturing Stage 1 and then Stage 3 followed by placing Stage 2 between the previously fractured Stages 1 and 3). It is also revealed that the success of each of the above treatment scenarios is very sensitive to rock brittleness (combination of Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio), magnitude of stress anisotropy, matrix permeability, process zone stress/net extension pressure, fracture gradients, and treatment fluid viscosity and rate. Additionally, excessive fracture complexity, which impedes fracture growth due to pressure out and screenout, can be mitigated by reducing treatment rate and pressure, increasing treatment fluid viscosity, and using small particulates, such as 100-mesh proppant. This work is the first attempt in comparative evaluation of the impact of creating fracture complexity under a variety of operationally-feasible treatment scenarios applied to a wide range of reservoir and rock geomechanical properties. It shows that wells with certain combinations of Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, stress anisotropy, and fracture gradients are not suitable candidates for creating complexity in the hydraulic fractures system.

The use of high viscosity friction reducers (HVFR) as alternatives to guar-based fluids to improve proppant transport and lessen formation damage has increased rapidly. While several product options are available, the criteria for selection of a product has focused on viscosity at 300 RPM (511s -1 ) that meets or exceeds that of linear gel fluids. However, there has been limited data available on what the target viscosity should be, how it influences the fluid's ability to transport sand, and the potential for damage to proppant conductivity. This study presents methodology used to screen HVFR's and results on product performance, which identified a need for alternative specifications to viscosity to achieve maximum performance. The proppant transport capacity in dynamic conditions was evaluated for twenty-eight commercially available friction reducers and HVFR's in field waters which could have up to 40,000 TDS. A slot flow apparatus was used to mimic fluid flow through a fracture under different shear and flow rate conditions. Viscosity and elasticity measurements were also obtained using an advanced rotational rheometer. For comparison, linear gel and crosslinked guar fluid were also evaluated. While viscosity at 300 RPM (511s -1 ) and more recently high viscosity at lower shear rates, have been used for selection of HVFR's, these parameters alone do not indicate proppant carrying capacity. The authors did not find a correlation between higher viscosity and better proppant transport, rather they propose that too high a viscosity can negatively impact transport. The results provided insight into the effect of flow rate on proppant transport, with some HVFR's that exhibited higher viscosities at low shear, losing their transport capacity at the same low shear. Elasticity testing of those same products suggested that HVFR's have a critical elasticity range at which they will provide optimal performance. Polymer residuals were also evaluated on proppant post-test and compared to traditional linear gels and crosslinked fluids. Results suggested potential for damage if HVFR's are used without breakers. Different viscosity targets should be set when selecting a HVFR and coupled with other testing criteria such as elasticity and dynamic proppant transport. This paper provides insight into the need for development of standardized test criteria for HVFR selection. Further testing and screening of HVFR's will help increase the understanding of key factors influencing sand transport and their effect on proppant pack conductivity.

Engineers commonly expect symmetric fracture wings in multiple transverse fracture horizontal wells (MTFHWs). Microseismic surveys have shown asymmetric hydraulic fracture grow away from the recent fractured wells and grow towards previous produced wells. It might be caused by the elevated stress around the recently fractured well and the reduced stress near the depleted wells. This paper presents the asymmetric fracture growth observed by the microseismic events and develops a simple model to simulate the fracture propagation and its impact on the well productivity. Motivated by the microseismic observations, we developed a simple fracture model to simulate asymmetric fracture wings that can capture the behavior of fracture hits between two adjacent horizontal fractured wells. Also, we developed a model to estimate the productivity of a well with asymmetric fractures. The newly developed fracture model shows that the fracture can grow asymmetrically if the horizontal well is located where stress field is different between its two sides. The productivity model for asymmetric hydraulic fractures quantifies the penalty to the well performance. Results provide a reason why asymmetric fractures happen and that they do penalize well performance. Our models suggest the importance of fracturing under balanced stress distribution which benefits the long-term production. Use of the model suggested an optimized hydraulic fracturing treatment design will improve the overall performance of multiple parallel wells that minimizes or avoids asymmetric fracture wings. The fracture propagation model and productivity model provide simple, but profound, guidelines for the well pad management, including well spacing, stage planning and spacing, completion and production order.

This paper provides a detailed evaluation of the impact that field source water chemistry has on the performance of friction reducers being used for hydraulic fracturing. In this research, correlations are established between friction reducer performance and source water chemical composition, allowing operators to shorten the learning curve within their fracturing operations, use the most appropriate fluid systems, and potentially mitigate job failures. Extensive testing has been conducted to evaluate friction reducer performance in the presence of different ionic components such as calcium, magnesium, iron and chloride. Performance testing was determined by varying individual ions, as well as using source waters from multiple field locations having total dissolved solid (TDS) levels of well over 100,000 ppm. Testing parameters included friction reduction, hydration rate via viscosity, and rheological characterization for viscosifying-type friction reducers. Principal component analysis was used as statistical tool to characterize the variation in water chemistry and to establish its relationship with friction reducer performance.

This study analyzes the production data from 2,755 horizontal wells in the Haynesville shale. Correlations were generated to predict 4,5,6, and 7-year cumulative productions from initial 6,12 and 24-months production data. These correlations can help in field development planning and economic analysis. The residuals (Predicted – Actual Cumulative Production) from these correlations were also analyzed and this technique can be used to identify wells affected by interference, refracturing, frac-hits, etc. The cumulative production estimates from the developed correlations were also compared with the corresponding estimates from the DCA equations (seven different DCA methods used). The accuracy of prediction based on correlations developed in this study is at par with the various standard DCA methods published and used in the industry. The correlations are much faster to use and easier to implement for a large number of wells. Another objective of the paper was to develop P10, P50 and P90 type curves for the Haynesville shale using the available production data. A subset of the total wells i.e. 150 wells evenly distributed throughout the study area, were used for predicting type curves. These type curves were generated and compared using different Decline Curve Analysis (DCA) models. The different DCA methods predicted an uncertainty of 5 to 27 % for the P10, P50 and P90 production profiles.

As a well-known tight oil dolomite reservoir in Texas, San Andres formation has attracted broad attention about horizontal drilling and development strategy. To optimize the oil recovery and asset’s economics, the aim of the study was to use an integrated approach to understand reservoir heterogeneity and performance, determine optimal landing zone and its impact on production, understand fracture geometry using different pumping schedules, and the optimal cluster spacing. In addition, the potential benefit of a refrac and infill drilling program was also investigated. To tackle the optimization problem, an integrated reservoir modeling workflow was developed. Starting with a 1-D geomechanical model which captures the in situ stress profile and rock mechanics, hydraulic fracture modeling was developed to history match the treatment process, and therefore a comprehensive fracture geometry can be estimated. In the interim, a geological model with populated reservoir properties was established based on the offset data including petrophysical logs, imaging logs and cores. After calibration, the dynamic reservoir model was built to test multiple sensitivity runs for an optimized field development strategy. Geological modeling separated the field into two models to study the variation of properties on the east and west side. The east section shows a higher porosity and lower saturations. Those water saturations increase below the main pay zone indicating a potential water source. In addition, special core analysis shows a strong oil-wet nature of the reservoir rock. In the east section, sensitivity runs included infill development and variations in landing depth. It is noted that the production is not sensitive to landing zone because fracture geometry is primarily controlled by vertical stress profile. In the west section, sensitivity runs included refrac, infill drilling, and a greenfield development plan with variations on well spacing and completion design. The observation shows tighter well spacing or cluster spacing accelerates the oil production in early time, while yielding similar long term oil recovery and shows a combination of refrac and infill drilling yields a 21% incremental oil production beyond the base case. This study provides valuable information about the workflow to develop tight oil plays by describing a detailed case study. The result also sheds light on the optimized field development strategy for analogous fields.

A fracability model integrating the rock elastic properties, fracture toughness and confining pressure is presented in this paper. Tensile and compressive strength tests are conducted to define the rock-strength. Geomechanical rock properties derived from analysis of full-wave sonic logs and core samples are combined to develop models to verify the brittleness and fracability indices. An improved understanding of the brittleness and fracability indices and reservoir mechanical properties is offered and valuable insight into the optimization of completion and hydraulic fracturing design is provided. The process of screening hydraulic fracturing candidates, selecting desirable hydraulic fracturing intervals, and identifying sweet spots within each prospect reservoir are demonstrated.

Due to the layered texture and sedimentation environment, shale formations usually characterized as high heterogeneity and anisotropy in in-situ stresses. During the hydraulic fracturing process, fracturing fluid is injected at a pressure above the formation pressure. This injection process changes the local in-situ stresses in a quick and significant manner while generating fracture systems. In the regions of existing geo-features such as natural fractures and faults, local stress changes could lead to the activation of formation movement, which in return impacts the casing going through the locale. Casing deformations during hydraulic fracturing have been observed in Southwest China Sichuan basin, and it have impeded completion operations in certain regions. In order to ensure further exploring, we analyszed this phenomenon and propose practical solutions for fault reactivation prevention. To study the mechanism of local slippage and the impact on casing integrity, we set up a 2D finite element model with considerations of in-situ stresses acquired from fields, natural fracture orientation from available seismic data, and we simulated water injection process in order to quantify potential slippage and displacement. The finite element model features an integration of casing, cementing, and formation under the hydraulic fracturing conditions. For particular parameters such as permeability and leak-off coefficeint, we conducted sensitivity studies to quantify their impacts on displacement amount. The theoretical geomechanics studies indicate water induced slippage existence in shale due to its fracture reactivation. Using the finite element model, this paper interpreted and quantified the impact of fracturing fluid injection on casing from strike-slip fault regiems. Simulation results revealed that water injection into natural fractured shale formation can induce finite displacement characterized as fault slippage along discontinues surfaces. This study could help engineers to have a better prediction as how hydraulic fracture intereact with subsurface structures and potential risks that comes along with it. This type of casing damage can be reduced by improving well trajectory design, completion operation, and higher strength level of casing-cement system. The findings from this study not only can be applied to naturally fractured formations, but also to other pre-existing geo-features such as discountinues surfaces. It also provides fundamental basis for more practical solution to find the measures and overcome the casing deformation problems in hydraulic fracturing.

The primary purpose of using traditional friction reducers in stimulation treatments is to overcome the tubular drag while pumping at high flow rates. Hydraulic fracturing is the main technology used to produce hydrocarbon from extremely low permeability rock. Even though slickwater (water fracturing with few chemical additives) used to be one of the most common fracturing fluids, several concerns are still associated with its use, including usage of freshwater, high-cost operation, and environmental issues. Therefore, current practice in hydraulic fracturing is to use alternative fluid systems that are cost effective and have less environmental impact, such as fluids which utilize high viscosity friction reducers (HVFRs), which typically are high molecular weight polyacrylamides. This paper carefully reviews and summarizes over 40 published papers, including experimental work, field case studies, and simulation work. This work summarizes the most recent improvements of using HVFR’s, including capability of carrying proppant, reducing water and chemical requirements, its compatibility with produced water, and environmental benefits in hydraulic fracturing treatments. A further goal is to gain insight into the effective design of HVFR based fluid systems. The findings of this study are analyzed from over 26 field case studies of many unconventional reservoirs. In comparing to the traditional hydraulic fracture fluids system, the paper summaries many potential advantages offered by HVFR fluids, including: superior proppant transport capability, almost 100% retained conductivity, cost reduction, minimizing chemicals usage by 50%, less operating equipment on location, reducing water consumption by 30%, and fewer environmental concerns. The study also reported that the common HVFR concentration used was 4gpt. HVFRs were used in the field at temperature ranges from 120°F to 340°F. Finally, this work addresses up-to-date challenges and emphasizes necessities for using high viscosity friction reducers as alternative fracture fluids.

Using optical fibers to instrument hydraulically fractured wells is becoming routine in US unconventional plays. Instrumented wells facilitate understanding of proppant distribution among perforation clusters and the inefficiencies of geometric fracturing and well planning techniques. However, converting fiber-optic data into proppant distribution requires management of high volumes of data and correlation of the data to factors such as well conditions, fracturing parameters, and temperatures. A user-friendly workflow for understanding hydraulic fracturing proppant and slurry distribution among different perforation clusters over time is presented. Ideally, slurry flow is equal between perforation clusters and, at least, constant in time, but the reality is very different. The interpretation workflow is based on proprietary algorithms within a general wellbore software platform and aims to greatly expedite the analysis. We propose using distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) data (in the form of custom frequency band energy (FBE) logs), distributed temperature measurements (DTS) and surface pumping data to obtain a quantitative analysis of proppant distribution within minutes, with various options for reporting and visualizing results. The software platform selected provides data integration, visualization, and customization of in-built algorithms. The new workflow enables users to upload DAS, DTS, flow rate, pressure, and other measurements and use customized algorithms to quantitatively analyze proppant distribution, enabling decisions in real time to optimize the fracturing operation. The validity of the approach is illustrated by a case study involving a well with 28 stages and four to five clusters per stage. The workflow is automated to provide results in real time, enabling quick corrective actions and significantly improving the efficiency and economics of hydraulic fracturing.

The volume of stimulation fluid injected during hydraulic fracturing is a key performance driver in the horizontal development of the Niobrara formation in the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin, Colorado. Oil production per well generally increases with stimulation fluid volume. Often, operators normalize both production and fluid volume based on stimulated lateral length and investigate relationships using "per-ft" variables. However, data from well-based approaches commonly display such wide distributions that no useful relationships can be inferred. To improve data correlations, multivariate analysis normalizes for parameters such as thermal maturity, depth, depletion, proppant intensity, drawdown, geology and completion design. Although advancements in computing power have decreased cycle times for multivariate analysis, preparing a clean dataset for thousands of wells remains challenging. A proposed analytical method using publicly available data allows interpreters to see through the noise and find informative correlations. Using a data set of over 5000 wells, we aggregate cumulative oil production and stimulation fluid volumes to a per-section basis then normalize by hydrocarbon pore volume (HCPV) per section. Dimensionless section-level Cumulative Oil versus Stimulation Fluid Plots ("Normalization" or "N-Plot") present data distributions sufficiently well-defined to provide an interpretation and design basis of well spacing and stimulation fluid volumes for multi-well development. When coupled with geologic characterization, the trends guide further refinement of development optimization and well performance predictions. Two example applications using the N-Plot are introduced. The first involves construction of predictive production models and associated evaluation of alternative development scenarios with different combinations of well spacing and completion fluid intensity. The second involves "just-in-time" modification of fluid intensity for drilled but uncompleted wells (DUC's) to optimize cost-forward project economics in an evolving commodity price environment.