The Mesaverde formation in the Piceance Basin of western Colorado is a series of tight gas sands contained in a complex geological environment. Pay selection and completion techniques have varied greatly during the development of this formation. Production response varies greatly from well to well, and decisions on where and how to optimize completion economics are difficult. Consistent treatment sizes and designs are usually used even though some treatments may be over- designed while others are under-designed. Knowing where to spend Completion dollars and where to save them can substantially impact the economics of a development project in this Basin.
This paper will present a reservoir description technique that uses standard openhole well logs and helps operators to predict reservoir quality for individual sands. This prediction allows the operator to optimize the completion design and therefore maximize his economics. This technique has been applied to many wells, and the accuracy is documented through production analysis. Both total well production and individual sand production, determined with production logs, have been predicted through the use of this technique. This paper also examines the economic benefit of using this analysis technique will be presented. The authors believe that the methodology used can be applied to similar reservoirs to achieve similar results.
P. 129
