Westside: Slickwater Fracturing - Food for Thought

 

Slickwater frac designs have become a major factor in the development of today’s unconventional gas reservoirs such as tight gas sands, shales, and coalbed methane plays.  Most frac design engineers in the industry, however, have been trained in the more conventional, cross-linked fracturing fluids.  This presentation will focus on the key issues to be considered when designing a slickwater frac, including fracture width and complexity, proppant transport, fracture conductivity, and proppant selection.  Special attention will be paid to those issues that distinguish the slickwater approach from the cross-linked gel frac methodology.  The material presented will be supplemented by descriptive lab studies and field case histories.