Description
A breakthrough pressure monitoring technique using an offset sealed wellbore as a monitoring source has enabled the quantifying of hydraulic fracturing cluster efficiencies in real-time. Over 1,500 stages have been monitored using the technique. Sealed Wellbore Pressure Monitoring (SWPM) is a low-cost, non-intrusive method used to evaluate and quantify fracture growth rates and fracture-driven interactions during hydraulic fracturing. The measurements can be made with only a surface pressure gauge on a monitor well. SWPM can be applied to improve the understanding of hydraulic fractures in the following ways:
- Qualitative cluster efficiency/fluid distribution
- Fracture count in the far-field
- Fracture height and fracture half-length
- Depletion identification and mitigation
- Fracture model calibration
- Fracture closure time estimation
The technique has been validated using low-frequency Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) strain monitoring, microseismic monitoring, video-based downhole perforation imaging, and production logging. This presentation will review multiple SWPM case studies collected in the Anadarko Basin (Meramec) and the Permian Delaware Basin (Wolfcamp and Leonard/Avalon).