Description
In deepwater projects it is often necessary to complete long intervals
in highly variable, heterogeneous reservoirs. For frac and pack
completions it is important to understand the fracture geometry and
growth characteristics sufficiently well to ensure that the complete
interval can be effectively treated as to provide long-term productivity
and sand control.
This presentation reviews two completions where good quality openhole
log data were available, along with downhole pressure/temperature
gauges and radioactive tracer images of downhole proppant placement.
A finite element hydraulic fracture simulator was employed to establish
a fracture history match that would honor all of the available data, including
the temperature gauge data and tracer image.
The results of this study reveal some very interesting aspects of hydraulic
fracture growth in heterogeneous reservoirs, including complex fracture growth
and instances of slurry diversion occurring during the treatment as one or more
fractures begin to screen out. It will be demonstrated that the fracture simulator
can be a very effective means to tie all of the available data together in arriving
at a single solution. It will also be shown how the procedures employed can be used
by completion engineers in making decisions as to when long intervals can best
be treated in a single stage vs. when it would be more advisable to break such
an interval up into multiple treatment stages. The use of more rigorous fracturing
models will be shown to be a practical and effective means for understanding and
improving frac and pack completion designs for long intervals.
Register @ www.spegcs.org or by fax: (713) 779-4216
(Please print / bring credit card receipt if paid on-line.)