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The current “shale gale” phenomena started in the Barnett gas play in 2003 with the introduction of multistage horizontal well fracs. The primary focus of the industry for the next 8 years was development of shale gas plays and shale gas frac optimization was the subject of numerous conferences and studies. The phenomenal success of shale gas operators has been a two edged sword, though, with respect to natural gas prices. The price of success has been a flood of natural gas into the system that has resulted in a sub-economic price for most of the main shale gas plays. The liquids side of the business, though, has seen a significant surge in activity fueled by oil prices in the $90 per barrel range. While initially operators attempted to employ shale gas completion techniques in the liquids plays, it became apparent early on that the liquids plays were different. Understanding the nature of the differences is critical to optimizing completions in these plays. Small pore throat sizes and low fracture conductivities that were adequate for gas flow are not always effective conduits for liquids flow. This results in liquid prone reservoirs having much tighter “sweet spots” for optimum proppant placement. A methodology is proposed that characterizes these “sweet spots” to evaluate expected stage and well performance. This characterization is integrated with the rock mechanical properties profile to develop “best practices” for completing these liquids rich reservoirs. Case histories will be presented to validate the process.

 

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