Hydraulic fracturing is the most common stimulation technique to make hydrocarbon production feasible and optimal worldwide. However, it has been preferentially focused on low permeability formations, and when applied to high permeability, it has been focused on sand control. This article outlines the process and results of the hydraulic fracturing campaign for productivity purposes (not for sand control) in the basin of the eastern plains of Colombia given the petrophysical characteristics of the cretaceous formations, where thinking "out of the box" and separating from the existing premises, resulted in successful implementation of this technique in high permeability wells (~ 1D), high water cuts (up to 80% BSW) and heavy oil reservoirs (9–12 API). The technical process consisted on several steps leading to the success of the campaign, which included: Formation damage study that identified candidate wells and damage mechanisms affecting them.Refining of the petrophysical model from pressure testing to establish incremental production.Adjustment of fracture models using varying anisotropy from special sonic log runs.Using state of the art technologies such as mobility enhancers and Flow back proppant additives as active ingredients of the fracturing fluid. This article presents the outcomes of more than 40 wells intervened to date with an average volumetric increment of ~ 250 BOPD per well, consistent reductions of BSW up to 60% and optimized operations which let the operator consider the hydraulic fracturing as a production optimization option for the field under analysis.
A special engineering methodology was developed to understand the complexity of formation damage mechanism currently affecting the well productivity of the oil fields being operated by SOP (Superintendencia de Operaciones Putumayo) Ecopetrol. The initial stage of this study involved the characterization and analysis of reservoir fluids samples taken along the time during different exploitation stages. The analyzed data was processed through specialized software to identify formation damage associated with both organic and mineral scales. Simultaneously a second stage was developed to determine and quantify the influence of production parameters on both fines migration and water production. The data obtained during the previous stages were properly combined to generate a comprehensive formation damage model. Nodal system analysis, material balance, reservoir fluids characterization, and mineral/organic scale models and correlations were finally combined to identify and quantify the main formation damage mechanisms taking place in SOP′s fields. Once the main formation damage mechanisms were identified and quantified then an extensive lab job was performed. This lab study determined the Best In Class (BIC) fluids required to dissolve and mitigate the formation damage. The combination of formation damage model with lab data allowed designing an optimized treatment schedule by each well producing in SOP fields. Finally, an economical study was involved in the study in order to help in well prioritization to start the stimulation and inhibition campaign for SOP field. A 3D simulation of certain formation damage mechanism was included as the final stage in this study. It was very important, especially when optimizing the stimulation-inhibition designs in those wells in which local grid refinement is required to better understanding of certain critical formation damage parameters. The final list of well prioritization was optimized and stimulation-inhibition campaign for SOP fields was finally outlined to be started during the second semester of 2011.
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