The completion cycle for the development of unconventional resource plays, such as the Eagle Ford shale in South Texas, requires multiple hydraulic fracture stages to be placed in the horizontal section of the wellbore to effectively stimulate the reservoir. Inefficiencies in the completion design caused by conventional "plug-and-perf" (P-n-P) methodologies can increase the costs associated with the delivery of hydraulic fracturing. However, new methodologies have recently been developed to mimic the P-n-P process that allow the operator to fracture stimulate the reservoir in a more economic and time-efficient manner.
The Eagle Ford shale in Lavaca/Gonzales Counties, Texas is similar to many high-carbonate-content oil shale formations. In South Texas, the industry has a preference for cementing the lateral section for fracture stage isolation. This case study explores the successful implementation of a cemented multientry point sliding sleeve technology (CMEPT) in the Eagle Ford shale. The combination of these technologies was the first ever of its kind. This study also illustrates some of the lessons learned during the years of development of this integrated service technology.
This paper highlights the key well that successfully implemented these technologies. The Kudu Hunter No. 1H well was drilled to a measured depth of 16,302 ft with a lateral length of over 6,000 ft. The integrated service design proposed a hybrid completion design with 2,000 ft of lateral completed by means of a nine-stage CMEPT and the remaining 4,000 ft of lateral completion by means of the P-n-P method.
The CMEPT allowed the placement of ~1,840,000 lbm of premium white sand with surface modification agent (SMA) by means of 1,740,000 gal of guar-based hybrid fluid over nine stages in 22 hr, and the remaining 11 stages of P-n-P completion placed ~2,310,000 lbm of premium white sand and SMA by means of 1,940,000 gal of guar-based hybrid fluid in ~80 hr.
The stand-alone conventional P-n-P process has become a barrier to the economic delivery of fracture stimulation. This case study illustrates how the adoption of the CMEPT integrated service process provides efficiencies in the completion cycle and maximizes stimulated reservoir volume (SRV) along the well path.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.