A Case Study: New Low Damage Frac Fluid Provides Immediate Production Results in Eagle Ford Shale
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Cited by 3 publications
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Conventional guar borate systems have historically been preferred for hydraulic fracturing applications because of the lower cost of the base polymer and crosslinker. Additionally, the fluid formulations can be easily tailored based on reservoir conditions and operational needs and the favorable tubular friction reducing characteristics of guar-based fluid systems makes them a desirable option for fracturing fluid systems. However, water insoluble residue resulting from guar-based systems may significantly impact the permeability of the proppant pack when flowing back and producing the well. A recently developed, nearly residue-free (RF) fluid system offers excellent cleanup properties and, as a result, has provided significantly improved production of hydrocarbons compared to typical guar-borate systems. While offering excellent performance and production, the RF fluid demonstrated significantly less friction reduction than comparable guar-based systems. This paper introduces a newly developed fluid system offering equivalent cleanup properties and performance, but with significantly enhanced friction reduction. The lower friction of the (LF)-RF system helps lower wellhead pressures to allow maintaining pump rate, adhering to the job design, to place the desired amount of proppant in the fracture. This newly developed LF-RF fluid is a high performance fracturing fluid with improved regained conductivity and core permeability cleanup compared to typical guar-borate crosslinked systems. It is applicable within a wide variety of reservoirs, including unconventional reservoirs, and to-date has been successfully used in more than 1,100 stages since its introduction in early 2014. The LF-RF fluid system is applicable from 100 to 275°F bottomhole static temperature (BHST) and offers excellent operational versatility and proppant transport. This paper compares fluid performance and friction response of a conventional guar-borate fluid and the existing RF system with the newly developed LF-RF fracturing fluid.
Conventional guar borate systems have historically been preferred for hydraulic fracturing applications because of the lower cost of the base polymer and crosslinker. Additionally, the fluid formulations can be easily tailored based on reservoir conditions and operational needs and the favorable tubular friction reducing characteristics of guar-based fluid systems makes them a desirable option for fracturing fluid systems. However, water insoluble residue resulting from guar-based systems may significantly impact the permeability of the proppant pack when flowing back and producing the well. A recently developed, nearly residue-free (RF) fluid system offers excellent cleanup properties and, as a result, has provided significantly improved production of hydrocarbons compared to typical guar-borate systems. While offering excellent performance and production, the RF fluid demonstrated significantly less friction reduction than comparable guar-based systems. This paper introduces a newly developed fluid system offering equivalent cleanup properties and performance, but with significantly enhanced friction reduction. The lower friction of the (LF)-RF system helps lower wellhead pressures to allow maintaining pump rate, adhering to the job design, to place the desired amount of proppant in the fracture. This newly developed LF-RF fluid is a high performance fracturing fluid with improved regained conductivity and core permeability cleanup compared to typical guar-borate crosslinked systems. It is applicable within a wide variety of reservoirs, including unconventional reservoirs, and to-date has been successfully used in more than 1,100 stages since its introduction in early 2014. The LF-RF fluid system is applicable from 100 to 275°F bottomhole static temperature (BHST) and offers excellent operational versatility and proppant transport. This paper compares fluid performance and friction response of a conventional guar-borate fluid and the existing RF system with the newly developed LF-RF fracturing fluid.
Fracture acidizing continues to be an effective process to enhance production of carbonate formations. To help achieve a successful fracture acidizing treatment, three fundamental issues should be addressed: fluid-loss control, reactivity control, and conductivity generation. Crosslinked fracturing fluids are pumped at the forefront of an acidizing design to initiate the fracture profile and to reduce increased fluid loss caused by acid interactions within the formation. The current industry standardized guar/borate crosslinked fracturing fluids leave insoluble residues, which significantly reduce production. This paper introduces a low pH, robust, and residue-free fracturing fluid for fracture acidizing. This new fluid is a polysaccharide-based crosslinked fracturing fluid system that leaves little-to-no residue upon breaking (<1%). This unique property facilitates improvements in well cleanup and increased hydrocarbon production by eliminating much of the insoluble residue found in traditional fracturing fluids. Typically, a higher pH fracturing fluid is used with acidizing systems because of its temperature tolerance at bottomhole conditions. However, these high-pH fracturing fluids can prematurely lose their crosslink when coming into contact with acid. Therefore, typical designs are based on the assumption of limited intermingling between the acid systems and crosslinked fluid. The polysaccharide-based fracturing fluid under discussion was optimized at a lower pH range and did not break while performing compatibility tests when mixed with gelled and emulsified acids systems. The rheology and nondamaging characteristics of this polysaccharide-based fracturing fluid was measured by a high-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) rheometer and filter press apparatus. This fluid was optimized using a HP/HT rheometer to obtain the required break profile in accordance with the treatment design and a bottomhole temperature of up to 285°F. A stable fracturing fluid was generated by varying the crosslinker, oxidizing, and reducing agents. A comparison of high-pH guar/borate and low-pH polysaccharide-based fracturing fluids with regard to their compatibilities in both a gelled and emulsified acid system environment demonstrates the stability of the polysaccharide-based fracturing fluid in an acidic environment. To assess the nondamaging behavior of this fracturing fluid, HP/HT static filtration tests were conducted at 250°F. The fracturing fluid filter cake was prepared on a 5-μm ceramic disk and shut in for 24 hours. Filter cake and/or residue was not found on the filter disk after this experiment, indicating that the polysaccharide fluid had cleaned up completely and that minimal formation damage would be found on the formation face after an acidizing treatment. This new residue-free polysaccharide-based fracturing fluid provides improved fluid properties, as compared to a typical guar/borate crosslinked system. It does not leave insoluble residue in the formation, the fluid is robust in an acidic environment, and the fluid rheology can be precisely optimized to obtain the required break profile to optimize the fracture design as the formation dictates.
These are exciting times for unconventional resource development across North America. This success has proven to be a driver for the rest of the world to attempt to emulate the game-changing results found in the industry. As a consequence, improved horizontal drilling and hydraulic completion technology are currently being disseminated to the rest of the world, where operators are seeking to replicate the North American success in tight reservoirs and shale plays of interest. This being further fueled by higher gas prices than are awarded in North America. This paper introduces a work-flow process to describe how tight gas-sand potential was discovered in the Mezardere Formation in the southern part of the in Thrace Basin in NW Turkey. The process began with the development of an improved understanding of geology and reservoir characterization followed by the application of North American drilling and completion technologies to commercially extract hydrocarbons from previously uneconomic resources. Design of hydraulic fracturing, including pad volumes, proppant and gel concentrations, stage volumes and typical pressure profiles, production profiles and well design parameters are established. The content also presents how completion designs can be improved in a vertical well application in existing wellbores as a means to mitigate capital risk in a horizontal development plan. The paper concludes by showing how the successful extraction of commercial gas production from heretofore uneconomic portions of the Thrace basin has the potential to change the energy future in Turkey via dramatically improved production results over previous conventional completions. When results were made public, the basin garnered attention from many large E&P Operators. The results proved that improved economic enhancement of deep basin unconventional resources as possible; thereby changing and accelerating development plans for this type of play.
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