A Diagenetic Study of the Wolfcamp Shale, Midland Basin, West Texas

Wickard, Alyssa K.; Elmore, R. Douglas; Heij, Gerhard

doi:10.15530/urtec-2016-2460784

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…143 This behavior is complex and often basin specific. For example iron is universally present and iron scale is a persistent problem 107,144 while strontium is of primary concern in the Permian 145 but not in the Marcellus 146 or Eagle Ford plays.…”

Section: ■ Water Chemistry and Shale Reactivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Critical Review of the Physicochemical Impacts of Water Chemistry on Shale in Hydraulic Fracturing Systems

Khan

Spielman-Sun

Jew

et al. 2021

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Hydraulic fracturing of unconventional hydrocarbon resources involves the sequential injection of a high-pressure, particle-laden fluid with varying pH’s to make commercial production viable in low permeability rocks. This process both requires and produces extraordinary volumes of water. The water used for hydraulic fracturing is typically fresh, whereas “flowback” water is typically saline with a variety of additives which complicate safe disposal. As production operations continue to expand, there is an increasing interest in treating and reusing this high-salinity produced water for further fracturing. Here we review the relevant transport and geochemical properties of shales, and critically analyze the impact of water chemistry (including produced water) on these properties. We discuss five major geochemical mechanisms that are prominently involved in the temporal and spatial evolution of fractures during the stimulation and production phase: shale softening, mineral dissolution, mineral precipitation, fines migration, and wettability alteration. A higher salinity fluid creates both benefits and complications in controlling these mechanisms. For example, higher salinity fluid inhibits clay dispersion, but simultaneously requires more additives to achieve appropriate viscosity for proppant emplacement. In total this review highlights the nuances of enhanced hydrogeochemical shale stimulation in relation to the choice of fracturing fluid chemistry.

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Section: ■ Water Chemistry and Shale Reactivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Critical Review of the Physicochemical Impacts of Water Chemistry on Shale in Hydraulic Fracturing Systems

Khan

Spielman-Sun

Jew

et al. 2021

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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show abstract

“…This could be achieved through bypassing the near wellbore damage, extending the fracture to a significant depth within the formation, and alter the flow pattern [ 1 ]. The stimulation attempts started in the 1860s with explosive charges [ 2 ]. These attempts continued until 1947, where the first successful hydraulic fracturing job was performed in Kansas, USA.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chelating Agents Usage in Optimization of Fracturing Fluid Rheology Prepared from Seawater

et al. 2021

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Hydraulic fracturing consumes massive volumes of freshwater that is usually scarce and costly. Such operation is not sustainable, and hence seawater could be used as an alternative. Nevertheless, seawater has high total dissolved solids (TDS), affecting the fracturing fluid rheology and providing a damage potential to the subterranean hydrocarbon reservoirs. Resolving these issues requires fracturing fluid systems with many additives, which results in an expensive and non-eco-friendly system. This study proposes eco-friendly and biodegradable chelating agents that could replace many additives such as scale inhibitors and crosslinkers. The study aims to optimize the rheology of seawater fracturing fluids using a chelating agent and polymer. By optimizing N,N-Dicarboxymethyl glutamic acid (GLDA) conditions, high viscosity was achieved using a standard industry rheometer. The GLDA was mixed with carboxymethyl hydroxypropyl guar (CMHPG) polymer and tested in both deionized water (DW) and seawater (SW). The polymer was examined first, where the rheology did not show a time-dependent behavior. The polymer in SW showed a slightly higher viscosity than in DW. The GLDA and CMHPG were tested at different temperatures, pH, and concentrations. These sets showed a time-dependent viscosity behavior, which can be utilized in various fracturing steps. Results showed that the solution pH and GLDA concentration significantly impacted the fluid viscosity magnitude and behavior. The developed formulation is shear thinning, where the viscosity declines as the shear rate increases. The temperature negatively impacted the viscosity and caused the formulation to break. The study provided an understanding of how to optimize the rheology of SW fracturing fluid based on GLDA chelating and CMHPG polymer.

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Developing Guidelines for Selection of Appropriate Fracture Models in the Numerical Simulation of Well Performance Behavior for Liquid Rich Ultra-Low Permeability ULP Reservoirs

Sivon

Moridis

Blasingame

2018

Day 2 Wed, January 24, 2018

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The numerical prediction of production from stimulated Ultra-Low Permeability (ULP) media is highly correlated with the type of fracture model used in the simulator. Although there are some general rules about the applicability of these fracture models, there are no guidelines for the a-priori selection of an appropriate model -generally, the fracture model is selected based on the preference and/or familiarity of the person performing the modeling, rather than some "more technical" criteria. In that light, this work presents an effort to provide guidance for fracture model suitability for cases from the Eagle Ford, Bakken, Three Forks, and Wolfcamp formations.In this work, production data from multiple wells in the aforementioned reservoirs are history-matched using models commonly available in commercial reservoir simulators. We evaluate the ability of the equivalent continuum model (ECM), the dual porosity, the dual permeability, and the multiple interactive continuum model (MINC) to represent these wells.We determine that a correlation exists between the choice of the fracture model and the reservoir. However, the results of the study do not provide a sufficiently strong indication of model superiority which would support authoritative guidelines about applicability for a particular reservoir. Ultimately the choice of the most representative model depends on the particular well. The proposed recommendationsprovide guidance onthe appropriate fracture model to represent the studied reservoirs, thus enhancing their usefulness in the completion design process and the evaluation and prediction of production.

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A Diagenetic Study of the Wolfcamp Shale, Midland Basin, West Texas

Cited by 5 publications

References 36 publications

A Critical Review of the Physicochemical Impacts of Water Chemistry on Shale in Hydraulic Fracturing Systems

A Critical Review of the Physicochemical Impacts of Water Chemistry on Shale in Hydraulic Fracturing Systems

Chelating Agents Usage in Optimization of Fracturing Fluid Rheology Prepared from Seawater

Developing Guidelines for Selection of Appropriate Fracture Models in the Numerical Simulation of Well Performance Behavior for Liquid Rich Ultra-Low Permeability ULP Reservoirs

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