ACA Practical Considerations: When is it Accurate and How Should it be Used to Improve Reservoir Stimulation

Abstract

The use of the Diagnostic Fracture Injection Test (DFIT) technique as a means of pre-frac investigation has become relatively routine in the oilfield, particularly to understand the reservoir properties and then subsequently optimize the hydraulic fracture design. A key component of an effective DFIT is the performance of an effective After Closure Analysis (ACA) to assess the transmissibility of the formation and thereby allow for effective design. BP Oman is developing the Barik formation, within the Khazzan field, which is a low-permeability conventional tight-gas reservoir within Block 61 of the Sultanate of Oman. The reservoir is comprised of a series of tightly interbedded sandstones and shales, with substantial shale breaks between the principal sand lobes. During the Appraisal and Development well sequence to date, BP Oman have performed DFIT operations in over 50 vertical wells, within the Barik Formation. Each one of these wells was then subject to placement of a large (one million lb) hydraulic fracture treatment. Each treatment was then followed by a standard clean-up programme and when possible a PBU, with subsequent placement on production into the main gathering system. This paper seeks to demonstrate that there is unambiguous evidence of a coherent correlation between the petro-physical Barik open-hole logs, the transmissibility value (as estimated from the ACA), the conventional Pressure Transient Analysis (PTA) as well as the long-term production behaviour. Additionally, the paper will investigate the key aspects of the actual DFIT execution, the data gathering and the analysis that can impact the quality of the correlation. The paper will go on to demonstrate the most efficient methods of achieving the most accurate assessment of the formation transmissibility; that is both indicative and subsequently helpful for the fracture design and post-fracture productivity prediction. This paper successfully describes a 50 well, and growing, DFIT analysis programme and the suitability of the use of the results from the subsequently performed ACAs for forward planning and hydraulic fracture design. Providing a suite of useful and helpful insights, suggestions and recommendations; into how DFIT, for ACA, should be executed in the field; the paper adds an extensive case history to the industry database for future consideration.