An Early Production Comparison of Northern White Sand and Regional Sand in the Permian Basin

Williams, Robert C.; Artola, Pedro; Salinas, J. K.; Mirakyan, Andrey L.; Hoefer, Ann; Kraemer, Chad; Reese, Harrison; Roybal, Zack; Williamson, B. L.

doi:10.2118/196048-ms

Cited by 8 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 12 publications

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“…Small particle size quartz sand has dominated the proppant industry in North America. In fact, the sum of 40/70 mesh and 100 mesh fine sands used in the shale gas industry in North America accounted for more than 70% of the total proppant used in 2018 [39,40] (Figure 2). Moreover, 40/70 mesh and 100 mesh fine sands exceeded 80% in the first quarter of 2019, and even 100 mesh quartz sand in deeper layers at depths of 3500 m exceeded 68.6% [41][42][43].…”

Section: Model Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydraulic Fracture Propagation and Proppant Transport Mechanism in Interlayered Reservoir

et al. 2023

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Hydraulic fracture is crucial for assuring well production from unconventional reservoirs. For the optimization of hydraulic fracture geometry and the ensuing production of an interlayered reservoir, vertical hydraulic fracture propagation path has been analyzed. However, an effective fluid channel cannot be formed if the proppant is unable to reach the area where the fracture propagates. This paper presents a numerical model using the lattice-based method to investigate the hydraulic fracture propagation and proppant transport mechanism in interlayered reservoirs. The hydraulic fracture propagation model was simulated under different geological and fracturing engineering factors. The results indicate that interlayer Young’s modulus and horizontal stress anisotropy are positively correlated with longitudinal propagation and proppant carrying ability in interlayered formations. The fracturing injection rate has an optimal solution for fracture propagation and proppant carrying since a too low injection rate is unfavorable for fracture penetration of the interlayer, while a too high injection rate increases fracture width instead of further fracture penetration. In conclusion, attention is drawn to fine particle size proppants used in multi-layer reservoirs for fracturing fluid to carry proppants as far as possible to obtain maximum propped area.

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Section: Model Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydraulic Fracture Propagation and Proppant Transport Mechanism in Interlayered Reservoir

et al. 2023

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Shale Frac Designs Move to Just-Good-Enough Proppant Economics

Melcher¹,

Mayerhofer²,

Agarwal³

et al. 2020

Day 2 Wed, February 05, 2020

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Selecting appropriate proppants is an important part of hydraulic fracture completion design. Proppant selection choices have dramatically increased in recent years as regional sands have become the proppant of choice in many liquid-rich shale plays. But are these new proppants the best long-term choices to maximize production? Do they provide the best well economics? The paper presents a brief historical perspective on proppant selection followed by various detailed studies of how different proppant types have been performing in various unconventional basins (Williston, Permian, Eagle Ford, Powder River and DJ) along with economic analyses. As the shale revolution pushed into lower-quality reservoirs, the concept of dimensionless conductivity has pushed our industry to use ever lower-quality materials – away from ceramics and resin-coated proppant to white sand in some Rocky Mountain plays and more recently from white sand to regional sand in the Permian and Eagle Ford plays. Further, we compare early-to late-time production response and economics in liquid-rich wells where proppant type changed. The performance of various proppant types and mesh sizes is evaluated using a combination of different techniques, including big data multi-variate statistics, lab conductivity testing, detailed fracture and reservoir modeling, as well as direct well group comparisons. The results of these techniques are then combined with economic analyses to provide a perspective on proppant selection criteria. The comparisons are anchored to permeability estimates from production history matching and DFITs and thousands of wellsite proppant conductivity tests to determine dimensionless conductivity estimates that best approach what is obtained in the field. Proppant selection is typically based on crush resistance to stress loading and fracture conductivity under various flow conditions while having the lowest possible cost. However, dimensionless fracture conductivity is the main driver of well performance as it relates to proppant selection since it includes the relationship of fracture conductivity provided by the proppant relative to the actual flow capacity of the rock (the product of permeability and effective fracture length), which is supported by the production analyses in the paper. The paper shows how much fracture conductivity is adequate for a given effective fracture length and reservoir permeability and then looks at the economics of achieving this "just-good -enough" target conductivity, either through less proppant mass with higher-cost proppants or more proppant mass with-lower cost proppants, as well as mesh size considerations. This paper does not rely on a single technique for proppant selection but uses a combination of various data sources, analysis techniques and economic criteria to provide a more holistic approach to proppant selection.

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Shale-Oil-Fracturing Designs Move to Just-Good-Enough Proppant Economics with Regional Sand

Melcher¹,

Mayerhofer²,

Agarwal³

et al. 2020

SPE Drilling &Amp; Completion

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Summary Selecting appropriate proppants is an important part of hydraulic-fracture completion design. Proppant selection choices have increased in recent years as regional sands have become the proppant of choice in many liquid-rich shale plays. But are these new proppants the best long-term choices to maximize production? Do they provide the best well economics? The paper presents a brief historical perspective on proppant selection followed by various detailed studies of how different proppant types have performed in various unconventional onshore US basins (Williston, Permian, Eagle Ford, and Powder River), along with economic analyses. As the shale revolution pushed into lower-quality reservoirs, the concept of dimensionless conductivity has pushed our industry to use ever lower-quality materials—away from ceramics and resin-coated proppant to white sand in some Rocky Mountain plays, and more recently from white sand to regional sand in the Permian and Eagle Ford plays. Further, we compare early-to-late-time production response and economics in liquid-rich wells where proppant type changed. The performance of various proppant types and mesh sizes is evaluated using a combination of different techniques, including big-data multivariate statistics, laboratory-conductivity testing, detailed fracture and reservoir modeling, as well as direct well-group comparisons. The results of these techniques are then combined with economic analyses to provide a perspective on proppant-selection criteria. The comparisons are anchored to permeability estimates from production history matching and diagnostic fracture injection tests (DFITs) and thousands of wellsite-proppant-conductivity tests to determine dimensionless conductivity estimates that best approach what is obtained in the field. Dimensionless fracture conductivity is the main driver of well performance because it relates to proppant selection thanks to the inclusion of the relationship of fracture conductivity provided by the proppant relative to the actual flow capacity of the rock (the product of permeability and effective fracture length), which is supported by the production analyses in the paper. The paper shows how much fracture conductivity is adequate for a given effective fracture length and reservoir permeability and then looks at the economics of achieving this “just-good-enough” target conductivity, either through less proppant mass with higher-cost proppants or more proppant mass with lower-cost proppants, as well as mesh-size considerations. This paper does not rely on a single technique for proppant selection but uses a combination of various data sources, analysis techniques, and economic criteria to provide a more holistic approach to proppant selection.

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An Early Production Comparison of Northern White Sand and Regional Sand in the Permian Basin

Cited by 8 publications

References 12 publications

Hydraulic Fracture Propagation and Proppant Transport Mechanism in Interlayered Reservoir

Hydraulic Fracture Propagation and Proppant Transport Mechanism in Interlayered Reservoir

Shale Frac Designs Move to Just-Good-Enough Proppant Economics

Shale-Oil-Fracturing Designs Move to Just-Good-Enough Proppant Economics with Regional Sand

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