Applying Rate Transient Analysis (RTA) to Assist Fracturing Technique Selection in Unconventional Wells in Saudi Arabia

Rueda, Jose; Valbuena, Jose; Almomen, Ali; Al-Mulhim, Nayef

doi:10.15530/urtec-2019-377

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Similarly, hydraulic treatments in the Jafurah Basin in Saudi Arabia require large fracturing fluid volumes and proppant amounts. From published data, we deduce that total fracturing fluid volumes and proppant mass per wellbore are about 18,000 m 3 (∼113,000 bbls) and 3600 tons (∼7.2 MM lbs) [44,45,47,81]. The average horizontal wellbore length in the Jafurah basin is approximately 1500 m (∼5000 ft) [45,53].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 87%

The Effect of Hydraulic Fracture Geometry on Well Productivity in Shale Oil Plays with High Pore Pressure

et al. 2021

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We propose three idealized hydraulic fracture geometries (“fracture scenarios”) likely to occur in shale oil reservoirs characterized by high pore pressure and low differential in situ stresses. We integrate these geometries into a commercial reservoir simulator (CMG-IMEX) and examine their effect on reservoir fluids production. Our first, reference fracture scenario includes only vertical, planar hydraulic fractures. The second scenario has stimulated vertical natural fractures oriented perpendicularly to the vertical hydraulic fractures. The third fracture scenario has stimulated horizontal bedding planes intersecting the vertical hydraulic fractures. This last scenario may occur in mudrock plays characterized by high pore pressure and transitional strike-slip to reverse faulting stress regimes. We demonstrate that the vertical and planar fractures are an oversimplification of the hydraulic fracture geometry in anisotropic shale plays. They fail to represent the stimulated volume geometric complexity in the reservoir simulations and may confuse hydrocarbon production forecast. We also show that stimulating mechanically weak bedding planes harms hydrocarbon production, while stimulated natural fractures may enhance initial production. Our findings reveal that stimulated horizontal bedding planes might decrease the cumulative hydrocarbon production by as much as 20%, and the initial hydrocarbon production by about 50% compared with the reference scenario. We present unique reservoir simulations that enable practical assessment of the impact of varied hydraulic fracture configurations on hydrocarbon production and highlight the importance of constraining present-day in situ stress state and pore pressure conditions to obtain a realistic hydrocarbon production forecast.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 87%

The Effect of Hydraulic Fracture Geometry on Well Productivity in Shale Oil Plays with High Pore Pressure

et al. 2021

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A Generalized Method for Dynamic Fracture Characterization Using Two-Phase Rate Transient Analysis of Flowback and Production Data

Sun,

Zhang,

et al. 2024

SPE Journal

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Summary This study presents a comprehensive method for characterizing reservoir properties and hydraulic fracture (HF) closure dynamics using the rate transient analysis of flowback and production data. The proposed method includes straightline analysis (SLA), type-curve analysis (TCA), and model history matching (MHM), which are developed for scenarios of two-phase flow in fracture, stimulated reservoir volume (SRV), and nonstimulated reservoir volume (NSRV) domains. HF closure dynamics are characterized by two key parameters, which are pressure-dependent permeability and porosity controlled by fracture permeability modulus and compressibility. The above techniques are combined into a generalized workflow to estimate iteratively the five parameters (including four optional parameters and one fixed parameter) by reconciling data in different domains of time (single-phase water flow, two-phase flow, and hydrocarbon-dominated flow), analysis methods (SLA, TCA, and MHM), and phases (water and hydrocarbon phase). We used flowback and production data from a shale gas well in the US and a shale oil well in China to verify the practicability of the method. The analysis results of the field cases confirm the good performance of the newly developed comprehensive method and verify the accuracy in estimating the static fracture properties [initial fracture pore volume (PV) and permeability] and the HF dynamic parameters using the proposed generalized workflow. The accurate prediction of the decreasing fracture permeability and porosity, fracture permeability modulus, and compressibility demonstrates the applicability of the comprehensive method in quantifying HF dynamics. The field application results suggest a reduction of the fracture PV by 15% and 20%, and a reduction of the fracture permeability by 80% and 90% for shale gas and shale oil wells, respectively.

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Determining the Magnitude of Interference Among Adjacent Wells in a Saudi Arabian Unconventoinal Formation

Abaza

Baki

Sadykov

et al. 2020

Day 2 Tue, January 14, 2020

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Gaining an understanding of the well to well interference during hydraulic fracturing and subsequently production interference is paramount in optimizing the costs associated with field development. Much work has been done in the industry to better understand the interference during hydraulic fracturing and production among adjacent wells. This paper presents an analysis that employed both a pressure interference analysis and chemical tracer analysis to gain a better understanding of the fracture interference in a well pad in the Jafurah field. The subject pad consists of 4 wells. Two of which run parallel in a north direction and the other two run parallel in the southern direction. All four wells were hydraulically fractured with slickwater design. Adjacent to the subject pad is another pad that had been previously stimulated with crosslink design and was used for pressure monitoring. The distance between the laterals was relatively similar (X ft) with one exception (2 × ft). Initially, one well from both directions was stimulated with 33 stages each of slickwater design and the plugs were subsequently milled out. Afterwards, the other two wells were stimulated with 33 stages of slickwater each. In 7 of the 33 stages of the later wells, 20 oil and 20 water tracers were injected in sequence in an attempt to study the physical extent of the fractures generated. While the latter two wells were being stimulated, the wellhead pressure on the parallel wells was being monitored and recorded along with the wellhead pressures on the adjacent pad. During flowback, the southern wells were flowed back simultaneously and flowback samples were collected to be analyzed for tracers. Subsequently, the northern wells were opened up to flowback in the same manner and flowback samples were also collected for tracer analysis. Wellhead pressure was monitored on the adjacent pad during flowback of all the wells. The pressure data during the fracturing operation indicated for distance × ft and the size of stimulation stages pumped, a level of communication which was further verified by the production interference analysis as well as the tracer data.

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Applying Rate Transient Analysis (RTA) to Assist Fracturing Technique Selection in Unconventional Wells in Saudi Arabia

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

The Effect of Hydraulic Fracture Geometry on Well Productivity in Shale Oil Plays with High Pore Pressure

The Effect of Hydraulic Fracture Geometry on Well Productivity in Shale Oil Plays with High Pore Pressure

A Generalized Method for Dynamic Fracture Characterization Using Two-Phase Rate Transient Analysis of Flowback and Production Data

Determining the Magnitude of Interference Among Adjacent Wells in a Saudi Arabian Unconventoinal Formation

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