Evaluating Completion Design Efficacy Using Poroelastic Pressure Responses in Offset Wells

Abstract

Operators continue their quest to better understand and design completion strategies to maximize reservoir contact and optimize well spacing. This paper presents a case study that analyzes completion design effectiveness, using pressure data acquired from isolated monitor stages on offset wells during treatment of adjacent wells. The method was employed on three wells of a seven-well pad in the Marcellus, to assess fracture growth and evaluate the performance of employing intra-stage and inter-stage diversion. Poromechanically-induced pressure responses on isolated monitor stages on offset wells during treatment of an adjacent well, are compared to a fully coupled, three-dimensional, finite element effective stress model, to calculate dominant fracture geometries that correspond to the pressure response induced in the rock. The initiation points and ascending magnitudes of the responses approaching the isolated monitor stage qualify the performance of inter-stage diversion, whereas the fracture growth trends and geometries speak for the efficacy of the intra-stage diversion and overall stage design. The first well utilized inter-stage diversion and dissolvable plugs to isolate stages; the second well utilized intra-stage diversion to improve cluster efficiency with regular frac plugs for zonal isolation; and, the third well employed regular frac plugs with no use of diversion. This presented a unique opportunity to compare and analyze the fracture growth rates, trends, and geometries, while applying inter-stage diversion and frac plug completion designs for zonal isolation on the same pad. This paper is a comparative study to understand the value of using inter-stage diversion, along with dissolvable plugs in place of composite frac plugs, after every stage to attain zonal isolation. In addition, completed stages utilized different fluid designs, providing the opportunity to analyze the impact of fluid design on fracture growth trends and diverter performance. The results are interpreted using pressure data-derived fracture maps with production data, which point to the performance of various completion strategies, using an entirely new diagnostic method.