Innovation and advances in technology have enabled the industry to exploit lower-permeability and more-complex reservoirs around the world. Approaches such as horizontal drilling and multistage hydraulic fracturing have expanded the envelope for economic viability. However, along with enabling economic viability in new basins come new challenges. Such is the case in the Middle East and North Africa regions, where basin complexity arising from tectonics and complicated geology is creating a difficult geomechanical environment that is impacting the success of hydraulic fracturing operations in tight reservoirs and unconventional resources. The impact has been significant, including the inability to initiate hydraulic fractures, fracture placement issues, fracture connectivity limitations, casing deformation problems, and production impairment challenges.
Completion quality (CQ) relates to the ability to generate the required hydraulic fracture surface area and sustained fracture conductivity that will permit hydrocarbon flow from the formation to the wellbore at economic rates. It groups parameters related to the in-situ state of stress (including ordering, orientation, and amount of anisotropy), elastic properties (e.g., Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio), pore pressure, and the presence of natural fractures and faults. Collectively, this group of properties impacts many key aspects determining the geometry of the fracture, particularly lateral extent and vertical containment. Heterogeneity in CQ often necessitates customizing well placement and completion designs based on regional or local variability. This customization is particularly important to address local heterogeneity in the stress state and horizontal features in the rock fabric (e.g., laminations, weak interfaces, and natural fractures) that have been identified as key contributors impacting the success of hydraulic fracture treatments.
Given the observation that a wide range of CQ heterogeneity was creating a complex impact on hydraulic fracture performance, CQ classes were introduced to characterize the risk of developing hydraulic fracture complexity in the horizontal plane and the associated impact on well delivery and production performance. They indicate the expected hydraulic fracture geometry at a given location and are analyzed in the context of a wellbore trajectory in a given local stress state. CQ class 1 denotes locations where conditions lead to the formation of vertical hydraulic fractures, CQ class 2 denotes locations where conditions lead to the formation of a T-shaped or twist/turn in the hydraulic fracture, and CQ class 3 denotes locations where conditions lead to the formation of hydraulic fracture with predominantly horizontal components. Wellbore measurements indicate that these CQ classes can vary along the length of the wellbore, and 3D geomechanical studies indicate that they can vary spatially across a basin. By understanding this variability in CQ class, well placement and completion design strategies can be optimized to overcome reservoirheterogeneity and enable successful hydraulic fracturing in more challenging environments.
This paper introduces the novel concept of CQ class to characterize basin complexity; shows examples of CQ class variability from around the world; and provides integrated drilling, completion, and stimulation strategies to mitigate the risks to hydraulic fracturing operations and optimize production performance.
