Hydrafrac Operations in the Spraberry Production, West Texas

Abstract

During late 1950 and up to present date in 1951 the Spraberry sand production of West Texas has created wide-spread interest in the oil producing industry. It is recognized that there are many controversial opinions concerning operations in the Spraberry, it's economic value, and future development. The application of Hydrafrac procedures to completion of Spraberry wells has become prominent in the development of these sands. This paper outlines the geologic and historical development of the Spraberry and the use of Hydrafrac applications in these formations. Introduction The application of the Hydrafrac Process to wells completing from the Spraberry formation was begun during the last part of 1950. The Hydrafrac Process consists of preparing a viscous gel to which a special sand is added and pumping this material into the producing formation at a rate which will develop sufficient hydraulic force to produce and/or extend a fracture. The gel must be of an unstable character to revert to a thin fluid, such that it may be recovered from the well, leaving the introduced sand in the fracture as a propping agent. In order to insure the reversion of gel to a fluid, breaker chemicals are mixed with crude oil and flushed into the formation behind the gel. The success of these treatments has been closely associated nth the current expanding drilling and development program along an area commonly referred to as the Spraberry Trend. 'Top of Spraberry' is found at depths of 6,500 to 7,500 feet in most of this area. This trend covers an area over 100 miles in length and 50 miles in width from the North Gail Field of Borden County to the Flatrock Field of Upton County. Location of this eight county area of West Texas is shown in Figure 1.Location of the fields discovered through June 1951 are shown in Figure 2.

Laboratory Evaluation of a Low pH and Low Polymer Concentration Zirconium-CMHPG Gel System for Hydraulic Fracturing

“…Since the first fracturing treatment was successfully operated in the Hugoton field, Kansas, in 1947, hydraulic fracturing has been a key technique to enhance oil and gas productivity index for the low-yield wells. The related reports can be traced back to about 70 years ago. , Briefly, hydraulic fracturing is a process of injecting a viscoelastic proppant-carrying (typically quartz sand and ceramic bead) fluid under high pumping pressure to create a high-conductivity open fracture, which connects the nature fractures and/or the formation to the wellbore. , The properties of fracturing fluid are very significant in the creation and propagation of the fracture. With the advancement of the industry, a batch of novel fracturing fluids has emerged, such as polyacrylamide-based polymer, , slick water, , viscoelastic surfactant, − and energized fluid. − However, due to either their high cost, weak thermal stability, high leak-off coefficient, or poor proppant-transport capacity, guar gum and its derivatives-based polymer gels are still the most commonly used fluids in modern hydraulic fracturing operations. − …”

The Segregation Behavior of Phosphorus in Ti and Ti+Nb Stabilized Interstitial-Free Steels.

“…17) It is generally believed that the impurities segregate to the prior austenite grain boundaries, reduce their cohesive strength and, hence, cause intergranular fracture along the prior austenite grain boundaries. 12,18,19) Also, a few other studies have reported that precipitation of carbides (Fe 3 C) on the ferrite grain boundaries results in a transient build-up of impurities at the ferrite/carbide interfaces and, hence, causes intergranular fracture along the ferrite grain boundaries. [20][21][22] Although it is known that the presence of impurities in a segregated state is essential to cause TE, the exact mechanism of TE is still not clearly understood.…”