Offshore Horizontal Well Fracturing: Operational Optimisation in the Southern North Sea

Langford, Marc; Holland, Brian; Green, Christopher Anthony; Bocaneala, Bogdan; Norris, Mark Robert

doi:10.2118/166550-ms

Cited by 17 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…The application of two complementary technologies enabled the placement of 1.4 million pounds of proppant in four treatments within 4 days. Prior to this, similar offshore completions have taken 12 to 20 days (Bocaneala et al 2013).…”

Section: Case Study 2: Offshore Horizontal Well Fracturing: Operationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Evolution of Completion Practices and Reservoir Stimulation Techniques in the North Sea

Bocaneala

Barrett²,

Holland

et al. 2015

SPE Offshore Europe Conference and Exhibition

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The objective of this paper is to collate and share with the industry the technical knowledge on hydraulic fracturing and related completion practices accumulated from both operating and service companies throughout the North Sea. We will follow the evolution of completion technologies and hydraulic fracturing techniques from the early 1980s, when hydraulic fracturing offshore was in its infancy, to present-day modern practices. Although the North Sea hydrocarbon production has been in decline for the last 15 years, technologies exist that can improve production and transform resources into reserves in reservoirs previously believed uneconomic. Horizontal wells and hydraulic fracturing are two complementary technologies that, when combined, can reduce, halt, or even reverse this declining trend. The first hydraulic fracturing treatment in the North Sea was conducted over 40 years ago; since then, the stimulation techniques and completion technologies have advanced significantly. Throughout the years, there have been several milestones in the evolution of stimulated well completions, with the most significant being the transition from single-stage fracturing of vertical wells to multistage fracturing of horizontal wells in the drive for ever-greater reservoir contact. Recently, this combination of technologies made possible the development of small stranded fields otherwise considered noncommercial. The introduction of resin-coated proppants to minimize solids flowback, the evolution of fracturing fluids to meet the stringent environmental regulations, and the introduction of dedicated multistage completions to increase operational efficiency are further enabling innovations discussed in this paper. The latest advances such as proppant channel placement within the fracture, dissolvable completion equipment, and environmentally friendly seawater-based fracturing fluids, have already been introduced and promise significant future improvements to production and the completion cycle efficiency. The North Sea has been, and remains, at the forefront of safety, environmental awareness, and leading technology within the oil and gas industry. This paper reviews the historic evolution of hydraulic fracturing and well completions with the aim to create a clearer vision of the future by building on the past. Through this, we hope to inspire the new generation to find innovative solutions and continue the long history of hydrocarbon production in the North Sea.

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Section: Case Study 2: Offshore Horizontal Well Fracturing: Operationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Evolution of Completion Practices and Reservoir Stimulation Techniques in the North Sea

Bocaneala

Barrett²,

Holland

et al. 2015

SPE Offshore Europe Conference and Exhibition

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“…CMHPG and metal crosslinkers formulations were also used with SW in the North Sea in Ensign tight gas fields. At adjusted pH, 87.8 °C, and 100 s –1 , the researchers achieved over 600 cP viscosity …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The Zr-crosslinked agent can be prepared by combining zirconium oxychloride, acetic acid, and triethanolamine. This crosslinker can increase the viscosity and breaking time at high temperatures. ,,− …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rheological Study of Seawater-Based Fracturing Fluid Containing Polymer, Crosslinker, and Chelating Agent

et al. 2022

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Freshwater is usually used in hydraulic fracturing as it is less damaging to the formation and is compatible with the chemical additives. In recent years, seawater has been the subject of extensive research to reduce freshwater consumption. The study aims to optimize the rheology of seawater-based fracturing fluid with chemical additives that reduce the formation damage. The studied formulation consists of a polymer, a crosslinker, and a chelating agent to reduce seawater hardness. We used a standard industry rheometer to perform the rheology tests. By comparing five distinct grades [hydroxypropyl guar (HPG) and carboxymethyl hydroxypropyl guar (CMHPG)], we selected the guar derivative with the best rheological performance in seawater. Five different polymers (0.6 wt %) were hydrated with seawater and freshwater to select the suitable one. Then, the best performing polymer was chosen to be tested with (1.6, 4, and 8 wt %) N , N -dicarboxymethyl glutamic acid GLDA chelating agent and 1 wt % zirconium crosslinker. In the first part, the testing parameters were 120 °C temperature, 500 psi pressure, and 100 1/s shear rate. Then, the same formulations were tested at a ramped temperature between 25 and 120 °C. We observed that higher and more stable viscosity levels can be achieved by adding the GLDA after polymer hydration. In seawater, an instantaneous crosslinking occurs once the crosslinker is added even at room temperature, while in freshwater, the crosslinker is activated by ramping the temperature. We noted that, in the presence of a crosslinker, small changes in the chelating agent concentration have a considerable impact on the fluid rheology, as demonstrated in ramped temperature results. It is observed that the viscosities are higher and more persistent at lower concentrations of GLDA than at higher concentrations. The study shows the rheological response when different chemical additives are mixed in saline water for hydraulic fracturing applications.

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“…Tectonic fractures are formed under the interaction of different tectonic stress fields and usually have high dip angles (Zeng and Li, 2009). At present, the horizontal well and multistage hydraulic fracturing method are used to artificially create more fractures to open up tight oil reservoirs and produce oil (Langford et al, 2013;Kim et al, 2015). However, for tight reservoirs with undeveloped tectonic fractures, it is challenging for hydraulic fracturing to re-open the pre-existing limited fractures and hydraulic fractures to form a large volume of fracture network.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in Imbibition Efficiency Between Bedding and Tectonic Fractures in the Lucaogou Formation in the Jimusar Sag: Evidence From Simulation Experiments

Liang

Liu²,

Li³

et al. 2022

Front. Earth Sci.

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In addition to tectonic fractures, the ubiquitous and important bedding fractures are often overlooked in the imbibition processes. Based on the identification of different fracture types in tight sandstone from the middle Permian Lucaogou Formation in the Jimusar Sag, NW China, spontaneous imbibition of water experiments was carried out, aiming to investigate the effect of tectonic and bedding fractures on hydrocarbon recovery efficiency in tight reservoir rocks. The results show that the difference in connectivity between the vertical (tectonic fractures) and horizontal (bedding fractures) directions of pores and pore throats is the main reason for the distinction in microscale permeability and, hence, fluid imbibition. The difference in the time required for imbibition between bedding and tectonic fractures is subtle, but the former is slightly lower than the latter in terms of imbibition depth and efficiency. Higher temperatures can shorten the reaction time of imbibition. On the basis that the tectonic fractures are opened, opening the same scale of bedding can increase the imbibition effectiveness by 8.7% at reservoir conditions (27 MPa, 80°C), and the closer to the fracture, the higher the imbibition efficiency in the matrix. The samples with higher porosity and permeability per unit volume have high imbibition oil recovery. However, the imbibition efficiency of the samples with lower porosity and permeability is higher, i.e., the final imbibition efficiency is inversely proportional to porosity and permeability.

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Offshore Horizontal Well Fracturing: Operational Optimisation in the Southern North Sea

Cited by 17 publications

References 2 publications

The Evolution of Completion Practices and Reservoir Stimulation Techniques in the North Sea

The Evolution of Completion Practices and Reservoir Stimulation Techniques in the North Sea

Rheological Study of Seawater-Based Fracturing Fluid Containing Polymer, Crosslinker, and Chelating Agent

Differences in Imbibition Efficiency Between Bedding and Tectonic Fractures in the Lucaogou Formation in the Jimusar Sag: Evidence From Simulation Experiments

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