Reservoir Modeling for Pad Optimization in the Context of Hydraulic Fracturing

Pankaj, Piyush; Geetan, Steve Isaac; MacDonald, Richard; Qiu, Fangda; Porcu, Matteo Marongiu; Xu, Jin; Malpani, Raj; Pope, Timothy Lawrence

doi:10.2118/176865-ms

Cited by 14 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 31 publications

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“…Incorporating realistic induced hydraulic fractures in a reservoir model is easier if unstructured grids are used. In recent years, substantial progress has been made in the use of unstructured grid-based reservoir simulation models for describing flow in unconventional reservoirs for both single-well and multiwell cases (Siddiqui et al 2015;Dahl et al 2015aDahl et al , 2015bSchechter 2015a, 2015b;Ejofodomi et al 2015;Pankaj et al 2015).…”

Section: Numerical Simulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Well Placement Timing and Conductivity Loss on Hydrocarbon Production in Multiple Hydraulically Fractured Horizontal Wells in a Liquids-Rich Shale Play

Siddiqui

Walser

Dusterhoft

2016

SPE Western Regional Meeting

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Horizontal wells in liquids-rich shale plays are now being drilled such that lateral and vertical distances between adjacent wells are significantly reduced. In multistacked reservoirs, fracture height and orientation from geomechanical effects coupled with natural fractures create additional complications; therefore, predicting well performance using numerical simulation becomes challenging. This paper describes numerical simulation results from a three-well pad in a stacked liquids-rich reservoir (containing gas condensates) to understand the interaction between wells and production behavior. This paper discusses the use of an unstructured grid-based numerical simulator that incorporates complicated geometries of both hydraulic and natural fractures. It can handle compositional simulation to better model gas condensates with special focus on timing of third well placement and the loss of conductivity effects on production from these wells. A base case was created with a stacked shale play containing three parallel wells but with staggered elevations. Variables used in this study include matrix permeability, condensate-to-gas ratio (CGR), fracture length, well staggering, time of well placement, conductivity degradation, and presence of natural fractures. Simulation runs were conducted for a five-year duration.More than 20 compositional simulation runs were conducted. For the base case, staggering resulted in a slight decrease in both cumulative oil and gas production compared to a case without staggering. Matrix permeability had the most dominant effect on both oil and gas production. Fracture and matrix conductivity losses were more detrimental to cumulative gas production than oil production. For the limited cases studied, placement of the third well one year after the first two wells began producing resulted in a spike in both oil and gas production from the pad. This produced cumulative oil and gas amount was close to that of three wells producing simultaneously, especially if fracture half-lengths for the third well were the same as the first two. However, cumulative oil and gas production reduced significantly if fracture half-lengths were smaller than the other two wells. When all wells experienced significant conductivity loss, gas production was affected more than oil production when the third well was placed one year after the first two wells began producing. In all cases, placing the third well between the other wells was helpful in increasing overall production from this pad. Natural fractures increased both oil and gas production in the cases studied.This paper addresses important issues associated with a liquids-rich unconventional play. It demonstrates successful use of unstructured grid-based reservoir simulation modeling to address well placement timing, well staggering, conductivity damage effects, natural fractures, hydraulic fractures not perpendicular to the wellbores, and several other important issues for which little is known so far. Results from this study type can be used to make impor...

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Section: Numerical Simulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Well Placement Timing and Conductivity Loss on Hydrocarbon Production in Multiple Hydraulically Fractured Horizontal Wells in a Liquids-Rich Shale Play

Siddiqui

Walser

Dusterhoft

2016

SPE Western Regional Meeting

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Investigation on Well Interferences of Infill Well Fracturing in Shale Gas Reservoirs Across Sichuan Basin

Tang,

Yang,

Zhu

et al. 2024

Rock Mech Rock Eng

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When to Refrac? Combination of Reservoir Geomechanics with Fracture Modeling and Reservoir Simulation Holds the Answer

Pankaj

Gakhar

Lindsay

2016

SPE Asia Pacific Oil &Amp; Gas Conference and Exhibition

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A workflow has been developed for a shale play in North America for the strategic deployment of refracturing in an unconventional reservoir. Although it is clearly understood in the industry that refracturing in tight unconventional reservoirs can have a dramatic impact on the productivity and longevity of economic production, until now there has been no workflow that could be counted on to deliver consistent results. The impact of production and stress re-orientation plays a significant role in adding a fourth dimension of time to the existing three-dimensional problem of hydraulic fracture modeling in these reservoirs. We examined the re-orientation of reservoir stress and the change in stress magnitude with production in a case from the Eagle Ford. The stress redistribution occurring due to poroelastic effects was simulated using a finite element geomechanical simulator and then tied back to predict the new hydraulic fracture growth. Fracture geometry as it relates to draining the unstimulated domain was found to play a significant role in fracturing success. The impact of adding new perforations in the wellbore and application of a suitable diversion technique were also considered in the study. Our numerical investigation of the potential increase in productivity with selection of the optimum refracturing treatment timing and technique led to development of a methodology that solves the complex four-dimensional problem. By adopting the guidelines from the case study application of the end-to-end workflow, operators can avoid the futility of too early or too late fracturing and thereby maximize their return on investment.

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Reservoir Modeling for Pad Optimization in the Context of Hydraulic Fracturing

Cited by 14 publications

References 31 publications

Effects of Well Placement Timing and Conductivity Loss on Hydrocarbon Production in Multiple Hydraulically Fractured Horizontal Wells in a Liquids-Rich Shale Play

Effects of Well Placement Timing and Conductivity Loss on Hydrocarbon Production in Multiple Hydraulically Fractured Horizontal Wells in a Liquids-Rich Shale Play

Investigation on Well Interferences of Infill Well Fracturing in Shale Gas Reservoirs Across Sichuan Basin

When to Refrac? Combination of Reservoir Geomechanics with Fracture Modeling and Reservoir Simulation Holds the Answer

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