Unconventional Completions Optimization in the Upper and the Lower Montney Formations, Canada

Abstract

The Montney Formation which stretches from Alberta to British Columbia is one of the largest unconventional gas resources in North America. Production from the Montney Formation comes primarily from the Upper Montney and Lower Montney Formations which vary both from reservoir quality and geomechanical perspectives. Historically, completion and stimulation optimization fell into two distinct categories (1) field observation supported by reservoir and fracture simulation or (2) statistical analysis. Few, if any, statistical studies on optimizing unconventional completions and fracture stimulation combined information from the statistical analysis with that of the simulation. This paper does just that for the Montney Formation by comparing and contrasting the Upper and the Lower Montney completions and fracture stimulation statistical results with a reservoir and fracture simulation study to better understand key drivers for successful stimulation of multiple fractured horizontal wells. Previous work (Mohammed et al. 2016) documented the statistical analysis of 296 cased-hole horizontal gas wells' completions in the Upper and the Lower Montney Formation. The study showed the effect of cased-hole completion and stimulation parameters on gas production performance in both the Upper and the Lower Montney Formations. In this paper, previous statistical results were extended by adding hydraulic fracture modeling using 3D finite element simulator. The results from the statistical analysis and hydraulic fracture modeling were compared on a set of parameters such as the effect of the number of clusters per stage (1-to-5), changes in proppant mass (50% decrease or increase) and treatment volumes. The results also show the effect of cluster spacing and proppant type on fracture dimensions and production performance within the Upper and the Lower Montney Formation. This study investigated fracture performance to find the best fracturing practices for the Upper and the Lower Montney. This wok benefits the industry by: Providing a solid simulation study of horizontal gas wells with cased-hole completion, which compared fracture performance for the Upper and the Lower Montney Formation.Providing comparison of multiple fractured horizontal wells' performance in the Upper and the Lower Montney Formation based on the number of clusters per stage and treatment volume.Identifying factors that affect cased-hole completions and stimulation performance in the Upper and the Lower Montney Formation.By conducting fracture cluster optimization study to determine the effect of the number of clusters, cluster spacing and proppant type on fracture dimensions and well performance.