Successful Fracturing of Bakken Horizontal Wells
Objectives, Options, Outcomes
Instructor: Dr. Ali Daneshy
Sept 8 - 9, 2010
Houston, Texas
1.6 CEU
We had to change the dates from Sept 6- 7 to Sept 8- 9, because Sept 6th is Labor Day. Apologies.
Important Bakken features include light crude, over-pressured reservoir, and presence of vertical to sub-vertical as well as horizontal natural fractures. Offsetting these positive features are very low matrix permeability and porosity, water sensitive clays, acid sensitive pyrite, and salt-filled horizontal fractures. Successful fracturing of Bakken should address all these features. It also is the key to achieving higher recovery factors than experienced at present.
The main theme of this course is tools, techniques and computations for successful creation of multiple fractures in Bakken oil and gas horizontal wells in US and Canada.
This is a down to earth course designed specifically for those involved in fracturing the Bakken, including drilling, completion, reservoir and production engineers as well as geologists and geophysicists. Both technical and management staff will benefit from participation in this course. It presents full discussion of available completion systems for both open and cased holes, frac design and computations, on-site “read and react”, and post-treatment analysis of the job data.
Based on treatment results from US and Canadian Bakken oil and gas wells, the course shows the relationship between well completion, treatment design and the types of fractures created in Bakken horizontal wells. It also presents several techniques for on-site and post-job analysis of treatment data for continuous improvement of production results.
Successful fracturing of a horizontal well requires deep understanding of the relationship between reservoir and formation properties, in-situ stresses, well completion, and details of fracture design. The length of the horizontal well, type of completion (uncemented or cemented hole), selection of the specific completion system and its functional reliability throughout the entire fracturing operations, the number and spacing of the fractures, the type and volume of frac fluid and the type and concentration of proppant are all important factors that determine the success of the job for production increase. This course offers an in-depth review of all these topics and how to select them for best well productivity. It discusses the different completion techniques presently used in the Bakken formation and the operational strengths and weaknesses of each one of them.
Class Agenda
Day 1
Morning session
Mechanics of fracture initiation
Presentation will show why the natural tendency of fractures in horizontal wells is to initiate axially (longitudinally). Depending on the relative orientation of the wellbore with respect to in-situ principal stresses, these may later re-orient to become perpendicular to the least principal stress. Through several case histories and actual well data, it will be shown that in fact many Bakken horizontal well fractures include large axial fracture segments. It will also show how to detect presence of axial fractures from treatment data. Specific completion practices will be recommended to promote initiation of transverse fractures.
Mechanics of fracture extension
Majority of horizontal well fractures grow off-balance. The course will discuss when this is beneficial to production (and how to promote it), and, where and how to discourage off-balance growth. Several case histories are used to illustrate the point.
Afternoon session
Fracturing options in open-hole(uncemented) completions with case histories
Common problems in open holes and recommendations
Presentation will include a comprehensive review and analysis of existing completion practices for fracturing open (uncemented) horizontal wells, with multiple case histories for each case. It will also discuss how these completion systems have fared in real operations
Day 2
Morning session
Fracturing options in cemented open-hole completions with case histories
Common problems in cased holes and recommendations
This segment includes a comprehensive review of existing completion practices for fracturing cased and cemented horizontal wells, with multiple field examples for each case, including their important advantages and disadvantages. This section includes review of critical engineering parameters that influence success of fractures from clusters of perforations in cased holes.
Afternoon session
Fracturing fluids and proppants The discussion in this segment will cover common fluids, proppant, and additives used in Bakken horizontal oil and gas well fracturing
Production strategies: matching fracturing with production objectives
In this section, the discussion turns to type of fracture, spacing, size, amount and type of proppant, cost, etc.
Diagnostic Tool
The relative value and reliability of various diagnostic tools will be discussed. These will include treatment data, microseismic, and different tracer logs.
Summary and discussion
Specific questions from the audience will be discussed in this segment.
Registration Fee: Early bird (before Aug. 22nd, 2010) $2,050.
Regular (after Aug. 22nd, 2010) $2,250.
Cacellation Policy: There is 100$ charge for cancellation before Aug 22nd and $500 charge afterwards.