Limited hydraulic fracture growth and productivity in unconventional wells

An operator with wells in an oil-rich sector of the Eagle Ford Shale experienced variability in production results, which is typical in unconventional plays. The natural fracture pattern and density in the rock fabric limited hydraulic fracture growth and well productivity.

Slickwater and hybrid hydraulic fracturing techniques have been historically used on these wells to stimulate hydrocarbon production, but these techniques were unsuccessful in this environment. To improve productivity and reduce costs in this challenging reservoir, the operator sought to apply an integrated reservoir characterization and well completion study to develop an engineered approach.

Integrated reservoir characterization and multiwell completion workflow design

Two pads with three and five horizontal wells, respectively, were chosen to be studied in the area of interest in Eagle Ford Shale. The Kinetix software’s workflow was used to evaluate and develop the optimal completion strategies for the candidate wells—all in the Petrel E&P software platform. A 3D geological model with seismic data; structural definition; reservoir, petrophysical, and geomechanical properties; image logs; and fracturing history with microseismic data served as inputs for creating a robust model for the integrated study.

The stimulation designs were created using a state-of-the-art UFM unconventional fracture model in the Kinetix software. The microseismic data collected during hydraulic fracturing treatments was used to further calibrate the fracture geometry and footprint.