Tech Report

Improving Cementing Increases Production, Bakken Shale

Published: 10/07/2019

Tech Report

Improving Cementing Increases Production, Bakken Shale

Published: 10/07/2019

$Kinetix software simulations of the four isolation and fracturing fluid cases.$

Kinetix software simulation for a Bakken Shale well shows that in wells with 70% of stages isolated (top), fracturing fluid migrates behind the casing, redistributing length and height growth for some fractures. This increases risks of reaching unproductive rock, water-saturated zones, or nearby wells as frac hits. Fracturing with 100% isolation (bottom) stimulates the reservoir as designed, improving 3-year oil production up to 22% for the crosslinked fracturing fluid case and 5% for the linear gel fluid case.

Location

Bakken Formation, United States, North America, Onshore

Details

Modeling Assumptions
Completion type	Cemented sliding sleeves
Drilling fluid	Nonaqueous fluid (NAF)
Distance between frac ports	~290 ft (slight variation across the lateral)
Stage isolation—conventional cementing	70%
Stage isolation—cemented with Fulcrum technology	100%

Background

To assess the effect of stage-to-stage communication in a typical Bakken Shale well, Kinetix reservoir-centric stimulation-to-production software was used to simulate typical 3-year production performance after hydraulic fracturing with crosslinked or linear gel with 70% or 100% of stages isolated.

Products Used

Fulcrum

Cement-conveyed frac performance technology

Improve multistage fracturing efficiency by limiting stage-to-stage communication behind the casing.

Kinetix

Reservoir-centric stimulation-to-production software

Integrate complex reservoir and engineering data to simulate and optimize completion and fracture stimulation designs.