Controlling Proppant Flowback to Maintain Fracture Conductivity and Minimize Workovers:Lessons Learned from 1,500 Fracturing Treatments

摘要

The use of curable resin precoated proppants was often applied in the Permian Basin to control proppant flowback.However,these precoated proppant materials continued to allow proppant to produce back,especially during production surges because they did not provide sufficient consolidation strength to handle high drawdown.Since early 2005,a low-temperature curable liquid resin system has been selected to treat the proppant on-the-fly mainly during the tail-in stages in most of 1,500 hydraulic fracturing treatments.This paper highlights how the proppant back-production problems were successfully overcome through the application of this curable resin system.Detailed descriptions of the treatments,challenges,and lessons learned during the course of these fracturing treatments are presented.Evaluation of these treatments has revealed that an optimum concentration of resin coating maximizes bonding between proppant grains and the consolidation strength of the coated proppant pack,locking the grains in place while minimizing any reduction of conductivity.Field results indicate that application of on-the-fly resin coating treatments effectively stops proppant flowback while allowing production rates to be maintained as designed.These treatments have drastically decreased the number of workovers for treated wells compared to those treated with resin precoated proppant or without resin treatments.This resin treatment process provides an economical means for controlling proppant flowback in wells with marginal reserves.