Using Microseismic Monitoring and Advanced Stimulation Technology To Understand Fracture Geometry and Eliminate Screenout Problems in the Bossier Sand of East Texas

摘要

A major factor to determine the effectiveness of any tight gas stimulation program is to understand the hydraulic fracture geometry. Technology has progressed to the point that microseismic monitoring of hydraulic fracture treatments can provide key information to characterize fracture development. At the onset of this stimulation project, in-depth knowledge of reservoir, completion, production, geophysical, and geological engineering were integrated to determine the solution. The integration of these domains of expertise led to project success. The results presented within are from a series of hydraulic fracture stimulations in the Bossier Sand formation where field-wide screen-out problems were historically observed. This paper documents the integrated process utilized to solve the screenout problem as well as to establish a way forward to achieve optimized completions in the target sand. Within the course of this project, microseismic monitoring coupled with sound fracture engineering technology led to several observations. A) The original design was not contained in the target sand. B) Microseismic monitoring and computer model simulation using calibrated stresses confirmed undesired fracture development uphole. C) Microseismic monitoring confirmed formation micro-imager log based fracture azimuth determination. This integrated study led to improved completion designs which resulted in hydraulic fractures contained within the target sand and a plan for an infill drilling pattern to optimize field drainage.