Development of a completion design to control screenouts caused by multiple near-wellbore fractures

摘要

This paper discusses possible explanations, based uponprevious studies, for the hypothesis that multiple fractures at the borehole wall may be a common feature of the hydraulic fracturing process. It then uses field examples to show how we concluded that a type of low-concentration screeenout common to three fields in Texas and Oklahoma was caused by multiple fractures. Next, it shows how we developed a completion that controls loss of the pad and slurry to multiple fractures. Finally, it discusses some of the implications of our experience for completion design in general. Since the symptoms of the low-concentration screenout have been documented in the literature by other authors and appear to be quite common, our design techniques should be effective in other areas as well.