Review of screen-out in horizontal well fracturing

摘要

Technically, screen-out refers to a condition where continued injection of fluid inside the fracture requires pressures in excess of the safe limitations of the wellbore or wellhead equipment. Operationally, this causes a severe disruption in fracturing operations in horizontal wells and often requires cessation of pumping and cleaning of the wellbore before resumption of operations. Screen-out is an operational issue and does not necessarily mean damage to well productivity. Indeed, many wells end up being robust producers after a screen-out.