Acidizing/stimulation

Fishbone Stimulation Enhances Tight Carbonate Productivity

The implementation of fishbone stimulation helped to more than double estimated well productivity and tripled the production rate in a tight carbonate reservoir well compared with conventional stimulation during initial testing.

Fishbone subs in layered carbonate application.
Fig. 1—Fishbone subs in layered carbonate application.

The operator’s first successful installation of fishbone stimulation technology was aimed at establishing vertical communication between layers in a tight carbonate reservoir and maximizing the reservoir contact. Furthermore, the advanced stimulation technology connects natural fractures within the reservoir, bypasses near-wellbore damage, and allows the thin sublayers to produce. This technology requires running standard lower-completion tubing with fishbone subs preloaded with 40-ft needles and stimulation with the rig on site.

Introduction

The operator plans to develop tight carbonate reservoirs as part of its production growth strategy. Field Q is a 35×15‑km field under development with a phased approach.

×
SPE_logo_CMYK_trans_sm.png
Continue Reading with SPE Membership
SPE Members: Please sign in at the top of the page for access to this member-exclusive content. If you are not a member and you find JPT content valuable, we encourage you to become a part of the SPE member community to gain full access.