Fracturing/pressure pumping
High-risk, high-reward projects focused on stimulation, enhanced recovery, and field-scale deployment are eligible under the DOE’s new UNLOCK initiative.
The Seismos full-scale research center opens to industry, universities, and national laboratories, advancing acoustic sensing across upstream energy, pipelines, critical infrastructure, and national security.
This article from the SPE Research and Development Technical Section offers new insights to how the upstream industry can benefit from the emergence of quantum computing.
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Understanding how much rock is being stimulated and propped is critical for unconventional producers. New imaging methods using electromagnetic energy or acoustic microemitters could represent a milestone in understanding what is left behind after fracturing. -
A refracturing campaign in the Permian yielded a production gain that allowed payback on the investment within 6–12 months.
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The integration of microseismic data with 3D seismic attributes, and well log and completions data is used to understand geomechanical rock properties.
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A new proppant exhibits a neutrally wet surface, which does not have a preferential affinity for oil, gas, or water and therefore will not promote the preferential entrapment of any phase within the proppant pack.
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Hydraulic fracturing exerts transient geomechanical forces near the wellbore, enabling a brief time interval in which a second hydraulic fracture can be created in a different direction.
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The oil-economy downturn will not affect the areas where research, development, and application of novel technologies are absolutely necessary for the commercialization of hydrocarbon.
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While many factors may influence fracture-height evolution in multilayer formations, the consensus is that the so-called “equilibrium height belonging to a certain treating pressure” provides an upper limit, at least for nonnaturally fractured media.
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A new unconventional proppant technology—a rod-shaped proppant—delivered 25% higher oil per net pay compared with offset wells using conventional proppant.
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A pair of inventive companies are working on a way to allow microseismic tests to visualize the otherwise silent process of propping fractures.
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I am disappointed to see public opposition to hydraulic fracturing, because I think, for the biggest part, it is unfounded. It would be inaccurate to deny that there can be problems. But an objective look reveals that its benefits far outweigh its potential risks.
