Fracturing/pressure pumping
Casing deformation has emerged as a major challenge in China’s unconventional oil and gas fields, prompting the development of new solutions to address the issue.
The US supermajor is using one of its lowest-value hydrocarbon products to generate double-digit production increases in its most prolific US asset.
The collaboration has announced Closed Loop Fracturing, which combines real-time subsurface data with automated surface control.
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The US EPA’s 2016 New Source Performance Standards updated the 2012 standards by adding requirements for the industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, specifically methane. The 2016 NSPS also covers hydraulically fractured oil wells and production, processing, transmission and storage activities. -
Geophysicists from Stanford University have compiled a map of new maximum horizontal stress orientations in Texas and surrounding areas, potentially giving operators new information for avoiding seismic activity in their hydraulic fracturing operations.
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The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality recently concluded that hydraulic fracturing operations were not the likely cause of well water contamination in a small town.
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Sourcing water for large multifracture stimulations in west Texas is a well-known constraint on oil and gas activities in the area. A 6-month pilot operation demonstrated that produced-water reuse is technically feasible and can be a cost-effective solution.
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This paper summarizes the benefits of using a bipolymer crosslinking system in environments where water quality cannot be guaranteed. It also demonstrates the yielded cost savings per well that are achievable when reusing 100% produced or flowback water for hydraulic fracturing.
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Use of a complex-nanofluids (CNF) additive to hydraulic fracturing fluids has doubled even as activity has fallen because of potential production increases.
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Dubai Petroleum embarked on a new mission last year to drill and complete its first multistage, hydraulically fractured, and propped horizontal well from an offshore platform.
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Saudi Aramco has begun moving toward the production phase of its ambitious plan to develop its enormous hoard of unconventional gas resources.
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In organic shales, hydraulic fracturing is important for optimizing the production of horizontal wells. For a standalone lateral, the propped surface should be maximized to increase production. In the case of a pad, well spacing is an additional factor.
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This paper offers an alternative explanation for the early boundary-dominated flow related to dissolution of salt-sealed natural fractures in the shale.
