Fracturing/pressure pumping

Well-Placement Timing, Conductivity Loss Affect Production in Multiple-Fracture Wells

This paper describes numerical-simulation results from a three-well pad in a stacked liquids-rich reservoir (containing gas condensates) to understand the interaction between wells and production behavior.

jpt-2018-03-180448f1-hero.jpg
Fig. 1—Side view of the reservoir model showing the relative position of the three wells in the base-case model. The horizontal sections of Wells 1 and 3 are placed in Layer 2, and that of Well 2 is placed in Layer 4 (z-scale is exaggerated).

Horizontal wells in liquids-rich shale plays are now being drilled such that lateral and vertical distances between adjacent wells are significantly reduced. In multistacked reservoirs, fracture height and orientation from geomechanical effects coupled with natural fractures create additional complications; therefore, predicting well performance using numerical simulation becomes challenging. This paper describes numerical-simulation results from a three-well pad in a stacked liquids-rich reservoir (containing gas condensates) to understand the interaction between wells and production behavior.

Numerical Simulation

The reservoir simulator used for this study was designed to handle ­unstructured-grid-based simulation cases. Most of the numerical reservoir simulators that are used for modeling horizontal wells with multiple hydraulic fractures are based on structured grid cells in which the hydraulic fractures are modeled as symmetric biwing fractures perpendicular to the wellbore.

×
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.