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Geologic and engineering implications of production history from five Mesaverde wells in central Piceance Creek Basin, northwest Colorado

Journal Article · · SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers) Format. Eval.; (United States)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2118/15237-PA· OSTI ID:6382906

Five gas wells completed in low-permeability rocks of the Upper Cretaceous Williams Ford and Iles formations in the central part of the Piceance Creek basin, northwest Colorado, have been on continuous production for about 2 years. A general comparison is made between these wells and the Dept. of Energy's Multiwell Experiment (DOE MWX) wells about 30 miles (48 km) to the southeast. The five wells were completed with gelled KCl water/sand fractures in various intervals over a 3,000-ft (910-m) section of largely fluvial and paludal rocks of the Williams Fork and Iles formations of the Mesaverde group. Flow has apparently stabilized at low flowing tubing pressures at a rate of 30 to 125 Mcf/D (0.84 to 3.5 x 10/sup 3/ m/sup 3//d) per well, with minor water and variable condensate volumes. On the basis of production information to date, attempts to select intervals with better-than-average effective permeabilities by state-of-the-art techniques were not successful. The study points out several important differences in the Mesaverde group between the area of the five wells and the MWX site. The differences in the Mesaverde group between the MWX site and the area of the five wells point out the need to expand the MWX data base to include other gas-producing areas in the Piceance Creek basin.

Research Organization:
Rio Blanco Natural Gas Co., Denver, CO (US)
OSTI ID:
6382906
Journal Information:
SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers) Format. Eval.; (United States), Journal Name: SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers) Format. Eval.; (United States) Vol. 3:2; ISSN SFEVE
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English