Novel fracture technology proves marginal Viking prospect economic, part I: Implementation of fracture treatments
This paper describes the implementation of a twin propped fracture stimulation treatment, carried out on the 49/17-12 exploration well of the Viking Wx structure, in the Southern North Sea (SNS). Initial appraisal of the potential field development was disappointing, the well flowing at a rate of only 8.5 MM.scf/d, indicating a field development to be uneconomic. Stimulation by a joint Conoco/BPX team, employing novel fracturing technology, provided dramatic increases in production to ca. 43.5 MM.scf/d with less applied drawdown. The design approaches employed during these treatments could have potential for widespread application to other SNS gas fields. In this paper critical pre-treatment testing and reasoning behind operational decisions are discussed. In a companion paper the post stimulation rates/testing and well clean-up are described. Several key aspects of these treatments included: the use of two stacked fractures in order to successfully place proppant across the entire 830 ft reservoir section; the use of a Step Down Test (SDT) to identify the nature of high near wellbore pressure losses and subsequent removal using sand slugs; the use of a newly developed dual-coat partially curable Resin Coated Proppant (RCP) product, never previously utilized in the field, to minimize the opportunity for prolonged proppant back production and a seawater Mini-Frac to attempt to help identify the true in-situ permeability. Finally, the use of a Surface Read-Out (SRO) gauge enabled real-time decision making to optimize the treatment schedule.
- OSTI ID:
- 457329
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-961003-; TRN: 96:006576-0051
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 71. annual technical conference and exhibition of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Denver, CO (United States), 6-9 Oct 1996; Other Information: PBD: 1996; Related Information: Is Part Of 1996 SPE annual technical conference and exhibition: Drilling and completion; PB: 944 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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