A simplified design of a hydraulic fracturingjob in a tight gasreservoir

Abstract

Hydraulic fracturing is a well stimulation technique very efficient for low to moderate permeability reservoirs. In the last decades, this method has been intensively used for exploring unconventional reservoirs in many regions of the world. This technique consists on pumping fluid with additives in a high pressure into the formation, this pressure must be high enough to break the rock and propagate. Once the fracture is created, fluid with the stabilizer agent, also called proppant, which has the function of keeping the fracture opened and conductive is pumped in a slurry stage. This process provides a permeable channel in the formation, making the flow of the formation fluids easier, and leading to a more productive interest zone. In this work, using STIMPLAN, a hydraulic fracturing design was developed for a gas reservoir, in which its properties, type of materials, and operational parameters were considered. Based on some reservoir physical properties, obtained from logs and pressure data information, a proppant and fluid injection agenda were proposed for two volumetric limitations aiming to obtain an optimum fracture design. As result, an optimum design with the desired fracture propped length and non-dimensional conductivity was obtained.