Workflow Development and Sensitivity Investigation of Offset Well-to-well Interference Through 3D Fracture Modeling and Reservoir Simulation in the Denver-Julesburg Basin PDF Download
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Author: Taylor Levon
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Calibration
Languages : en
Pages : 255
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Author: Taylor Levon
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Calibration
Languages : en
Pages : 255
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Author: Mauricio Xavier Fiallos Torres
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 278
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Shale field operators have vested a tremendous interest in optimal spacing of infill wells and further fracture optimization, which ideally should have as little interference with the existing wells as possible. Although proper modeling has been employed to show the existence of well interference, few models have forecasted the impact of multiple inter-well fractures on child wells production and also implemented Huff-n-Puff and injection containment methods. These prognoses of the reservoir simulations abet to optimize further hydraulic fracture designs and improve the efficiency of Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) in unconventional reservoirs. This thesis presented a rigorous workflow for estimating the impacts of spatial variations in fracture conductivity and complexity on fracture geometries of inter-well interference when modeling EOR Huff-n-Puff. Furthermore, we applied a non-intrusive embedded discrete fracture modeling (EDFM) method in conjunction with a commercial reservoir simulator to investigate the impact of well interference through connecting fractures by multi-well history matching, to propose profitable opportunities for Huff-n-Puff application. In this sense, the value of our workflow relies on a robust understanding of fracture properties, real production data validation, and the add-on feature of multi-pad wellbore image logging interpretation in the process. First, according to updated production data from Eagle Ford, the model was constructed to perform four (parent) wells history matching including five inner (child) wells. Later, fracture diagnostic results from well image logging were employed to perform sensitivity analysis on properties of long interwell connecting fractures such as number, conductivity, geometry, and explore their impacts on history matching. However, the estimation of these inter-well connecting fractures which were employed for enhanced history matching varied significantly from unmeasured fracture sensitivities. Finally, optimal cluster spacing was recommended considering interwell interference. The obtained results lead our study to the implementation of Huff-n-Puff models that capture inter-well interference seen in the field and their affordable impact sensitivities focused on variable injection rates/locations and multi-point water injection to mimic pressure barriers. The simulation results strengthen the understanding of modeling complex fracture geometries with robust history matching and support the need to incorporate containment strategies when EOR Huff-n-Puff is implemented. Moreover, the simulation outcomes show that well interference is present and reduces effectiveness of the fracture hits when connecting natural fractures. As a result of the inter-well long fractures, the bottom hole pressure behavior of the parent wells tends to equalize, and the pressure does not recover fast enough. Furthermore, the EDFM application is strongly supported by complex fracture propagation interpretation from image logs through the child wells in the reservoir. Through this study, multiple containment scenarios were proposed to contain the pressure in the area of interest, considering more than 2000 hydraulic fractures. The model became a valuable stencil to inform the impacts on well location and spacing, the completion staging, initial huff-n-puff decisions, and subsequent containment strategies (e.g. to improve cycle timing and efficiency), so that it can be expanded to other areas of the field. The simulation results and understandings afforded have been applied to the field satisfactorily to support significant reductions in offset fracture interference by up to 50% and reduce completion costs up to 23% while improving new well capital efficiency. Consequently, these outcomes support pressure containment benefits that lead to increased pressure build, reduced gas communication, reduced offset shut-in volumes, and ultimately, improvements in net utilization and capital efficiency
Author: Zihao Zhao
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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The advancement of hydraulic fracturing techniques has boosted the economic development of the unconventional reservoir. The created complex fracture networks provide a high-conductivity flow channel for the production and increase the ultimate recovery. However, they also posed great challenges to efficiently model the flow inside. The newly developed Embedded Discrete Fracture Model (EDFM) enables efficient fracture modeling without sacrificing accuracy. It has been widely applied in many challenging research topics associated with complex fracture networks including Enhanced Geothermal System, gas huff-n-puff, well interference analysis, and automatic history matching. But the mechanism of EDFM makes it hard to incorporate a discrete wellbore module into the commercialized simulator, which limits its application in some topics that require detailed wellbore modeling. The objective of this study is to establish a new workflow that can integrate EDFM with a fully-coupled wellbore-reservoir model to simulate the flow behavior. The idea is to generate the pseudo parameters for the simulator input to force the simulator to get the correct wellbore perforation and trajectory information with EDFM. The developed wellbore EDFM module is integrated with thermal EDFM to simulate the temperature distribution in the wellbore and reservoir with complex fracture networks, which is applied as the forward model for fracture diagnosis through Disributed Temperature Sensing (DTS). A field case is conducted, which verifies the potential application of our workflow in fracture diagnosis. By matching the temperature distribution along the wellbore, we can estimate the fracture geometry and properties, which provide valuable information for future operation optimization. Subsequently, we applied our wellbore EDFM module to simulate the well interference through fracture hits. It verifies the great capacity of our wellbore EDFM module to handle complex flow regimes inside the wellbore even when counter flow exists. It is also the first time for the simulator to handle the wellbore flow at closed wells. Our newly developed wellbore EDFM should have great potential in other research topics in the future
Author: Ali Moinfar
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Naturally fractured reservoirs (NFRs) hold a significant amount of the world's hydrocarbon reserves. Compared to conventional reservoirs, NFRs exhibit a higher degree of heterogeneity and complexity created by fractures. The importance of fractures in production of oil and gas is not limited to naturally fractured reservoirs. The economic exploitation of unconventional reservoirs, which is increasingly a major source of short- and long-term energy in the United States, hinges in part on effective stimulation of low-permeability rock through multi-stage hydraulic fracturing of horizontal wells. Accurate modeling and simulation of fractured media is still challenging owing to permeability anisotropies and contrasts. Non-physical abstractions inherent in conventional dual porosity and dual permeability models make these methods inadequate for solving different fluid-flow problems in fractured reservoirs. Also, recent approaches for discrete fracture modeling may require large computational times and hence the oil industry has not widely used such approaches, even though they give more accurate representations of fractured reservoirs than dual continuum models. We developed an embedded discrete fracture model (EDFM) for an in-house fully-implicit compositional reservoir simulator. EDFM borrows the dual-medium concept from conventional dual continuum models and also incorporates the effect of each fracture explicitly. In contrast to dual continuum models, fractures have arbitrary orientations and can be oblique or vertical, honoring the complexity and heterogeneity of a typical fractured reservoir. EDFM employs a structured grid to remediate challenges associated with unstructured gridding required for other discrete fracture models. Also, the EDFM approach can be easily incorporated in existing finite difference reservoir simulators. The accuracy of the EDFM approach was confirmed by comparing the results with analytical solutions and fine-grid, explicit-fracture simulations. Comparison of our results using the EDFM approach with fine-grid simulations showed that accurate results can be achieved using moderate grid refinements. This was further verified in a mesh sensitivity study that the EDFM approach with moderate grid refinement can obtain a converged solution. Hence, EDFM offers a computationally-efficient approach for simulating fluid flow in NFRs. Furthermore, several case studies presented in this study demonstrate the applicability, robustness, and efficiency of the EDFM approach for modeling fluid flow in fractured porous media. Another advantage of EDFM is its extensibility for various applications by incorporating different physics in the model. In order to examine the effect of pressure-dependent fracture properties on production, we incorporated the dynamic behavior of fractures into EDFM by employing empirical fracture deformation models. Our simulations showed that fracture deformation, caused by effective stress changes, substantially affects pressure depletion and hydrocarbon recovery. Based on the examples presented in this study, implementation of fracture geomechanical effects in EDFM did not degrade the computational performance of EDFM. Many unconventional reservoirs comprise well-developed natural fracture networks with multiple orientations and complex hydraulic fracture patterns suggested by microseismic data. We developed a coupled dual continuum and discrete fracture model to efficiently simulate production from these reservoirs. Large-scale hydraulic fractures were modeled explicitly using the EDFM approach and numerous small-scale natural fractures were modeled using a dual continuum approach. The transport parameters for dual continuum modeling of numerous natural fractures were derived by upscaling the EDFM equations. Comparison of the results using the coupled model with that of using the EDFM approach to represent all natural and hydraulic fractures explicitly showed that reasonably accurate results can be obtained at much lower computational cost by using the coupled approach with moderate grid refinements.
Author: Joseph Alexander Leines Artieda
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 280
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Recent advances in fracture network characterization have identified high degrees of heterogeneity and permeability anisotropy in conventional reservoirs and complex fracture network generation after well stimulation in unconventional reservoirs. Traditional methods to model such complex systems may not capture the key role of fracture network geometry, spatial distribution, and connectivity on well performance. Because of the ubiquitous presence of natural fractures in conventional and unconventional reservoirs, it is key to provide efficient tools to model them accurately. We extend the application of the embedded discrete fracture model (EDFM) to study the influence of natural fractures represented by discrete fracture network (DFN) models on well performance. Current state-of-the-art modeling technologies have been able to describe natural fracture systems as a whole, without providing flexibility to extract, vary, and group fracture network properties. Our developed implementations analyze fracture network topology and provide advanced mechanisms to model and understand fracture network properties. The first application features a numerical model in combination with EDFM to study water intrusion in a naturally fractured carbonate reservoir. We developed a workflow that overcomes conventional methods limitations by modeling the fracture network as a graph. This representation allowed to identify the shortest paths that connect the nearby water zone with the well perforations, providing the mechanisms to obtain a satisfactory history match of the reservoir. Additionally, we modeled a critically-stressed carbonate field by modeling faults interactions with natural fractures. Our workflow allowed to discretize the hydraulic backbone of the field and assess its influence on the entire field gas production. Our next application applies a connectivity analysis using an efficient and robust collision detection algorithm capable of identifying groups of connected or isolated natural fractures in an unconventional reservoir. This study uses numerical models in combination with EDFM to analyze the effect of fracture network connectivity on well production using fractal DFN models. We concluded that fracture network connectivity plays a key role on the behavior of fractured reservoirs with negligible effect of non-connected fractures. Finally, we performed assisted history matching (AHM) using fractal methods to characterize in a probabilistic manner the reservoir properties and to offer key insights regarding spatial distribution, number, and geometry of both hydraulic and natural fractures in unconventional reservoirs. In this work, we provided computational tools that constitute the foundations to conduct advanced modeling using DFN models in conjunction with EDFM in several reservoir engineering areas such as well-interference, water intrusion, water breakthrough, enhanced oil recovery (EOR) efficiency characterization, and fracture network connectivity assessments. The benefits of our work extend to conventional, unconventional, and geothermal reservoirs
Author:
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Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
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Venoco Inc, intends to re-develop the Monterey Formation, a Class III basin reservoir, at South Ellwood Field, Offshore Santa Barbara, California. Well productivity in this field varies significantly. Cumulative Monterey production for individual wells has ranged from 260 STB to 8,700,000 STB. Productivity is primarily affected by how well the well path connects with the local fracture system and the degree of aquifer support. Cumulative oil recovery to date is a small percentage of the original oil in place. To embark upon successful re-development and to optimize reservoir management, Venoco intends to investigate, map and characterize field fracture patterns and the reservoir conduit system. State of the art borehole imaging technologies including FMI, dipole sonic and cross-well seismic, interference tests and production logs will be employed to characterize fractures and micro faults. These data along with the existing database will be used for construction of a novel geologic model of the fracture network. Development of an innovative fracture network reservoir simulator is proposed to monitor and manage the aquifer's role in pressure maintenance and water production. The new fracture simulation model will be used for both planning optimal paths for new wells and improving ultimate recovery. In the second phase of this project, the model will be used for the design of a pilot program for downhole water re-injection into the aquifer simultaneously with oil production. Downhole water separation units attached to electric submersible pumps will be used to minimize surface fluid handling thereby improving recoveries per well and field economics while maintaining aquifer support. In cooperation with the DOE, results of the field studies as well as the new models developed and the fracture database will be shared with other operators. Numerous fields producing from the Monterey and analogous fractured reservoirs both onshore and offshore will benefit from the methodologies developed in this project. This report presents a summary of all technical work conducted during the ninth quarter of Budget Period II.
Author: Ahmed Ouenes
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Electronic books
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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The objective is to present a new integrated workflow which leverages commonly available drilling data from multiple wells to build reservoir models to be used for designing and optimizing hydraulic fracture treatment and reservoir simulation. The use of surface drilling data provides valuable information along every wellbore. This information includes estimations of geomechanical logs, pore pressure, stresses, porosity and natural fractures. These rock properties may be used as a first approximation in a well-centric approach to geoengineer completions. Combining these logs from multiple wells into 3D reservoir models provides more value including using them in reservoir geomechanics, 3D planar hydraulic fracturing design and reservoir simulation. When using these 3D models and their results in a fast marching method simulator, the impact of the interference between wells can be estimated quickly while providing results like those derived with a classical reservoir simulator. Integrating surface drilling data with 3D reservoir models, hydraulic fracturing design and reservoir simulation into a single software platform results in a fast and constrained approach which allows for a more efficient management of unconventional wells.
Author: Kashif Naseem
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 202
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Most available data from shale production zones tends to point towards the presence of complex hydraulic fracture networks, especially in the Barnett and Marcellus formations. Representing these complex hydraulic fracture networks in reservoir simulators while incorporating the geo-mechanical parameters and fracture apertures is a challenge. In our work we developed a fracture to production simulation workflow using complex hydraulic fracture propagation model and a commercial reservoir simulator. The workflow was applied and validated using geological, stimulation and production data from the Marcellus shale. For validation, we used published data from a 5200 ft. long horizontal well drilled in the lower Marcellus. There were 14 fracturing stages with micro-seismic data and an available production history of 9 months. Complex hydraulic fractures simulations provided the fracture network geometry and aperture distributions as the output, which were up-scaled to grid block porosity and permeability values and imported into a reservoir model for production simulation and history match. The approach of using large grid blocks with conductivity adjustment to represent hydraulic fractures in a reservoir simulator which has been employed in this workflow was validated by comparing with published numerical and analytical solutions. Our results for history match were found to be in reasonable agreement with published results. The incorporation of apertures, complexity and geo-mechanics into reservoir models through this workflow reduces uncertainty in reservoir simulation of shale plays and leads to more realistic production forecasting. The workflow was utilized to study the effect of fracture conductivity damage on production. Homogenous and heterogeneous damage cases were considered. Capillary pressures, determined using empirical relationships and experimental data, were studied using the fracture to production workflow. Assuming homogenous instead of heterogeneous permeability damage in reservoir simulations was shown to have a significant impact on production forecasting, overestimating production by 70% or more over the course of two years. Capillary pressure however was less significant and ignoring capillary pressure in damaged hydraulic fractures led to only 3% difference in production in even the most damaged cases.
Author: Ashish Kumar (Ph. D.)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 392
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Hydraulic fracturing in horizontal wells has enabled economic production from ultra-low permeability reservoirs. The productivity of these hydraulically fractured wells depends on the fracture dimensions, conductivity, connectivity to the wellbore, and applied drawdown pressure. Traditional numerical simulation models used to analyze the productivity of hydraulically fractured wells assume a planar bi-wing fracture that is open and connected to the wellbore. However, several core-through field studies and fracture propagation models have demonstrated that a hydraulic fracturing process can create non-planar complex fracture networks. The conductivity and connectivity of these complex fractures are highly dependent on the in-situ stress changes due to production. Hence it is critical to consider complex fractures and the impact of geomechanics in the simulation models for analyzing fractured well productivity. A finite-volume method based geomechanics coupled reservoir model was developed to simulate production from complex fracture networks. An automated meshing method was developed to create the reservoir, and fracture mesh for any given arbitrarily shaped fracture network. The reservoir-fracture network model accounts for fracture closure effects during production. The model developed in this dissertation was used to investigate the impact of drawdown strategy (choke management) on the productivity of wells producing from complex fracture networks. The competing phenomenon of higher initial production rate and faster fracture closure depending on the applied drawdown strategy was observed. Based on NPV maximization, an optimum drawdown strategy can be calculated. The model was also applied to estimate the effective permeability of the SRV (stimulated reservoir volume) to account for complex fractures in upscaled traditional reservoir simulation models. Tracer transport was implemented in the geomechanical reservoir simulation model to analyze the impact of (a) fracture geometry, (b) fracture propagation and closure effects, and (c) fracture complexity on the tracer response curves. An effective model was created to simulate tracer tests in complex fracture networks. Closure of activated natural fractures can explain the multiple peaks in the tracer response curves observed in the field tests. A neural network-based inverse modeling was performed to estimate effective connected fracture length using peak tracer concentration values, peak times, and tracer recovery from chemical tracer flowback data. Observations from the chemical tracer analysis were combined with radioactive proppant tracer and pressure interference tests to diagnose well interference for the Hydraulic Fracturing Test Site #1
Author:
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ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 16
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