Reduced Frac Spread Costs Through Optimized Shaped Charge Design

Abstract

Abstract

Objectives

As frac designs have grown more intricate in design, the quantity of equipment, materials, and personnel required has grown accordingly. This, in turn, has led to increasing spread costs for producers. The key to reducing these costs is through increased efficiency, particularly, the efficient delivery of completion fluid and proppant through consistent entry-hole sizes of the perforating charges by means other than mechanical centralization.

Procedures

Frac-spread performance data was required to build a substantial database for use as a real-world comparison for any modelling or simulations performed. These base cases included results from fracs, which used industry-standard shaped charges in situations that would result in inconsistent hole size, and set the bar for performance improvement through consistent hole-size creation. The study of job-history databases related to pump-down plug and perforating revealed that less fluid was necessary to place the required amount of proppant in the formation when consistent hole sizes could be achieved. This is in comparison to wells that were perforated with inconsistent entry-hole diameters using industry-standard charges. These consistent hole-size charges were developed and field tested in cooperation with stimulation service providers and planned for unconventional reservoirs.

Results

Careful cataloguing of the test results showed improvements in hole-size similarity in comparison to industry-standard charges, resulting in as much as 71% improvement in frac efficiency. The physics behind the improved efficiency created by consistent entry-hole diameters is related to the ability to reduce the breakdown pressure and near-wellbore tortuosity through increasing the perforation-tunnel geometry and contact with the frac plane. Advanced fracture simulations using finite-element analysis support the performance improvements demonstrated by consistent hole sizes and observed extensive field testing. Results indicated that lower formation breakdown and treating pressures were required for fracs, even when pump rates remained constant. The results also showed that more proppant was placed, on average, in each of the stages shot with a consistent hole-diameter charge, directly contributing to the completion potential productivity.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90260 © 2016 AAPG/SEG International Conference & Exhibition, Cancun, Mexico, September 6-9, 2016