Mending fractures: a technical update on tight oil completions Report

Insight 12 February 2019

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Report summary

The 2019 SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference sought to address the biggest technical risk facing US tight oil projects, parent-child well interference. The concern around production degradation has caused a move toward more controlled, customized completions. Operators are building data-rich models to understand subsurface and fracture dynamics. This predictive approach could lead to real-time completion optimisation. We investigate how hydraulic fractures interact, along with the latest engineering strategies and tactics to limit well-to-well communication.

Parent-child interaction
Frac hit mitigation strategies
Customized completion design
Reservoir and fracture modelling
Responding to the data
Appendix: asymmetric propagation illustrated

Tables and charts

This report includes the following images and tables:

In the Delaware Basin, EOG's Lea county Wolfcamp A program shows the effects of maturing acreage. Productivity decreased from 2016 to 2018, typically with 400 to 600 foot well spacing.
Characterisations of fracture interactions
Water volume dominates fracture surface area creation, but only part of the induced fracture is propped open. Enhanced matrix and stress extend farther into the formation.
Depletion from producing wells attracts child well completions. The resulting asymmetric fractures overlap stimulated rock volume near the parent, leaving a non-productive area on the opposite side.