Experimental Study on Diverter Transport Through Perforations in Multicluster Fracturing of Horizontal Well

Summary Temporary plugging and diverting fracturing of the horizontal well is the primary option to promote production for tight reservoirs. Successful entry of diverters into the perforation is the basis and prerequisite for effective plugging. However, the transport behavior of the diverter during multicluster fracturing remains unclear. In this paper, we build a large-scale diverter transport experimental system, capable of conducting experiments with large flow rates and high pressures. The concerned factors include the injection rate, perforation flow ratio (PFRO), fluid viscosity, and perforation angle. The results show that the diverter transport effect is significantly different because of different flow distribution among perforations. Also, the diverter can enter the perforation only when the flow rate of the perforation reaches a certain value. In addition, the minimum critical PFRO has an “oblique L-shaped” relationship with the injection rate. Although it is difficult for the diverter to enter the perforation on the high side of the horizontal wellbore, increasing the viscosity of the carrying fluid or using a multidensity mixed diverter can effectively solve this problem. Furthermore, the field case shows that the experimentally obtained diverter transport pattern can be applied to the field to predict the location of the diverter and improve the temporary plugging effect. The findings of this work lay a theoretical foundation for subsequent temporary plugging and diverting fracturing control.

CO2 Waterless Fracturing and Huff and Puff in Tight Oil Reservoir

CO2 fracturing technique is a kind of ideal waterless stimulation tech. It has the advantages of water free, low reservoir damage, and production increase by improving the reservoir pressure. At the same time, combined with reasonable shut-in control after fracturing, it can be realized integrated development technology of energy storage -fracturing and oil displacement with CO2 waterless stimulation. For low-grade and low-permeability tight reservoirs, through the integration technology of CO2 fracturing and CO2 flooding, fracture-type "artificial permeability" is formed in the formation, and micro-nano pore throat of underground matrix is formed as oil and gas production system, which realizes the development of artificial energy, reduces carbon emissions, effectively improves the productivity of low-permeability and tight reservoirs, thus further improves oil recovery. The technology mainly includes two aspects: vertical wells adopt CO2 fracturing + huff and puff displacement integration technology, horizontal wells adopt water-based fracturing + CO2 displacement technology, and utilize the high efficiency of CO2 penetration in reservoirs and crude oil viscosity reduction, which can greatly improve oil recovery, while achieving large-scale CO2 storage and reducing carbon emissions. It is both realistic and economic, and has great social benefits. The integrated development technology of energy storage -fracturing and oil displacement with CO2 waterless stimulation has been applied for 10 wells in oilfield, which has achieved good results in increasing reservoir volume, increasing formation energy, reducing oil viscosity and enhancing post-pressure recovery. As a result, the production of them has increased by over 100%. With low viscosity and high diffusion coefficient, supercritical CO2 is good for improving fracturing volume. Effective CO2 fracturing technology can improve stimulated reservoir volume, downhole monitoring results show that the cracks formed by CO2 fracturing is 3 times the size of those formed by water-based fracturing.

Case Study of Identifying and Minimizing Formation Damage in Tight Reservoirs Caused by Drilling Fluids in Abu Dhabi Onshore Operation Using Compatibility Coreflood Studies

A study was carried out to examine formation damage mechanisms caused by drilling fluids in tight reservoirs in several onshore oil fields in Abu Dhabi. Three phases of compatibility corefloods were carried out to identify potential to improve hydrocarbon recovery and examine reformulated/alternate drilling muds and treatment fluids. Interpretation was aided by novel Nano-CT quantifications and visualisations. The first phase examined the current drilling muds and showed inconsistent filtrate loss control alongside high levels of permeability alteration. These alterations were caused by retention of drilling mud constituents in the near-wellbore and incomplete clean-up of drilling mud-cakes. Based upon these results, reformulated and alternate drilling muds were examined in Phase 2, and there was a positive impact upon both filtrate loss and permeability, although the Nano-CT quantifications and visualisations showed that drilling mud constituents were still having an impact upon permeability. Candidate treatment fluids were examined in Phase 3, with all having a positive impact and the best performance coming from 15% HCl and an enzyme-based treatment. The interpretative tools showed that these treatments had removed drilling mud-cakes, created wormholes, and bypassed the areas where constituents were retained. The compatibility corefloods on tight reservoir core, alongside high-resolution quantifications and visualisations, therefore identified damaging mechanisms, helped identify potential to improve hydrocarbon recovery, and identify treatment fluid options which could be used in the fields.

An enhanced accuracy method to determine oil saturation by carbon/oxygen logging in tight reservoirs

The low porosity and permeability characteristics of tight oil reservoirs have brought challenges to monitoring oil saturation recently. Although carbon/oxygen logging is effective for oil saturation evaluation, the statistical fluctuations of the measured energy spectrum in tight reservoirs make it impossible to distinguish the different signals between oil and water. Thus, Noise Adjusted Singular Value Decomposition (NASVD) is applied to denoise the raw energy spectrum and evaluate the oil saturation quantitatively. The energy spectrum matrix, which is composed of the energy spectrum of the measurement point and its adjacent depth points, is decomposed and reconstructed to remove non-informative signals and improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the raw energy spectrum. The parameter K evaluates the smoothness of the logging curves, reflecting the influence of the number of energy spectra and singular values on NASVD. Meanwhile, the NASVD, Savitzky-Golay (S-G) filtering and depth averaging methods are compared for calculating the accuracy of C/O, Si/Ca and oil saturation with the Monte Carlo method, indicating that NASVD is better than the other two methods for eliminating the statistical fluctuations of the raw energy spectrum. A simulation example indicates that NASVD can control the calculation errors of tight reservoir oil saturation to within 15%, which significantly improves the accuracy of the estimated oil saturation. An oil field example shows that the oil saturation interpretation result for tight reservoirs is in good agreement with the oil saturation from open hole log analysis, signifying that the NASVD energy spectrum denoising method can provide a quantitative estimate of oil saturation in tight oil reservoirs.

Pore Structure and Connectivity of Mixed Siliciclastic-Carbonate Tight Reservoirs in the Palaeogene from Qaidam Basin, NW China

The pore structure and connectivity in petroleum reservoirs are controlled in part by their petrological properties. Mixed siliciclastic-carbonate rocks have complex compositions and heterogeneous spatial distributions of the various minerals. As a result, the study of the pore structure and connectivity of mixed siliciclastic-carbonate tight reservoirs has been limited. In this study, methods such as thin section microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray computed tomography, low pressure N2 adsorption, and spontaneous imbibition were adopted to comprehensively analyze the petrological properties, pore structure, and connectivity of the mixed siliciclastic-carbonate tight reservoirs in the upper member of the Xiaganchaigou Formation in the Yingxi Area, Qaidam Basin. The results showed that micrometer-sized pores in mixed siliciclastic-carbonate tight reservoirs are mainly dissolution pores, and that the spatial distribution of the pores is highly heterogeneous. The average pore radius range, average throat radius range, and average coordination number range of micronmeter-sized pores are 2.09~3.42 μm, 1.32~2.19 μm, and 0.48~1.49, respectively. Restricted by the concentrated distribution of local anhydrite, the connectivity of micronmeter-sized pores develops well only in the anhydrite, showing negligible contribution to the overall reservoir connectivity. In contrast, nanometer-sized pores in the mixed siliciclastic-carbonate tight reservoirs are mainly intercrystalline pores in dolomite. The range of nanometer-sized pores diameters is mainly distributed in 1.73-31.47 nm. The pores have a smooth surface, simple structure, and relatively homogeneous spatial distribution. The dissolution of dolomite intercrystalline pores by acidic fluids increases the connectivity of the nanometer-sized pores. This paper presents genetic models for microscopic pore structures and connectivity of mixed siliciclastic-carbonate rocks, making possible the evaluation on the quality of the mixed siliciclastic-carbonate tight reservoirs.

Semi-Analytical Rate Decline Solutions for a Refractured Horizontal Well Intercepted by Multiple Reorientation Fractures with Fracture Face Damage in an Anisotropic Tight Reservoir

Refracturing treatment is an economical way to improve the productivity of poorly or damaged fractured horizontal wells in tight reservoirs. Fracture reorientation and fracture face damage may occur during refracturing treatment. At present, there is still no report on the rate decline solution for refractured horizontal wells in tight reservoirs. In this work, by taking a semi-analytical method, traditional rate decline and Blasingame-type rate decline solutions were derived for a refractured horizontal well intercepted by multiple reorientation fractures with fracture face damage in an anisotropic tight reservoir. The accuracy and reliability of the traditional rate decline solution were verified and validated by comparing it with a classic case in the literature and a numerical simulation case. The effects of fracture reorientation and fracture face damage on the rate decline were investigated in depth. These investigations demonstrate that fracture face damage is not conducive to increasing well productivity during the early flow period and there is an optimal matching relationship between the principal fracture section angle and permeability anisotropy, particularly for the reservoirs with strong permeability anisotropy. The fracture length ratio and fracture spacing have a weak effect on the production rate and cumulative production while the fracture number shows a strong influence on the rate decline. Furthermore, multifactor sensitivity analysis indicates that fracture conductivity has a more sensitive effect on well productivity than fracture face damage, implying the importance of improving fracture conductivity. Finally, a series of Blasingame-type rate decline curves were presented, and type curve fitting and parameter estimations for a field case were conducted too. This work deepens our understanding of the production performance of refractured horizontal wells, which helps to identify reorientation fracture properties and evaluate post-fracturing performance.

Prediction of favorable areas for oil accumulation in outer-source tight reservoirs under the control of lateral migration distance: a case study of Baikouquan Formation, Mahu Sag, Junggar Basin, China

There is a starting pressure gradient (SPG) for oil migration in tight reservoirs (TRs), and the SPG and the migration force jointly control the migration distance of oil. The key factor of oil accumulation in the tight glutenite reservoir (TGR) of the Lower Triassic Baikouquan Formation (T1 b) in the Mahu Sag is whether the oil can be laterally charged into the TRs. To analyze the lateral migration distances of oil in TRs and predict the favorable accumulation areas for oil, we have carried out a physical simulation experiment of oil charging on glutenite reservoirs of T1 b for obtaining the SPG of oil migration and knowing the relationship between SPGs and the reservoirs’ physical property. According to the basin simulation, we have obtained the pressure evolution of the source rock formation as well as reservoir formation and the physical property evolution of the reservoir. Finally, we have predicated the favorable oil accumulation areas through calculating the distribution characteristics of SPGs as well as the theoretical distances of lateral migration of oil during the key oil accumulation period and considering the theoretical distance of the lateral migration of oil as the main controlling factor. Our results suggest that there is a SPG in the TGR of the T1 b and that there is a power function relationship between the SPG and the permeability. The theoretical lateral migration distance of oil in T1 b during the key oil accumulation period was the farthest in the northern sag, which was gradually shortened to the east, west, and south. In class I favorable areas, the reservoirs have good physical properties where overpressure has developed; in addition, the lateral migration distance of oil is far. Therefore, these are the most favorable areas for oil accumulation.