A Play-Wide Performance Review of Plug and Perf, Ball and Seat, and Pinpoint Fracturing Methods in the Montney Tight Siltstone Reservoir

The Montney reservoir is one of the most prolific unconventional multi-stacked dry and liquid-rich gas plays in North America. The type of fracturing method and fluid has a significant impact on water-phase trapping, casing deformation, and well performance in the Montney. Different fracturing methods (plug and perf/plug and perf with ball/ball and seat/single-entry pinpoint) and fluids (slickwater/hybrid/oil-based/energized/foam) have been tested in 4000+ Montney wells to find optimal fracturing method and fluid for different reservoir qualities and fluid windows and to minimize water-phase trapping and casing deformation. The previous studies reviewing the performance of fracturing methods in Montney do not represent a holistic evaluation of these methods, due to some limitations, including: (1) Using a small sample size, (2) Having a limited scope by focusing on a specific aspect of fracturing (method/fluid), (3) Relying on data analytics approaches that offer limited subsurface insight, and (4) Generating misleading results (e.g., on optimum fracturing method/fluid) through using disparate data that are unstructured and untrustworthy due to significant regional variation in true vertical depth (TVD), geological properties, fluid windows, completed lateral length, fracturing method/fluid/date, and drawdown rate management strategy. The present study eliminates these limitations by rigorously clustering the 4000+ Montney wells based on the TVD, geological properties, fluid window, completed lateral length, fracturing method/fluid/date, and drawdown strategy. This clustering technique allows for isolating the effect of each fracturing method by comparing each well's production (normalized by proppant tonnage, fluid volume, and completed length) to that of its offsets that use different fracturing methods but possess similar geology and fluid window. With similar TVD and fracturing fluid/date, wells completed with pinpoint fracturing outperform their offsets completed with ball and seat and plug and perf fracturing. However, wells completed with ball and seat and plug and perf methods that outperform their offset pinpoint wells have either: (1) Been fractured 1 to 4 years earlier than pinpoint wells and/or (2) Used energized oil-based fluid, hybrid fluid, and energized slickwater versus slickwater used in pinpoint offsets, suggesting that the water-phase trapping is more severe in these pinpoint wells due to the use of slickwater. Previous studies often favored one specific fracturing method or fluid without highlighting these complex interplays between the type of fracturing method/fluid, completion date (regional depletion), and the reservoir properties and hydrodynamics. This clustering technique shows how proper data structuring in disparate datasets containing thousands of wells with significant variations in geological properties, fluid windows, fracturing method/fluid, regional depletion, and drawdown strategy permits a consistent well performance comparison across a play by isolating the impact of any given parameter (e.g., fracturing methods, depletion) that is deemed more crucial to fracturing design and field development planning.

Fracturing Parameters Optimizing Simulation of Horizontal Well In WeiYuan Shale Gasfield

Multistage fracturing and multi-clusters with long lateral fracturing were applied during developing the WeiYuan shale gas field, and the fracturing parameters were variable obviously for the fracturing lateral, perforating clusters, pumping rate, fracturing fluid volume and proppant quality. In this paper, the 3D geological model of a WeiYuan shale gas pad was used to simulate and optimize the fracturing parameters of the shale gas horizontal wells. The simulating results show that there is a reasonable matching relationship between different fracturing lateral length and the perforating clusters, and there is an optimal fluid volume and proppant quality. As the length of the fracturing lateral and the number of clusters increase, the spacing of horizontal wells need to be reduced reasonably. With the purpose of fracturing parameters optimization for WeiYuan shale gas horizontal wells, it is recommended to increase the number of perforation clusters, increase the treating rate, and use the reasonable fluid volume and proppant quality for different fracturing lateral. The research results of this paper have guiding significance for the optimization and treatment of fracturing shale gas horizontal well.

Paying it Forward: How an Emerging Unconventional Play can Hit the Ground Running

While every tight oil play is unique, there are lessons that can be transferred from one play to another to improve the efficiency and pace of production operations and development. These improvements may not fit precisely in every basin or play but generally hold to themes that can be tested against and built upon. Themes such as the quantity of proppant, longer lateral length, or the number of stages can be directly tied to increased productivity. However, there are diminishing returns on these investment activities for which each operator, within a given play, will be required to identify and mitigate against. This is especially true as the industry steps in and begins developing new tight oil plays. In their nascent stages, these plays may have limited well penetrations and, as a result, limited geological and performance data from which to extrapolate. Pulling together an understanding of where the industry currently resides in terms of how to exploit these resources can provide a boost in terms of working towards greatly improved well completions. In 2019, the US EIA estimated that nearly 8 million barrels of oil per day were produced from tight oil reservoirs in the United States (US EIA, 2020). This represents over 60% of the domestic crude production, originating from multiple reservoirs in the Permian Basin (TX) as well as the Bakken (MT, ND), Eagle Ford (TX), Niobrara (CO, WY), and Anadarko Basin (OK) formations, among others. As such, there are 1,000s of wells across these numerous tight oil plays that can relate an informative story. To build this story, the interplay of geology, well spacing, lateral length, and stimulation, all critical to economic success, will be explored. This paper proposes to look back at these mature tight oil (and gas) basins and bring forth an understanding of what lessons can be applied to the emerging Powder River Basin tight oil reservoirs (Mowry and the Turner/Frontier). The authors will delve into the four broad topics of geology, well spacing, lateral length, and stimulation, highlighting case studies to demonstrate those lessons from established tight oil plays that will underpin planned activities at a Field Laboratory Test Site in the southern Powder River Basin.

Evaluation of Reservoir Quality and Forecasted Production Variability along a Multi-Fractured Horizontal Well. Part 1: Reservoir Characterization

Completion design for horizontal wells is typically performed using a geometric approach where the fracturing stages are evenly distributed along the lateral length of the well. However, this approach ignores the intrinsic vertical and horizontal heterogeneity of unconventional reservoirs, resulting in uneven production from hydraulic fracturing stages. An alternative approach is to selectively complete intervals with similar and superior reservoir quality (RQ) and completion quality (CQ), potentially leading to improved development efficiency. In the current study, along-well reservoir characterization is performed using data from a horizontal well completed in the Montney Formation in western Canada. Log-derived petrophysical and geomechanical properties, and laboratory analyses performed on drill cuttings, are integrated for the purpose of evaluating RQ and CQ variability along the well. For RQ, cutoffs were applied to the porosity (>4%), permeability (>0.0018 mD), and water saturation (<20%), whereas, for CQ, cutoffs were applied to rock strength (<160 Mpa), Young’s Modulus (60–65 GPa), and Poisson’s ratio (<0.26). Based on the observed heterogeneity in reservoir properties, the lateral length of the well can be subdivided into nine segments. Superior RQ and CQ intervals were found to be associated with predominantly (massive) porous siltstone facies; these intervals are regarded as the primary targets for stimulation. In contrast, relatively inferior RQ and CQ intervals were found to be associated with either dolomite-cemented facies or laminated siltstones. The methods developed and used in this study could be beneficial to Montney operators who aim to better predict and target sweet spots along horizontal wells; the approach could also be used in other unconventional plays.

Four-Array Printed Monopole Yagi-Uda Antenna Mounted on a Small Missile Warhead

In this study, the structure of a circular four-array antenna was designed for a monopulse radar attached to a conical small missile warhead with a diameter of 29 mm and a lateral length of 63 mm. A printed monopole Yagi-Uda antenna was adopted as the basic model for the antenna to decrease production cost and reduce weight. The director structure of the printed monopole Yagi-Uda antenna that we proposed was modified to λ/2 to improve the beam direction. Unlike the existing structure, the proposed director was made to be separated from the ground, so that it could act as a director. The antenna was expanded to a four-array structure for the detection of vertical and horizontal planes. As a result of the design, the S₁₁ had excellent matching characteristics at the center frequency of 9.375 GHz, and the beam pattern also had directivity in the same direction as the missile travel direction. In the case of gain, it showed more than 6 dBi performance. Finally, the proposed four-array structure antenna was fabricated to verify that the S₁₁ and radiation patterns were maintained.

Simultaneous Hydraulic Fracturing Improves Completion Efficiency and Lowers Costs Per Foot

Reducing well costs in unconventional development while maintaining or improving production continues to be important to the success of operators. Generally, the primary drivers for oil and gas production are treatment fluid volume, proppant mass, and the number of stages or intervals along the well. Increasing these variables typically results in increased costs, causing additional time and complexity to complete these larger designs. Simultaneously completing two wells using the same volumes, rates, and number of stages as for any previous single well, allows for more lateral length or volume completed per day. This paper presents the necessary developments and outcomes of a completion technique utilizing a single hydraulic fracturing spread to simultaneously stimulate two or more horizontal wells. The goal of this technique is to increase operational efficiency, lower completion cost, and reduce the time from permitting a well to production of that well—without negatively impacting the primary drivers of well performance. To date this technique has been successfully performed in both the Bakken and Permian basins in more than 200 wells, proving its success can translate to other unconventional fields and operations. Ultimately, over 200 wells were successfully completed simultaneously, resulting in a 45% increase in completion speed and significant decrease in completion costs, while still maintaining equivalent well performance. This type of simultaneous completion scenario continues to be implemented and improved upon to improve asset returns.

A review of plug-and-perforate, ball-and-seat, and single-entry pinpoint fracturing performance in the unconventional montney reservoir

The Montney tight siltstone reservoir is a multi-stacked play, which covers a total area of 130,000 km2 along the Alberta–British Columbia border in Western Canada. Since the late 1990s, different fracturing methods and fluids have been tested in 4000-plus Montney wells to find the optimal fracturing method and fluid. The previous studies reviewing the performance of fracturing methods in Montney do not represent a holistic evaluation of these methods, owing to some limitations, including: (1) using a small sample size, (2) having a limited scope by focusing on a specific aspect of fracturing (method/fluid), (3) relying on data analytics approaches that offer limited subsurface insight, and (4) generating misleading results (e.g., on optimum fracturing method/fluid) through using disparate data that are unstructured and untrustworthy as a result of significant regional variations in true vertical depth (TVD), geological properties, fluid windows, completed lateral length, fracturing method/fluid/date, and drawdown rate management and choke size strategy. The present study eliminates these limitations by rigorously clustering 4000-plus Montney wells based on the TVD, fluid window, completed lateral length, fracturing method/fluid/date, and drawdown rate strategy to isolate the effect of each fracturing method by comparing each well’s production to that of its offsets, which use different fracturing methods but possess similar geology, fluid window, and TVD. With similar TVD, fracturing fluid, and completion date, wells completed with pinpoint fracturing method outperform their offsets completed with ball-and-seat and plug-and-perforate (PnP) fracturing methods. However, wells completed with ball-and-seat and PnP methods that outperform their offset pinpoint wells have either: (1) been fractured one to four years earlier than the pinpoint wells and/or (2) used energized oil-based fluid, hybrid fluid, and energized slickwater versus slickwater used in the pinpoint offsets. This suggests that the water-phase trapping is more severe in these pinpoint wells attributable to the use of slickwater. Previous studies often favored one specific fracturing method or fluid without highlighting these complex interplays between the type of fracturing method, fracturing fluid, completion date (regional depletion or well vintage), and the reservoir properties and hydrodynamics.

PECULIARITIES OF THE MORPHOMETRIC PARAMETERS OF SUPRAHYOID REGION OF THE HUMAN PREFETUSES

The aim: To determine the peculiarities of the morphometric parameters of suprahyoid region of the human prefetuses. Materials and methods: Thirty specimens of human prefetuses of 14.0-80.0 mm parietococcygeal length (PCL) (7-12 weeks of IUD) were studied using a complex of modern methods of morphological research. Results: On the basis of obtained digital indicators of the main morphometric parameters of human SHR in the dynamics of the prenatal period of IUD the critical periods of development of the region were clarified and mathematical functions that describe the normal course of organogenesis of SHR were created, which can be useful for creating diagnostic algorithms for the norm when carrying out prenatal diagnostics and monitoring the state of the fetus. It has been established that the 9-10th week of IUD is a critical period in the development of SHR, since during this time, intensive growth processes occur, which are manifested by a sharp change in the size of the organ, and this can lead to the appearance of variants of the structure and possible congenital defects of the SHR and the dental-maxillary apparatus in general. Conclusions: 1.Age-depended dynamics of changes in the anterior angle of the SHR shows an almost linear decrease in the angle by the end of the 9th week of IUD almost to 76°, after which it increases to almost 90° by the end of the 10th week. From the 11th week of the IUD, the anterior angle decreases again to 77 °, but begins to increase at the 12th week and by the end of the prefeal period. 2.The lateral length of SHR increases almost uniformly until the 9th week of IUD, during which its growth rate slows down. Starting from the end of the 10th week of IUD, this morphometric parameter begins to grow rapidly until the end of the prenatal period of ontogenesis. The growth rate of the lateral length of the SHR is described by the function: L lat = 1.1025 + 0.0015 x + 0.001 x2. 3.The width of the SHR from the 10th week of IUD begins to grow rapidly until the end of the prenatal period of development. The growth rate of the width of SHR is described by the function: W = 1.1025 + 0.0015 x + 0.001 x2. 4.Analysis of the age dynamics of the area of SHR demonstrates the exponential dependence on the age of the prefetuses, which is described by a mathematical function: A = 1,2452exp(0,0424x). Meanwhile, there is a slight slowdown in its growth rate at the 10th week of IUD with subsequent recovery of growth by the end of the prenatal period of ontogenesis. 5.The 9-10th week of IUD is a critical period in the development of SHR, since during this time, intensive growth processes occur, which are manifested by a sharp change in the size of the mandible.

Sliding of kinetochore fibers along bridging fibers helps center the chromosomes on the spindle

ABSTRACTChromosome alignment at the spindle equator during metaphase is the most remarkable feature of mitosis, which promotes proper chromosome segregation and depends on the forces exerted at the plus end of kinetochore microtubules and polar ejection forces. However, forces arising from lateral mechanical coupling of kinetochore fibers with non-kinetochore microtubules play a role in chromosome alignment, but the mechanism is unclear. Here we develop a speckle microscopy assay to measure the poleward flux of individual microtubules in spindles of human cells and show that bridging microtubules slide apart and undergo poleward flux at a higher rate than kinetochore microtubules. Depletion of the microtubule coupler NuMa increased the difference in the flux velocity of kinetochore and bridging microtubules, suggesting that sliding forces from the bridging fiber are transmitted largely through NuMa onto the associated kinetochore fibers. Depletions of Kif18A/kinesin-8, Kif4A/kinesin-4, as well as double depletions of Kif18A together with Kif4A or Kif18A together with the crosslinker of antiparallel microtubules PRC1 increased the flux velocity of kinetochore fibers up to the velocity of bridging fibers, due to the increased coupling resulting from the extended antiparallel overlap regions. We found severe kinetochore misalignment after double Kif18A and Kif4A as well as Kif18A and PRC1 depletions compared to a single Kif18A depletion, suggesting that forces within the bridging fiber have a centering effect on the kinetochores. We propose that lateral length-dependent sliding forces that the bridging fiber exerts onto kinetochore fibers drive the movement of kinetochores towards the spindle center, thereby promoting chromosome alignment.

Two Dimensional Modeling of Basaltic Rocks Intrusion Based on The Local Magnetic Anomalies Data in Jatilawang District Banyumas Regency

Two dimensional modeling to basaltic rocks intrusion in Pekuncen and Karanglewas Villages Jatilawang District, Banyumas Regency, Central Java based on the local magnetic anomalies data has been carried out in March – June 2020. The amount of magnetic data obtained from the acquisition in the field was 239 data stretching in position of 109.107222° – 109.134944°E and 7.561361° – 7.577306°S, with the local magnetic anomalies values ranging of -2,961.11 – 1,516.31 nT. To model anomalous sources in the subsurface in two dimensions, then the local magnetic anomalies data is transformed into pseudogravity anomalies data, so that anomalous value can be obtained as -27.815 – 41.087 mGal. Based on the pseudogravity anomalous map, the basaltic rock intrusion is interpreted to be located in the eastern part of the research area, so modeling of anomalous sources is conducted in this area. The results of 2D-modeling to local magnetic anomalies data indicate the presence of anomalous object interpreted as basaltic rock intrusion with magnetic susceptibility contrast value of 0.0223 cgs, located at depth of 52.61 – 505.97 m and a lateral length of 1777.94 m. This rock intrudes sediment rock from the Halang Formation and is connected to other basaltic rock near the surface with magnetic susceptibility contrast value of 0.0165 cgs, located at depth of 1.94 – 80.90 m and lateral length of 751.83 m. The results of lithological interpretation are in accordance with the geological information of the research area.