Microfracturing is an excellent method of obtaining direct stress measurements, not only in shales, but in conventional reservoirs as well. Recent advances have shown that microfracturing can help improve reservoir management by guiding well placement, completion design, and perforation strategy. Microfracturing consists of isolating small test intervals in a well between inflatable packers, increasing the pressure until a small fracture forms and then by conducting a few injection and shut-in cycles, extend the fracture beyond the influence of the wellbore. Results show that direct stress measurements can be successfully acquired at multiple intervals in a few hours and the vertical scale nearly corresponds to electric log resolution. Therefore, microfracture testing (generally performed in a pilot / vertical well) is an appropriate choice for calibrating log derived geomechanical models and obtaining a complete, accurate, and precise vertical stress profile. This talk describes the microfracturing process and presents several examples that led to increased hydrocarbon recovery by efficient stimulation and/or completion design. Case studies presented range from optimizing hydraulic fracturing in unconventionals, determining safe waterflood injection rates in brownfields, and improving perforation placement in ultra deepwater reservoirs.
Mayank Malik is the Global Formation Testing Expert in Chevron's Energy Technology Company and is a champion for advancing research on microfracturing. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering (India), MS in Mechanical Engineering from University of Toronto (Canada), and Ph.D. in Petroleum Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin (USA). Malik has authored numerous papers on petrophysics, formation testing, and microfracturing. He is currently serving on the SPE ATCE Formation Evaluation committee and is also the Chairman for SPWLA Formation Testing Special Interest Group.
3. Why Microfracture?
□ Industry relies too much on sonic/seismic models !
□ Microfracturing Advantages
□ Direct measurement of rock stress
□ Optimize injection pressure for EOR
□ Robust fracture design
4. Outline
□Why is Rock Stress Pertinent?
□What is Microfracturing?
□Microfracturing vs DFIT
□Three Field Examples
• Unconventional Shale
• Offshore Ultra-Deepwater
• Waterflood in Brownfield
□Three Tips for Job Planning
□Data Quality
□Summary
5. Why is Rock Stress Pertinent?
□ Applications
in completion interval
• Wellbore stability
• Lost circulation
• Mud weight optimization
• Frac design and containment
• Sanding Potential
• Understand variability of stresses
• Increase hydrocarbon recovery
Limestone
Shale
Sandstone
Barrier
Containment
Sh_sd= 5000 psi
Sh_sh=4800psi
Sh= Min Horizontal
Stress
FractureWidth
Sh_sh=5100psi
Sh_ls= 5200 psi
Reservoir,Completions,Drilling
6. What is Microfracturing?
□ Isolate a 1-m wellbore interval
□ Inject a small volume (< 3
liters) of fluid with downhole
injection pump
□ Determine in-situ stresses
Upper Element
LowerElement
Pressure
Gauge
Element
spacing ~1m
Desroches et al., SPE 58086
“Downhole Rock Mechanics Lab”
8. Different Methods to Interpret
Fracture Closure
□ Pressure declines in two flow regimes: linear and radialflow
– Closure stress determined by identifying the end of the first linear flow
regime
□ Commonly used pressure decline
analysis techniques to obtain
closure stress :
– Square-root time plot
– G-function plot (most popular)
– Log-log pressure vs time plot
Closure TimePump
Time
Barree et al., SPE 107877
Martin and Rylance, SPE 127743
9. Breakout, or wellbore enlargements
due to stress-induced failure, used to
define minimum horizontal principle
stress.
Microfracture or drilling-induced
fractures are vertical tensile cracks
that occur orthogonal to breakout in
the tensile quadrant of the wellbore.
Stresses near the Wellbore
Borehole
max
SH
max
SH
min
SH
SH
min
Risnes et al., SPE 9650
10. Microfracturing vs DFIT
Microfracturing
□ Actual in-situ measurement
□ Magnitude, orientation, known
location and fracture height
□ Up to 20 measurements/run
□ Multiple attempts to identify fracture
closure pressure
□ Small volumes
□ Slight risk of toolsticking
□ Tool pressure limitationsreached
below fracturing
□ Problems with deflatingpacker
□ Additional Image Iog required for
induced fracture study
Diagnostic Fracture Injection
Testing (DFIT)
□ Actual in-situ measurement
□ Less risky than microfrac
□ Large volumes
□ Fracture fluid efficiency
□ Fluid leak-off coefficient
□ Reservoir perm measured
□ Pressures measured at surface
□ No fracture orientation information,
location, or dimension of the fracture
□ Single measurement per hole
□ Single attempt to identify closure
□ Long time to measure
Cramer et al., SPE 163863
11. Example 1 : Avalon Shale
(Delaware Basin)
□ Multiple-stacked sequences comprised of
naturally-fractured, low-porosity interbedded
carbonates, clastic sands, and shales
□Bone Spring is deposited throughout the basin and
is divided into four sequences:
nd
• Avalon Shale
• 1st Bone Spring
• 2 Bone Spring
• 3rd Bone Spring New
Mexico
Delaware Basin
Texas
UUppppeerrAAvvaalloonn
MMiiddddlleeAAvvaalloonn
LLoowweerrAAvvaalloonn
11sstt BBoonneeSSpprriinnggSSaanndd
22nnddBBoonnee
SSpprriinnggSSaanndd
33rrddBBoonneeSSpprriinngg
SSaanndd
WWoollffccaammppSShhaallee
MiddleAvalon
UpperAvalon
1st Bone Spring Sand
2nd Bone
Spring Sand
3rd BoneSpring
Sand
Wolfcamp Shale
Lower Avalon
Non-prospective cemented
carbonate zones (possible
frac barriers) shown in blue
Malik et al., SPE 166264
12. Completion Evaluation Program
□Answer key questions regarding economic potential of
Delaware Basin and Avalon shale in particular
o Are stresses variable across prospectiveintervals?
o Energy required to initiate a new frac in targetzone?
o Contrast between frac/pore pressure?
o Are fracture barriers/seals effective?
o Suitable location for casing shoe?
o Calibrate log-derived stress values
14. Comparing Microfracture with
DFIT &Sonic Logs
Close agreement between Microfracture test and DFIT acquired at same depth
Default Sonic log derived model overestimated stresses
15. Fracture Closure Stress vs
First Yr Production
(BCF)
Seismic 3D closure
stress volume can
be used to optimize
landing depth, well
path, and frac design
0.5
0
Production 1
First Year 1.5
2
2.5
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Closure Stress Attribute
(seismic calibrated with microfrac)
Strong relationship observed across 7 wells
Close et al., The Leading Edge, May 2012
16. Example 2 : Offshore Ultra-
Deepwater
Deeper, less forgiving targets
Difficult to map with seismic
Narrow window between
formation vs fracture
pressure
Risk of seal breach with Frac Pack completions
17. Consequence of Stress Reversal
on Completions
Risk: Perforations must be placed 120 ft below shale seal to minimize
fracture height growth, leads to loss of net pay
25000
26000
28000
29000
19000 23000
Rock Stress (psi)
20000 21000 22000
Depth (ft) 27000
ShalePaySand Microfrac test directly
measures rock stress
in shale
Stress from
Geomechanics
Model
18. Example 3 : Waterflood in
Brownfield
Risk 1: Production decreases by limiting injection pressure
Risk 2: Chemical EOR project not viable
19. New stress map generated for entire field to increase
injector pressures and rates
6300
4000 7000
Depth (ft)
Rock Stress (psi)
5000 6000
OverburdenSh_min
from
Microfrac
Microfracture Test Gives Confidence
in Optimizing Injection Safely
6400
Sh_min
from
Sonic logs
6500
20. Incremental re-injection rate 24,000 bwpdIncremental re-injection rate 24,000 bwpd
Incremental Oil rate 1,500-2,000 bopd
2014 2015
Business Impact in Brownfield
Increasing injection pressure by 320 psi enhances field production by 2000 bopd
21. Tip #1: Minimize Solids in Mud
(Ideally < 5% volume)
Filter Screens can get clogged
O-rings/Mud Check valves may not seal
Mud particles can enter flowline
Solids can block hydraulic pump
22. Tip #2: Use Image/Wireline Logs
to Select Intervals
Elastomer extension caused by vug
Avoid zones with vugs
But try testing all lithofacies in completion interval
23. Tip #3: Design Test with Packer Specs
from Vendor and Borehole Size
Differential pressure
limit chart vary for tools
Ask your vendor for
packer specs
Have info on expected
fracture gradient
Can sleeve frac prior to
microfracturing iffrac
gradient is too high
Use caliper log to confirm hole is in-gauge
24. A Note on Data Quality
□ Wrong Data leads to Wrong Answer
□ Pump enough volume to overcome hoop stress
□ Spend more time on the last falloff cycle with naturalleakoff
□ Check repeatability of measurements
□ Plot stresses with depth to identify outliers
□ Compare results with sonic models
□ Analyze pressure transient plots to pick closure inreal-time
□ Integrate information from microfracture test, image logs, core
analysis, and injectiontests
□ When in doubt, phone-a-friend!
25. Job Execution – Remote
Microfracture Monitoring
Cannot “reprocess” or “normalize” MF data ifnot acquired correctly the firsttime
Field Engineers
Wellsite Geologists
Ops Petrophysicists
Vendor Experts
Asset Teams
Completions Experts
Real-time decisions
enabled through
cloud
26. Summary
□ Reliable stresses in Avalon shale to assess economics
□ Direct stresses for optimal perforations in Ultra
Deepwater
□ Increase oil recovery by enhancing safe
waterflood re-injection rate in Brownfield
□ Microfrac = Downhole Rock Mechanics Lab
27. Society of Petroleum Engineers
Distinguished Lecturer Program
www.spe.org/dl
28
Your Feedback is Important
Enter your section in the DL Evaluation Contest by
completing the evaluation form for this presentation
Visit SPE.org/dl