Enhancing Reservoir Recovery from Mature Assets
As oilfields age, wells suffer periodic drops in deliverability due to skin damage or formation compaction. While workovers remedy constraints, proactively optimizing permeability maintains production efficiency and reserves recovery long-term.
Two proven stimulation methods unlock hydrocarbon flows from low-permeability reservoirs - hydraulic fracturing expands conductive pathways, while acidizing dissolves near-wellbore damage:
Hydraulic fracturing - high-pressure fluids create oriented fractures, filled by proppant to prolong conductivity after pressure release.
Acidizing - controlled acid volumes react with formation minerals, enlarging pore throats and increasing permeability near the wellbore.
Simulation and Optimization Process
Operators simulate potential stimulation jobs to evaluate each design sweep's efficiency, economic feasibility, and environmental impact. Only validated strategies proceed to field trials:
Hydraulic Fracturing Applications
Fracturing unlocks tight reservoirs like shales demanding staged, multi-tiered setups. Advanced techniques optimize complex jobs, such as diverting acid to missed zones or limiting proppants' vertical growth.
Acidizing for Conformance Control
Acids selectively dissolve formations, preventing unwanted water or gas channels. Diverting acids target drainage improvements when natural fractures link permeable zones.
Integrating Stimulation with New Wells
Commingling acidizing with drilling-fluid volumes accelerates production from open-hole completions. Slickwater fracs maximize stimulated reservoir volume efficiency in long laterals.
Production Upticks from Mature Fields
By combating compaction or channeling through optimized fracturing/acidizing, operators extend peak deliverability from brownfield assets. Renewed reservoirs supply energy demands for decades via iterative enhancements.