Summary
The industry relies on three primary measurements during fracturing
operations: surface pressure, surface flow rate, and surface proppant
concentration. The downhole environment is challenging for instrumentation.
What can the surface pressure indicate? What does the surface pressure not
indicate? Often, the pressure measurement is miles away from the event. This
long distance often obscures the transient pressure signature, the
surface-pressure measurement as a function of time. This obscuring is caused by
the speed of sound in the carrier fluid, the compressibility of the pipe in the
completion, and other factors.
A transient finite-difference model of a horizontal multiple-interval
completion for an induced-fracture shale reservoir was developed to investigate
the pressure-transient signatures of different events during the fracturing
operation. Model results will be shown for different types of events, such as
sleeve shifting, fracture initiation, opening a sleeve into a zone with an
existing fracture, and fracturing a zone with high leakoff. Certain types of
events have distinct pressure signatures. Other events can have similar
pressure signatures. Some events can have no surface-pressure signature at all.
The model results will be compared with field data.
While the focus of the results is on horizontal multiple-interval shale
completions, the results can also provide insight into other types of
fracturing operations and will aid in the interpretation of pressure
signatures.
© 2011. Society of Petroleum Engineers
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History
- Original manuscript received:
16 February 2010
- Meeting paper published:
11 February 2010
- Revised manuscript received:
17 August 2010
- Manuscript approved:
28 November 2010
- Published online:
17 March 2011
- Version of record:
16 May 2011
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