Summary
The evolution of fracturing technology has provided the industry with
numerous advances, ranging from sophisticated fluid systems to tip-screenout
designs to propagation modeling. Interestingly, these advances typically have
focused on conventional designs that use a crosslinked-fluid system. However,
as the development of unconventional (e.g., tight gas, shales, coalbed methane)
or underpressured reservoirs has increased, so has the demand for innovative
hydraulic-fracture designs. The most recent of these design changes has been
the popular method of placing proppant with slickwater, linear gel, or hybrid
treatments.
Although our industry has significant expertise in fracture design, most of
our experience has been in conventional crosslinked-fluid systems. However,
there are many aspects of crosslinked-fluid design that either do not apply to
slickwater treatments or, in some cases, are contrary to the requirements of
slickwater treatments.
This paper will begin by reviewing the motivation, benefits, and concerns
with slickwater fracturing and discuss why this seemingly old method has
regained popularity over conventional crosslinked designs in many reservoirs.
In addition, the authors will detail some of the important theories related to
slickwater fracturing, including fracture width and complexity, proppant
transport and settling, and conductivity requirements. In each scenario,
emphasis will be placed on the different strategy employed compared to
crosslinked-fluid designs, and the mistakes or misunderstandings that are
frequently made will be highlighted.
Where appropriate, laboratory testing, field measurements, reference
material, and other resources are presented to support the observations made by
the authors. This paper will serve as a resource to any engineer or technician
who is designing/pumping slickwater fracs, or who is considering this
technology for potential application. By applying the concepts presented in
this paper, engineers will be able to appropriately evaluate the potential
benefits of using this technique in their completions, as well as draw on the
experiences of others to take full advantage of this technology.
© 2010. Society of Petroleum Engineers
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History
- Original manuscript received:
8 July 2008
- Meeting paper published:
21 September 2008
- Revised manuscript received:
22 May 2009
- Manuscript approved:
19 March 2010
- Published online:
22 July 2010
- Version of record:
11 August 2010
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