| Popis: |
Hydraulic fracturing for well performance optimization has been implemented for many years in BRN field in north-eastern part of Algeria, operated by Groupement Sonatrach-Agip (a JV between ENI and Sonatrach). Because of unfavorable petro-physical properties of the reservoir, some challenges have been encountered in avoiding any additional damage to the fracture faces and to facilitate the post-job treating fluids flowback. Effective fracturing treatment designs should consider preventive actions for possible fracture conductivity impairment, such as damage attributed to stress, proppant embedment, and damage caused by fracturing fluid residues. Correct proppant selection can minimize effects from stress and embedment, while a suitable fluid system can minimize conductivity impairment from gelling agent solid residue. Traditional guar-based fluid systems, which are often a preferred choice in the industry for fracturing operations, can have damaging effects on fracture conductivity attributed to inherent insoluble residue that can plug proppant pack pore spaces. Implementing a less damaging fluid system can not only maximize retained conductivity, but furthermore provide longer effective fracture half-lengths which may result in more efficient treatment fluid recovery. Therefore, to overcome such issues, a new fracturing fluid has been developed, leaving little or no residue after breaking. Moreover, this fluid system can be tailored to a wide variety of bottom-hole conditions and has comparable properties to guar-borate fluids with respect to proppant transport capacity and rheological characteristics (e.g. viscosity building and breaking behaviors). This paper presents the first successful implementation of this novel fluid system in the BRN field in Algeria for improving the water injection performance of a well characterized by a tight sandstone reservoir. Field data collected after performing the propped fracturing treatment confirm the effectiveness of the fracturing fluid design. Specifically, the following topics will be extensively described within this paper: Characteristics of the BRN field and history of conventional guar-base fluid systems used previously within this field;Specifics of the near residue free fluid system (cross-linker types, pH requirements, etc.);Design considerations for the implementation in the BRN field of this novel fracturing fluid;Results of post fracturing water injection performances. |
