Structured Approach to Advanced Candidate Selection and Treatment Design of Stimulation Treatments

Abstract

Abstract Because many oilfield workers see matrix treatments of wells as a low-tech operation, they often fail to pay attention to candidate selection and treatment design. This lack of attention may have led to the relatively low success rate of these treatments. A 1997 survey in a major oil company indicated that one out of every three to four jobs fails to produce more oil or gas after the treatment. This failure represents a loss to the company of over $10 million (U.S.), plus a missed extra production capacity of nearly 40,000 BOPD. The probable main cause for this poor performance is the lack of a structured approach to the following: selecting the right candidate wells and the appropriate treatmentdefining and implementing a structured treatment design procedure To improve the situation, a task force investigated the problem and mapped out a total process, which consists of the following steps: A candidate well is selected by comparing its actual performance against its theoretical potential. Then, the source of poor performance is identified, if applicable. Based on this information, the treatment type can be identified and designed, ultimately resulting in an operational stimulation program. The task force concluded that individual pieces of design software and some design rules existed for many elements, but they lacked an integrated overall approach. The team decided to create a software package by integrating "fuzzy" rules with appropriate mathematical models to guide field engineers through the individual design steps in a consistent, structured manner. This paper describes various elements of the integrated software package that was designed to meet these needs.