Enhancing Hydrocarbon Permeability After Hydraulic Fracturing: Laboratory Evaluations of Shut-Ins and Surfactant Additives

Abstract

Summary Fracturing-fluid loss into the formation can potentially damage hydrocarbon production in shale or other tight reservoirs. Well shut-ins are commonly used in the field to dissipate the lost water into the matrix near fracture faces. Borrowing from ideas in chemical enhanced oil recovery (CEOR), surfactants have potential to reduce the effect of fracturing-fluid loss on hydrocarbon permeability in the matrix. Unconventional tight reservoirs can differ significantly from one another, which could make the use of these techniques effective in some cases but not in others. We present an experimental investigation dependent on a coreflood sequence that simulates fluid invasion, flowback, and hydrocarbon production from hydraulically fractured reservoirs. We compare the benefits of shut-ins and reduction in interfacial tension (IFT) by surfactants for hydrocarbon permeability for different initial reservoir conditions (IRCs). From this work, we identify the mechanism responsible for the permeability reduction in the matrix, and we suggest criteria that can be used to optimize fracturing-fluid additives and/or manage flowback operations to enhance hydrocarbon production from unconventional tight reservoirs.