Practice and development suggestions of hydraulic fracturing technology in the Gulong shale oil reservoirs of Songliao Basin, NE China

TLDR

Fracturing in the Gulong shale is constrained by high‑density bedding fractures that produce complex, short, and low‑height fractures, limiting effective stimulation. The study reviews successive upgrades to hydraulic fracturing in Gulong shale and proposes a design strategy that controls near‑wellbore fractures while extending main fractures, with six optimization aspects to enhance stimulated reservoir volume and fracture conductivity. The upgraded approach increases guar‑gum fluid proportions, reduces perforation clusters per stage, raises pump rates, exploits stress interference, and applies the six optimization aspects to expand SRV and improve fracture conductivity. The upgraded technology proves more suitable for Gulong shale, accelerating production with low flowback and higher oil cut, thereby improving well output.

Abstract

This paper reviews the multiple rounds of upgrades of the hydraulic fracturing technology used in the Gulong shale oil reservoirs and gives suggestions about stimulation technology development in relation to the production performance of Gulong shale oil wells. Under the control of high-density bedding fractures, fracturing in the Gulong shale results in a complex fracture morphology, yet with highly suppressed fracture height and length. Hydraulic fracturing fails to generate artificial fractures with sufficient lengths and heights, which is a main restraint on the effective stimulation in the Gulong shale oil reservoirs. In this regard, the fracturing design shall follow the strategy of "controlling near-wellbore complex fractures and maximizing the extension of main fractures". Increasing the proportions of guar gum fracturing fluids, reducing perforation clusters within one fracturing stage, raising pump rates and appropriately exploiting stress interference are conducive to fracture propagation and lead to a considerably expanded stimulated reservoir volume (SRV). The upgraded main hydraulic fracturing technology is much more applicable to the Gulong shale oil reservoirs. It accelerates the oil production with a low flowback rate and lifts oil cut during the initial production of well groups, which both help to improve well production. It is suggested to optimize the hydraulic fracturing technology in six aspects, namely, suppressing propagation of near-wellbore microfractures, improving the pumping scheme of CO2, managing the perforating density, enhancing multi-proppant combination, reviewing well pattern/spacing, and discreetly applying fiber-assisted injection, so as to improve the SRV, the distal fracture complexity and the long-term fracture conductivity.