First Successful Hydraulic Fracture Treatment in Deep Pre-Khuff Clastics: Lessons Learned from the Implementation of Cutting-Edge Technology Offshore Abu Dhabi

Abstract

Abstract This paper describes the development and implementation of a multi-frac completion strategy that improved the well performance by more than 500% in the first successful hydraulic fracture treatment pumped in deep Pre-Khuff targets. The primary target reservoir is a deep tight gas sandstone that can be found at depths exciding 16,000 ft with temperatures above 350°F. Given the reservoir characteristics, primarily its low permeability, hydraulic fracturing is required to achieve commercial production rates. The design of the fracture stimulation treatment presented several challenging conditions including high formation temperature, closure stress, and fracture pressure with the potential for post treatment proppant flowback in an offshore environment. The learning curve was collapsed by interdisciplinary evaluation of diverse data sets from legacy and newly drilled wells. Mechanistic models were employed in a grid-oriented planar 3D hydraulic fracture simulator to optimize treatments and to understand changes in production performance related to specific multi-fractured completion strategies, guiding the optimization process. This work led to the successful implementation nano-proppants, pseudo-stable fracturing fluids and, among other technologies, specialized perforation guns designed for low stress anisotropy conditions. This paper will provide insights on the results and lessons learned from the implementation of cutting-edge hydraulic fracturing technology that provided the means to overcome challenges to unlock hard to recover reserves.