Successful Application of Pillar Fracturing in High Permeability Sandstone: An Injector Well Case Study in a Heavy Oil Field

Abstract

Abstract The study field is a heavy-oil field with high water cut associated with oil production; conversion-to-injector well projects have been developed lately to increase asset production by defining injection patterns and sustaining reservoir pressure. Conventional acidizing treatments and hydraulic fracturing have been applied in these types of wells to handle the declination of performance of injector wells caused by several damage mechanisms, obtaining a short-lived water injection increase. A different approach was taken here, with the implementation of pillar fracturing technique using a resin system to consolidate proppant pillars and enhance proppant pack conductivity and treatment longevity. Pumping schedule was designed to overflush and left no proppant mass in wellbore, an unconventional practice in this type of reservoir which led to decrease in operational times by precluding wellbore clean-up procedures after frac. This paper presents the successful field application of pillar fracturing technique to increase water injection rate in a target formation with low success rate in previously executed hydraulic fracturing operations due to premature screen-out, causing this stimulation technique to be avoided for several years. The study presents the problem statement, followed by treatment design, job execution and post-treatment results.