Optimization of Cardium Fracture Design, Fracture Spacing, and Wellbore Spacing

Abstract

Abstract In this study of fracture design applications in the Cardium formation, a workflow designed to address the optimization of fracture size, fracture spacing, and wellbore spacing was applied to the Garrington and Pembina areas. This was performed using specific wells selected after conducting a field-wide analysis of the geological parameters relative to fracture analysis. The result was an increased understanding of how the well performance relates to locations throughout the entire reservoir rather than only a well-by-well analysis basis. The following is an overview of the workflow used: Analysis of raw log data to calculate input data for the fracture simulator and geologic model.Importation of public domain log data from multiple wells in the study area to create a geologic model.Use of calibrated fracture simulator model to optimize fracture design based on resulting production and associated economics.Use of calculated log parameters in geological modeling software for creation of representative three-dimensional (3D) reservoir grids of reservoir pressure, relative oil permeability, porosity, and water saturation.Importation of reservoir grid properties into a fully compositional numeric reservoir simulator for optimization of fracture and wellbore spacing based on production and associated economics.