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Stimulate The Flow
Stimulate The Flow
the Flow
Carbonate stimulation
Number 4, 2003
Acid
Dissociation
constant, Ka,
at 77F
Relative solubility
of carbonate
(lb/1000 gal of acid)
Hydrochloric
Formic
Acetic
10
1.77 x 10-4
1.75 x 10-5
3500
700
400
Post flush
500
400
300
Acid: 15% HCI
Temperature: 215F
Injection pressure: 2500 psig
Overburden pressure: 8200 psig
Pressure gradient: 35 psi/in.
200
Wellbore cleanup
100
0
50
100
150
200
250
350
Figure 5.1: The data are indicative of tests performed under controlled laboratory conditions on a
10-in. carbonate core. Overtreatment of the core with uninhibited acids can lower the permeability
of the core. Attention must be given to factors such as temperature and overburden pressure when
calculating throughput. If this is excessive, the resulting pore collapse can decrease permeability
Temperature
m
225F, pressure 2440 psig
100
perature 80
80F, pressure 500 psig
10
Matrix acidizing
1.0
10
20
30
40
Cumulative acid throughput (gal/ft)
50
Number 4, 2003
300
Permeability
Acid treatmentt
600
Permeability (md)
60
43
Number 4, 2003
Figure 5.3: StimCADE well simulation software allows stimulation treatments in production and
injection well completions to be optimized. The acidizing process, including fluid flow for each zone,
reaction kinetics, cool down and diversion can be modeled
Mechanical diversion
Mechanical diversion is achieved by
pumping the necessary amount of acid
in front of the intervals to be treated.
Coiled tubing has been increasingly
used to achieve diversion in the last
two decades. Where the use of coiled
tubing is impracticable, other methods
of diversion may be considered. The
most common method of mechanical
diversion uses ball sealers (Figure 5.4).
Before injecting the stimulation fluid,
balls (made of nylon, hard rubber,
biodegradable materials such as
collagen, or combinations of these
materials) in the treatment fluid
are used to plug and shut off the
perforations that are taking most of the
treatment fluid. Mechanical diversion
can also be achieved by using a straddle
packer arrangement (Figure 5.5) to
isolate the required interval.
Stimulation in multilayer reservoirs
with zones having wide injectivity
contrasts and heterogeneity is
resulting in a combination of
mechanical and chemical diversion
methods becoming more popular.
Chemical diversion
Number 4, 2003
45
Viscosity (cp)
Figure 5.6: The SDA system crosslinks as the pH reaches around 2 when the acid is spent. The
viscosity developed returns to its initial low value at around pH 4 when the breaker is activated .The
gelled acid forms a temporary barrier in wormholes or in acidized natural fractures, preventing further
loss of incoming, fresh acid. This helps divert the incoming acid to low-permeability zones
Injection pump
(acid)
Acid tanks
Acid fracturing
Number 4, 2003
pH
Coiled tubing
High
Low
Permeability
Getting it right
Figure 5.8: Acid fracturing is applicable only in carbonates. This diagram showed the sequence of
events in an acid fracturing treatment. A viscous pad followed by acid stages is pumped into the
well above the natural fracture pressure of the rock to create a fracture (1). The acid continues to
penetrate the open fracture and create etched patterns on the inside surfaces. These patterns are
more prevalent near the opening of the fracture (2). The acid also penetrates the rock further,
forming a network of wormholes (3). When the pressure is released, the fracture closes, leaving the
etched paths and wormholes open as an outlet for spent acid and later for produced gas or oil
Number 4, 2003
47
Post-treatment
analysis is key
A comprehensive post-treatment
analysis is essential to validate the
acidizing model, understand the
results of treatment and improve
future designs. A good match between
actual and predicted bottomhole
pressures indicates that the reservoir
was described properly and that the
entire process modelled accurately.
Similarly, the predicted pressure
response during stage diversion
can be compared to the observed
pressure changes to verify diverter
effectiveness. In fracturing, the net
pressure plot obtained from FracCADE
software during fracturing can be used
to quantify fracture extension, height
growth and fluid leakoff.
The analysis of the concentrations
of polymers, surfactants, inhibitors and
key cations and anions in fluids flowed
back to surface after treatment will
contribute significantly to the success
of future stimulation treatments. In
the process of treatment optimization,
output from the post-treatment
analysis of the current and preceding
jobs produces valuable input for the
next job. This approach to
optimization has been successfully
demonstrated in the PowerSTIM* well
Number 4, 2003
Figure 5.9: FracCADE software allows treatment design and real-time modification of stimulation
treatment by continuously monitoring net pressures
What is formation
damage?
Formation damage occurs in the
formation adjacent to the wellbore.
It is characterized by a reduction
in permeability for a given damage
radius and causes an additional
pressure drop that decreases the
production rate. Since it is difficult
to determine the radius and the
permeability of the damaged zone,
it is usually represented by a term
called skin. The effect of formation
damage on production is taken into
account in Darcys equations by
the addition of a skin factor. This
is a dimensionless number that
is positive when the formation is
damaged or some other factor has
increased the pressure drop in
the well during production, and
negative where the pressure drop
is reduced, for example, because
of induced fractures or other
stimulation processes.
High skin can also occur for
many reasons other than formation
damage. These include partial
completion, mechanical restrictions,
three-phase production and highpressure drawdown. Acid
stimulation is only used to remove
skin that is associated with
formation damage.
Well operations can damage the
formation from the moment the
drill bit first penetrates a permeable
formation, and this will continue
until the end of its productive life.
Damage reduces the formations
natural permeability. The extent
of this reduction depends on the
amount of damage and the depth to
which it occurs. Invasion of the
near wellbore by mud solids and
mud filtrate can cause pore-throat
plugging, either during drilling, or,
for example, when it is pushed
ahead of cement (Figure 5.10).
Unfiltered fluids transported during
well killing, clay swelling, debris
from completions, sandconsolidating material and fines
migration during production can
also plug the formation. The action
of the drill bit itself can physically
alter the pore structure in the near
wellbore, and adverse fluid-to-fluid
Primary production
Reservoir exploitation
Stimulation
Workover
Damage severity
Well completion
Well construction
and intervention
Quartz grains
Oil
Number 4, 2003
Formation water
Mud
49
Number 4, 2003
Time
hh:mm:ss
13:30:31
Tubing pressure
0
(psi)
Annulus pressure
600 0
(psi)
65
13:57:00
Stimulating times
in Indonesia
14:24:00
Hydrochloric acid
SDA fluid
14:51:00
Hydrochloric acid
SDA fluid
15:18:00
Hydrochloric acid
SDA fluid
15:45:00
Hydrochloric acid
SDA fluid
16:12:00
Hydrochloric acid
SDA fluid
16:39:00
Hydrochloric acid
SDA fluid
17:06:00
Hydrochloric acid
SDA fluid
17:33:00
Hydrochloric acid
SDA fluid
17:47:46
Fluid
Oil
Water
production production cut (%)
(BFPD)
(BOPD)
Shut-in
bottomhole
pressure
(psi)
Producing PI
bottomhole
pressure
(psi)
Tubing
pressure
(psi)
Prestimulation
23 December 102
3 January
141
25 January 60
26
50
50
702
702
702
671
671
671
3.29
4.55
1.93
240
340
210
167
127
25
702
627
2.25
870
+97
-25
702
-44
+0.31
+660
Gain/loss of production
23 April
+109
Number 4, 2003
75
71
30
Poststimulation
23 April
51
A slow reaction is
important in Saudi Arabia
Number 4, 2003
Diesel
Separated acid (% total SXE fluid volume)
80
Figure 5.13:
Thermal stability
tests indicated that
the SXE system is
very stable under
high-temperature
conditions
60
40
Acid
20
0
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Time (min)
Depth (ft)
A
B
A
B
X564X575
X575X626
X626X704
X704X770
X770X833
X833X880
Return to production
Stage
Volume (bbl)
Fluid
Remarks
15 % HCl
2
3
4
5
2
1.5
2
High-pH spacer
PROTECTOZONE* fluid
High-pH spacer
Diesel
15.5
15 % HCI
7
8
9
3
69
12
Diesel
SXE fluid
SDA fluid
10
15 % HCI
11
12
2
36
Diesel
SXE fluid
3
Time (hr)
Figure 5.14: The amount of total iron recovered in the flowback fluid. When using an SXE
system, acid is the dispersed phase. It has less interaction with reactive surfaces and shows
significant reduction of iron concentration in the acid returns, even at higher temperatures
53
Active Partnership
Dr Abdulaziz Al Kaabi is director of the Center for Petroleum and Minerals in the
Research Institute of King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM),
Saudi Arabia. Established in 1963, the KFUPM campus occupies an impressive
6-km2 site in Dhahran. The university has six colleges, with 700 faculty
members and 8000 students. Schlumberger is building its new carbonate
research center on the campus. In this article, Al Kaabi describes his great
hopes for active partnership between industry and academia.
Number 4, 2003
Positive culture
55