Aspects of Horizontal Well

Stimulation

1
 Benefits of horizontal wells

• Larger exposure of reservoir rock to the wellbore, similar

to hydraulic fracture, but in a controlled way
• Ability to connect laterally distributed reservoir
features such as isolated sand bodies, reservoir
compartments or natural fracture systems
• Require a significantly lower drawdown to achieve higher
production rates than vertical wells
• The use of horizontal wells can reduce the number of
wells required to drain a given reservoir (offshore!)
• In environmentally sensitive areas, horizontal wells can
be used to drain a reservoir with minimum surface
2
disturbance
Horizontal Well Performance

• Up to this point we have talked about

predicting performance of wells vertically
(or approximately vertically) intersecting
the reservoir.
• In recent years with advances in
extended reach and horizontal drilling
applications, we encounter more
opportunities to evaluate horizontal well
production performance.
Basic Considerations To Date
• Single-phase, incompressible flow
• Simulator modeling
• Increasingly complex geometries
• Assuming a constant productivity index
Concerns and Complications
• Wellbore hydraulic effects
• Multiphase flow effects
• Compressible flow
• Multilateral completions
 IPR Methods
• While there are several IPR or rate
relationships for horizontal wells,
they are generally limited by the
single-phase flow assumption.
• We will only look at an example
relationship.
Joshi Relation – Single Phase Oil
Y
qo 
X
Y  0.00708k h h( p R  pwf ) /  o Bo
 k h2 k 
 h
 h
 2

X  ln  
 a  a  ( L / 2)
2 2

0.5
 hk 

0.

   ln 
h
5
 kv 4 kv 
  L  kv  0.5 
L / 2
   hrw  k h  
 2  kv  
Joshi Relation – Single Phase Oil
0.5
  4

0.5

L  2 r  
a   0.5   0.25   eh
 

2   L  
   
h
reh  ( Area /  ) 0.5
  d
2
d
h/2

C
 Units
kh • = Horizontal Permeability, md
kv • = Vertical Permeability, md
h • = Reservoir Height, ft
qo • = Flow Rate, STB/day
o • = Oil Viscosity, cp
Bo • = Oil Formation Volume Factor, Rbl/STB
L • = Horizontal Well Length, ft
reh • = Outer Boundary Radius Horizontal Well, ft
p R • = Average Reservoir Pressure, psia
p wf • = Wellbore Sandface Pressure, psia
Two-Phase Flow in Depletion Drive
Reservoirs

Bendakhlia and Aziz, 1989

n
qo   pwf   pwf 
2


 1  V    1  V    
qo , max   p   p  
 

V and n are functions of depletion

Two-Phase Flow in Depletion Drive
Reservoirs

Wang and Wiggins, 1996

•General relationship

2
qo  pwf   pwf 
 1  0.4533   0.5467 
qo ,max  p   p 
Two-Phase Flow in Depletion Drive
Reservoirs

Wang and Wiggins, 1996

•Depletion-based relationship

2
qo  pwf   pwf 
 1  V    1  V   
qo ,max  p   p 
Two-Phase Flow in Depletion Drive
Reservoirs
Aziz Wang
Recovery V n V
1% 0.125 1.350 0.675
2% 0.150 1.100 0.475
4% 0.125 1.000 0.250
6% 0.150 0.090 0.125
8% 0.175 0.8750 0.200
10% 0.150 1.050 0.225
12% 0.300 1.150 0.250
14% 0.475 1.400 0.275
Horizontal Gas Well Relationship

– Akhimiona and Wiggins, 2005

• In terms of pressure-squared
2
qg p 2
p  2

 0.867 
wf wf
 1  1.867
q g ,max p 2  p  2
R  R
Horizontal Gas Well Relationship

– Akhimiona and Wiggins, 2005

• In terms of pseudopressure
p p  pwf   p p  pwf  
2
qg
 1  1.8005  0.8005 
q g ,max p p  pR   p p  
 p R 
 Horizontal Well
Why and When to Plan to Drill Horizontally

“Questions You Need to Ask Before Drilling Horizontally”

Why and When to Plan to Drill Horizontally

• 1. Why (and when) to drill horizontally?

• 2. How do you screen-out a horizontal candidate?
• 3. How long of a horizontal section is long enough?
• 4. Rules-of-Thumb to Screen Horizontals
• 5. What are the key drilling concerns to achieve the
goals?
Why and When
to Drill
Horizontally?
 Why and When to Plan to Drill Horizontally
• Why drill horizontally?
 To improve project economics via
 > production
 < capital cost (Capex)
 < operating cost (Opex)
 When to drill horizontally?
 Anisotropic reservoir properties
 A development tool, not an exploration tool…understand the reservoir
 Minimize pressure drawdown related operating problems
 Sanding
 Gas and/or water coning
 Why and When to Plan to Drill Horizontally

 When to drill horizontally (continued)?

 More economically attractive than other completions options – screen candidates properly
 Hydraulic fracturing
 Acidizing
 High-angle wells
 Increase flooding sweep efficiency & injectivity
 Reduce
 Platform construction costs
 Surface lease construction costs
 Heavy Oil

•
How To Screen
Horizontal
Candidates?
 Screening (Analytical) – Basic Idea

• Step 1……………….apparent wellbore radius?

» r’w > rw …………stimulation
» r’w < rw …………damage

• Step 2……………….productivity index ratio?

» Jh/Jv = [Ln(re/rw)]v/ [Ln(re/r’w)]h
» relative to un-stimulated vertical well on 40 acres

• Step 3………………pseudoskin?
» Sh ~ Ln(rw) – Ln(L/4), when L >> h
» compare to other pseudoskin completion options
» S = Ln(rw/r’w)
Productivity Indices of High-Angle and Horizontal Well Scenarios
Relative to an Un-Stimulated Vertical Well on 40 Acres

Jh/Jv = [Ln(re/rw)]v/ [Ln(re/r’w)]h

Horizontal & 50 Feet Pay

Isotropic and Anisotropic Perm

Horizontal & 500 Feet Pay

Isotropic and Anisotropic Perm High-Angle with 50 - 500 Feet Pay
Isotropic and Anisotropic Perm
 PseudoSkin of High-Angle and Horizontal Well Scenarios
Relative to an Un-Stimulated Vertical Well on 40 Acres

No significant advantage to drill high-

angle in thick reservoirs until > 600 inclination
Mud Acids and/or Retard Acids in Sandstones for Vertical Wells

HCl Acid in Carbonates for Vertical Wells High-Angle & 50 Feet Pay
Isotropic and Anisotropic Perm

Hydraulic Fracturing in Sandstones for Vertical Wells

with matrix permeability < 10-20 md
High-Angle & 500 Feet Pay
Isotropic and Anisotropic Perm

Horizontal & 50 Feet Pay Horizontal & 500 Feet Pay

Isotropic and Anisotropic Perm Isotropic and Anisotropic Perm
In thicker reservoirs horizontals > 1500 feet can
be more competative than fracturing vertical well
In thin reservoirs horizontals > 500 feet can be
S = Ln(rw/r’w)more competative than fracturing vertical well

PseudoSkin ~ Ln(rw) – Ln(L/4), when L >> h