Acid Fracturing Treatments in Hydrocarbon-Bearing Formations in Close Proximity to Wet Zones
AssigneeSaudi Arabian Oil Company
InventorMoataz Mohammad Alharbi
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Abstract
System, methods, and devices for simultaneously fracturing a target formation and an adjacent secondary formation are disclosed. The simultaneous fracturing operations interfere with each other to form in-situ dynamic barriers. The in-situ barriers prevent acid from the fracturing treatment in the target formation from invading the secondary formation and, in some instances, sealing formation rock at the location of the in-situ barrier to prevent or reduce water movement from the secondary formation into the primary formation.
Claims23
A method of performing simultaneous and competing fracturing operations in adjacent formations to form in-situ dynamic barriers between the competing fracturing treatments, the method comprising:
- perforating an interval of a target formation;
- determining a mid-perforation separation distance extending from a center of the target formation perforated interval to a center of a perforation interval to be formed in a secondary formation, the secondary formation comprising a first wet zone;
- perforating an interval of the secondary formation, a center of the perforated interval formed in the secondary formation being separated from the center of the perforated interval of the target formation by the mid-perforation separation distance such that a fracture to be formed in the target formation overlaps a fracture to be formed in the secondary formation;
- applying, simultaneously, a first fracturing treatment to the perforated interval of the target formation, the first fracturing treatment comprising an acid fracturing treatment, and a second fracturing treatment to the perforated interval of the secondary formation, the second fracturing treatment comprising a neutralizing additive and a sealing agent additive;
- and
- growing a first fracture formed by the first fracturing treatment and a second fracture formed by the second fracturing treatment to cause the first fracture and the second fracture to interfere with each other thereby forming in-situ dynamic barriers, the neutralizing additive neutralizing acid of the acid fracturing treatment to prevent intrusion of the acid into the secondary formation and the sealing agent additive sealing formation rock at a location of the in-situ dynamic barrier to alter water conductivity in the sealed formation rock.
An apparatus for performing simultaneous and competing fracturing operations in adjacent formations to form in-situ dynamic barriers between the competing fracturing treatments, the apparatus comprising:
- one or more processors;
- and
- a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium coupled to the one or more processors and storing programming instructions for execution by the one or more processors, the programming instructions instruct the one or more processors to:
- perforate an interval of a target formation;
- determine a mid-perforation separation distance extending from a center of the target formation perforated interval to a center of a perforation interval to be formed in a secondary formation, the secondary formation comprising a first wet zone;
- perforate an interval of the secondary formation, a center of the perforated interval formed in the secondary formation being separated from the center of the perforated interval of the target formation by the mid-perforation separation distance such that a fracture to be formed in the target formation overlaps a fracture to be formed in the secondary formation;
- apply, simultaneously, a first fracturing treatment to the perforated interval of the target formation, the first fracturing treatment comprising an acid fracturing treatment, and a second fracturing treatment to the perforated interval of the secondary formation, the second fracturing treatment comprising a neutralizing additive and a sealing agent additive;
- and
- grow a first fracture formed by the first fracturing treatment and a second fracture formed by the second fracturing treatment to cause the first fracture and the second fracture to interfere with each other thereby forming in-situ dynamic barriers, the neutralizing additive neutralizing acid of the acid fracturing treatment to prevent intrusion of the acid into the secondary formation and the sealing agent additive sealing formation rock at a location of the in-situ dynamic barrier to alter water conductivity in the sealed formation rock.
A computer-implemented method performed by one or more processors for performing simultaneous and competing fracturing operations in adjacent formations to form in-situ dynamic barriers between the competing fracturing treatments, the method comprising the following operations:
- perforating an interval of a target formation;
- determining a mid-perforation separation distance extending from a center of the target formation perforated interval to a center of a perforation interval to be formed in a secondary formation, the secondary formation comprising a first wet zone;
- perforating an interval of the secondary formation, a center of the perforated interval formed in the secondary formation being separated from the center of the perforated interval of the target formation by the mid-perforation separation distance such that a fracture to be formed in the target formation overlaps a fracture to be formed in the secondary formation;
- applying, simultaneously, a first fracturing treatment to the perforated interval of the target formation, the first fracturing treatment comprising an acid fracturing treatment, and a second fracturing treatment to the perforated interval of the secondary formation, the second fracturing treatment comprising a neutralizing additive and a sealing agent additive;
- and
- growing a first fracture formed by the first fracturing treatment and a second fracture formed by the second fracturing treatment to cause the first fracture and the second fracture to interfere with each other thereby forming in-situ dynamic barriers, the neutralizing additive neutralizing acid of the acid fracturing treatment to prevent intrusion of the acid into the secondary formation and the sealing agent additive sealing formation rock at a location of the in-situ dynamic barrier to alter water conductivity in the sealed formation rock.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.