Completion method for one perforated interval per fracture stage during multi-stage fracturing

A method for designing a multiple-stage ball sealer-diverted fracture treatment of a wellbore penetrating a plurality of perforation intervals in at least one subterranean formation so that said perforation intervals of said at least one subterranean formation are fractured one at a time, said method comprising:

• a) selecting at least two perforation intervals within said at least one subterranean formation desired to be fractured;
• b) determining a breakdown pressure for each of said perforation intervals and adjusting said breakdown pressure for wellbore pressure effects;
• c) determining a fracture propagation pressure for the fracture expected to propagate from each of said perforation intervals;
• d) if any two perforation intervals have adjusted breakdown pressures that are substantially equal, repeating the selection of perforation intervals so as to cause sufficient separation in breakdown pressures that no two perforation intervals would break down during the same treatment stage;
• e) determining the maximum allowable wellbore net pressure for each perforation interval by finding the minimum difference between the fracture propagation pressure of the expected fracture at that perforation interval and the adjusted breakdown pressure of any other perforation interval having a higher adjusted breakdown pressure than the breakdown pressure of the perforation interval associated with said expected fracture;
• f) selecting fracture treatment parameters comprising a perforation diameter, a number of perforations, a fracture treatment injection rate, a single-stage pad volume, and a single-stage sand-laden fluid volume for each perforation interval;
• g) calculating the resulting wellbore net pressure at each other perforation interval having a higher adjusted breakdown pressure than the adjusted breakdown pressure of the perforation interval for which fracture treatment parameters were selected;
• h) comparing the wellbore net pressure calculated in step (g) for a given perforation interval to said maximum allowable wellbore net pressure determined in step (e) for the same perforation interval;
• and
• i) if the comparison in step (h) indicates that the wellbore net pressure exceeds said maximum allowable wellbore net pressure, modifying at least one of the fracture treatment parameters or the location of a perforation interval to achieve a wellbore net pressure less than said maximum allowable wellbore net pressure.