New Advancements in Flowback Analysis for Rapid Diagnostics and Integrated Hydraulic Fracture Optimization at SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference
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We had a great time presenting our collaborative paper with Whitecap Resources at the SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference and Exhibition in The Woodlands, Texas, February 6-8, 2024. There was a great turnout for our presentation and had some great discussions about the presented workflows.
The workflows presented in this paper are focused around the application of flowback analysis (FBA), which utilizes typically gathered production test data to provide estimates of critical hydraulic fracture and matrix parameters early in the well life. Over the last 10 years FBA has emerged as a successful technology to close the significant technological gap that exists between pumping the frac and gathering the 6-12 months of long-term production required to apply typical production analysis methods.
In this paper, several case studies from a prolific North American volatile oil play are presented to demonstrate the immense value of FBA for rapid diagnostics and rapid lookbacks. The presented case studies focus on the interpretation of FBA results to identify hydraulic fracture optimization opportunities and improve future well performance. In addition, a new set of physics-based correlations are demonstrated, which link effective stress (from DFIT), fracture area/stimulated volume (from FBA) and long-term pressure-normalized productivity, to extend the application of FBA to a large-scale field development. These low cost/high value workflows allow operators to use extensive horizontal well base to predict and select optimal completion design ahead of pumping and to high grade the land base for full field development, forecasting and budget planning purposes.
These workflows give operators earlier, practical ways to evaluate and optimize hydraulic fracturing and field development.
Don't forget to check the full paper "New Advancements in Flowback Analysis for Rapid Diagnostics and Integrated Hydraulic Fracture Optimization."