Simulation of hydraulic fracturing with propane-based fluid using a fracture propagation model coupled with multiphase flow simulation in the Cooper Basin, South Australia
Yang Fei A B , Mary Gonzalez Perdomo A B , Viet Quoc Nguyen A B , Zhongyu Lei A B , Kunakorn Pokalai A B , Sume Sarkar A and Manouchehr Haghighi A BA Australian School of Petroleum
B The University of Adelaide
The APPEA Journal 56(1) 415-426 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ15030
Published: 2016
Abstract
In many unconventional reservoirs, gas wells do not perform to their potential when water-based fracturing fluids are used for treatments. The sub-optimal fracture productivity can be attributed to many factors such as effective fracture length loss, low load fluid recovery, flowback time, and water availability. The development of unconventional reservoirs has, therefore, prompted the industry to reconsider waterless fracturing treatments as viable alternatives to water-based fracturing fluids.
In this paper, a simulation approach was used by coupling a fracture propagation model with a multiphase flow model. The Toolachee Formation is a tight sand in the Cooper Basin, around 7,200 ft in depth, and has been targeted for gas production. In this study, a 3D hydraulic fracture propagation model was first developed to provide fracture dimensions and conductivity. Then, from an offset well injection fall off test, the model was tuned by using different calibration parameters such as fracture gradient and closure pressure to validate the model. Finally, fracture propagation model outputs were used as the inputs for multiphase flow reservoir simulation.
A large number of cases were simulated based on different fraccing fluids and the concept of permeability jail to represent several water-induced damage effects. It was found that LPG was a successful treatment, especially in a reservoir where the authors suspected the presence of permeability jails. The authors also observed that total flowback recovery approached 76% within 60 days in the case of using gelled LPG. Modelling predictions also support the need for high-quality foam, and LPG can be expected to bring long-term productivity gains in normal tight gas relative permeability behaviour.
Yang Fei is presently undertaking a PhD in petroleum engineering at the Australian School of Petroleum (ASP). Before starting his PhD, Yang received his BE (Hons) in petroleum engineering from the University of Adelaide. Previously, Yang worked as a technical assistant at Santos Ltd for four years. Yang’s area of expertise is in production engineering and optimisation, where he focuses on the development and maintenance of GAP/PROSPER/MBAL models of satellites from the Cooper Basin. In addition to that, he provided support in running various scenarios to identify potential projects to fully optimise satellite performance. Yang’s PhD involves researching waterless and foam-based hydraulic fracturing alternatives for Australian unconventional reservoirs. Member: SPE, PESA and AAPG. yang.fei@adelaide.edu.au |
Mary Gonzalez Perdomo is a lecturer of petroleum engineering, and the Engineering Honours Academic Coordinator for the ASP. Her research and teaching focus is on reservoir and production engineering, particularly production enhancement and optimisation. She joined the ASP in 2009 after several years of experience in the oil and gas industry, where she provided practical petroleum engineering, consultancy services and solutions in the areas of subsurface and production engineering. Mary has collaborated on APPEA papers, and has BSc and a post-graduate degrees in petroleum engineering, and post-graduate studies in higher education. Member: SPE and PESA. maria.gonzalezperdomo@adelaide.edu.au |
Viet Quoc Nguyen is undertaking a Bachelor of Petroleum Engineering degree at the ASP. Viet’s area of interest is in reservoir stimulation by using hydraulic fracturing. He is focusing on the benefits of applying LPG as a fracturing fluid in the Cooper Basin as a project for his final-year thesis. In Viet’s work, hydraulic fracturing and reservoir production models are developed and incorporated with each other using IHS Welltest, GOHFER and Eclipse. Member: SPE. vietquoc.nguyen@student.adelaide.edu.au |
Zhongyu Lei is a recent graduate in the Bachelor of Petroleum Engineering (Honours) degree at the ASP, and has completed a three-month internship with Petro-China, researching and commissioning hydraulic fracturing in 2014. The title of Zhongyu’s thesis, completed for her honour project, was Enhanced gas recovery using LPG fracturing fluid in tight/ shale gas reservoirs (Cooper Basin). She focuses on simulating and researching the viability of using LPG as a hydraulic fluid for tight gas reservoirs in the Cooper Basin. In addition to that, Zhongyu is presently assisting Yang Fei with his PhD project involving research about waterless and foam-based hydraulic fracturing alternatives for Australian unconventional reservoirs. Member: SPE. a1613566@student.adelaide.edu.au |
Kunakorn Pokalai is presently a PhD candidate of petroleum engineering at the University of Adelaide. He has a BE in petrochemical engineering from Silpakorn University (Thailand), and completed a Graduate Certificate in Management and Masters in petroleum engineering from the University of Adelaide. Kunakorn’s research interests are in the simulation of unconventional reservoirs and hydraulic fracturing. He mainly focuses on the issue of fracturing fluid flowback in the Cooper Basin. Kunakorn was the recipient of the prestigious AAPG Imperial Barrel Award in the Asia Pacific Region in 2014. Member: SPE and AAPG. kunakorn.pokalai@adelaide.edu.au |
Sume Sarkar is a PhD candidate at the ASP. She has experience in petroleum sector regulation in a south Asian context. She holds a MSc degree in petroleum engineering with specialisation in reservoir engineering from Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and a BSc degree in chemical engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. Sume is conducting research on two major areas for unconventional reservoirs in the Cooper Basin: fracturing fluid flowback modelling, and geomechanical modelling for multi-stage hydraulic fracture operations. sume.sarkar@adelaide.edu.au |
Manouchehr (Manny) Haghighi is an associate professor of petroleum engineering. His research and teaching focus is on unconventional reservoirs, reservoir simulation, well testing, and formation evaluation. He has supervised more than 40 MSc and 10 PhD students. Before joining the University of Adelaide in 2009, Manouchehr was associate professor of petroleum engineering at the University of Tehran (Iran). During 2000–07, he was the head of the petroleum engineering program at the University of Tehran. In 2000, Manouchehr established Simtech, a consulting company for integrated reservoir simulation in which he has been project director of several full-field simulation projects for oil and gas reservoirs. From 1995 to 2000 Manouchehr worked with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and was the director of a program for the training of NIOC staff at several universities in the US, UK, Canada, France, Australia and Norway. Manouchehr was a visiting professor at the University of Calgary from 2007–08. Manouchehr has published more than 80 articles in peer-reviewed journals or presented in international conferences. He has served as a reviewer for various journals including the Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering. Member: SPE. manouchehr.haghighi@adelaide.edu.au |
