A essful Stimulation Research Program for a Tight Sand Reservoir.pdf

SPE/DOE
Society of . Department
Petroleum Engineers of Energy
SPE/DOE 10828
A essful Stimulation Research Program for a Tight Sand
Reservoir
by Harvey S. Greenfield, Mountain Fuel Supply Co.; and Usman Ahmed*, John F. Schatz*, and
Arfon H. Jones*, Terra Tek, Inc.
*Member SPE-AIME
The paper was presented at the SPE/DOE Unconventional Gas Recovery Symposium of the Society of Petroleum Engineers held in Pittsburgh,
PA, May 16-18, 1982. The material is subject to correction by the author. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300
words. Write: 6200 N. Central Expwy., Dallas, TX 75206.
ARSTRACT fracturing fluids and proppants. This paper presents
details of the study and the associated laboratory
Two research wells were drilled pleted and field results.
in a known, yet heretofore unproductive tight sand
gas reservoir in the Green River Basin. Although Funding assistance was provided by the United
previous wells were drilled in the area and hydrau• States Department of Energy and the Gas Research
lically fractured, there has been mercial Institute.
production. The consideration of advanced methods
of stimulation design and changing gas prices caused BACKGROUND
recent renewed interest. A systematic approach led
to essful fractures of one zone in each of the The Pinedale gas reservoir is located on the
two wells. Initial production rose from 107 to 4150 crest of an anticline with a northwest-southeast
MCFD in one well and from 35 to 1450 MCFD in the trend. It is 30 to 40 miles long and approximately
second well after stimulation treatments. 5 miles wide, with approximately 2,000 feet of
vertical relief from the lowest to the highest
INTRODUCTION structural elevation. The anticline was formed by
compressional stresses resulting from the Wind
The Pinedale gas field is a large tight sand River Uplift on the east and the Wyoming Overthrust
reservoir located in