An Iterative Approach to Enhance Frac Design and Economics While Developing Tight Gas Reservoirs

Abstract

These are exciting times for unconventional resource development across North America. This success has proven to be a driver for the rest of the world to attempt to emulate the game-changing results found in the industry. As a consequence, improved horizontal drilling and hydraulic completion technology are currently being disseminated to the rest of the world, where operators are seeking to replicate the North American success in tight reservoirs and shale plays of interest. This being further fueled by higher gas prices than are awarded in North America. This paper introduces a work-flow process to describe how tight gas-sand potential was discovered in the Mezardere Formation in the southern part of the in Thrace Basin in NW Turkey. The process began with the development of an improved understanding of geology and reservoir characterization followed by the application of North American drilling and completion technologies to commercially extract hydrocarbons from previously uneconomic resources. Design of hydraulic fracturing, including pad volumes, proppant and gel concentrations, stage volumes and typical pressure profiles, production profiles and well design parameters are established. The content also presents how completion designs can be improved in a vertical well application in existing wellbores as a means to mitigate capital risk in a horizontal development plan. The paper concludes by showing how the successful extraction of commercial gas production from heretofore uneconomic portions of the Thrace basin has the potential to change the energy future in Turkey via dramatically improved production results over previous conventional completions. When results were made public, the basin garnered attention from many large E&P Operators. The results proved that improved economic enhancement of deep basin unconventional resources as possible; thereby changing and accelerating development plans for this type of play.