Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by GARY SHEFFIELD on March 23, 2018 at 9:55

Thanks David good article

Permalink Reply by Craig Wascom on March 23, 2018 at 10:42

Great article very good maps. Thanks!

Permalink Reply by Rock Man on March 23, 2018 at 10:50

Nice map but very misleading since all the historical references are to the traditional natural fracture play in the AC. I doubt if the author(s) of this article even know the difference between what is happening now (i.e. what is the play concept) versus the "old" play?

Permalink Reply by Craig Wascom on March 23, 2018 at 11:11

That is true Rock Man but I don’t think the AC moved since the last action and that is what I was interested in seeing.

Permalink Reply by David Crockett on March 23, 2018 at 15:32

Part of it is misleading, but the cumulative amount is from wells that are not as sophisticated as the new type. The new wells should vastly improve the amount of oil equivalent

Permalink Reply by Rock Man on March 23, 2018 at 16:26

The new approach to the AC may end up being as good or better than the "old" approach - but only if the reservoir has the properties that will allow fracture stimulation to release / assess trapped O&G that is in the AC matrix system.

If the pore geometry is too small or discontinuous, the play won't work very well.

Permalink Reply by Bob Zimmerman on March 23, 2018 at 16:57

Rock Man, in the Pitkin/Masters Creek area circa 1998 communication between two wells thirteen miles apart was recorded. What does that say?

Permalink Reply by Rock Man on March 23, 2018 at 17:07

That says that the natural fracture system that was the "reservoir" for the AC here was really extensive over a very large area. That is the longest distance I have ever heard as to fracture related communication. However, communication over various distances is common when dealing with fractures (voids) in the subsurface.

Of course, there are some fracture systems that are so limited they can be depleted in only a few weeks (or days).

These fractures will be the storage space for oil & gas & water (oftentimes water if the much larger filler of the void space than O&G)

The new Hz Frac approach has to use certain materials (diverters) to help seal off fractures that may be present so that the matrix is stimulated.

However, large depleted fracture systems like you have described here are very difficult to impossible to isolate and shut off to allow for matrix stimulation

Permalink Reply by Hale Yayuh on March 24, 2018 at 1:17

What's the source for that, Bob? I've also never heard of such a long distance communication. Was this bottom hole pressure related or fluids from one well encroaching on another? Who said it, a layman or an oilfield 'expert?' That's certainly an interesting comment.

Permalink Reply by Bob Zimmerman on March 24, 2018 at 3:33

There were two heresay sources, one a SONAT locations supervisor and the other a Union Pacific Resources supervisor in charge of building locations. To be clear,I did not hear it personally from either of them, but information like that gets out among the crews and is usually reliable to some degree if you hear it before it can be embellished. Best I recall, all machinery in the test area had to be shut down during the test. I forget the duration of that break.

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on March 26, 2018 at 14:10

Once the drilling rig has drilled to Total Depth (TD), the crew will set and cement the final casing string.  Then they are finished and the rig leaves.  Sometime later the frac crew will arrive to complete the well.  There is an elaborate "tree" placed on the well head that is used to pump the stages.  It's a continuous 24-hour operation that stimulates a stage and then flows it back, isolates that stage and stimulates the next stage starting at the "toe" and proceeding back along the lateral to the "heel".  There is no definitive answer for time to drill a 5000' lateral.  Too many variables.

Permalink Reply by Rock Man on March 26, 2018 at 15:49

In areas where operators have all the bugs worked out, drilling a 5000' lateral and setting casing can take anywhere from 7 to 14 days. However, in the early stages of drilling in a new area, I would assume 30 days to do this.

By the way, 5000' laterals are becoming more and more scarce as operators push for longer laterals. 10,000' / two section laterals are becoming more the norm in many plays (assuming  the acreage is set up to allow for these longer horizontals)

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