Stephen A.

Holditch

Hydraulic Fracturing
In Tight Gas Reservoirs

20 Rules of Thumb
2010

1. You have to know the permeability-thickness (kh) of the reservoir

• to determine the optimum fracture length,
• to determine the optimum drainage area,
• to choose the correct propping agent, and
• to properly interpret post-fracture production and/or pressure
buildup tests.

2. Hydraulic fracturing can improve the well productivity index at semi-

steady state flow, J = Q / (Pi – Pwf), by factors of 3 – 6 in most cases.
If the well is damaged while drilling, the productivity index can be
increased by a factor of 10 or more. As such, to properly evaluate the
post-fracture productivity index, one needs to run a pre-fracture
production and/or pressure buildup test to determine a realistic value
of productivity index before the treatment.

where: Q = flow rate, Pi = reservoir pressure and Pwf = flowing

bottom hole pressure.
3. If you must use a porosity and water saturation cutoff, than a universal
porosity cutoff for tight gas sands is 3% gas porosity, which is
effective porosity, multiplied by gas saturation. The effective porosity
should be calculated by making shale corrections and hydrocarbon
corrections to a density neutron cross-plot value.

4. When analyzing the open hole logs in tight gas reservoirs, always
review the caliper log first, and look for mud cake. If there is mud
cake, there is enough permeability to produce gas, usually at
commercial rates. Also, look for separation of the short, medium and
deep resistivity logs. If there is separation, there has been mud filtrate
invasion, which also means the zone is permeable.

5. If the logs and cores indicate a zone contains natural gas, you can not
condemn the zone due to a negative pre-fracture test, such as a drill
stem test (DST) that results in a result like too-small-to-measure
(TSTM). You may need to run a closed-chamber DST to get a valid
test of the zone. In any event, the zone will have to be fracture
treated before it can be condemned.

6. If you are going to drill a well to test a tight gas sand and the zone you
are drilling for is present, you essentially make the decision to set
pipe, perforate and fracture treat the zone when you spud the well.
You will not know what the real potential of the zone is, in terms of
gas flow rate and reserves, until it is fracture treated and produced for
several months.
 7. The minimum data set needed to design a well completion in a tight
gas reservoir is as follows:
• Number of layers that are productive, and then
• For each layer
i. Gross thickness
ii. Hydrocarbon volume
iii. Effective permeability
iv. Minimum in-situ stress

8. As the propped fracture length increases within the limits of the pay
zone, you will always produce more gas as long as the treatment fluid
breaks and does minimal damage to both the fracture face and the
proppant in the fracture.

9. The optimum fracture length will be a function of the (optimum)

drainage area (xe). The following can be used to estimate the
optimum fracture length as a function of gas permeability.

Reservoir Quality Permeability Fracture Length

(md)
High 10 - 100 10% of xe
Medium 0.1 – 1.0 50% of xe
Low 0.001 – 0.01 75% of xe
10. In blanket reservoirs, the drainage area will be essentially controlled
by the number of wells drilled. The optimum drainage area and
fracture length must be determined simultaneously using (a) a fracture
propagation model to determine the cost to create various fracture
lengths, (b) a reservoir model to predict flow rate vs. time as s
function of fracture length and drainage area, and (c) an economics
model to determine maximum NPV for all cases simulated.

In a lenticular or compartmentalized reservoir, the geology must be

studied and understood to determine the size of the lens or
compartments before one can determine the optimum fracture length.

11. For most fracture treatments, the number of perforations per stage
should be no more than ¼ bpm per perforation and no less than ½
bpm per perforation. For limited entry treatments, the number of
perforations should be such that the injection rate is between 1–2 bpm
per perforation.

12. In general, treatments are more successful when they are pumped at
higher injection rates. The injection rate during a fracture treatment
should be the maximum value of the feasible range to minimize the
effects of leak-off and to maximize proppant transport by minimizing
the pumping time to minimize the effects of proppant settling.
13. Viscosity does matter. You can pump more proppant at higher
concentrations using a more viscous fluid than if you a use less
viscous fluid. The key to success is to pump more proppant using a
fluid that breaks and cleans up at the formation temperature.

14. A highly conductive fracture is one where the value of the

dimensionless fracture conductivity, Cr = (wkf/π kLf), is greater than
10. The optimum fracture length should be designed making the
assumption that a high conductivity fracture (Cr > 10) can be
achieved. Then a propping agent should be selected to achieve the
designed fracture conductivity at the lowest cost. If, due to the fact
that the formation permeability is so large it is impossible to achieve a
value of Cr > 10 with any proppant, one should get as close as
possible to Cr > 10. However, do not decrease the designed fracture
half length just to achieve Cr > 10.

where: wkf = fracture conductivity, k=formation permeability and

Lf = fracture length

15. In many cases, the results of a fracture treatment can be improved by

reducing the diameter of the propping agent. In deep, hot, low
permeability reservoirs, transporting proppants deeply into a fracture
may be difficult because of fracture fluid viscosity degradation and/or
low injection rates required due to mechanical restrictions. In such
cases, going with 40-70 mesh, high strength proppants may
substantially improve the stimulation treatment. In other cases, like
in naturally fractured reservoirs, where multiple fractures are created,
 especially in horizontal well bores, 40-70 mesh or even 100 mesh
proppants could improve well performance, over using larger
proppant sizes. In fact, the 100 mesh proppant actually provides
additional slurry viscosity at high concentrations.

16. The pad volume of a treatment should be

• In most reservoirs 25 – 30%
• In tight reservoirs 10 – 20%
• In high permeability reservoirs 50 – 70%
If the pad volume is too small, the treatment may screen out. If the
pad volume is too large, you will waste money, the propped fracture
length will be shorter, and the fracture will not close as rapidly as it
would with a smaller pad volume.

17. In most reservoirs, the well should be rigged up so it can be opened to

flow immediately after the fracture treatment is over using a flow
back manifold and small chokes. If you measure the flow rates of
water, gas and condensate during the entire flow back period, you will
have better data to evaluate the effectiveness of the fracture treatment.

18. No well is straight and no well is vertical. As such, the chances that
multiple fractures will occur increase with the length of the perforated
interval. A perforation interval of 20 ft. or less, located in the most
porous and permeable zone, should be sufficient for most cases. A
properly packed fracture will connect the entire pay interval to the
well bore assuming the treatment is pumped correctly and is not over
flushed.
19. If you know the preferred azimuth of the fracture in a vertical well,
and the technology is available at a reasonable price, the well should
be perforated using 180o phasing, oriented in the most likely direction
of fracture propagation.

20. In most cases, vertical fractures will propagate parallel to normal

faults and perpendicular to reverse (thrust) faults. As such, it is
important to study the faulting and tectonics in the basin and area of
interest prior to drilling, perforating and fracture treating wells.