Evaluation of diagnostic fracture injection test (DFIT) and rate transient analysis (RTA) in Hereford field, northern DJ Basin

Since the inception of unconventional reservoir development in the United States, hydraulic fracturing and acidizing have become the primary techniques for stimulating these ultra-low permeability reservoirs. Furthermore, unlike conventional reservoirs, unconventional reservoirs require a much deeper understanding of reservoir sediment. Geology and geophysics can provide information on the nature of sediments and structural positions while petroleum engineers are positioned to gather information pertaining to reservoir flow properties, well completion design and efficacy, and future production forecast.Production from unconventional shale reservoirs has a rapid decline feature starting with a relatively high initial production rate. The stimulated unconventional reservoir production characteristics are highly related to a physical structure of pore space, pore connectivity, and natural fracture density in such reservoirs. Because of the flow dominance of fractures—natural and from well stimulation, these reservoirs are categorized as dual-porosity reservoirs. The two interacting pore channels are called matrix and fractures. Matrix space is tight in terms of flow capacity; however, it contributes to the long-term production, while fractures have high permeability and carry the flow from the matrix to wells. Hydraulic fracturing is a well-established technique in stimulating unconventional shale reservoirs. In this thesis I use a hydraulic fracture model developed by Perkins-Kern and farther extended by Nordgren. The combined models are referred to as Perkins-Kern-Nordgren (PKN) model. Both models utilize a basic mathematical formulation developed by Carter in 1957. I apply the PKN model in interpreting field data from diagnostic fracture injection test (DFIT). Then, I use the PKN model to several individual hydraulic fracture stages and interpreted the falloff data from such tests to obtain effective fracture permeability of the stimulated reservoir volumes. Finally, I evaluate the production data of legacy wells using rate transient analysis (RTA).

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (M.S.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Petroleum Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Colorado School of Mines. Arthur Lakes Library

Year dc:date.issued

2021

Author dc:creator

• Bekbossinov, Nurbol

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Kazemi, Hossein

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Sonnenberg, Stephen A.
• Tura, Ali
• Zerpa, Luis E.

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright of the original work is retained by the author.

Language dc:language.iso

eng, English

Identifier

T 9219

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.mines.edu:11124/176497