Abstract
Summary In this study we estimated the initial effective fracture pore volume (Vfi) and fracture volume loss (dVef) for 21 wells completed in the Montney and Eagle Ford formations. We also evaluated the relationship between dVef and choke size. First, we applied rate-decline analysis to water-flowback data of candidate wells to estimate the ultimate water recovery volume, approximated as Vfi. Second, we estimated dVef using a fracture compressibility relationship to evaluate the fracture volume loss of the Eagle Ford wells. Third, we investigated the effect of choke size on dVef for the Eagle Ford fastback and slowback wells. Semilog plots of flowback water rate vs. cumulative water volume show straight-line trends, representing a harmonic decline. The estimated Vfi accounts for approximately 84 and 26% of the total injected water volume (TIV) of the Montney and Eagle Ford wells, respectively. The results show that approximately 10% of the fracture volume is lost during flowback. This loss in fracture volume predominantly happens during the early flowback and becomes minimal during the late flowback period. The results show a relatively higher dVef for fastback (a flowback process with a relatively large choke size) wells compared with that for slowback (a flowback process with a relatively small choke size) wells. In this study we proposed a method to estimate the initial fracture volume and investigated the loss in fracture volume during the flowback process. Analyses of the field data led to an improved understanding of the factors that control water flowback and the effective fracture volume.
Published Version
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