Hydrocarbon Recovery Maximization in Reservoirs Located Close to Potential Water Producer Horizons: New Proposed Methodology to Combine Water Control and Fracture Stimulation Processes

Abstract

Abstract Hydrocarbon production and recovery maximization can be a challenging task in some specific areas or reservoirs. Specifically, in low permeability environments, hydraulic fracturing is a necessary step to improve the wells productivity and it can be easily justified or applied in reservoirs where a nearby water bearing zone is not present or the water bearing zone is far away from the productive horizons. When bottom water or water bearing zones are located near the oil producer layers, hydraulic fracture stimulation is normally aborted or the potential layer is abandoned or not completed; unfortunately, the luxury of stimulation or completion abortion is not really the best decision because a large amount of hydrocarbons is located in such complex environments. For the situations where the fracture stimulation could not be avoided, the industry has used different alternatives to minimize water production. These include selective perforation and controlled fracture stimulation, selective water control treatment into the water producer layer followed by fracturing, or combining the water control and fracture stimulation in one. For the latter methodology, the water control chemical is squeezed first into the fractured interval or the chemical is added into the fracturing fluid pad to minimize water mobility. However, this methodology relies on the compatibility of the fracturing fluid and the water control chemicals or the migration of the water control chemical from the fracturing fluid system to the water source layers to be effective. This paper proposes a new methodology to minimize water intrusion in cases where fracture stimulation is necessary in areas with bottom water or water bearing zones near the oil producer layers by performing on-the-fly coating of proppant with a relative permeability modifier (RPM) chemical. In the new proposed methodology, water mobility in the water producer layer will be controlled by the proppant bed coated by the RPM.