Restimulation of Wells using Biodegradable Particulates as Temporary Diverting Agents

Abstract

Abstract During the life of producing wells, there comes a time when the well approaches its economic viability as a producing well. If the reservoir potential is sufficient to support the expenditure, many wells are candidates for recompletion, reperforation, or restimulation. This type of focus on the Barnett shale began in the late 1990s. Drilling activity dramatically increased during the ensuing years and now there are more than 14,000 wells that have been drilled, most of which are producing wells. A lot of these wells are potential candidates for restimulation (refrac) because their production rates have declined but still have significant reservoir potential. The completion techniques deployed in the Barnett evolved over time to where many wells have dozensof perforation clusters and hundreds of individual perforations. Generally, refracsare ineffectual unless the perforations can be temporarily isolated so that the energy of the subsequent fracturing treatment can be focused on individual portions of the reservoir. Additionally, refrac candidate wells often contain challenging wellbore environments that further complicate the ability to successfully refrac the wells. The use of biodegradable particulates to facilitate the temporary diversion and concentration of frac energy has increased the success of restimulation. This paper discusses the recent development of techniques and materials being used in refracturing operations. Included are discussions of laboratory results of new and novel materials, along with case histories of refrac wells demonstrating application of such materials and techniques.