Stimulation Of Low Permeability Gas Wells In The Rocky Mountain Area

Abstract

This paper was prepared for the Rocky Mountain Regional Meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME, to be held in Casper, Wyoming, May 15–16, 1973. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon requested to the Editor PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon requested to the Editor of the appropriate journal, provided agreement to give proper credit is made. Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the Society of Petroleum Engineers office. Such discussions may be presented at the above meeting and, with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines. Abstract The shortage of natural gas, which has resulted in an increase in gas prices, has stimulated the interest in gas production. Law pressure, low permeability gas producing formations are presently being completed, which in the past were plugged or completely neglected. The majority of these gas wells have to be stimulated for them to be economical. Because of the low formation pressures and/or low permeability, great care must be taken to choose the proper fluid when performing a stimulation treatment. Fluid imbibition, capillary forces, frac fluid impurities, formation composition are some of the more critical factors that have to be considered. This paper discusses the approach taken to evaluate the different low permeability gas formations as to the type of frac or acid stimulation fluid to use, the new fluids developed specifically for this type of problem, and field stimulation results for the problem, and field stimulation results for the different fluids used. Introduction Increasing demand and resulting shortage of natural gas has renewed interest in the search for and production of this product. Many wells and reservoirs which have been marginal or non-commercial in the past can now be produced profitably. The reason for their marginal or non-commercial status in the past has been the inability to successfully stimulate them to provide flow rates which were adequate at existing prices. Increased prices have reduced flow rates required for profitable production, but stimulation is still necessary production, but stimulation is still necessary and the stimulation problems still exist.