The Impact of Cluster Spacing on Multi-Fractured Well Performance

Abstract

Abstract A major outstanding challenge in developing unconventional wells is determining the optimal cluster spacing. The spacing between perforation clusters influences hydraulic fracture geometry, drainage volume, production rates, and the estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) of a well. This paper systematically examines the impact of cluster spacing in the Eagle Ford shale wells by calibrating fracture geometry and fracture/reservoir properties using field injection and production data and evaluating the optimal cluster spacing under different reservoir conditions. We explore a sequential technique to evaluate and optimize cluster spacing using a controlled field test at the Eagle Ford field. This study first identifies the fracture geometry by history matching the field injection treatment pressure. Using the rapid Fast Marching Method based flow simulation and Pareto-based multi-objective history matching, we match the well drainage volume and the cumulative production to calibrate the fracture and SRV properties. The impact of cluster spacing on the EUR are examined using the calibrated models. We run injection and production forecasts for various cluster spacing to investigate optimal completion under different reservoir conditions. The unique set of injection and production data used for this study includes two horizontal wells completed side by side. The well with tighter cluster spacing has larger drainage volume and better production performance. This is because of the increased fracture complexity in spite of the impact of stress shadow effects leading to shorter fractures. The calibrated models suggest that most of the fractures are planar in the Eagle Ford shale. The well with wider cluster spacing tends to develop longer fractures but the well with tighter cluster spacing has better stimulated reservoir volume with enhanced permeability, thus resulting in better drainage volume and production performance. From the optimization runs under different reservoir conditions, our results seem to indicate that when natural fractures are present or when stress anisotropy is high with no natural fractures, the wells with tighter cluster spacing tend to outperform the wells with wider cluster spacing. However, severe stress shadow effect is observed when stress anisotropy is low with no natural fractures, likely making tighter cluster spacing wells less favorable. The calibrated fracture geometries and properties with a unique set of Eagle Ford field data explain the performance variation for completions using different cluster spacing within the reservoir and provides insight into optimal cluster spacing under different reservoir conditions (low vs high stress anisotropy and with/without natural fractures).