SPE General Meeting

Topic:    Proppant and fluid selection to optimize performance of horizontal shale fracs

Speaker:    Glenn S. Penny, Ph.D., Director of Technology, CESI Chemical a Flotek Industries Company

Date:                 Wednesday - September 21, 2011

Time:                  11:30 am

 Place: Denver Athletic Club

4th Floor 1325 Glenarm Place Denver, CO80204 303-534-1211

Map of 1325 Glenarm Pl Denver, CO 80204-2114

 Cost: $25.00 ($30.00 at the door, if space is available)
Reservation Deadline: Noon, Monday September 19, 2011
Deadline for reservations has been changed to Noon on the Monday before the General Meetings. or Call 303-620-9080 for reservations.

Abstract:

The post frac performance of shale gas wells can be much less than anticipated.  Effective frac lengths of less than 100 ft are common as opposed to planned lengths of 500 ft.  In this work fracture damage and cleanup mechanisms are investigated in the laboratory for transverse horizontal fractures.  Gas entering the fracture must overcome substantial capillary end effects.  The fracture above the wellbore is dominated by gravity flow of water and gas toward the wellbore.  Flow of gas and water are co-current and water is held in place by capillary forces.  Final residual water saturation is expected be low, and ultimate gas permeability to be high.   Gas entering the lower half of the fracture must overcome the capillary entry pressure, then begin to move at some gas saturation greater than the critical saturation for the proppant pack. If the gas migrates at low saturation, the gas permeability will be small but water relative permeability will remain high. Liquid displacement is expected to be inefficient, with very low load recovery and poor effective gas conductivity.  Experiments were conducted to investigate vertical upward and downward, co-current and countercurrent flow, at a range of potential gas velocities. Capillary pressure, load recovery, pack saturation distribution and effective permeability have been determined for various conditions for sand and ceramics with and without surfactants over a range of permeabilities from 10 to 100 Darcies.  The lab data is used to predict the impact of proppant perm and surfactant upon production vs time.

In conjunction with the lab studies production analyses have been conducted on over 1000 fracture treatments to validate the laboratory observations and predictions.  Specific proppant and fluid recommendations are made to optimize performance of shale fracs. 

Biography:

Glenn Penny obtained a BS in Chemistry from Trinity University in 1972 and a PhD from the University of Houston in 1979.  He worked for Halliburton Services as a research chemist 1979-85, where he worked on the development and testing of stimulation fluid additives and fracture cleanup.  In 1985 he founded and was CEO of Stim-Lab Inc., now a Core Laboratories company, where he pioneered long-term conductivity testing – now an industry standard.  He started the first consortium in the area of completion testing that continues today.  Stim-Lab continues to be one of the leading testing laboratories for the stimulation of oil and gas wells.  Glenn was also the founder and director of Stim-Lab UK and served on the doctoral review board of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland,  In 2000 Glenn Penny founded CESI Chemical in Oklahoma,  a company that supplies drilling, cementing and stimulation chemicals to the service industry.  He was the CEO and President.  The company merged with Flotek Industries of Houston where Glenn Penny served as President and Chief Technical Officer in the Denver office.  He is now the Director of Technology in The Woodlands Research center.  Areas of specialty include the development of green chemicals and surfactants for well completions and Improved Oil Recovery. Glenn has some 50 publications and 20 patents related to well stimulation, including the patent on microemulsion systems and complex nanofluids.  He is a 30 year member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers where he has served as an editor and reviewer of various publications and session chairman for various venues.  He is also a 30 year member of the American Chemical Society where he has served as Chairman of local sections.  Glenn is also the convenor of ISO TC67 SC3 Work group 3 and API SC13 and 19 which sets standard testing procedures and specifications for stimulation fluids and materials.