ProTechnics Technical Bibliography

Call Don Dumas at 713.328.2311 for reprints

• Methodology to Optimize Completions in the Mesaverde Formation, San Juan Basin, New Mexico, Brian P. Ault, Burlington Resources; Earuch F. Broacha, and David L. Holcomb, ProTechnics International, Inc., , SPE 38580 October 1997.
  

  ABSTRACT

  Methodology to Optimize Completions in the Mesaverde Formation, San Juan Basin, New Mexico

  Results of a recent major field study are used to define the optimum stimulation method of the layered, low permeability, naturally fractured Mesaverde formation in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico. Several stimulation methods are discussed and evaluated with respect to reservoir properties, production response, specific treatment characteristics, and well economics. The field study focused on the following objectives:

   

  1. The development of stimulation treatment methods for geographic areas where production is controlled by extensive natural fracturing.
  2. Creating a method for determining the degree of natural fracturing present in any particular well location utilizing only historical production and pressure data.
  3. Determine if a well can be economically stimulated to drain the Mesaverde reserves on existing well spacing at the current gas pressure.
  4. Assess the effectiveness of various treatment diagnostic tools, such as radioactive tracers and pressure monitoring, in the evaluation of fracture efficiency, geometry, proppant placement and distribution as well as possible communication between stages, and the percentage of each pay interval stimulated.

   

  INTRODUCTION

  The Mesaverde Group (Point Lookout, Menefee, Cliffhouse intervals) was deposited in the Upper Cretaceous period and is present throughout many of the Rocky Mountains basins. This study focuses only on Mesaverde in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico (Figure 1). The Estimated Ultimate Recovery (EUR) for the Mesaverde in the San Juan Basin is approximately 13 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas, making it the second largest gas field of the United States. Since 1950, approximately 8.6 TCF has been produced from the Mesaverde. Currently there are 5,100 Mesaverde wells producing a total of 600 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMCF/D). There are 1.8 million productive acres of Mesaverde in the San Juan Basin.
  

  The field study was initiated due to the difficulty in relating producing well behavior to open hole log analysis in the Mesaverde. Wells with very similar log responses had extremely variable cumulative production histories. A study was therefore outlined to investigate the relationships between reservoir quality, type of completion, and well performance.