Well Spacing Tracer Diagnostics

Identify Reservoir Depletion Patterns | Mitigate Frac Hits | Ensure Effective Drainage from Each Well

Long-term Data Driven Insights for Well Spacing

ProTechnics’ tracer diagnostics play a crucial role in optimizing well spacing in the oil and gas industry, providing long term insights to maximize reservoir performance and resource recovery. Well spacing, the strategic placement of wells within a reservoir, directly impacts production efficiency and recovery rates. By using ProTechnics’ tracer diagnostics, operators can evaluate inter-well communication, identify optimal spacing configurations, and make informed decisions to enhance overall field development.

Pressure Response: Sudden pressure changes in offset (parent) wells during the fracturing of nearby (child) wells is a common method to determine fracture driven interactions. However, a pressure response is not always a mass flow response but could simply be the poroelastic response of the rock. Pressure monitoring is a valuable component of a well spacing strategy when included as part of a comprehensive well spacing diagnostic package.

Natural Fractures and Faulting: The presence of natural fractures or faulting significantly influence optimal well spacing in oil and gas development by affecting fracture propagation, reservoir connectivity, and drainage patterns.

Completion Efficiency: Critical factors such as proppant uniformity and frac intensity are key to optimizing treatment, limiting the creation of super fracs, and mitigating unwanted frac hits.

Fracture Driven Interactions (FDIs): Understanding the potential for well-to-well communication or interference is crucial. Overlapping drainage areas can lead to reduced efficiency and recovery, necessitating careful spacing to minimize negative interactions.

Depletion Effects: Understanding the extent of depletion across the reservoir will help in determining the appropriate distance between wells to ensure balanced production and prevent premature depletion. This is especially critical for infill drilling programs, or when drilling into new acreage adjacent to legacy fields.

Have well spacing questions?

Well spacing is a critical factor in maximizing reservoir performance and minimizing inter-well interference in hydraulic fracturing operations. Tracer diagnostics provide operators long term, data-driven insights to optimize well spacing and enhance overall field development strategies. By deploying chemical tracers and proppant tracers, operators can monitor fluid movement, measure inter-well communication, and evaluate fracture efficiency over time without shutting wells in. These diagnostics help identify reservoir depletion patterns, evaluate mitigation strategies (such as re-fracs), reduce frac hits, and ensure effective drainage from each well.

Hydraulic Communication

SPECTRACHEM® water tracers evaluate hydraulic communication, the total amount of fluid transferred between wells due to interconnected fractures. Tracer diagnostics can detect and quantify these connections over time, providing critical insights into:

  • SRV
  • Fracture Geometry
  • Fracture Barriers
  • Connectivity of Geologic Features

Other applications include evaluation of disposal wells and EOR projects.

Hydrocarbon Communication

FLOWPROFILER provides 50 unique hydrocarbon tracers, delivered in our proprietary EDS beads to place tracer directly in the proppant pack. This allows operators to monitor the movement of hydrocarbons between wells over time without shutting wells in. Avoid over capitalization of your reservoir by understanding:

  • DRV (drained rock volume)
  • Inter-well drainage efficiency
  • Production Thievery
  • Reservoir depletion patterns

Propped Communication

Proppant tracers provide the only means to accurately pinpoint proppant placement. By injecting three different SPECTRASTIM isotopes in traced wells then logging offsets with our SPECTRASCAN® spectral gamma ray log, operators determine the exact migration of proppant across the reservoir. Factors potentially impacting drainage and production include:

  • Confirming proppant placement and fracture overlap
  • Improving treatment uniformity
  • Eliminating super fracs
  • Optimizing cluster efficiency

Have well spacing questions?

Frequently Asked Questions

If I am already monitoring pressure responses, why do I need to use tracers to evaluate well spacing?

While pressure monitoring is a valuable tool for assessing inter-well communication and detecting frac hits, it provides only part of the picture when evaluating well spacing. Pressure data indicates the presence and magnitude of communication between wells but cannot provide detailed insights into fluid movement, fracture geometry, or drainage patterns particularly over time. By combining pressure monitoring with ProTechnics tracer diagnostics, operators gain a comprehensive view of inter-well behavior and reservoir dynamics.

What is the most effective tracer diagnostic for determining if proppant injected in one well is physically reaching offset wells?

The most effective tracer diagnostic for identifying whether proppant injected in one well is physically reaching offset wells is SPECTRASTIM® proppant tracers. These tracers use three unique isotopes, which are incorporated into the proppant during the hydraulic fracturing process in the treatment well.

After the fracturing operation, offset wells are logged using the SPECTRASCAN® spectral gamma log to determine if the proppant tracers have reached the offset wellbore, providing direct evidence of proppant placement and migration in the reservoir.

This provides the only means for assessing direct proppant placement and understanding how fractures interact with offset wellbores, helping operators optimize well spacing and mitigate interference risks effectively.

What role do natural fractures and faults play in determining well spacing?

Natural fractures and faults can enhance or disrupt hydraulic fracture propagation and reservoir drainage. Understanding these geologic features helps operators design well spacing that accounts for subsurface complexities.

How can tracer diagnostics improve well spacing strategies?

Tracer diagnostics provide long term data on fracture propagation, fluid movement, and inter-well communication, helping operators optimize well spacing to maximize recovery and minimize interference.

Can tracer diagnostics detect frac hits between wells?

Yes, SPECTRACHEM® water tracers, FLOWPROFILER oil and gas tracers, and SPECTRASTIM proppant tracers identify and quantify frac hits by tracking communication between wells. Tracers can not only determine the direction of communication but also the magnitude and duration. This data helps operators assess the impact and duration of frac hits to adjust spacing or completion designs accordingly.

How are tracer diagnostics used to measure drainage efficiency?

SPECTRACHEM® water tracers, FLOWPROFILER oil and gas tracers are deployed to monitor fluid and hydrocarbon movement over time, revealing how effectively a reservoir is being drained. This information informs well spacing decisions to ensure even depletion and optimal recovery.