SPE 163910
Coiled-Tubing Jet
Cutting Multiple
Stage Fracture Tr
eating Improves
Fracture Treatment Techniques to
Unlock Bypassed Reser
ves in Cotton
Valley Sands, Dorcheat Macedonia
Field, Magnolia Arkansas
R.W. Pomrenke, Bonanza Creek Energy; Jim Strain, Bear Creek Engineering; R. Davis, Baker Hughes; Chuck
Bell, Sintex Minerals & Service
Copyright 2013, Society of Petroleum Engineers
Thispaper was prepared for presentation at the SPE/ICoTA Coiled Tubing& Well Intervention Conference & Exhibition held in The
Woodlands, Texas, USA, 26–27 March 2013.
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract s
ubmitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
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Abstract
Coil Tubing Jet Cutting-Multiple Stage Fracture Treating in SW Arkansas Lower Cotton Valley Sands is the key to economic
development of previously bypassed reserves in layered Cotton
Valley reservoir. Changes from previous hydraulic fracture
treatments are categorized as follows: (1) focus fracture coverage per stage by sand jet cutting each stage with treatment flui
ds
pumped via coil tubing and using sand plugs or packer assembly for zonal isolation between stages, (2) annular fracture
treatments using reduced pump rates to limit fracture height growth, (3) proppant with higher strength and conductivity, and
(4) environmental friendly chemicals to enhance flow back and increase oil production.
Bonanza Creek Energy, due to increased environmental considerations, changed to an environmental friendly fluid system.
Substitutions which provide improved environmental chemistry, while supporting formation stability of clay, offer reduced
environmental risk eliminating conventional polymeric chemistry. Recovery of fracture treatment fluids approach 30% of
treatment volumes. The fracture fluid is a cross-linked 30# system, borate guar, loaded with optimized breaker schedule and
enhanced surfactants. The high viscosity allows for adequate fracture width generation for placement of preferred 16/30
proppant at low pump rates.
The past hydraulic fracture treatments of the Lower Cotton Valley Sands separated the 500 ft gross Cotton Valley/Haynesville
interval into two (2) treatment stages with limited entry perforating of sands in each stage Fracture treatments in 2007 typica
lly
used 150,000# of 20/40 Ottawa Sand per stage pumped at 30-50 BPM down the casing. Tracer surveys and production
logging have shown that these treatments were not effective in treating all the reservoir layers of sand.
The new method of fracture treatment has unlocked previously bypassed reserves. Credit for the higher initial flow rates and
ultimate recoveries are estimated to be 70% due the contributions of coil cutting technology, 20% due the improved proppant
strength and conductivity and 10% due the improvements in the fluid system. One hundred six (106) wells have been drilled
and stimulated using the new method of fracturing and 100+ wells are in inventory at 10-acre spacing.
