Fracturing-to-Production Integrated

Schlumberger-Private
Completion Sensitivities for Horizontal Wells
in the Vaca Muerta Shale
Stephane Pichon, Federico Cafardi, Gustavo Cavazzoli, Luis Riolfo,
Schlumberger
Stimulation Workshop, Neuquén, October 26-27 2017
Vaca Muerta Shale
Number of Producing Wells

Schlumberger-Private
Horizontals

Verticals

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Source: Argentina Secretary of Energy (updated July 2017).
2
 Frac-to-Production Workflow
Petrophysics Hydraulic Frac
No
Geomechanics Static Model Simulation

Fracture
Natural Match?
Fractures

Schlumberger-Private
Yes

Forecast
No

Production
Simulation
Yes Production Gridding
Completion Match?
Optimization

Modified from SPE-177058-MS

Vaca Muerta Generic Model
Structure Geomechanics
Sagasti et al (2014),
Frydman et al (2016),
Petrophysics Rohmer et al (2015), Rimedio et al (2015), Frydman et al
(2016), Ortiz et al (2016), Prioul et al (2016), Varela and
Sagasti et al (2014), Collins et al (2015), Chhatre et al.
Ortiz et al (2016) Maniere (2016)
(2014), Rohmer et al. (2015), Tripathi and Pournik (2014)

Schlumberger-Private
Vaca
Muerta

4
Catriel
Unconventional Frac Model (UFM)
UFM model honors Natural Fracture σH
Dilate
• Material balance
Re-branching
• Geomechanics Hydraulic
• Natural fracture distribution Cross
fracture

Schlumberger-Private
• Well architecture

UFM model calculates explicitly Well

• Fracture height Q
• Natural/hydraulic frac
Fluid
interaction Slurry
Bank
• Proppant transport and
settling
• “Cell based” calculation 5

Modified from SPE-177058-MS

Hydraulic Fracture Simulation
Propped Surface
Per Stage

Hydraulic

Schlumberger-Private
Propped
Average
Height

Hydraulic

Fluid
per Cluster
6
Reservoir Simulation
Propped
Unpropped
• Merge static model
Cells
+ hydraulic frac geometry

• Explicitly regions within the grid

Schlumberger-Private
• Matrix
• Unpropped frac
• Propped frac
Conductivity
• Explicit PVT Distribution
→Black oil to dry gas (Propped)

• Includes for pressure

dependent conductivity losses
7
Simulation Benchmarking
How does it compare to real data?
Rate – Black Oil Rate – Dry Gas

Simulated Simulated
(Dry Gas)

Schlumberger-Private
(Black Oil)

Cumulative – Black Oil Cumulative – Dry Gas

Simulated Simulated
(Black Oil) (Dry Gas)

8
Source: Argentina Secretary of Energy “Capitulo IV”
Completion Sensitivity Analysis
Proppant Volume & Conc. Fluid Volume & Conc.

Schlumberger-Private
Staging & Perf Spacing
Metrics
1.Short Term Production
2.Long Term Production
3.Net Present Value
9
Frac Geometry Impact
What? How Much?
Cluster Level Stage Level Well Level
1,600 data points 550 data points 60 data points

Schlumberger-Private
10
Production Impact
When? How Much?
∆(Production Rate)
P90
Best Cases

Schlumberger-Private
P10
Worst Cases 11
More Proppant, More Production?
1st Year Cum 10 Year Cum NPV

Schlumberger-Private
↑ ↑ ↑

Propped Surface Propped Surface

Vs. Cum Oil Vs. Cum Oil

12
More Fluid, More Production?
1st Year Cum 10 Year Cum NPV

Schlumberger-Private
? ↑ ↑↓

Total Fluid Total Fluid

Vs. Hydraulic Surface Vs. Propped Surface

13
Higher Prop Conc., More Production?
1st Year Cum 10 Year Cum NPV
↑↓ ↑↓ ↑↓

Schlumberger-Private
Prop Concentration Prop Concentration
Vs. Hydraulic/Propped Ratio Vs. Hydraulic Surface

14
More Perf Clusters, More Production?
1st Year Cum 10 Year Cum NPV

↑ ? ?

Schlumberger-Private
Cluster Spacing Clusters per Stage
Vs. Hydraulic Surface Vs. Fluid Distribution Std. Dev.

15
Discussions
• Fracturing-to-Production integrated workflow for completion
sensitivity
(60 scenarios, 550+ frac stages over 1,600+ clusters simulated)

Schlumberger-Private
• Propped surface drives production. A good completion speeds
up hydrocarbon recovery.

• Proppant volume increases production & improves economics.

Fluid volume, not necessarily.

• Tighter cluster spacing increases early production but more

cluster per stage affects frac coverage along the lateral. 16
Q&A
Thank your for you Attention,
Questions?

Schlumberger-Private
Fracturing-to-Production Integrated Completion
Sensitivities for Horizontal Wells in the Vaca Muerta Shale
Stephane Pichon, Schlumberger, spichon@slb.com
Federico Cafardi, Schlumbeger, FCafardi@slb.com
Gustavo Cavazzoli, Schlumberger, cavazzoli-g@slb.com
Luis Riolfo, Schlumberger, LRiolfo@slb.com

17