The presence of more than one pay sand in a well can be both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is the presence of additional net pay and potential additional reserves. The curse is that it is often difficult to economically justify selective fracture treatments for each individual sand.
Recovery factor analysis involves the integration of hydrocarbon pore volume from a core calibrated petropysical analysis with the extimated ultimate recovery from the lateral wellbore. A key benefit is the normalization of performance among wellbores with varying oil in place volumes and establishment of "best practices" for well completions.
Refracture candidate selection and treatment execution has always presented four main challenges to the industry when multiple pay zones are involved. The first challenge is determining the underlying cause of the poor production performance (poor reservoir quality, an ineffective original stimulation treatment, or both). The second challenge is the identification of the specific zones with significant remaining reserves that have been poorly stimulated. The third challenge is determining the current reservoir pressure in all of the prospective refracture candidate zones. The fourth major challenge is selectively stimulating the target zones in the wellbore when there are existing perforations above the target zones.
In the current economic climate, minimizing risk in the upstream oil and gas industry has become more important than ever, particularly in the refracturing process.
Integrated Energy Services helps businesses reduce their refrac risk substantially. The Austin-based company provides advisory services to oil and gas producers working in conventional and unconventional reservoirs.