Unconventional Well Completion Generates Significant Production Increase in Lateral Wells in Chicontepec Formation

Unconventional reservoirs, such as the Chicontepec basin in Mexico, require the stimulation of large volumes of reservoir rock to improve production results. A second horizontal well was completed successfully using multistage fracturing with an unconventional method in the basin. This well will be referred here as Coyotes 2H. Five fracturing stages were performed over the 900 m of lateral, each one using three spaced clusters of hydrajetted perforations. The first two stages were monitored using downhole microseismic monitoring. A 40% increase in production was achieved compared to the first lateral well completed in this field, which will be referred to as Coyotes 1H.

As the design changed from the first horizontal well, the second lateral used three times the number of perforation clusters, but the same number of fluid entry points (perforations) compared to the first completed lateral well. Five fracturing stages were pumped at 60 bbl/min placing a total of 3.2 million lbm of sand white and using 26,000 bbl of fluid; these volumes of proppant and fluid were similar to the first horizontal well. The treatment fluid was designed to improve the coverage of the reservoir using hybrid fluids consisting of linear and crosslinked gel to achieve a better stimulated reservoir volume (SRV). The first lateral was completed using crosslinked gel as the primary fracturing fluid.

Microseismic downhole monitoring allowed measuring the fracture geometry and verifying that the objectives were achieved. The main objectives were to determine if the fracturing treatments would generate upward fracture height growth into the Z-100 formation and compare the SRV measurement of Coyotes 2H to the results of the previously mapped Coyotes 1H lateral. The objectives were achieved during the treatment, and the production results were favorable because of the improvements in the completion process.