Field tests show microseismic-based workflow facilitates immediate completions optimization

In field tests conducted this year, MicroSeismic’s Permindex workflow has helped several North American operators to calculate reservoir drainage volume and provided early production estimates, the company announced on 29 September at the 2015 SPE Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition in Houston.

By understanding a well’s production and reservoir drainage prior to the well’s production phase, completions can be optimized immediately after treatment, at least six months before regular production information would be available, according to MicroSeismic. This insight allows an operator to evaluate the success of each treatment stage or each well and improve completions plans by adjusting well spacing, treatment stage spacing, or treatment design for future wells, based on production goals or economic thresholds.

“They can start making adjustments to their completion designs without having to wait for a couple of years of production and really help them fast-track the development while ensuring they can get the production and maximize the recovery from these hydrocarbon assets,” said Sudhendu Kashikar, Vice President of Completions Evaluation for MicroSeismic.

Last year, MicroSeismic announced the release of Permindex, a proprietary microseismic-based method for quantifying unconventional reservoir permeability. The company has spent the last year demonstrating that the technology is able to predict reservoir drainage patterns and production determined from microseismic data of the fractures, which gives operators the insight to adjust completion designs without waiting for the production data.

“We have been working with selected clients to apply our Permindex workflow to the operator’s actual production data to determine whether our calculations return accurate production predictions,” Mr Kashikar said. “As we expected, the results have been very accurate. Our clients are willing to participate in such case studies because the potential value provided by Permindex is so significant.”

The workflow provides the absolute permeability of the reservoir due to hydraulic fracturing and can be used to predict a well’s production and the reservoir drainage pattern the well will create as it is produced. The process enables automatic generation of additional models for multiple nearly unproduced wells without the need to calibrate, eliminating the typical walk-time for a well’s production data.

“With the Permindex, we are giving the clients a tool to improve their understanding of their drainage volume, both in terms of short term and long term,” Mr Kashikar said. “Better reservoir models help them fast-track their ability not only to get better well placement but improve completion design in terms of stage spacing and also help them with trying to understand what the potential refracking targets are, where the depletion is and which wells can benefit from potential refracturing going forward.”

Permindex is a registered term of MicroSeismic.