SOCIETYOF PETROLEUMENGINEERSOF AIME

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Dallas,Texas ~5206

THIS IS A PREPRINT- SUBJECTTO CORRECTION

Successful Stimulation Techniques in a Low

Permeabi I ity Shal low Sandstone Reservoir

,
By

D. E. ONeil and R. E. Broschat,MembersAIME, AmeradaHess Corp.

0 Copyright 1973
American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, kc.

This paper was preparedfor the Rocky MountainRegionalMeetingof the Societyof Petroleum
Engineersof AIME, to be held in Casper,Wyo., May 15-16, 1973. Permissionto copy is restrictedto
an abstractof not more than 300 words. Illustrationsmay not be copied. The abstractshouldcon-
tain conspicuousachowledgment of where and by whom the paper is presented. Publicationelsewhere
after publicationin the JOURNALOF PETROLEUMTECHNOLOGYor the SOCIETYOF PETROLEUMENGINEERS
JOURNALks usuallygrantedupon requestto the Editor of the appropriatejournalprovidedagreement
to give proper creditis made.

Discussionof this paper is invited. Three copiesof any discussionshouldbe sent to the
Societyof PetroleumEngineersoffice. Such discussionmay be presentedat the above meetingand,
.ththe paper,may be consideredfor publication [one of the two SPE magazines.
.
ABSTRACT Resultsof these stimulationtreatments
to date show that a low-permeability sandstone
The Spearfishoil reservoirin the Newburg in closeproximityto water can be successfully
field of north centralNorth Dakotais a shal- stimulatedusing the latestindustrytech-
low, silty sandstonewith low permeabilityand nolo~.
porosity. In the past, conventionalfracture
treatmentsin this reservoirwere unsuccessful INTRODUCTION
due to the presenceof a prolificwater sand ..
about 25 ft above the oil pay zone. At the The Newburgfield is locatedin north
rates and pressuresrequiredusing conventional centralNorth Dakota approximately60 miles
fracturingfluids,communicationwith the over- northeastof the city of Minot (Fig. 1). Oil
lying water sand usuallyresultedwhen these productionin the Newburgfield is from two
wells were treated. formations,the Spearfishsandstoneand the
underlyingCharleslimestone.
Recently,many of the producingwells in
this field have been successfullystimulated The Spearfishpay sand lies on a fractured
using ultraviscosityfracturingfluids. These erosionalunconformitydirectlyabove the
fluids permitlower treatingpressuresand pump Charleslimestone. In Fig. 2 a type log of the
rates withoutprematuresand out. Matrix Newburgfield is showntogetherwith descrip-
acidizingtechniqueshave also been successful tions of the lithologyof these zones. Fig. 2
in treatinglow capacitywells aridwells that also showsthe locationof the Spearfishwater
previouslyhad communicatedwith the water sand. sand,which has createdmany problemsin
attemptsto stimulatethe Spearfishpay zone.
In caseswhere water breakthroughdid
occur, an excellentmethod of sourcedetection Spearfishoil productionis from two basal
and water shut-offhas been fc:ad. A differ- sands,locallydenotedas P-1 end P-2. The P-1
entialtemperaturesurveyhas been used to is the main pay sand being evenlytlistributed
locate the sourceof water entry and a squeeze throughoutthe field. In severalparts of the
treatmentconsistirlg of a long chainpolymer field,the P-2 is tight or absent. The
fluid followedby low water loss cementhas beer Spearfishoil accumulationis.Stiratigraphid-ly
successfulin obtainingwater shut-off. controlledwith the reservoirbecomingtight
and impermeableon the updip east side of the
field. On the west side of the field the
Illustrationsat end of paper.
 SUCCESSFUII
STIMULATIONTECHNIQUESIN A
2 LOW PERMEABILITY,SHALLOWSANDSTONERESERVOIR
Spearfishsand dips below the water-oilcontact. in late 1970 is attributedto the stimulation
The underlyingCharleslimestoneis also
oil productivein the easterntwo-thirdsof the
pool, dippinginto the water columnto the west. EARIIYSTIMULATIONTREATMENTS
However,the remainderof this paper will deal
only with the propertiesand stimulationhistory
of the Spearfishsand in this reservoir.
The followingaveragepropertieshave been vibrofracedupon completion,but in most cases
determinedfor the Spearfishpay sand in the
Newburgfield.
depth = 3,380 ft
pay thickness = 10 ft
porosity = 14.9 percent
water saturation= 50 percent
permeability = 9.2 md
oil in place = 260 STB/AF
oil gravity = 380
PRODUCINGHISTORY
The NewburgSpearfishCharlespool was
discoveredin 1955 in the AmeradaHess Corp.
A, U. BeauchampNo. 1. The discoverywell was
a marginalproducerand full-scaledevelopment
of the pool did not begin until 1957. When
developmentof the pool on 80-acrespacingwas
completedin the early 19601S, a total of 110
producingwells and 22 dry holes had been
drilled.
From discoveryuntil 1967 the pool pro-
duced by a combinationof rock expansionand
limitedwater drive by encroachmentfrom the
aquifieron the west side of the pool. An
engineeringstudy determinedthat a waterflood
programto increaserecoveryand accelerate
depletionof the pool reserveswould be eco-
nomicallyattractive. The NewburgSpearfish
Charlesunit was formed on Jan. 1, 1967, with
AmeradaHess Corp. as unit operator. Full-
scalewater injectioninto the Spearfishand
Charlesreservoirson an invertednine-spot
injectionpatternbegan in 1967.
Fig. 3 shows a map of the Newburgunit
with presentinjectionand producingwells.
Performanceof the NewburgSpearfish
Charlesunit under waterfloodhas been out-
standing. Oil productionincreasedfrom 1,200
BOPD at flood start to approximately3,100 in
late 1969. At this point,productionbegan to
level off, and it became apparentthat if produc-
tion was to be increasedfurther,some means of
successfullystimulatingthe tight Spearfish
sand was needed. The remainderof this paper
will discussthe successfulstimulationtreat-
ments that were developed.
Fig. 4.showsthe productionhistoryof the
Newburgunit. The productionincreasebeginn
lng
SPE luiO
programin this field. Cumulativeunit oil
productionto July 1, 1972, is 12,069,417bbl.
Initialcompletiontreatmentson most well
consistedof smallvolumes (250 to 1,000gal)
of hydrochloricor mud acid. Some wells were
this treatmentresultedin breakthroughinto
the Spearfishwater sand. Conventionalor
diesel-oilsqueezejobs were then requiredfor
water shut-offand the resultingcompletion
usually showedreducedproductivity.
Calculationsfrom the few successfulfrac
tre,.tmentsand rate-pressuretests on injection
wells determinedthat it was necessaryto stay
below a gradientaf 0.85 psi/ft to insurethat
a fracturewould not be propagatedupward into
the water sand.
In Dec., 1970, after oil productionhad
leveledoff, it was decidedto try a sand-oil
frac programkeeping injectionpressures
below 0.85 psi/ft. Nineteenwells were treated
using 6,OOO to 7,000 gal of gelled crude (17 to
60 cp viscosity)and 2,500 t03,0001b of 20/l+C
sand. On some wells, 1,000 to 1,500lb of
10/20 sand was also used. The generalprocedur
was to pump in 1,000 gal of gelled crude as
pad, followedby 5,000 to 6,OOO gal of gelled
trude with + lb/galof 20/40 sand.
The resultsof these treatmentsare
summarizedin Table 1. The averagecost of
these jobs was $3,929with payouts CUH@-ng
1.7 months. Averageproductivityratio increas
was 2.7 with an averageper well oil increasec
47 B/D.
In Nov., 1971 an analysiswas made of thee
earliertreatments. On five wells communicatic
with the water sand occurredand productivity
losses resulted. These wells had to be
squeezedto restoreoil production. By the
time remedialsqueezework was completedand
the well restoredto production,cost of the
workoverhad tripled. Thus it was imperative
to developmethodsto insure a higherproba-
bility of success.
It was also determinedfrom this study th:
the chanceof successfullyfracturinga well
tith less than 50 md ft of capacitywas very
poor. There were also wells that had been
vibrofracedand squeezecementedin the past
which were high-riskfrac candidates. It was
decidedto investigatematrix acid treatments
for these high-riskcandidates.
CURRENTSTIMULATIONTECHNIQUES
Based on the analysisdescribedabove,
E 4408 D. E. ONEILan R. E. BROSCHAT

two differenttypes of stimulationwere chosen paraffinpluggingwas encounteredin these

for subsequentproducingwell treatmentsin the treatments. This has been remediedby hot
Newburgfield. These are ultravi.scositysand- oiling 2 to 3 days prior to the job. To date,
oil fracturingand matrix acidizing. 11 wells have been treatedby this method.

lJltraviscosity
Sand-OilFracturing A typicalmatrix acid treatmentin the
Newburgfield is shown in Table 5.
On higher capacitywells (over 50 md-ft
transmissibility) an ultrageloil-basefrac All treatingpressuresare limitedto
treatmentusing graded send proppantis now 1,250psi to stay below a gradientof 0.$1
being used. Oil-baseproppantcarryingfluid psi/ft. After displacingacid to the perfora-
is used due to the water sensitivityof the tions,the well is immediatelyswabbedback
?Spearfishsand. In all cases,the proppsnt to removefines that are in suspension.
used is 20/40 and 10/20 sand and the carrier
fluid is gelledlease crude oil with an Table 3 lists resultsof the 11 wells
apparentviscosityof 900 to 1,000 cp. This which were given matrix acid treatments. In
fluid is compatiblewith the formationand the all casesbut one, an oil-productionincrease
high viscosityminimizessand fall rate. The was noted. Averageproductionratio was 2.2
low sand fall rate allowslow pump rates at with an averageoil-productionincreaseof 36
maximumallowablepumpingpressurewithout BOPD/well. This oil-productionincreaseis
prematuresand out. especiallysignificantbecausethese wells
couldnot have been successfullyfracturedor
Prior to frac treatment,450 gal of break- stimulatd in any other way, considering
down acid (withadditives)is spottedthe presenttechnology. Average cost of these
afternoonbefore. This acid is displacedinto treatmentsis $4,357/wellwith an average
the Spearfishformation,and the rate md payout of 2,4 months.
pressureobtainedwhile acidizinghas provided
a guidelineas to whetheror not the well can The one failureshown in Table 3 is a
be successfullyfraced. From experiencewe stripperwell making 10 BOPD. The formation
have learnedthat, if the acid cannotbe pumped in this well would only take ~ bbl/minat
away at 1 bbl/minat 1,250psi, the chanceof a 1,250 psi. No improvementwas noted on this
successfulfrac treatmentis poor and the frac well and it is now being consideredfor abandon.
treatmentschedulefor the next day is then ment.
aborted. In the one ultraviscosityfrac job
that did not meet this condition,communication TO illustratethe importanceof immediate
with the water sand occurred. swabbing,note Wells 23 and 24 in Table 3,
Neitherwell was a prolificproducer,but we
A typicslultragelfrac treatmentconsists believethe reasonfor poor responselies in no.
of the stagesshown in Table 4. swabbingthe acid residueback immediately.
Well 23 was not swabbeduntil 14 hours after
Table 2 summarizesthe resultsof 10 ultra treatmentdue to inclementweather. Well 24
viscosityfrac treatments. All but one of thee was not swabbedat all due to workoverrig
treatmentsresultedin a productionincrease problems. Thus, althoughthe mutual.solventis
with an averageproductionratio of 2 and an an excellentsuspensionagent, it will not
averageoil productionincreaseof 72 B/D/well. suspendlarge amountsof fines indefinitely.
The averagecost of these treatmentswas $4,495
with an averagepayout of 1.2 months. In summary,experiencehas shown that in
Spearfishsandstonematrix acid treatmentsthe
MatrixAcidizing three most importantfactorsto insure success
are (1) swab well back immediatelyto remove
As discussedabove,it was determinedfrom suspendedfines, (2) use at least 10 percent
experiencethat wells with less than 50 md ft mutual solventand (3) regulatesurfacepres-
of transmissibility couldnot be successfully sure to stay under the fracturegradient.
fraced. A methodwas needed to stimulateboth
these low productivitywells and also to treat WATER SHUT-OFFTREATMENTS
wells that had previouslycommunicatedwith the
Spearfishwater sand and had been squeeze In spite of precautionsteken, excessive
cemented. Wells in both these categorieswere water productionoccurredafter 10 percent
high-riskfrac candidates. The method chosentt of the ultraviscositysand-oiltreatments.
treat these wells was combinationHc1-HF acid However,none of the matrix acid treatments
with mutual solvent. resultedin water breakthrough. It was sus-
pected that this water productioncame from
The acid-mutualsolventtreatmentprogram the overlyingwater sand,but becauseof the
began in Dec., 1971, when two wells that had waterfloodprogrsmthere was also a possibility
previouslybeen squeezedwere treated. Severe of water breakthro~h from the flood.
..
 SUCCESSFULSTIMULATIONTECHNIQUESIN A
LOW PERMEABILITY.SHALLOWSANDSTONERESERVOIR
To definitelyestablishthe water entry
sourceand design an optimumwater shut-off
treatment,differentialtemperaturesurveys
were used. The differentialtemperaturesurvey
was chosenbecauseit cen be run with minimal
down timet has greaterdepth of investigation,
can be evaluatedin the field and is cheaper
than other tools which supply similardata.
A typicalprocedureused to surveya well
with excesswater productionwas to pull rods
and pump, raise tubing 200 ft above the
suspectedsourcezone and close the well in for
24 hours. After a static surveywas run, the
well was swabbedand a flowing surveyrun. By
comparingthe two logs, the zone(s)of produc-
tion were determined. Fig. 5 is a typical
surveyof this type run in the Newburgfield.
In all wells surveyed,it was determined
that the water productionwas comingfrom
Spearfishwater-bearingsands above the pay
zone. The water shut-offmethod chosenwas to
plug back with oyster shellsand sand to within
2 to 4 ft of the top of the producinginterval
perforations. The well was then squeezedwith
a water base, long chain polymerfluid followed
by low water loss cement. The polymerwas
SPE lu!L08
pumpedfirst to fill any fracturesand then
set up at a preset time regulatedwhen mixing.
The low water loss cementinsuredthat the
materialplaced in the fracturehad sufficient
strengthto withstandpressuredifferential
when the well was retwned to production. In
some cases,the Spearfishpay intervalhad to b(
retreatedwith small acid or surfactanttreat-
ments to restoreproductivity.
In every case, effectivewater shut-offs
were obtainedby the method describedabove.
Averagecost of these jobs was $1,200 for the
differentialtemperaturesurveyand $5,000
for the water shut-offtreatment.
CONCLUSIONS
By carefuldesign of stimulationtreatment:
:md utilizationof presentindustrytechnology~
it has been demonstratedthat it is possible
to effectivelystimulatea shallow,silty,low
permeabilitysandstonereservoirin close
proximityto a prolificwater sand. In the
Newburgfield,both ultraviscositysand-oil
treatmentsand matrix acid treatmentsresulted
in sustainedproductionincreaseswhen reason-
able precautionswere taken in treatingthese
wells.

TABLE 1 - STANDARDSAND-OILFRACTURINGSUMMARY

Estimated Average Oil

Capacity Production Increase Gross
Well md - ft. Ratio BOPD cost

1 80 6.S 120 $3,881

2 33 0.9 -2 3,842
1.9 3,572
{ ;; 2.9 ;; 3,686
130 2.6 31 4,134
2 0.5 -6 3,979
;; 2.5 48 3,999
: 132 2.9 93 4,022
9 86 5*7 117 3,414
10 120 2.9 3,264
11 0,5 .;: 4,150
12 N 2,8 4,o22
13 94 3.0 % 4,197
14 47 0.4 -33 3,992
15 81 0.8 -10 4,327
16 127 10.0 180 3,992
17 109 1.4 18 4,217
18 40 1.3 3,942
19 45 2*1 Y 4,o22

Average -
2.7 47 $3,929
 TABLE 2 - ULTRAVISCOSITYSAND-OILFRACTURINGSUMMARY

Estimated Average Oil

Capaci ty Production Increase
Well md - ft. Ratio BOPD

105 3.2 80
;; 68 2.3 109
33 85 1.8 55
34 47 0.5 -12
35 143 2.0 80
36 101 2.4 140
37 90 1.9 56
38 53 1.6 48
I 29 2.4 72
:; 65 2.3 96

Average .- 2.0 72

TABLE 3 - HF-MJTUALSOLVENTMATRIXTREATMENTSUMMARY

Estimated Average Oil

Capacity Production Increase
Well md - ft. Ratio BOPD

20 136 2.0 62
21 92 2.3 72
22 119 1.8 38
23 1 4 8
24 :; 1.4 14
25 83 1.6 38
26 43 0.5 5
27 70 8.6 76
28 1.5 34
29 ;; 1*4 31
30 11 1,6 28

Average .- 2,2 36

TABLE 4

1000 gallons ultra gelled lease crude with 20# FLA as pad
1000 gallons ultra gelled lease crude with %ppg 20/40 sand
1000 gallons ultra gelled lease crude with 3/4 ppg 20/40 sand
2000 gallons ultra gelled lease crude with 1 ppg 20/40 sand
1000 gallons ultra gelled lease crude with 1 ppg 10/20 sand

TABLE 5

Gallons Acid % Total Volume Acid Type$<

Preflush 700 7%% Hcl
Main Job 2000 ;;.5 (12-3) Hc1-HF
After Flush 2000 42.5 5% Hc 1

;:A1l acid to contain 10% mutual solvent by volume, corrosion

inhibitors and anti clay swelling agent.
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LEGEND

, 0 Producing Well

o Dry Hole
I ;....1 ._b 1 .-4 .4 +
ELECTRICAL
1 1 I-...--I3
LOG
I h

.-

Sondstori@,
poorly
to good
GENERALIZED
LITHOLOGIC DESCRIPTION

medwm
sorted,
POCOSIIY
to coorse
IOCOIIY
qro,fled,
onhydrtt$c,
and Oermeablllly
folr
I

.- -
$,lfstone , shaly. w,fh OCCaSIOIIOl
streoks of very fane gcamed
sondsfone
. . ..- .

-.

r
?onds*o-e, f,ne o :oo~$e qro ~ed. poc,ly I
. M, +ed. w,th thin triter beds s S,!ts tone,
IOCOIIY Onhyd,, f C, S$, eCIX5 O, r O
good PO, OS If ond Pefmeob,l, !y

1s01 c1 >

m
S(l+stc,nt sholy

$ondsfone f,ne to Coorse 9r03Wd,

POOIIy soried, ver sI1t.J, onhydc *IC
lffTERVA
. . .. . streohs poor to r o,r poros:ty.

Co fi.qfomerote, Qubble Zone

Anhfdr, fe, dense, dOIOm, f,:, Otge ~ce@J$

--- Iocoll ,n!srcolo ied w,th dolomd, c
muds f one

-
+
--- ISCVACI t .

-3+ INTERVA
-.L,

-
mestone,
IOCOIIY
wtfh
dense ,dotomxtac,
foseal, ferous,
Ihcn Streoks
poros, ty and
often
Poor!y
permeobtl,ly
eorthy
froctured,
deve, oped

=Dolomtte, very org,lioceoJs, Onhydrut,c

J Limes fone, frogmenlol, fosszl, ferous,
> dolom,l, c, often froctured, w,th fo,r
-. .- .
to good ootosaly and permeob!ltty
,-
.
3
..
Do fem,
Anhydr,te,
fe, dense

dense,
,orq, tloceous,

dolom, frc ,org#lloceous

onhyd~lt,c
I
>
---- Iocolfy
dolo.n, tt
#nler bedded wtth Orq#lloceous

. -..-. -. ,-
i -..
.

r Dolom,fe,
tffCClzve
dense,
Poros$ty
s,lty, orgtllaceous,
in pormeob#t#ty
no

F
t?
~- Anhydr#re , dense, dolomthc ond
0r9dluce0us

TD
i
4
b
Fig. 3 - Type log, Newbergfield, Bottineau
County,North Dakota. I
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Fig. h - Production hi story, l!ewberg unit.

 STATIC
. LOG

ALL
. LOGS DIFFERENTIAL SCALE:
1 SPACING DELTA

1020 1104
CL 3100

FLOWING ~
AFTER
sWASSING 30
. SSLS.
.

200

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CD. 3417