Reservoir Completion 113

7 in. cemented High shot density, short interval

liner perforating for transverse fractures

Larger ball seat 3½ in. or Smallest diameter ball Optional sliding

with sleeve in 4½ in. inner seat with ball isolating sleeve (not ball
closed position tubing string previous stimulation, and operated) in
sleeve moved down open position
(open position) ready for
stimulation of this zone

Figure 2.86 Ball-operated sliding sleeves for horizontal well stimulation ^ cased hole example.

treatments without stopping (dropping the ball on the fly), but this increases the
consequences of a premature screen-out. An example of ball-operated sliding
sleeves is shown in Figure 2.86.
Such packer and sleeve systems, although attractive for later field life
opportunities (shutting off unwanted water and gas), are inherently complex and
the inner string can restrict production. Isolation valves can be incorporated into the
liner (and cemented in place) to avoid the requirement for the inner string (Coon
and Murray, 1995). A telescoping piston arrangement is used instead of perforating.
Long horizontal wells are difficult and costly to cement. The longer the interval
is, the greater the equivalent circulating density and the greater the chances of losses.
Channelling of the cement can create a poor cement job. A good cement job is
needed for fracture containment especially with a transverse fracture design.
Fracture placements may have to moved to avoid areas of poor cement integrity
based on cement bond log evaluation.
There has long been a drive to avoid cementing and use open hole techniques.
There is still a requirement for zonal isolation/fracture containment. Three main
methods are used, all involving some compromise over cased hole techniques:
1. Use an open hole packer. This can be an ECP, a swellable elastomer packer or a
mechanical open hole packer (Seale, 2007) (similar to a cased hole production
packer). ECPs and swellable elastomer packers are discussed in Section 2.2.3, but
are often limited by the pressure differential required during stimulation. Packers
can be used in tandem to provide redundancy. The likelihood of multiple close
proximity fractures is reduced by the stress shadow effect (Crosby et al., 1998).
By using a single packer between each sleeve, a large annulus is exposed to
fracture pressure and multiple fractures are possible. If more fracture containment