American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2015 - 64
Horizontal Well
Characteristics Impact
Artificial Lift Performance
In Unconventional Reservoirs
By Hong-Quan (Holden) Zhang
TULSA-Optimal well designs vary by area and operator
in unconventional plays, but drilling and completion trends
generally favor longer lateral sections, more hydraulic
fracturing stages, and greater frac densities per stage.
However, while the large contact areas and high reservoir
conductivities achieved with multistage fracturing technology
dramatically increase initial production rates, they also
exacerbate decline rates from horizontal wells.
Most horizontal wells completed with multistage
fracturing in unconventional reservoirs experience 50-80
percent production declines within the first year, which is an
order of magnitude faster than conventional vertical wells.
At an 80 percent decline rate, a well that produces 450 barrels
of oil a day initially would yield only about 90 bbl/d after
one year.
The decline rate effect is amplified when horizontal
wells are drilled on multiple-well pads. For instance, a
four-well pad with per-well IPs of 450 bbl/d would decline
from 1,800 bbl/d to 360 bbl/d in 12 months. To further put
this into perspective, the entire pad would produce less
than one well at IP.
Given the decline curves and well production behavior, it
is no surprise that unconventional wells require an entirely
different analysis with respect to artificial lift systems.
Unconventional wells require some form of artificial lift
earlier in their life cycles than do conventional wells.
64 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER
American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2015
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2015
Contents
American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2015 - Cover1
American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2015 - Cover2
American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2015 - 3
American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2015 - Contents
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