In an age of recycling, companies are looking for ways to repurpose and reuse resources to save money and time. It should be no surprise that this is also something that occurs in the petroleum industry. As more and more hydraulic fracturing is done, technological advances are allowing existing wells with slow or no production to be reopened.
In this blog we cover the benefits and technology behind refracturing, keep reading for more details.
The Benefits of Refracturing
As more companies become familiar with the different technologies and techniques of fracking, they began to consider the potential that might be available in older wells. Considering that initial startup costs to drill a well could be around or over $10 million, refracturing could dramatically reduce costs.
With reduced startup costs it seems that revisiting the potential in a completed well is a no-brainer. But what kind of yields are they producing? Companies have been having great success in the Haynesville Shale and Marcellus Shale, seeing yields from old wells double what they had predicted.
The Technology of Refracturing
What has made some of these results possible are recent technological advances in the field of fracking. The first thing that producers are doing is using computer simulations. They allow geologists and other experts to look at old wells and analyze the location and potential for refracturing.
Additional data technology is also being used to overlay new data after a refracture has been completed over top of the old data that was gathered for the well. By doing this, it allows experts to make a comparison between those data curves and other wells that have not been refractured. This can help to identify future wells to revisit.
Second, to block older fractures in a well and perform new fractures, a device called a diverting agent is inserted into the well. This device is a small plastic ball that is deposited into an old fracture. As water or chemicals are poured onto it, it expands and seals up the old fractures allowing for new ones to be explored.
Another area of improvement is inflow control. A problem with many mature wells is the inflow of water or gas into the oil. If this happens, the oil may be unusable. However, companies are using devices that prevent or slow the inflow of gas and water into the reserve, allowing the oil to be extracted. These devices are inserted directly into the shaft, supporting it and preventing the inflows that may be above, below, or beside it from breaking.
Contact Tiger General
As technology advances, more and more sites that were thought of as being no longer able to produce can be revived and productive again. But to revive wells, you need equipment you can count on. If you need a new piece of equipment, fill out the Tiger General Truck Inquiry Form today!