MR004-02
Quantitative Characterization and Analysis of Natural Fractures to Revitalize Production from the Unconventional Cane Creek Formation of the Paradox Basin
Monday, 14 December 2020: 10:04
Virtual
Brian J O L McPherson1, Michael D Vanden Berg2, Richard Esser3, Elliott Jagniecki4, David Handwerger5, Nathan Moodie6, Duane Winkler5, John David McLennan7, Wei Jia8 and Pania Newell9, (1)Univ Utah, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Salt Lake City, UT, United States, (2)Utah Geological Survay, Salt Lake City, United States, (3)The University of Utah, Energy & Geoscience Institute, Salt Lake City, UT, United States, (4)Utah Geological Survey, Energy and Minerals, Salt Lake City, UT, United States, (5)University of Utah, Salt Lake City, United States, (6)University of Utah, Energy & Geoscience Institute, Salt Lake City, UT, United States, (7)University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States, (8)The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States, (9)Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, United States
Abstract:
The Paradox Basin in southeastern Utah is rich with natural resources, including oil, natural gas,
potash, and helium. With respect to oil, drilling and production in the northern Paradox Cane Creek play surged over the past two decades with the implementation of horizontal drilling. The Pennsylvanian Paradox Formation Cane Creek discovery well near Moab, Utah, was drilled almost a century ago on the axis of the Cane Creek anticline. The Cane Creek unit (CCU) within the northern Paradox dominates unconventional reserves in the basin. In 1991, the first horizontal well was drilled in the Cane Creek, laterally penetrating over 1000 feet of reservoir rock.
Early on, it was clear that these horizontal wells significantly improve the probability of crossing natural fractures with increased permeability and increased hydrocarbon production. The first six horizontal wells in the CCU are still producing, with more than 1.4 million barrels of oil to date. However, subsequent horizontal wells in the CCU have failed to find similar success intersecting the natural fractures as forecasting and finding the fractures in the unconventional Paradox Play remains a tremendous challenge, especially as interbedded evaporites and complex structural trends inhibit generalized production strategies.
A new Field Laboratory supported by the U.S. Department of Energy and its National Energy Technology Laboratory will attempt to better understand the Cane Creek Reservoir using knowledge gained from successful (and unsuccessful) drilling throughout the area. The study is using recent high-resolution 3D seismic data and recently acquired core and geophysical logs as a basis for a new fracture model of the Cane Creek. Here, we present a summary of intense geological and geophysical characterization of the northern Paradox Cane Creek Play as well as initial forecasts from the new fracture model. Additionally, we present preliminary results of new strategic drilling and tactical stimulation approaches for field-testing in a horizontal well to be drilled, cored, and completed for production in 2022.
