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BED-ISOLATION TREATMENTS OF A MATURE WELL IN THE BLUEBELL FIELD OF THE UINTA BASIN, UTAH, THAT HAS UNDERGONE NUMEROUS HIGH-VOLUME SHOTGUN COMPLETIONS

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The purpose of the Class I field demonstration program was to increase primary oil production and reserves through improved completion techniques in the Bluebell field, Uinta Basin, Utah. Significant hydrocarbon reserves are believed to remain untapped due to insufficient characterization of the reservoir properties and less-than-optimal well-completion practices. Over one-quarter of the wells drilled in the Bluebell field have been abandoned, and the well abandonment rate is expected to increase as water production increases and oil production declines. Wells in the Bluebell field typically have been completed in a shotgun fashion where 40 or more beds are perforated within a 1,500-foot vertical section of the Tertiary Green River and Colton Formations. During the life of most wells, additional perforated intervals are added and shotgun acid stimulations are applied to all the perforations every few years. The large acid jobs are expensive and the financial return generally declines with each successive treatment. Part of the well demonstration program involved analyzing a mature well using dual burst thermal decay time (TDT) and dipole shear anisotropy (anisotropy) cased-hole logs and then acidizing four beds individually, attempting to avoid treating oil-depleted water-producing beds. Anisotropy and isotope tracer logs were run for post-treatment analysis. The first two acid treatments resulted in communication with intervals above and below the test interval. Swab tests recovered acid water from both intervals. The third and fourth treatments were confined within the test intervals, and oil and water were recovered during swab testing. A bridge plug was placed between the second and third test intervals, eliminating the first two (lowermost) intervals from production. The daily oil production rate was doubled and reservoir modeling indicates that 27,000 barrels of oil was added to the recoverable reserves from a previously perforated but nonproductive bed. This project found the bed-isolation completion technique can be an effective and economic treatment if good cased-hole data are gathered, especially for older wells where the potential incremental increase in oil production no longer justifies the expense of the larger shotgun acid completion. Beds should be selected for treatment using anisotropy and TDT logs to identify beds that are fractured and have relatively low water saturation. The bed-isolation completions should be conducted using a dual packer tool to reduce cost. Both the upper and lower packer should be placed between perforated beds with at least 50 feet of vertical separation between them to reduce the risk of communication behind the casing during the treatment. The isotope tracer log can be useful in evaluating the mechanical aspects of the acid treatment, identifying thief beds, and detecting communication problems behind the casing which can be avoided in future treatments.

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Last Updated September 29, 2016, 14:29 (LMT)
Created September 29, 2016, 14:29 (LMT)
Citation Craig D. Morgan Milind D. Deo ---- Roy Long, BED-ISOLATION TREATMENTS OF A MATURE WELL IN THE BLUEBELL FIELD OF THE UINTA BASIN, UTAH, THAT HAS UNDERGONE NUMEROUS HIGH-VOLUME SHOTGUN COMPLETIONS, 2016-09-29, https://edx.netl.doe.gov/dataset/bed-isolation-treatments-of-a-mature-well-in-the-bluebell-field-of-the-uinta-basin-utah-that-has
Netl Product yes
Poc Email Roy.long@netl.doe.gov
Point Of Contact Roy Long
Program Or Project KMD
Publication Date 1999-1-1