Title: Evaluating stimulation effectiveness in the Bakken using data mining techniques

Authors: Aniefiok Udoh; John Yilin Wang

Addresses: Welltec, San Antonio, Texas, USA; Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering 3S Laboratory for Petroleum Research in Well Stimulation, Energy Institute, Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, 202 Hosler Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA ' Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering 3S Laboratory for Petroleum Research in Well Stimulation, Energy Institute, Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, 202 Hosler Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA

Abstract: Hydraulic fracture treatment remains an efficient and effective way to create conductive paths for increased flow tight oil reservoirs. Despite the large amounts of reserves, a tight oil well may experience lower than expected production after a fracture treatment. Thus, continued improvement of hydraulic fracture stimulation is needed and can benefit from evaluation of stimulation effectiveness. In this paper, we first understood the geological properties of the Bakken shale formation and physical relationship of well performance and stimulation treatment through a complete literature review. We then reviewed 6,000 currently producing Bakken wells in North Dakota and then chose 150 wells with enough data for further engineering and statistical analysis to better understand the underlying correlations between production and stimulation. An economic analysis was conducted for six wells to quantify the stimulation effectiveness. The new understanding helps the industry understand and optimise well completion and stimulation in the Bakken formation.

Keywords: stimulation effectiveness; data mining; field studies; Bakken shale; hydraulic fracturing; fracking; oil well completion; oil and gas industry; petroleum engineering; hydraulic fracture treatment; hydraulic fracture production; statistical analysis; economic analysis; engineering analysis; lateral length; total pounds of proppant; amount of fluid pumped; proppant type; treatment rate; tight oil reservoirs.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPE.2015.071056

International Journal of Petroleum Engineering, 2015 Vol.1 No.3, pp.121 - 145

Received: 13 Nov 2013
Accepted: 25 Jun 2014
Published online: 10 Aug 2015 *

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