Evaluation of frac and pack completions and future outlook

Frac and pack introduced in the early 1990's in the Gulf of Mexico has beco me a well-established completion procedure aimed at enhancing the productiv ity of gravel packed wells. The technique consists of incorporating a "tip screenout" :hydraulic fracturing treatment as part of the gravel packing pr ocedure, thus stimulating the well. However, published well test data, alth ough showing generally better productivity than classic gravel packs, prese nts positive skin values indicating near-wellbore damage and often question ing the existence of a fracture intersecting the well-bore. This paper quickly reviews published data and outlines a methodology which integrates the analyses of the fracture placement data and the well test da ta. This integration results in a more realistic modeling of the system wel l and reservoir and characterizes the hydraulic fracture intersecting the w ellbore. It is shown that poor fracture conductivity and/or high fracture face skin damage coupled with wellbore storage can reproduce the behavior observed in well test data and commonly interpreted with a nonfractured model. The eff ects of additional pressure losses across the gravel pack can also be incor porated for a more realistic modeling. Field examples are discussed to illu strate the technique and a quick outlook of how completions of unconsolidat ed sandstones may evolve is presented.