Understanding Drainage Rock Volume vs. Stimulated Rock Volume – Case Studies in the Midland Basin

Presented at the 2021 West Texas Geological Society (WTGS) Fall Symposium in Midland, TX Understanding Drainage Rock Volume vs. Stimulated Rock Volume – Case Studies in the Midland Basin Faye Liu*, Douglas Hardman+, Chris Scott+, Muqing Jin*, Jiang Wu*, Dave Cannon+ *RevoChem, LLC +Diamondback Energy, Inc. Thousands of naturally occurring compounds occur in produced oil, when interpreted geochemically, the time-series produced fluid carries valuable information that reveals the temporal and spatial variation of the effective drained rock volume (DRV) surrounding horizontal wells in unconventional plays. This dynamic behavior of the DRV is crucial to various field development decisions including vertical landing targets, well spacing and stacking, and completion designs. Compared to other diagnostic technologies (e.g. microseismic, downhole pressure gauges, and fiber-optics) that are reflective of the stimulated rock volumes (SRV), geochemistry-based methods directly measure the produced fluid and therefore reveal the true DRV of the hydraulically-fractured well. In this study, we presented a geochemistry-based method to characterize quantitatively the Drainage Rock Volume (DRV) and case studies of wells in the Midland Basin. We also compared the DRV with SRV acquired using microseismic in helping to elucidating the relationship. Key learnings from the study include: 1) vertical drainage profiles from geochemistry and microseismic events are in general alignment; 2) in many cases, the vertical drainage frac heights calculated from geochemistry are smaller than the stimulated frac heights reflected by the microseismic events, indicating not all stimulated rock is contributing to production; 3) landing zone can contribute anywhere between only ~30% up to ~100% of the production which can lead to different infill and well management decisions. Results from this study have also facilitated optimizing of several current landing zones that lead to improved economic recovery of the stacked plays in Midland basin. For more information please contact info@revochem.com