Curtis Huff, Baker Hughes Incorporated
The rapid expansion of horizontal drilling in unconventional gas plays such as shales and tight sandstones has lead to large increases in the number and size of fracturing treatments. Successful fracturing treatments on these wells require multiple stages and proper zonal isolation between the intervals being treated. Zonal isolation and completion techniques typically take the form of either a cemented casing/liner string and stage fracture treated using a perf and plug methodology or a system of packers and sliding sleeves fracture treated in a continuous
operation. Each completion technique has its own set of advantages and disadvantages and is typically viewed as mutually exclusive of each other. A case study showing a combination of these techniques being implemented in successful fracturing treatments in central and western Oklahoma will be shown. The application of these combined techniques on future remedial stimulations will also be discussed.