Natural Gas Industry B (Dec 2021)
Research and application of stimulation fluid technology for deep marine carbonate rocks
Abstract
In view of the characteristics of deep marine carbonate reservoirs in the Sichuan Basin, such as a deep burial depth (5000–8120 m), high temperatures (150°C-180 °C), a large inclination toward wells, and large acid-rock reaction rate, a high-temperature gelled acid and a preflush containing a self-generating acid that matched with the high-temperature gelled acid were developed. The results of laboratory evaluation showed that the viscosity of the high-temperature gelled acid at 180 °C was 30 mPa·s, with a corrosion rate lower than 70 g/m2·h.The drag reduction and acid-rock reaction rates reached 64%–71% and 1.569 × 10−4 mol/cm2·s respectively, demonstrating obvious retarding performance. In addition, the viscosity of the preflush containing a self-generating acid (after shearing at 160 °C for 1 h)remained at 200 mPa·s. Compared with a full injection of the high-temperature gelled acid, the acid-etched fracture conductivity after an alternate injection of the preflush containing self-generating and high-temperature gelled acids increased by more than 50%. Field application showed that the high-temperature gelled acid played a vital role in connecting fractures where as the preflush containing self-generating acid demonstrated an outstanding fracture-formation ability. After a three-stage alternate injection (a preflush containing self-generating and gelled acids), a remarkable stimulation effect was achieved for increase natural gas production.