Multizone Tight Gas Completions in the Piceance Basin: Over a Decade of Learnings

In 1999, tight gas development began in Piceance Creek area of the Piceance Basin, Colorado by utilizing a new technology to individually fracture-stimulate over 50 stacked tight gas sand packages, spanning as much as 5000 vertical feet in each well. Through the completion of over 300 wells, the Just-in-Time-Perforating (JITP) technology matured and the efficiency of completion operations improved dramatically with the implementation of simultaneous operations, refined diversion techniques, optimization of the frac design, and improved water handling. Many of these improvements can be attributed to the unique advantages of the JITP process itself. For example, the low daily water requirement enabled the use of a fully closed-loop water recycling and distribution system. This system delivers 100 percent of the requisite water to each frac site with minimal trucking and minimal storage on location, which reduced the overall environmental footprint. The project also heavily relied on a systematic science-based approach to optimize completion design. Statistical methods were used to deduce the impact of various fluid systems, chemicals, sand and water volumes, and other parameters associated with successful well stimulation. To improve long-term well productivity, a fit-for-purpose logging program was developed to identify and avoid sands with high risk of significant water production. The relentless focus on continuous improvement over the last several years resulted in notable reduction in completions cost per unit gas.