Fairmount Santrol announced at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) the company’s self-suspending proppant technology in initial field trials and resin-coated sand are continuing to reduce the cost per barrel of oil equivalent (BOE) while producing more oil and gas.
This better-well performance underscores the advantages of stimulating wells with Fairmount Santrol’s engineered proppant that increases hydraulic fracturing efficiency.
On the first day of the conference, the company presented a technical paper, “Self-Suspending Proppant Transport Technology Increases Stimulated Reservoir Volume.” The paper highlights how this proppant and fluid system maximizes the effective fracture half-length more efficiently than slickwater and crosslinked gel-based fluids, which damage the proppant pack and formation. Applying self-suspending proppant, some operators in initial field trials are recording hydrocarbon production increases of greater than 50 percent within six months.
Throughout the three-day conference, the company discussed the latest resin-coated sand field results. In the Bakken formation, PowerProp precured resin-coated sand in three horizontal wells increased average production 67 percent after seven months based on better conductivity compared with a competitor’s ceramic proppant in two horizontal wells.
In the Permian Basin’s Wolfberry Play, OptiProp G2 curable resin-coated sand recorded approximately $4.3 million greater well NPV in 14 horizontal wells after 9 months compared with 15 other horizontal wells completed with a competitor’s resin-coated sand, a competitor’s ceramic proppant, and frac sand wells. OptiProp curable resin-coated sand eliminated proppant flowback and embedment to maintain superior fracture width.
In the Permian Basin’s Wolfberry Play, Super LC curable resin-coated sand increased average production approximately 460 percent in six vertical wells after nine months by setting in the fractures to form a tough proppant pack, ensuring proppant flowback prevention, compared with eight vertical wells completed with frac sand.
“We’re continuing to document compelling well performance that supports completions with resin-coated sand and self-suspending proppant,” said Nick Johnson, vice president of marketing. “These performance examples underscore the value of choosing innovative proppant technology manufactured to the highest industry standards.”