Combined Proppant Placement and Early Production Modeling Achieve Increased Fracture Performance in Ecuador's Oriente Basin

Abstract

In the paper, we document one iteration of the continuous improvement of well performance undertaken in the Oriente Basin in Ecuador. In the past, it had been observed that well economics was sometimes degraded by the issues related to proppant flowback from hydraulic fractures. Proppant flowback resulted in extra costs from well cleanouts, pump replacement, and damage to fracture conductivity. After evaluation of proppant flowback cases using the combined modeling workflow that simulates fracture growth, proppant placement, and early production of solids and fluids, it had been proposed to modify fracture designs and well startup strategy. In this paper, we review the first results of implementation of these modifications in the field and evaluate the significance of improvements.