ConocoPhillips Study Assesses Impact On Infill Wells Of Using Far-Field Diverters By Junjing Zhang, David D. Cramer, Jamie McEwen, Matt White and Kevin Bjornen HOUSTON-Hydraulic fracturing treatments of infill child wells in shale plays often are impacted by parent well depletion and asymmetrical fracture growth. This can result in excessive load water production, deposition of proppant and deformation of casing in the parent well, and unbalanced stimulation of infill wells. A study conducted by ConocoPhillips in a North American shale play sought to determine the effectiveness of particulate materials as far-field diverting agents to mitigate these negative outcomes by bridging near the extremities of dominant fracture wings. Two types of far-field diverter systems were field tested with a guar borate cross-linked gel as the carrying fluid to transport the diverting materials to the fracture extremities. Statistical analysis of 511 fracture hits at 30 parent wells was performed on key treatment indicators by the category of diverter type and post-hit parent well condition. Production trends of the influenced wells were compared with area-specific type curves and offset wells without diverter trials. The results show that the far-field diverters did not reduce the magnitude of pressure buildups during fracture hits, but significantly increased the posthit pressure falloff rate in parent wells. DECEMBER 2019 49