American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2023 - 87

proppant is essential to maintaining conductivity.
" Conductivity is ultimately what
a frac job is about, " he emphasizes. " We
are paying for trucks, water, chemicals
and sand to create conductivity beyond
what the well provides. "
As wells deplete and pore pressure
drops, the closure stress exerted on the
proppant will increase and eventually
crush it, Montgomery notes. The production
gains from higher-quality proppant
come in part from its ability to
endure higher stresses. To show how
significant the difference can be, Montgomery
cites a test comparing several
types of proppant. " Once the closure
stress got above 6,000 psi, the unwashed
in-basin sand lost all conductivity. At
the same stress, the in-basin washed
sand retained 20 millidarcies of conductivity
and 100 mesh had around 60, "
he describes.
Montgomery frequently recommends
augmenting traditional proppant sizes by
leading with a ceramic microproppant
provided by Zeeospheres™ LLC. " This
microproppant can get into fractures ten
times smaller than 100 mesh can enter, "
he says. " Because it is small and light, it
is easy for water to carry far into these
tiny fractures. "
Wells that use the microproppant can
prop far greater areas, Montgomery reports.
" In the Eagle Ford, the microproppant
can increase the propped fracture
area by 1,500 square meters. In the
Utica, it's about 818 square meters, " he
illustrates. " Both of these numbers are
for a single fracture. Apply them across
a horizontal well where every stage has
8-12 clusters that generate numerous
fractures, and the extra surface area
makes a big difference.
" In the Woodford, some wells' uplifts
exceed 80%, " Montgomery illustrates.
" That is unusual, but we frequently see
30%-40% uplifts and almost always can
depend on 15%-20%. Those production
increases can pay for the microproppant
in 20 days. "
To achieve that uplift, he says the
rock needs to have a hardness of at
least 2.5 million modulus and contain
natural fractures. Montgomery says most
plays meet those criteria. " In fact, with
the exception of the Marcellus, every
well I have looked at has benefited from
microproppant, " he assures.
How long the extra production takes
to manifest can vary, Montgomery notes.
An operator targeting Wolfcamp wells in
the Midland Basin sees it in a month, but
in other areas or formations, it may take
three-six months. " In one case, the benefit
did not appear for more than a year, but
the wells with microproppant produced
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AUGUST 2023 87
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American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2023

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