Page 294 - Introduction to Petroleum Engineering

282 RESERVOIR PERFORMANCE

Clay
Montague
Cooke

Jack Wise Denton

Palo
Pinto Parker Tarrant Dallas

Texas Hood Johnson
Erath Ellis

FIgURE 14.8 Development area of the Barnett Shale, Texas.

Hydraulic fracturing is conducted in several stages (Arthur et al., 2009). Each stage
requires tens of thousands of barrels of water and has a length ranging from 1000 to
5000 ft. Over 90% of the injected volume is water, approximately 9% of the injected
volume is proppant such as sand, and the remaining fraction of 1% is composed
of chemicals. The most common hydraulic fracturing technique used in the Barnett
Shale is “slickwater” hydraulic fracturing. “Slickwater” refers to the combination of
water and a friction‐reducing chemical additive that allows the water‐based fluid to be
pumped into the formation faster.
Drilling and completion issues were not the only challenges faced by operators in
the Barnett Shale. Some of the most productive areas of the Barnett Shale were
beneath the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex. Barnett Shale development required dril‑
ling in urban areas. The American Petroleum Institute issued ANSI–API Bulletin
100–3 on Community Engagement. Operators were advised to prepare communities
for exploration activities in their neighborhoods and minimize disruption to commu‑
nities in addition to managing resources (Donnelly, 2014).
The drilling process followed several steps: pad site development, rig setup, drilling,
completion and hydraulic fracturing, gas gathering, production, and abandonment. Site
preparation required acquiring right of way to pad sites in areas ranging from residen‑
tial to industrial. Road access was controlled because some roads could not handle the
weight of the equipment used in operations, while others handled too much day‐to‐day
traffic to allow field operations to proceed during regular working hours.