Publications Details
Permeability reduction by pyrobitumen, mineralization, and stress along large natural fractures in sandstones at 18,300 ft. depth: Destruction of a reservoir
Production of gas from the Frontier Formation at 18,300 R depth in the Frewen No. 4 Deep well, eastern Green River basin (Wyoming), was uneconomic despite the presence of numerous open natural fractures. Initial production tested at 500 MCFD, but dropped from 360 MCFD to 140 MCFD during a 10-day production test, and the well was abandoned. Examination of the fractures in the core suggests several probable reasons for this poor production. One factor is the presence of a hydrocarbon residue (carbon) which filled much of the porosity left in the smaller fractures after mineralization. An equally important factor is probably the reorientation of the in situ horizontal compressive stress to a trend normal to the main fractures, and which now acts to close fracture apertures rapidly during reservoir drawdown. This data set has unpleasant implications for the search for similar, deep fractured reservoirs.