Recognising the Effective Parameters and their Influence on Candidate-Well Selection for Hydraulic Fracturing Treatment by Decision Making Method

Abstract Obviously, improving hydrocarbon production concerning the increased demand of hydrocarbon is essential. Matrix stimulation and hydraulic fracturing (HF) are two common methods for reservoir stimulation, which are intended to improve the flow connection of the wellbore with reservoir body. Beside the remarkable effects of HF on production recovery, regarding to the size of the operation, HF treatment requires huge capital investments. In order to efficiently mitigate the risk of HF treatment, choosing the best candidate well is the first step of this process. Multi criteria decision making (MCDM) methods provide us a powerful tool to evaluate parameters, especially when some parameters are qualitative and experts' knowledge based. In this study, first 14 effective parameters have been recognized by a decision makers' committee for choosing the candidate wells. Then the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) has been applied for assigning the quantitative weight of each parameter on candidate well selection. By mentioned procedure, the productivity is defined as the most significant factor while water cut and production method are the least influencing parameters in the candidate well selection. Choosing an excellent candidate for treatment often ensures success, while selecting a poor candidate will normally end in failure. In this regard, a comprehensive approach is so vital to recognize the most effective parameters and their influence which is practically presented in this research. 1. Introduction While, due to the pressure decline, the recovery rate of Iranian hydrocarbon reservoirs is lowering, demand for crude oil and its products are growing up fast. In this challenging situation, implementing supplementary production methods to increase the rate of recovery in a short time is indispensable. It should be noted that the oil and gas industry is aiming to reach a rate of recovery of 50% for oil and more than 80% for gas (Rückheim et al., 2005). Reservoir stimulation, especially hydraulic fracturing (HF) is one of the main activities, which aims to enhance hydrocarbon recovery by the faster delivery of the petroleum fluid. Fundamentally, HF by improving the connections of the wellbore with the reservoir, helps wells to produce hydrocarbon fluides more quickly (Economides and Nolte, 2000; Daneshy, 2010). Although HF treatment has significant effects on hydrocarbon production recovery, it requires huge capital investments. So, the potential risk of failure must be recognized and mitigated before operation. Generally the first step of pre-operation deliberation is selecting a target well and a target formation. Choosing an excellent candidate for treatment often ensures success, while choosing a poor candidate will normally end in failure (Vincent, 2011; Malik et al., 2006).