Physical simulation of leak-off and flowback processes for optimizing fracturing water formulation

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Canada has massive unconventional oil and gas resources which can be unlocked by multi-stage hydraulic fracturing techniques. For example, the Montney Formation, which is the target of the proposed research, contains 450 trillion cubic feet of marketable natural gas, 14.5 billion of marketable natural gas liquids, and 1.1 billion barrels of oil. However, current hydraulic fracturing operations result in inefficient recovery of fracturing water and low recovery factor of oil (5-10 % of the original oil in place) which hinder sustainable development of these resources. The proposed research aims at optimizing hydraulic fracturing operations by application of appropriate surfactants for enhancing the recovery of fracturing water and hydrocarbon. Th UofA researchers in collaboration with Flotek and ECI Technology will conduct extensive laboratory tests to simulate multiphase flow of fracturing fluid and hydrocarbon in low-permeability reservoirs during fracturing, soaking, and flowback processes. The research team will evaluate the performance of various surfactants for enhancing water and hydrocarbon recovery from fractured horizontal wells. It is anticipated that the outcomes of this research will develop practical ways for mitigating the environmental impacts of fracturing operations such as heavy consumption of fresh water, and for enhancing the recovery factor of hydrocarbons from unconventional resources.