T

he most essential objective behind

hydraulic fracturing is to provide
hydrocarbons an easy path to ow
from the reservoir into the wellbore
to substantially enhance well productivity. An
induced fracture is measured by the length
it penetrates, the width it maintains, and the
height it covers inside the reservoir.
Hydraulic fracturing is not a drilling
process. Hydraulic fracturing is a procedure
used after the drilling of a well is completed.
It involves the use of uids and solid
material to create small or large articial
fractures in a formation of new or existing
oil and gas wells.
12 Dimensions International
Hydraulic
Fracturing
By Dr. Zillur Rahim, Adnan Al
Kanaan and Dr. Hamoud Al-Anazi
If nding and producing
energy in America were
as easy as Jed Clampett
and his rie made it look in
the opening credits of The
Beverly Hillbillies, engineers
probably wouldnt have
needed to pioneer a well
stimulation technology known
as hydraulic fracturing. But it
isnt, and so the engineers did
rst using the fracturing
process in 1947 to stimulate
ow of natural gas from the
Hugoton eld in Kansas.
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Dimensions International 13
The fractures create paths that increase the rate at which
uids can be produced from the reservoir formations, in
some cases by more than fourfold. Hydraulic fracturing is
a safe, environmental friendly, cost-effective, and a high-
end technology application to signicantly enhance well
productivity and attain the maximum production of a
reservoir. For wells that have low-ow capacity, often referred
to as unconventional wells (tight gas and shale), fracturing is
the only way to produce them at commercial ow rates.
Over the past 60 years, more that 1.1 million hydraulic
fracturing treatments have been conducted that helped in
delivering more than 600 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural
gas. Today, 90 percent of all new oil
and gas wells are routinely fractured.
Since the inception of its nonassociated
gas development program in 2000, Saudi Aramco has
vigorously embarked on the application of hydraulic
fracturing. The process has continued and grown more
widespread in the application and the benets are readily seen
through higher sustained gas production rates, reasonable
production from tight reservoirs that will not produce
otherwise, and control of formation sand production by
the reduction of drawdown pressure near the wellbore. The
technology has proven to be very effective in the development
and production of oil and gas reservoirs.
Types of Fracturing Treatments and Materials
Two types of fracturing treatments are conducted. Each type
initially uses, as its rst stage (also called the pad stage
proppant fracturing and acid fracturing), a high viscosity uid
to break down the formation. A minimum injection rate has
to be maintained and a threshold pressure exceeded to induce
a fracture. For formations predominantly made of carbonate
rocks, pad is followed by pumping hydrochloric acid to
propagate fractures, create additional wormholes and etch
different areas in the rock around and away from the wellbore.
Hydrochloric acid, although corrosive in nature, is
pumped through the high-metallurgy tubular assembly,
thereby completely isolating the acid from the environment.
The reaction with carbonate rock underground make all acid
spent and carbon dioxide, water, and salt are formed that
are nontoxic in nature and completely owed back during
initial cleanup of the well.
The basic materials for any fracture treatment are uids
and proppants/acids. The uids are usually water-based with
gelling and polymer agents added to enhance the viscosity
and some chemicals are added to retain the characteristics,
such as viscosity, pH balance, density, reduced friction,
controlled-break to low viscosity for cleanup, and
maintaining compatibility with reservoir rock and uids.
One common and essential fracture uid ingredient is guar
gum, an essential ingredient to ice cream, a legume plant
product that serves as the basis of gelled fracturing uids
providing high viscosity to break down the formation and
carry proppants.
Above: Fracturing proppants provide high permeability and porosity in the fracture to facilitate gas ow.
Left: Multistage fracturing assembly across reservoir intervals.
A fracturing site in a Saudi Arabian gas eld.
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14 Dimensions International
The choice
of fracturing
uids depends
on the formation
type. Water-
based uids
are the most
common, and
the volume used
for fracturing
depends on the
treatment size
and number of
stages. Water
can be used
from freshwater
sources, non-potable brackish water or recycled from
recovered uids.
Conventional oil and gas fracturing treatments use
about 300,000 pounds of proppant on the average per
treatment stage. Coal-bed methane fractures use around
150,000 pounds, and shale fracturing can use 4 million
pounds distributed in 20 stages. Proppants can be sand,
sintered bauxite, zirconium oxide or ceramic beads carefully
sifted to meet American Petroleum Institute (API) criteria to
ensure strength, size, type and conductivity.
In carbonate sequences that are often complex with
complex heterogeneity caused by barriers, natural fractures,
complex porosity distributions, high formation pressure
and temperature, the acid/uid mix along with diverting
additives is carefully selected and designed so as to attain
optimal acid penetration and etching.
An average volume of 100,000 gallons of acid is typical
for an acid treatment. Fracture conductivity is an essential
property that must be retained after a treatment in both
acid and proppant fracturing. A high conductivity fracture
will provide a better path for the gas or oil to ow into the
reservoir.
After the completion of a fracturing treatment,
the cleanup of the fracture and the reservoir is of
major importance so as
to retain the permeability
of the proppant. If
the gelled uid is not
thoroughly owed back,
severe degradation of the
proppant conductivity
will occur defeating the
purpose of stimulation.
On the other
hand, the ow back
and cleanup should take place quickly after a treatment
is completed to minimize the impact of uids seeping
into the virgin formation, thereby reducing the relative
permeability of gas or oil in the reservoir matrix. Retention
of formation permeability is an absolute necessity to ensure
the production potential of the well.
Fracturing Logistics
Once a well is drilled and completed and the drilling rig
removed, the site is prepared for stimulation treatment. The
surface facilities and layout typically involve a number of pieces
of mobile equipment, including fracture uid storage tanks,
proppant storage units, chemical trucks, blending equipment,
pumping trucks, a monitoring van manifolds and ow lines.
All facets of the hydraulic fracturing job, from the
mixing, blending and pumping of the fracture uids and
proppants to the way the rock formation responds to the
fracturing, are managed from a single truck often referred
to as the Data Monitoring Van.
Instantaneous fracture diagnostics are performed with
the data received, and any changes in the design, if needed,
can be done while the job is in progress. Depending on
the job size, number of stages and candidate wells to be
stimulated from the same location, the equipment setup can
be huge and the time required to complete can vary from a
day up to several months.
Productivity Enhancement
Gas production is directly proportional to the connectivity
(contact area) of the reservoir to the wellbore using the
most efcient and friction-free path. The connectivity is
signicantly increased when the wellbore conguration is
changed, from vertical to horizontal or when fractures are
induced in a vertical or horizontal wellbore.
The connectivity is quantied by fracture conductivity
and fracture length. Fracture conductivity is calculated as
fracture width times the permeability, essentially representing
the easiness of hydrocarbon ow through the fracture. An
analogy is the freeway that connects several towns the
longer and wider the freeway is, the more trafc it can
accommodate from near and far distance. Hydraulic fractures
are freeways to promote the ow of hydrocarbons.
Adding guar to
water provides
thick and viscous
gel needed to break
the formation and
carry proppants.
Fracture propagation occurring perpendicular to the least principal stress.
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Dimensions International 15
A 2,000 foot long horizontal section can be increased
by 50 times in contact area by introducing four hydraulic
fractures, each being 100 feet in length.
Unconventional Resources
Today, much effort focuses on exploring and exploiting
unconventional resources that include ultra-tight reservoirs
in sandstones, carbonates and shale. An enormous quantity
of hydrocarbon is stored in such tight formations that can
provide sustainable energy to the world.
An assessment of tight gas shows there is a staggering
30,000 TCF of unconventional gas-in-place around the
world. These reservoirs cannot be exploited without massive
multistage hydraulic fracturing treatments.
Shale gas, a big portion of unconventional resources, is
natural gas from shale formations. The shale acts as both the
source and the reservoir for the natural gas. Initially, vertical
wells were drilled to extract shale gas; more recent wells
are primarily horizontal and are hydraulically fractured to
produce. The application of modern technology in drilling
and stimulation made the shale gas exploitation cost-effective.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administra-
tion, there are 345 billion barrels of shale oil reserves and
7,300 TCF of shale gas reserves in the world. The United
States possesses a resource base of 1,836 TCF of natural
gas exploitable through the application of hydraulic frac-
turing. Consumption of shale gas is expected to increase
from a 2007 U.S. total of 1.4 TCF to 4.8 TCF in 2020.
Shale gas accounted for 40 percent of all natural gas pro-
duced in the U.S. in 2012.
A U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) report states that
shale gas production potential of 3 to 4 TCF per year will
be sustainable for decades. The exploration activities in
the Northwest of Saudi Arabia are primarily focused on
identifying shale gas reservoirs and ensuring their potential
by the application of hydraulic fracturing.
Economic Impact
Natural gas a fossil fuel is a viable energy source
that can be transformed into usable power, and hydraulic
fracturing is a necessary technology for the development
of gas resources. The natural gas industry supports and
enhances the energy sector and helps strengthen the local
and international economy and job growth.
For example, the natural gas industry invested more
than $12 billion in Pennsylvania in 2011 while supporting
more than 200,000 jobs across the region. An economic
impact study found that the natural gas industry contributed
more than $380 billion to the U.S. economy in a single year
and is responsible for 2.8 million American jobs.
Natural gas is by far the cleanest burning hydrocarbon,
with low carbon dioxide emissions and fewer pollutants than
coal or oil when burned. Production of natural gas will be
highly limited without the application of hydraulic fracturing.
Fracturing Facts
Hydraulic fracturing is the number one enabler to commercialize unconventional gas exploitation.
It is a myth that hydraulic fracturing changes the ecology by the use of an enormous quantity of water. Here
are some facts and gures to show that water required for hydraulic fracturing treatments is insignicant
compared to its use for many other essentials related to energy and irrigation.
Pennsylvanias annual state consumption totals about 3.6 trillion gallons. The shale gas industry uses
less than 0.2 percent of that for hydraulic fracturing.
Power plants: 6.43 billion gallons per day.
Irrigation: 86.1 million gallons.
Private water wells: 152 million gallons.
Hydraulic fracturing: 4 million gallons in several days.
Each of 16,000 golf courses uses 4 million gallons of water in one summer month (for a total of 2.1 billion
gallons per day).
The New York Times has reported that oil and gas companies estimated the use about 6.5 billion gallons
of water in Colorado in 2012, and that gure makes up only 0.1 percent of overall water use.
The Texas Water Development Board has mentioned that water use for mining activity (which includes oil
and gas) was only 0.5 percent as compared to other water use categories, such as municipal demand,
manufacturing, steam electric, irrigation, and livestock.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy about 650 million barrels of water are used yearly in the Marcellus
shale development, compared to 85 billion barrels of water in the area overlying the Marcellus shale.
Coca-Cola used about 2.5 billion gallons of water in 2012. That is more than the water consumed in a
thousand large-scale fracturing jobs.
Fracture uid ingredients are environment friendly as most of the constituents are water and only 0.5
percent is chemical additives that are frequently used in other products also.
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16 Dimensions International
Is Fracturing a Threat to the Environment?
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ground
Water Protection Council (GWPC) and the Interstate Oil
and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) have all studied
fracture stimulation and conrmed that the process is non-
threatening to the environment and public health.
The organizations also found no documented cases of
contaminated drinking water linked to fracture stimulation.
In May 2011, EPA administrator Lisa Jackson told
the U.S. Senate that she wasnt aware of any proven case
where the fracturing process affected water. Dozens of state
environmental agencies that regulate the fracturing process
for decades conrm the safety of the technology when proper
due diligence is maintained during drilling and completion. A
good cementing of the casing isolates the borehole from the
formations completely, thereby eliminating any possibility
of communication behind pipe. The risks of fracturing are
manageable and 500,000 plus wells and decades of safe
operations and stimulation treatments are the proof.
In 2004, the EPA conducted an extensive survey of
fracture stimulation practices and the potential effect on
drinking water. Focusing on the shallowest of wells (those that
are geologically closest to subsurface water supplies), the EPA
found that several factors (uid recovery, the small amount of
chemicals contained in fracturing uids, the dilution in water
and the absorption by rock formations) minimize the potential
risks associated with fracture stimulation.
The EPA agreed with the GWPC and the IOGCC that
fracture stimulation is a safe practice. More specically, the
EPA concluded that fracture stimulation does not create
pathways for uids to travel between rock formations to
affect the water supply. A detailed 2002 study conducted
by the IOGCC concluded that there has been no evidence
of contamination of drinking water caused by fracture
stimulation.
Compared to traditional production, hydraulic
fracturing uses signicantly less energy in the process.
A single well utilizing fracturing can replace up to 10
traditional wells. That single well, if properly cemented,
cased and stimulated, minimizes risk and results in a much
lower environmental footprint.
Water Consumption
Fracture uids are used in stimulation treatments. The
base uid is treated water, which is eventually gelled and
crosslinked to provide adequate viscosity and proppant
carrying capacity. This uid is then pumped with a designed
proppant at a calculated rate and pressure to generate single
or multiple hydraulic fractures in the reservoir section.
Fracturing in Saudi Arabia
The gas reservoirs of Saudi Arabia are predominantly
encountered in the Ghawar region as sandstone and
carbonate intervals. Recently, huge gas potential has been
found in the offshore areas and is currently being developed.
Gas Reservoir Management Department engineers, from left, Dr. Zillur Rahim, Mohammed Dossary, Adnan Al-Kanaan (manager), Michael
Haas, Dr. Hamoud Al-Anazi and Mariam Alghannam, play an important role in the planning and execution of hydraulic fracturing projects.
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Dimensions International 17
The prolic offshore reservoirs with high
permeability need little or no stimulation. Most
such wells are completed either with solid or pre-
perforated liners.
Wells that tend to have loose formation sand
that erode ow line equipment during production
are completed with sand screens to prevent sand
production.
Hydraulic fracturing was a breakthrough for
the success of the Saudi Arabian gas program.
Subsequent to the rst few stimulation treatments,
the fracturing technology became a routine
practice to enhance the gas rate in moderate
to tight gas reservoirs in both carbonate and
sandstone formations.
Although a routine process, there is a
steady and continuous advancement in pumping
mechanisms, uid and proppant quality, and in
completion equipment to meet tight gas challenges
and ensure good results. Saudi Aramco is in the
forefront in adopting and making continuous
progress to improve and optimize fracturing
treatments.
The use of high-strength proppant, retarded
acids, low polymer uids, advanced multistage
completion assemblies and innovative treatment designs have
proven to be successful in signicantly enhancing gas rates of
low producing wells.
Starting with small-scale fracturing treatments in
vertical wells during 2000-2007, Saudi Aramco has now
embarked on a major campaign in fracturing horizontal
wells where special completion equipment is used, and a
single lateral is fractured in multiple stages.
The reservoir penetrations are based on geological,
seismic, and offset well information, and fracturing intervals
are assessed from the reservoir development captured
by the open hole logs. The advancement in horizontal
drilling technology, sand control, real-time application
of geomechanics, customized completion assemblies,
application of novel fracturing uids, proppant and acids,
are some of the key technology items that were assessed and
implemented to make the gas program successful.
Use of such technologies ensured wellbore stability
while drilling in the more challenging minimum horizontal
stress direction, smooth deployment of the multistage
fracturing assembly, and conducting high conductive
fracture treatments with the use of better uids and
proppant types.
Hydraulic fracturing has resulted in improved
productivity, optimum gas rate and higher ultimate recovery.
Multistage fracturing will be the dominant enabler to
succeed in the new initiative of exploring and tapping into
unconventional resources, such as ultra-tight and shale gas
to ensure commercial exploitation of these resources.
Fracture uids are comprised of only 0.5 percent chemicals; 99.5 percent is water and proppants.
Use of improved proppant types requires a large investment, but provides a
signicantly higher sustained gas rate.
High strength
Uniform size and shape
Thermal resistant
Medium strength
Irregular size
and shape
Low strength
Irregular size
and shape
High conductivity
Ceramic
Medium
conductivity
Resin
coated
sand
Low
conductivity
Sand
0.3 - 1.0 $/lb
0.19 - 0.25 $/lb
0.019 - 0.06 $/lb
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