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Natural Gas Industry B 4 (2017) 127e133
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Research Article

Volume fracturing of deep shale gas horizontal wells

Jiang Tingxue a,b, Bian Xiaobing a,b,*, Wang Haitao a,b, Li Shuangming a,b, Jia Changgui a,b,
Liu Honglei a,b, Sun Haicheng a,b
a
State Key Laboratory of Shale Oil and Gas Enrichment Mechanisms and Effective Development, Beijing 100101, China
b
Sinopec Research Institute of Petroleum Engineering, Beijing 100101, China
Received 3 November 2016; accepted 25 January 2017
Available online 14 August 2017

Abstract

Deep shale gas reservoirs buried underground with depth being more than 3500 m are characterized by high in-situ stress, large horizontal
stress difference, complex distribution of bedding and natural cracks, and strong rock plasticity. Thus, during hydraulic fracturing, these res-
ervoirs often reveal difficult fracture extension, low fracture complexity, low stimulated reservoir volume (SRV), low conductivity and fast
decline, which hinder greatly the economic and effective development of deep shale gas. In this paper, a specific and feasible technique of
volume fracturing of deep shale gas horizontal wells is presented. In addition to planar perforation, multi-scale fracturing, full-scale fracture
filling, and control over extension of high-angle natural fractures, some supporting techniques are proposed, including multi-stage alternate
injection (of acid fluid, slick water and gel) and the mixed- and small-grained proppant to be injected with variable viscosity and displacement.
These techniques help to increase the effective stimulated reservoir volume (ESRV) for deep gas production. Some of the techniques have been
successfully used in the fracturing of deep shale gas horizontal wells in Yongchuan, Weiyuan and southern Jiaoshiba blocks in the Sichuan Basin.
As a result, Wells YY1HF and WY1HF yielded initially 14.1
104 m3/d and 17.5
104 m3/d after fracturing. The volume fracturing of deep
shale gas horizontal well is meaningful in achieving the productivity of 50
108 m3 gas from the interval of 3500e4000 m in Phase II
development of Fuling and also in commercial production of huge shale gas resources at a vertical depth of less than 6000 m.
© 2017 Sichuan Petroleum Administration. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Keywords: Shale gas; Deep; Horizontal well; Volume fracturing; Planar perforation; Effective fracture; Stimulated reservoir volume (SRV); Field application

Along with the breakthroughs in shale gas exploration in
Fuling, Changning and Weiyuan blocks as well as the deep-
ening of commercial development, shale gas development is
moving towards deep formations, which usually refers to
reservoirs deeper than 3500 m. It is estimated that deep shale
gas resources are huge up to 4612
108 m3 in the areas such
as Jiaoshiba, Dingshan and Nanchuan, exhibiting a bright
exploration and development future.
Supported by the Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Shale Oil and Gas
Enrichment Mechanisms Effective Development.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: xiaobingbian@126.com (Bian XB.).
Peer review under responsibility of Sichuan Petroleum Administration.
However, the geology of shale gas in deeper formations and
its effect on fracturing also change greatly [1]. Firstly, the
increase of wellbore friction leads to higher wellhead pressure
and restricted injection displacement, which results in small
induced fracture width, low sand/fluid ratio, and decreased
fracture conductivity. Secondly, stress rises in three axises, and
horizontal stress difference rises in two axises; the magnitude
order of stress in three axises may also change. The overlying
stress is usually moderate in middleeshallow formations and
reaches the maximum in deep formations. Accordingly, the
fracture reorientation and lateral extension of bedding frac-
tures become difficult. Thirdly, rock plasticity enhances, but
rock brittleness gradually weakens due to the increase of
temperature and confining pressure, resulting in difficulties in
the fracture initiation and extension. Fourth, fracture

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2352-8540/© 2017 Sichuan Petroleum Administration. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
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128 Jiang TX. et al. / Natural Gas Industry B 4 (2017) 127e133
conductivity declines quickly. The closing pressure rise causes
higher probability of proppant embedding and crushing. Quick
decline of conductivity results in corresponding decrease of
fracture length and stimulated reservoir volume. Fifth, since
various tectonic movements occurred frequently at the struc-
ture margins, early faults interacted with later faults, or even
bedding fractures coexisted with natural fractures in No. 1e5
layers at the bottom of Silurian, Longmaxi Fm, implying that
the fracture initiation and extension patterns (especially the
extension of fracture height) changed greatly.
Therefore, the previous horizontal well volume fracturing
mode and technical parameters for middle-shallow shale gas
reservoirs are no longer suitable for deep shale gas reservoirs;
instead, it is necessary to carry out block-specific reservoir
research on the basis of investigation into deep shale gas
fracturing technologies around the world, in order to realize
the economic and efficient development of deep shale gas in
China.
1. Comparison of fracturing technologies for deep shale
gas reservoirs around the world
1.1. Fracturing technologies in the United States
As to deep shale gas (with depth >3500 m) in the United
States, commercial development has been realized after many
years' efforts in Eagle Ford, Haynesville and Cana Woodford
[2e4], but not in HilliardeBaxtereMancos and Mancos.
Table 1 shows the reservoir parameters, post-frac production
and costs of these plays. It can be seen that the post-frac
production of shale gas in formations deeper than 4100 m is
relatively low, and the drilling and fracturing costs per well
exceed CNY100 million, thus failing to meet the goal of
economic and efficient development.
In Cana Woodford, the core technologies used include: (1)
multi-cluster and large-diameter perforation (3e6 clusters in
single section, perforation diameter of 14.5 mm); (2) com-
bination of high-viscosity fracturing fluids, i.e. pretreatment
acid þ linear gel þ slick water þ gel”; (3) low sand ratio for
continuous sand fracturing, with an average sand/fluid ratio
of 3e6%; and (4) large fracturing scale in single section, with
1800e2800 m3 fluid and 80e110 m3 sand required. Main
changes for these technologies involve increasing the clusters
and diameter of perforation in single section (corresponding
to the high content of brittle minerals in deep shale gas in the
US), and improving the sand volume and composite sand/
fluid ratio in single section. The medium viscosity linear gel
Table 1
Deep shale gas fracturing and development in the USA.
Major deep shale Average burial Closing stress
gas block depth/m gradient/(MPa$m1)
Eagle Ford (dry gas) 3600 0.0210
Haynesville 3658 0.0226
Cana Woodford (gas) 4115 0.0215
HilliardeBaxtereMancos 4500 / /
Mancos 4648 / /
is injected ahead in order to increase the initial fracture
height.
1.2. Fracturing technologies in China
Chinese researchers have worked a lot on fracturing for
deep shale gas within the country [1,5,6]. Table 2 provides a
comparison of major parameters between the deep shale gas
reservoirs and the middleeshallow reservoirs [7e9] in Well
JY1HF in China and Cana Woodford in the US. It shows that
deep shale gas in China is relatively poor in porosity, TOC, gas
abundance, brittle mineral content, and horizontal stress
difference.
Deep fracturing technologies mainly comprise: ① con-
ventional perforation clusters and diameter e 2 clusters in
single section and diameter of 10.5 mm; ② combination of
fracturing fluids, i.e. “pretreatment acid þ gel þ slick
water þ gel”; ③ plug sanding with low sand/fluid ratio, with
composite sand/fluid ratio of 1.1e4.2% (2.4% on average);
and ④ great fluid volumes (2460e3091 m3) and small sand
volumes (averagely 26e50 m3).
Compared to the overseas fracturing technologies, the
above-mentioned technologies are characterized by less
perforation clusters and small diameter in single section, and
lower sanding volume and composite sand/fluid ratio in single
section, which reflects greater challenges in deep shale gas
fracturing in China. In view of post-fracturing results, the
production is low (stable production less than 5
104 m3/d)
and declines quickly (decline rate above 50% in half a year),
thus it is uncommercial and restricts the progress of deep shale
gas fracturing.
2. Volumetric fracturing technology of deep shale-gas
horizontal wells
2.1. Planar perforating technology
The conventional screw perforation is not ideal for fracture
propagation during deep shale gas fracturing, since it adopts
the mode of single-perforation fracture initiation with the
displacement of less than 0.3 m3/min. If multiple fractures are
initiated simultaneously in multiple shots, the fractures with
small spacing (fracture spacing is 0.06 m when the perforation
density is 16 shots/m) will interfere with each other; within the
perforation cluster, the induced stress stacks to lead to higher
overall stress, restricting the propagation of multiple fractures
as a whole. However, shale is greatly heterogeneous, and there
Horizontal Number of fracturing Single well Single well
length/m sections production/(104 m3$d1) cost/US$104
1000e2000 9e26/17 8.00e16.00 400e650
1000e1200 10e14/12 10.00e70.00 900e1000
1000e1500 10e13/12 6.00e15.00 900e1200
/ 3.00 2000
/ 0.14e2.80 /
 Jiang TX. et al. / Natural Gas Industry B 4 (2017) 127e133 129

Table 2
Comparison of deep shale gas reservoir characteristics between representative shale blocks in the Sichuan Basin and Cana Woodford in the USA.
JY1HF JY7HF DY2HF NY1HF JY1HF Cana Woodford
Target horizon Longmaxi Longmaxi Longmaxi Longmaxi Qiongzhusi Woodford
Depth/m 2377e2415 3640e3903 4330e4363 4411 3287e3330 4115
High-quality shale thickness/m 38 49.5 33 29 43 50
Porosity 4.71% 3.12% 5.81% 4.12% 2.92% 6.50%
TOC 4.88% 2.84% 3.65% 3.17% 1.87% 9.00%
Ro 2.42% e 1.85%e2.23% 2.52% 2.93% e
Average quartz content 57.80% 50.83% 48.50% 46.22% 27.64% e
Average clay content 34.63% 41.60% 30.00% 35.33% 40.76% e
Young modulus/GPa 38.00 36.70 32.32 32.00 30.19 34.00
Poisson's ratio 0.198 0.220 0.200 0.210 0.230 0.180
Gas abundance/(m3$t1) 7.39 4.52 4.48 4.10 2.03 e
Formation pressure coefficient 1.55 1.10 1.40e1.55 1.00 1.10e1.30 1.58
Stress difference coefficient 12% 14e15% 13% 22% 24e26% Stress difference
of 4 MPa
Bedding fracture development status Very developed Developed Partially developed Developed Very developed Developed

are only 1 or 2e3 fractures initiated in the cluster. In such a
case, both the single-perforation flow and friction increase
dramatically, which is disadvantageous for the sufficient
fracture propagation. Hence this paper proposes a planar
perforation mode (Fig. 1), similar to the directional perforation
in vertical wells, exceptionally that the latter requires precise
fracture azimuth.
According to the calculation of casing failure strength
(Table 3), the casing failure strength under planar preforma-
tion mode with the number of perforation less than 10 shots is
equivalent to that (i.e. 16 shots/m) under screw perforation.
Given the displacement of 12 m3/min, the dynamic fracture
propagation simulation shows that the planar perforation (6
shots/circle) can realize an increase in fracture height, fracture
width, fracture length and SRV respectively by 6.3%, 4.6%,
7.2% and 19.8% compared with the screw perforation (3
clusters/section, perforation density of 20 shots/m). Moreover,
if the displacement under screw perforation keeps constant,
the perforation clusters can improve from 2 clusters to 3e5
clusters; if the perforation clusters keep constant, the number
of fracturing device can be reduced by about 50%. No matter
which mode of planar perforation is adopted, cost reduction or
efficiency improvement can be achieved.
2.2. Multi-scale fracture creation technology
2.2.1. Alternate acid injection or small-scale acid
fracturing
Due to the great difference of horizontal stress, the critical
pressure for opening natural fractures cannot be achieved
simply by adjusting the parameters of fracturing, and thus the
satisfactory fracture complexity cannot be achieved. The
commonly used intra-fracture diverting agent is also
disadvantageous in several aspects. For instance, narrow
pressure windows for deep fracturing make it difficult to seal
the fractures that extend dynamically, and the fracture height
may not be controlled if both high-angle natural fractures and
bedding fractures exist.
Therefore, a method of alternate acid injection or small-
scale acid fracturing was put forward. The chemical reaction
between acid and rock makes the communication of carbonate
minerals possible within different natural fractures along the
principal fracture length direction. In order to facilitate field
operation, it was suggested that the acid volume injected in
each section should not exceed the wellbore volume.
Furthermore, in order to inject different acids into different
positions for aciderock reaction, it was suggested that the acid
displacement operation can be carried out with optimized
volume after acid injection, with low displacement near wells
and high displacement far from wells.
Since acid injection is impossibly infinite, there is always a
certain area not swept by acid where the fracture complexity is
difficult to be improved. In this case, the small-scale dilute
acid fracturing can be adopted to make the fracture length
reach 70% of final gross fracture length. A lot of simulations
show that the geometric size of fractures has already reached
above 70% during the initial 1/5 of fracturing time (Fig. 2).
Therefore, small-scale acid fracturing is relatively limited, and
won't cause a sharp rise of operation cost.
2.2.2. Multi-stage alternate injection of viscosity-variable
fracturing fluid
Through multi-factor simulation analysis for fracture width,
fracture length, fracture height and SRV, it is believed that the
fracturing fluid viscosity is the most important factor. Fig. 3
shows the examples of fracture width and SRV.

Fig. 1. Comparison between screw perforation and planar perforation.

130 Jiang TX. et al. / Natural Gas Industry B 4 (2017) 127e133
Table 3
Mises stress comparison of casing failures between planar perforation and
screw perforation.
Perforation mode Average Mises stress/MPa
3 shots 10 shots 16 shots
Screw 412 657 747
Planar 489 737 929
Usually low-viscosity fracturing fluid is efficient in pene-
trating and communicating small and micro fractures, while
mediumehigh viscosity fracturing fluid is difficult to enter
small and micro fractures because of high viscous resistivity
but has to extend along the principal fracture direction.
Therefore, with consideration to the advantages of fracturing
fluids with different viscosities, multi-stage alternate injection
of fracturing fluids with variable viscosity and variable
displacement should be adopted. In this way, the fracturing
fluids can fully extend along principal fractures and also
effectively connect the complicated fractures along the prin-
cipal fracture length, so that fracture complicity and SRV can
be maximized.
Obviously, single-stage injection of low-viscosity slick
water and mediumehigh viscosity gel can merely form a
fracture pattern of near-well complicated fractures and far-
well single principal fractures. The injection of simple slick
water can merely form near-well complicated fractures but no
principal fractures reach far-well zones. The multi-stage
alternate injection of slick water and gel depends on the
“viscous fingering” effect (with viscosity ratio above 6 times).
Specifically, slick water injected in the later stage advances to
the front of fractures created by gel injected in the preceding
stage, and continues to communicate and extend along small
and micro fractures. Then, the mediumehigh viscosity gel is
injected to push the principal fractures forward. This multi-
stage circular injection can realize a universal coverage of
principal fractures under a complicated fracture system.
For deep formations, since the closing pressure rise results
in a relative decline of original bedding and fracture width, the
slick water system with lower viscosity is required for effec-
tive communication and extension. According to the features
of common emulsion slick water, the viscosity can take
2e3 mPa$s. In order to enhance the sand-carrying perfor-
mance, the powder type slick water with a viscosity of
9e12 mPa$s that is commonly used in mediumeshallow
formations is selected.
Fig. 2. Extension of fracture sizes in different operation stages.
Fig. 4 shows the optimized upper limit of gel viscosity,
indicating a recommended value of 100 mPa$s. The gel vis-
cosity of 30e40 mPa$s is also optional, which is usually used
in mediumeshallow formations, in order to communicate
more branch fractures before main sanding with viscosity of
100 mPa$s. In the same way, according to the sensitivity
simulation analysis of fracture parameter and SRV, the occu-
pation percentage of two kinds of gel should be 30e40%.
The simulated proportion of fractures with different widths
at different well depths is shown in Table 4.
2.2.3. Full-scale fracture filling
After fracture space in different sizes was created, it is
essential to realize the full filling of full-scale fractures in
order to improve ESRV. According to the current principle that
fracture width is 6 times that of average proppant grain size,
and the proportion of fractures with different widths obtained
from Table 4, the optimization chart for different grain sizes
and proportions of proppant was completed (Fig. 5). For the
deep shale gas fracturing, the proportion of small-size prop-
pant should be increased greatly, especially in deeper forma-
tions. It is also necessary to select the small size proppant with
140e230 meshes.
For a complicated fracture system with principal fractures
(primary fractures), branch fractures (secondary fractures) and
lower-level fractures (tertiary and quaternary fractures), the
study demonstrates [10] that the proppant with 70e140
meshes can enter the secondary, tertiary and quaternary frac-
tures, while the proppant with 20e40 meshes can hardly enter
the secondary fracture or fractures of lower level. Multi-scale
small-sized proppant can enter different branch fractures for
sealing, filtrate reduction and support. Moreover, when the
proppant grain size reduces by one level, the subsidence ve-
locity can decline 1/3e1/2, which is favorable for improving
far-well vertical support efficiency of small and micro frac-
tures. In addition, with the increase of closing pressure, the
difference of conductivity between small particle diameter
proppant and large particle diameter proppant tends to
decrease. In field operation, the small particle diameter prop-
pant may have increased sanding concentration, so it may
realize higher conductivity than large particle diameter
proppant.
For the above purpose, the small grain proppant should be
injected for a relatively long time; otherwise, a part of prop-
pant may retain in the principal fractures to choke the con-
ductivity. Therefore, the design of sanding procedure is
 Jiang TX. et al. / Natural Gas Industry B 4 (2017) 127e133 131

Fig. 3. Multi-factor significance analysis for fracture width and SRV.

with continuous sanding to improve the composite sand/fluid

Fig. 4. Optimization of fracturing fluid viscosity limit.
extremely essential. The small grain proppant should be added
mainly by carrying with low-viscosity slick water. If the vis-
cosity of carrying fluid is high, the small grain proppant holds
large dragging force and thus can't easily enter the small-scale
fracture system. The high-viscosity gel can be injected along
ratio.
Finally, considering the precise proportion of fracture in
different scales calculated in Table 4, the mixed grain sanding
technique can be applied in some cases, namely, the small
grain proppant mixes with medium or large grain proppant in a
certain proportion, and is carried by low- and medium-
viscosity slick water. In this way, the grain size range of
proppant is improved, and the proppant with different grain
sizes can be transmitted into the corresponding multi-scale
fractures under natural action.
2.2.4. Extension control technology of high-angle natural
fracture
If there are high-angle natural fractures in the fracturing
target formation, their extension must be controlled, no matter
whether there is coexistence of horizontal bedding fracture/
laminar fracture or not; otherwise, the conventional practice
with high displacement and large fluid volume can be just the
opposite of their wish. In this case, the nature and formation
time of a neighboring fault should be investigated. In the case

Table 4
Proportion of average fracture width corresponding to different gel percentages at different well depths.
TVD/m Average fracture Average fracture width proportion corresponding to different gel percentages
width/mm Gel 0% Gel 10% Gel 20% Gel 30% Gel 40% Gel 50% Gel 60% Gel 70%
3000e3500 0.270e0.378 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6% 6%
0.378e0.636 14% 14% 13% 13% 12% 13% 12% 12%
0.636e1.272 55% 47% 47% 47% 46% 46% 43% 36%
1.272e1.800 25% 33% 34% 34% 31% 31% 32% 33%
1.800e3.600 e e e e 4% 5% 7% 11%
2.550e5.100 e e e e e e e 1%
3500e4000 0.270e0.378 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5%
0.378e0.636 47% 12% 9% 9% 9% 9% 9% 9%
0.636e1.272 48% 82% 65% 53% 52% 49% 47% 39%
1.272e1.800 e e 20% 32% 32% 34% 29% 28%
1.800e3.600 e e e e 2% 3% 9% 17%
2.550e5.100 e e e e e e e 1%
4000e4500 0.270e0.378 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5%
0.378e0.636 54% 20% 17% 17% 17% 17% 17% 17%
0.636e1.272 38% 73% 76% 71% 70% 69% 64% 54%
1.272e1.800 3% 2% 1% 7% 7% 8% 14% 24%
1.800e3.600 e e e e e e e e
2.550e5.100 e e e e e e e e
132 Jiang TX. et al. / Natural Gas Industry B 4 (2017) 127e133

Fig. 5. Different proppant grain sizes at different well depths and their proportion optimization.

of a reverse faults formed in the early stage, the fault is
possibly filled in a compression state, so it is unnecessary to
consider the effect of natural fractures. On the contrary, proper
technique should be selected to control the extension of nat-
ural fractures. In this study, the high-viscosity fluid gel plug
technique is developed, with the viscosity up to 300 mPa$s and
preset injection volume of 20e30 m3. The alternate injection
can be adopted in case far-well fracture height be out of
control. Generally speaking, along with the fracture extension,
the fracture geometric size is increasingly large, and the net
pressure in fracture will drop toward the fracture end. Espe-
cially in the intermediate to later stage of operation with high-
viscosity fracturing fluid, the pressure gradient in fracture is
relatively large. The driving force for far-well fracture height
extension is increasingly insufficient, when the multi-stage
alternate injection is of little significance.
3. Field application and effect analysis
The proposed technique has been successfully applied in
the Yongchuan, Weiyuan and Jiaoshiba areas. Wells WY1HF
and YY1HF, following Well DY2HF, reveal commercial dis-
covery in deep shale gas reservoirs.
Well WY1HF (TVD 3621 m) is the first key exploration
well in Weiyuan block. The “multi-stage alternate injection”
of fracturing fluid with “variable viscosity þ variable
displacement” was adopted successfully in 16 sections. This
well consumed a total fluid volume of 27763 m3, and a total
sand volume of 753.06 m3, with a composite sand/fluid ratio of
2.7%. In the 2nd fracturing section, the displacement was
10.5e12.6 m3/min, the operation pressure was 52e82.6 MPa,
the total fluid volume was 1568 m3, and the total sand volume
was 71.05 m3. On September 27, 2015, a Ø7 mm nozzle was
adopted to control the open well displacement, resulting in
daily natural gas production of 8.5
104 m3, wellhead casing
pressure of 27.4 MPa, daily fluid displacement of 150 m3,
cumulative gas production of 226
104 m3, and a flow back
rate of 43.1% (Fig. 6-a).
Well YY1HF (TVD 3988 m) followed the technique used
in Well WY1HF, with the parameters of variable viscosity and
variable displacement improved specifically. Fracturing was
successfully completed in 23 sections, with a total fluid vol-
ume of 37154 m3 and a total sand volume of 1139 m3
consumed, corresponding to a composite sand/fluid ratio of
3.1%. In the 5th fracturing section, the displacement was
14.5e15.0 m3/min, the operation pressure was
80.0e88.0 MPa, the total fluid volume was 1775 m3 and the
total sand volume was 61.1 m3. On January 21, 2016, a
Ø8.5 mm nozzle was adopted to control the open well
displacement, resulting in a daily natural gas production of
11
104 m3, and wellhead casing pressure above 27 MPa
(Fig. 6-b).

Fig. 6. Fracturing curves of example shale wells.

 Jiang TX. et al. / Natural Gas Industry B 4 (2017) 127e133
4. Conclusions and suggestions
4.1. Preliminary conclusions
1) For the purpose of maximizing the ESRV in deep shale
gas reservoirs, the pertinent volume fracturing technol-
ogy was innovatively proposed, involving planar perfo-
ration, multi-scale fracture creation, full-scale fracture
filling and natural fracture extension control.
2) Some matching techniques were also put forward,
including alternate acid injection or small-scale acid
fracturing, variable-viscosity and variable-displacement
multi-stage alternate injection, improving small grain
proppant proportion or mixed grain proppant sanding,
and high-viscosity fluid gel plugging. These techniques
are appropriate, advanced and operable in sites.
3) Partial research achievements have been successfully
applied for deep shale gas fracturing in the Yongchuan,
Weiyuan and Jiaoshiba areas, ideal results have been
achieved in some wells.
4.2. Suggestions
1) For the planar perforation, ground experimental verifi-
cation should be conducted. If necessary, field simula-
tion should be carried out in some abandoned wells to
test its reliability and safety.
2) For technical parameters and their combinations, fine
simulation is required, such as fracturing fluid viscosity
at different depths as well as multi fracturing fluid vis-
cosity proportion, fluid volume proportion, optimum
variable viscosity variable displacement and other
parameter optimization, small grain proppant proportion
and mixed grain proppant proportion, and pump injec-
tion procedure optimization of small grain proppant
entering small and micro fractures.
133
3) The proposed technology should be systematically
applied for deep shale gas fracturing, in order to provide
better solutions to potential difficulties or problems.
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