Systems and Methods For Stimulating A Subterranean Formation

Abstract

Systems and methods for supplying a stimulant fluid to a subterranean formation, including apportioning a production liner assembly into a plurality of treatment zones and providing the stimulant fluid to at least an initial treatment zone of the plurality of treatment zones. Apportioning the production liner assembly into the plurality of treatment zones may include utilizing a longitudinal flow control device to fluidly isolate at least a first portion of the plurality of treatment zones from at least a second portion of the plurality of treatment zones and/or placing an outlet of a stimulant fluid supply device proximal a selected treatment zone. May include providing the stimulant fluid through one or more outflow control devices. The systems and methods also may include receiving a reservoir fluid through one or more inflow control devices.

1 . A method of stimulating a subterranean reservoir, the method comprising:
 isolating, with a first longitudinal flow control device, a treatment zone of a production liner assembly of a well that is in fluid communication with the reservoir from at least a portion of a plurality of treatment zones of the production liner assembly;   supplying a stimulant fluid to the treatment zone;   stimulating a portion of the reservoir proximal the treatment zone, wherein the stimulating includes providing the stimulant fluid from an interior of the production liner assembly to the portion of the reservoir through one or more outflow control devices associated with the treatment zone; and   restricting a flow of fluid through the one or more outflow control devices associated with the treatment zone and from the portion of the reservoir to the interior of the production liner assembly.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the treatment zone is an initial treatment zone, the portion of the plurality of treatment zones is an initial portion of the plurality of treatment zones, the longitudinal flow control device is an initial longitudinal flow control device, and the portion of the reservoir is an initial portion of the reservoir, the method further including:
 isolating a subsequent treatment zone from at least a subsequent portion of the plurality of treatment zones using a subsequent longitudinal flow control device;   supplying the stimulant fluid to the subsequent treatment zone;   stimulating a subsequent portion of the reservoir proximal the subsequent treatment zone, wherein the stimulating includes providing the stimulant fluid from the interior of the production liner assembly to the subsequent portion of the reservoir through one or more outflow control devices associated with the subsequent treatment zone; and   restricting a flow of fluid through the one or more outflow control devices associated with the subsequent treatment zone and from the subsequent portion of the reservoir to the interior of the production liner assembly.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein stimulating the initial portion of the reservoir and stimulating the subsequent portion of the reservoir include providing a substantially similar stimulation treatment to the initial portion of the reservoir and the subsequent portion of the reservoir, and further wherein providing a substantially similar stimulation treatment includes providing at least one of a substantially similar stimulant fluid flow rate, a substantially similar stimulant fluid chemistry, a substantially similar stimulant fluid temperature, a substantially similar stimulant fluid pressure, and a substantially similar overall volume of stimulant fluid. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein stimulating the initial portion of the reservoir and stimulating the subsequent portion of the reservoir include providing a substantially different stimulation treatment to the initial portion of the reservoir than to the subsequent portion of the reservoir, and further wherein providing a substantially different stimulation treatment includes at least one of providing a substantially different stimulant fluid flow rate, a substantially different stimulant fluid chemistry, a substantially different stimulant fluid temperature, a substantially different stimulant fluid pressure, and a substantially different overall volume of stimulant fluid. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein at least one of the initial longitudinal flow control device and the subsequent longitudinal flow control device includes a ball and seat assembly including a ball and a seat adapted to selectively receive the ball to obstruct fluid flow past the ball and seat assembly, and further wherein the method further includes selectively obstructing fluid flow through the ball and seat assembly when the ball is seated on the seat and selectively permitting fluid flow through the ball and seat assembly when the ball is not seated on the seat. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein isolating the initial treatment zone includes seating a first ball on a first seat associated with the initial treatment zone, and further wherein isolating the subsequent treatment zone includes seating a second ball on a second seat associated with the subsequent treatment zone, wherein the first ball has a smaller diameter than the second ball, and further wherein the first ball will pass through the second seat assembly but not through the first seat assembly. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the supplying includes bullheading the stimulant fluid into the production liner assembly. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the one or more outflow control devices includes a check valve adapted to facilitate fluid flow from the production liner assembly into the reservoir but to impede fluid flow from the reservoir into the production liner assembly, and further wherein the restricting includes restricting with the check valve. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein at least a portion of the one or more outflow control devices further includes at least a first jet assembly adapted to increase a velocity of a fluid flowing therethrough, and further wherein the supplying includes accelerating the supplied stimulant fluid with the jet assembly. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the production liner assembly includes a plurality of production liner segments that are operatively attached along a longitudinal axis at a plurality of production liner joints to form an internal fluid passage, wherein at least a portion of the one or more outflow control devices is operatively attached to at least a portion of the production liner joints, and further wherein the stimulating includes providing the stimulant fluid through the one or more outflow control devices that are operatively attached to the portion of the production liner joints. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of treatment zones includes at least a proximal treatment zone and a distal treatment zone, wherein the proximal treatment zone is closer to a wellhead than the distal treatment zone, wherein each of the proximal treatment zone and the distal treatment zone includes one or more outflow control devices, wherein each of the one or more outflow control devices includes a flow initiation threshold, wherein a flow initiation threshold for an outflow control device associated with the proximal treatment zone is greater than a flow initiation threshold for an outflow control device associated with the distal treatment zone, and further wherein the stimulating includes preferentially providing the stimulant fluid through the one or more outflow control devices associated with the distal treatment zone prior to providing the stimulant fluid through the one or more outflow control devices associated with the proximal treatment zone. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the flow initiation threshold includes a threshold differential pressure across the outflow control device. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the plurality of treatment zones includes at least a first intermediate treatment zone between the proximal treatment zone and the distal treatment zone, wherein the at least a first intermediate treatment zone includes one or more outflow control devices, and further wherein the flow initiation threshold for the one or more outflow control devices associated with each of the plurality of treatment zones increases from the distal treatment zone to the proximal treatment zone. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein stimulating the portion of the reservoir includes at least one of fracturing, acidizing, cleaning, removing buildup from, and sealing the portion of the reservoir. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the stimulant fluid includes at least one of water, oil, drilling mud, an acid, hydrofluoric acid, hydrochloric acid, acetic acid, a solvent, a surfactant, and a sealant. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of treatment zones further includes one or more inflow control devices, and further wherein the method includes producing reservoir fluid from the subterranean reservoir by receiving the reservoir fluid from the reservoir and into the production liner assembly through the one or more inflow control devices. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein at least a portion of the one or more inflow control devices includes inflow control devices configured to increase a uniformity of a flow of reservoir fluid into the production liner assembly along a length of the production liner assembly and the method further includes increasing the uniformity of the flow of reservoir fluid into the production liner assembly along the length of the production liner assembly. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein at least a portion of the one or more inflow control devices includes inflow control devices adapted to facilitate fluid flow from the reservoir into the production liner assembly but to impede fluid flow from internal the production liner assembly into the reservoir and the method further includes restricting a flow of fluid through the inflow control device and from the production liner assembly into the reservoir. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein at least a portion of the one or more inflow control devices includes a check valve. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the supplying includes supplying the stimulant fluid through the one or more outflow control devices at a flow rate that is at least five times larger than a flow rate of the reservoir fluid through the one or more inflow control devices during the producing. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the subterranean reservoir includes a plurality of packers and the method further includes impeding fluid communication among the plurality of treatment zones by a fluid pathway that is external to the production liner assembly using at least a portion of the plurality of packers. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the subterranean reservoir includes a wellbore drilled between a surface region and a subterranean formation that includes the reservoir, wherein the reservoir includes a reservoir fluid, wherein the wellbore contains the production liner assembly including a production liner and a plurality of longitudinal flow control devices that divide the production liner assembly into the plurality of treatment zones, wherein the plurality of longitudinal flow control devices selectively isolate at least a first portion of the plurality of treatment zones from fluid communication with at least a second portion of the plurality of treatment zones along a fluid communication pathway that is internal the production liner, wherein each of the plurality of treatment zones includes one or more outflow control devices, and further wherein the reservoir fluid includes oil and the well includes an oil well. 
     
     
         23 . A subterranean well including a wellbore drilled between a surface region and a subterranean formation, wherein the subterranean formation includes a reservoir that includes a reservoir fluid, the subterranean well comprising:
 a production liner assembly contained within the wellbore, the production liner assembly comprising:   one or more longitudinal flow control devices configured to selectively divide the production liner assembly into a plurality of treatment zones, wherein each of the plurality of treatment zones comprises:
 one or more inflow control devices, wherein at least a portion of the one or more inflow control devices includes an inflow check valve configured to facilitate fluid flow from the reservoir into the production liner assembly and to impede fluid flow from the production liner assembly into the reservoir; and 
 one or more outflow control devices, wherein at least a portion of the one or more outflow control devices includes an outflow check valve configured to facilitate fluid flow from the production liner assembly into the reservoir and to impede fluid flow from the reservoir into the production liner assembly. 
   
     
     
         24 . The subterranean well of  claim 23 , wherein at least a portion of the one or more longitudinal flow control devices includes a ball and seat assembly. 
     
     
         25 . The subterranean well of  claim 23 , wherein at least a portion of the one or more outflow control devices further includes a jet assembly adapted to increase a velocity of a fluid flowing therethrough. 
     
     
         26 . The subterranean well of  claim 23 , wherein the plurality of treatment zones includes at least a proximal treatment zone and a distal treatment zone, wherein the proximal treatment zone is closer to a wellhead than the distal treatment zone, wherein each of the one or more outflow check valves includes a differential pressure flow initiation threshold, and further wherein a differential pressure flow initiation threshold associated with the proximal treatment zone is greater than a differential pressure flow initiation threshold associated with the distal treatment zone. 
     
     
         27 . The subterranean well of  claim 26 , wherein the plurality of treatment zones includes at least a first intermediate treatment zone between the proximal treatment zone and the distal treatment zone, and further wherein the differential pressure flow initiation threshold for the one or more outflow control devices associated with each of the plurality of treatment zones increases from the distal treatment zone to the proximal treatment zone. 
     
     
         28 . The subterranean well of  claim 23 , wherein at least a portion of the one or more inflow control devices is configured to increase a uniformity of a flow of reservoir fluid into the production liner along a length of the production liner. 
     
     
         29 . The subterranean well of  claim 23 , wherein the plurality of treatment zones includes at least 10 treatment zones. 
     
     
         30 . The subterranean well of  claim 23 , wherein each of the plurality of treatment zones includes a zone length, and further wherein the zone length is at least 100 meters. 
     
     
         31 . The subterranean well of  claim 23 , wherein the subterranean well includes an extended reach drilling well, and further wherein an overall length of the production liner is at least 5000 meters. 
     
     
         32 . The subterranean well of  claim 23 , wherein the production liner assembly includes a plurality of production liner segments that are operatively attached along a longitudinal axis at a plurality of production liner joints to form an internal fluid passage, and further wherein at least a portion of the one or more outflow control devices are operatively attached to at least a portion of the plurality of production liner joints. 
     
     
         33 . The subterranean well of  claim 23 , wherein the reservoir fluid includes oil, and further wherein the subterranean well includes an oil well. 
     
     
         34 . A method of stimulating a subterranean well including a wellbore drilled between a surface region and a subterranean formation, the subterranean formation including a reservoir that includes a reservoir fluid, wherein the wellbore contains a production liner assembly that includes a production liner and defines a plurality of treatment zones, and further wherein each of the plurality of treatment zones includes one or more outflow control devices, the method comprising:
 placing an outlet of a stimulant fluid delivery device proximal to an initial treatment zone, wherein the initial treatment zone includes a first treatment zone of the plurality of treatment zones;   supplying a stimulant fluid to the initial treatment zone using the stimulant fluid delivery device;   stimulating a first portion of the reservoir proximal the initial treatment zone, wherein the stimulating includes providing the stimulant fluid from an interior of the production liner to the first portion of the reservoir through the one or more outflow control devices of the initial treatment zone;   restricting a flow of fluid through the one or more outflow control devices of the initial treatment zone and from the first portion of the reservoir to the interior of the production liner;   placing the outlet of the stimulant fluid delivery device proximal to a subsequent treatment zone, wherein the subsequent treatment zone includes a second treatment zone of the plurality of treatment zones;   supplying the stimulant fluid to the subsequent treatment zone using the stimulant fluid delivery device;   stimulating a second portion of the reservoir proximal the subsequent treatment zone, wherein the stimulating includes providing the stimulant fluid from the interior of the production liner to the second portion of the reservoir through the one or more outflow control devices of the subsequent treatment zone; and   restricting a flow of fluid through the one or more outflow control devices of the subsequent treatment zone and from the second portion of the reservoir to the interior of the production liner.   
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the stimulant fluid delivery device includes at least one of coiled tubing and drill pipe. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 34 , the method further including inserting the stimulant fluid delivery device within the production liner. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 34 , the method further including repeating the placing, supplying, stimulating, and restricting steps until all desired treatment zones have been stimulated.