Determining One Or More Parameters Of A Well Completion Design Based on Drilling Data Corresponding To Variables Of Mechanical Specific Energy

Abstract

Methods for determining parameter/s of a well completion design (WCD) for at least a portion of a drilled well based on drilling data corresponding to variables of mechanical specific energy (MSE) are provided. In some cases, MSE values may be acquired and the WCD parameter/s may be based on the MSE values. The MSE values may be obtained from a provider or may be acquired by calculating the MSE values via the drilling data. In some cases, the data may be amended prior to determining the WCD parameter/s to substantially neutralize distortions of the data. In some cases, the methods may include creating a geomechanical model of the drilled well from acquired MSE values, optionally amending the geomechanical model and determining the WCD parameter/s from the geomechanical model. Storage mediums having program instructions which are executable by a processor for performing any steps of the methods are also provided.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A non-transitory storage medium comprising program instructions which when executed by a processor to perform the operations of:
 acquiring values of mechanical specific energy (MSE) for at least portion of a drilled well;   categorizing the MSE values into a plurality of groups according to different ranges of MSE values;   mapping the groups to which the MSE values are categorized to locations along the drilled well;   creating a geomechanical model of the mapped groups;   determining one or more parameters of a well completion design for the drilled well from the geomechanical model; and   creating the well completion design with the one or more parameters.   
     
     
         2 . The non-transitory storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more parameters are selected from a group consisting of locations of perforation clusters, quantities of perforation clusters, locations of fracking stages, lengths of fracking stages, and one or more parameters to induce and maintain hydraulic fractures including selecting fracturing fluid type and proppant type. 
     
     
         3 . The non-transitory storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more parameters comprise a parameter relating to perforation operations of the well completion design and a parameter relating to hydraulic fracturing operations of the well completion design. 
     
     
         4 . The non-transitory storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the different ranges of MSE values represent different facies of rock, and wherein the program instructions for determining the one or more parameters of the well completion design comprise program instructions for delineating fracking stages at positions along the geomechanical model corresponding to boundaries of neighboring facies. 
     
     
         5 . The non-transitory storage medium of  claim 1 , further comprising program instructions for demarcating subsets of the geomechanical model such that lengths of the subsets correspond to sections of the drilled well, and wherein the program instructions for determining the one or more parameters of the well completion design use the demarcated subsets. 
     
     
         6 . The non-transitory storage medium of  claim 5 , wherein the program instructions for determining the one or more parameters of the well completion design comprise program instructions for designating locations of perforation clusters along one or more of the demarcated subsets, wherein at least some of designated locations are arranged along a portion of a demarcated subset having associated MSE values of the same group. 
     
     
         7 . The non-transitory storage medium of  claim 5 , wherein the different ranges of MSE values represent different facies of rock, wherein the program instructions for determining the one or more parameters of the well completion design comprise program instructions for designating a number of perforation clusters for each of one or more of the demarcated subsets, and wherein the designated number for at least one of the one or more demarcated subsets is based on a composite length of one or more particular facies within the respective demarcated subset. 
     
     
         8 . The non-transitory storage medium of  claim 5 , wherein the demarcated subsets are of approximately equal length, and wherein the program instructions for determining the one or more parameters of the well completion design comprise program instructions for:
 designating locations of perforation clusters in each of the demarcated subsets based on lengths and positions of the mapped groups of categorized MSE values in each of the subsets; and   amending the demarcation of the subsets based on the mapped groups to which the MSE values of each subset are categorized and the designated locations of the perforation clusters.   
     
     
         9 . The non-transitory storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the different ranges of MSE values represent different facies of rock, wherein the program instructions for determining the one or more parameters of the well completion design comprise program instructions for:
 delineating multiple fracking stages along the geomechanical model;   designating locations of perforation clusters in each of the fracking stages; and   defining one or more parameters of a fracking operation for each fracking stage based on the range of MSE values associated with a single facie in each fracking stage in which one or more perforation clusters have been designated.   
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the different ranges of MSE values represent different facies of rock, and wherein the program instructions for determining the one or more parameters of the well completion design comprise program instructions for:
 delineating one or more fracking stages along the geomechanical model;   identifying a single facie in one of the fracking stages in which perforation clusters are designated;   defining one or more parameters of a fracking operation for the one fracking stage based on the range of MSE values associated with the identified facie; and   conducting the steps of identifying a single facie and defining one or more parameters of a fracking operation for other fracking stages of the one or more fracking stages.   
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the well is a production well, and wherein the program instructions for creating the geomechanical model is further based on locations of perforation clusters created during an initial well completion of the production well. 
     
     
         12 . A non-transitory storage medium comprising program instructions which when executed by a processor to perform the operations of:
 acquiring values of mechanical specific energy (MSE) for at least portion of a drilled well;   creating a geomechanical model of at least a portion of the well based at least in part on the calculated MSE values;   determining multiple parameters of a well completion design for the drilled well from the geomechanical model, wherein the multiple parameters comprise at least two different parameters selected from a group consisting of locations of perforation clusters, quantities of perforation clusters, locations of fracking stages, and lengths of fracking stages; and   creating the well completion design with the multiple parameters.   
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the multiple parameters further comprise parameters selected from a group consisting of hydraulic horsepower, volume of proppant, one or more types of proppant, volume of fracking fluid, one or more types of fracking fluids and placement of fracturing sleeves. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory storage medium of  claim 12 , further comprising program instructions for demarcating subsets of the geomechanical model such that lengths of the subsets correspond to sections of the drilled well, and wherein the program instructions for determining one or more parameters of the well completion design use the demarcated subsets. 
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory storage medium of  claim 14 , wherein the program instructions for demarcating subsets of the geomechanical model comprise demarcating subsets of one or more set lengths along the geomechanical model. 
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the step of acquiring values of MSE comprises:
 receiving data regarding a drilling operation of the well; and   calculating the values of MSE from the data.   
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the step of acquiring values of MSE further comprises:
 analyzing the data to identify distortions which are not related to geomechanical properties of rock drilled in the well;   amending and/or removing some of the data that correlates to the distortions; and   calculating the MSE values with the data subsequent to amending at least some of the data.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the received data comprises:
 first data for variables used to calculate the MSE values; and   second data which does not include variables of the calculated MSE values, and   wherein the non-transitory storage medium further comprises program instructions for amending at least some of the first data with respect to the second data prior to calculating the MSE values.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory storage medium of  claim 16 , wherein the received data comprises:
 first data for variables used to calculate the MSE values; and   second data which does not include variables of the calculated MSE values, and   wherein the non-transitory storage medium further comprises program instructions for amending the geomechanical model with respect to the second data prior to determining the one or more parameters of the well completion design.