Integrated 3D geomodelling and fracture stimulation modelling, Midale Reservoir Saskatchewan

Wyatt Oil & Gas looked to re-evaluate their frac plan for the Midale Reservoir in south eastern Saskatchewan to improve the accuracy and quality of the fracture design and model. A high-quality frac design utilising a 3D model can greatly increase the effectiveness of hydraulic fracturing operations while reducing the amount of material required for fracturing on site.

RPS was able to recommended reducing the number of frac stages from 30 to 20, in addition to providing an optimised pumping schedule. Wyatt adopted the optimised design and pumping schedule and the 33% reduction in frac stages greatly reduced the amount of fracturing materials, time, and overall cost of fracturing operations while increasing well productivity and net pay coverage.  

Challenge

As an independent consultancy RPS does not benefit from the number of stages, the types of fluids, or the amount of proppant used in fracturing operations. In advising Wyatt Oil & Gas, RPS’ only incentive was to provide an engineered solution optimised to the client’s specific requirements.

Solution

RPS provided independent advice on optimising Wyatt’s frac design. Rather than using a simplified understanding of the geology derived from a single offsetting vertical well, we created a 3D model to represent the reservoir and generate input data that allowed us to then build a fracture model with resolution along the lateral length of the horizontal well. This integrated 3D geomodelling and fracture stimulation modelling improved the accuracy and quality of the fracture design and model in the Midale Reservoir.