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.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 61 / 425,121, filed Dec. 20, 2010.FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE[0002]The present disclosure is directed to systems and methods for stimulating a subterranean formation.BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE[0003]Subterranean wells, such as extended reach subterranean wells, may present unique challenges associated with construction, completion, stimulation, and / or production. This may be due to a variety of factors, including a length of the subterranean well, variations in the subterranean formation(s) that may be experienced along the length of the subterranean well, and / or variations in the reservoir fluid(s) that may be encountered along the length of the subterranean well. Because of these and other factors, construction, completion, stimulation, and / or production operations may be improved, simplified, streamlined, and / or made more efficient if a flow of fluid between the subterranea...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present patent is about methods and systems for providing a stimulant fluid to a subterranean formation. The methods involve dividing the production liner into multiple sections and controlling the flow of stimulant fluid to each section using flow control devices such as ball and seat assemblies and outflow control devices such as check valves. Additionally, the methods may involve producing a reservoir fluid from the subterranean formation and utilizing inflow control devices to direct the flow of the reservoir fluid into the production liner. These methods may aid in the efficient and effective stimulation of multiple sections in a subterranean formation.

Problems solved by technology

Subterranean wells, such as extended reach subterranean wells, may present unique challenges associated with construction, completion, stimulation, and / or production.

When stimulating a subterranean well, it may be difficult to stimulate the entire subterranean well simultaneously.

This may be especially challenging when the subterranean well is an extended reach well and / or when the subterranean well includes a plurality of UEDs.

However, this approach may only supply stimulant fluid to a portion of the subterranean formation that is near the UEDs and may fail to stimulate portions of the subterranean formation that are not near a UED.

However, the use of these specialized ports and activation balls precludes the use of uniformity-enhancing devices, since reservoir fluid may enter the production liner through the specialized ports once they have been sheared open.

However, this approach may not be feasible for some extended reach wells due to the challenges associated with running coiled tubing over long distances.

Furthermore, the use of pre-drilled holes in the production liner assembly may preclude the use of uniformity-enhancing devices to control the production of reservoir fluid along the length of the subterranean well since reservoir fluids may enter the production liner through the pre-drilled holes.

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