Propane Frac In Eagle Ford Shale by Jadela
Jadela Oil Operating LLC, announced in July that it had completed drilling of its El Indio #1H well in Maverick county, near the town of El Indio. The well was drilled on a “tight hole” basis and information about the specifics of drilling are not available to the public at the present time. The Texas Railroad Commission lists the well as part of the Briscoe Ranch Eagle Ford field and permit information indicates that it was approved for a total depth of 9000′.
Jadela Oil Operating (US subsidiary of Jadela Oil Corp, formerly Unitech Resources) has installed the Packers Plus Energy Services Inc. Open Hole Multi-Stage completion liner system in the El Indio #1H well in preparation for an open hole propane frac job. The company has experience gained in Canada using open hole propane fracking and hopes to have an edge in the Eagle Ford shale by applying that specialized technology there. Propane frac jobs in the Eagle Ford shale may offer huge advantages over typical frac jobs, since they do not use water, which is becoming ever scarcer in the region. Propane gel, along with frac sand as a proppant is pumped into the well. Another potential advantage of using propane frac jobs in the Eagle Ford shale is that wells can be placed into production much faster.
Instead of a long flowback process, where frac water is removed from the well over a period of several days, the well can quickly be put online and the frac fluid, now converted to propane gas, is recovered or sold along with natural gas into the pipeline. Instead of huge above ground frac pits, water lines spread across miles of country, etc., a propane frack job can be done with only several trucks at the well site. One of the leaders in the industry, Calgary based GasFrac Energy Services, claims that cost of propane fracturing may actually be lower than water type hydraulic fracturing jobs, when all elements are considered.
Update: On August 22, 2011, Jadela announced that it had completed a propane frac job on the El Indio #1-H well in Maverick county, A total of 5,360 barrels of liquid propane/butane were injected into the formation to fracture the well.. (From Marketwire): “Jadela used a Packers Plus StackFRAC® Open Hole Multi-Stage completion liner system and fracced the well using propane/butane and sand instead of water. GASFRAC provided the pumping horsepower and its stimulation technology in conjunction with Jadela’s operational expertise.” Jadela offered the following report about the well’s production in a Sept, 7, 2011 release: “As of September 6, 2011 (6:00am)(122.75 flowing hours) the well had produced 969 bbl of oil (210 bbl in last 24 recorded hours) and gas of 13.978 MMscf (0.706 MMscf in last 24 recorded hours) or alternatively stated a boe/d of approximately 327 boe/d (for last 24 recorded hours) from a 2,400 foot lateral with an 8 stage frac (2 of which were not fully fracced) with the flow rate choke restricted to 10/64 of an inch. The oil recovery rate is increasing as the propane/butane from the frac is recovered. Jadela is in the process of acquiring additional equipment to increase the propane recovery rate.” Jadela reported that the Eagle Ford shale formation fracced with propane contains 50-60% total carbonate rock, with a total organic content or TOC from 5-6%
Could Propane Frac Jobs Reduce Water Use In The Eagle Ford Shale?
With all the concerns about the use of scarce groundwater for frac jobs in the Eagle Ford shale, it will be interesting to see what success Jadela Oil has with “open hole propane fracs” as opposed to “plug and perf slickwater fracs” which are the norm in the play. If the technique is successful in the Eagle Ford shale, propane frac jobs may become a viable alternative to trucking in frac water in areas where Carrizo Wilcox aquifer water is not available, and where surface water is virtually nonexistent.
Jadela has acquired net Eagle Ford shale acreage of over 10,000 acres in Maverick county.
http://www.jadelaoil.com/
See more on the process of a propane frack job here: Propane Frac Job Process
About GasFrac
Canadian company GasFrac reports the following in an August 8, 2011 report to investors via Marketwire:
“Another area of focus is the Eagle Ford region where we anticipate a high level of drilling activity and have identified customers and expect to initiate work in the region during the third quarter of 2011. We are confident that customers will experience positive results from LPG fracturing.” “A significant milestone during the quarter was the introduction of equipment and commencement of GASFRAC operations in Texas. Initially customers scheduled work to use the Company’s technology on selected wells to determine the impact on production in those particular formations and conditions. We have had positive feedback from customers on the results of our operations and anticipate increased demand. In addition to the formations we have fractured during the quarter we have work scheduled in the Eagle Ford Shale in Texas and the Piceance Basin in Colorado for the third quarter.” ““There’s a line up of people to use it,” said GasFrac COO Reid MacDonald, “but we’re constrained by the size of the company.”
LPG frac jobs could represent a very significant new advance in Eagle Ford shale completion technology. Stay tuned to this site and EaglefordShaleblog.com for updates.
By Nolan Hart.
