Frac is more important than sanctions. Seven Essential Facts About FGR

Over the past few decades, the global gas industry has developed countries has become one of the most technologically advanced industries. The introduction of high technologies has transformed the industry and made it one of the technological leaders of the world economy.

As one of the cleanest and most abundant fossil fuels in the world, natural gas is increasingly being used to generate energy. This leads to an ever-increasing demand for this type of energy carrier. At the same time, as expected by a number of experts, the consumption of blue fuel will continue to grow. In particular, the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts a "golden age" for natural gas in the coming years. It will increasingly displace other energy carriers and its share in the world energy will grow to 25 percent by 2035 and more, compared to today's 21 percent.

The gas industry needs to keep pace with the growing demand and produce more natural gas, including through quality growth, that is, through the introduction of technological innovation. Significant potential for further development the gas industry carries with it the development of the extraction of unconventional sources of natural gas. So in the past few years, the development of shale gas in the United States has been developing rapidly. In turn, for Russia, technologies for the extraction of methane from coal beds are relevant. In particular, in the Russian "Gazprom" this direction is called one of the main directions of the strategy of expanding the resource base of the gas concern. A special place for expanding the resource base for domestic and foreign oil and gas companies is occupied by the implementation of projects for the production of natural gas on the sea shelf, including in the Arctic.

This section highlights some of the innovations that have transformed the gas industry. First of all, technologies in the field of exploration and production are highlighted. In addition, it tells about the innovations that have expanded the potential for using natural gas as a fuel and made it possible for it to claim the role of the most promising energy carrier of the 21st century.

New technologies in the segment of exploration and production

Technological innovation in the exploration and production sector have been able to open up new opportunities for the industry to increase the production of natural gas and meet the growing demand for it. It is important that these technologies have managed to make the exploration and production of natural gas more efficient, safe and environmentally friendly. Some of the technological innovations in this area are summarized below:

o 3 D and 4D seismic exploration- the development of seismic exploration, which allows obtaining and analyzing data on the density of rocks in three dimensions, has greatly changed the nature of natural gas production. 3D seismic exploration combines traditional seismic imaging techniques with powerful computers to create 3D models of subsurface layers. 4D seismic exploration complements them and allows you to observe changes in characteristics over time. Thanks to 3D and 4D, it has become easier to identify promising fields, increase the efficiency of their development, reduce the number of dry wells, reduce drilling costs, and also reduce research time. All this leads to economic and environmental benefits.

o CO 2 - Sand - Frac(hydraulic fracturing). The hydraulic fracturing method has been used since 1970, which made it possible to increase the yield of natural gas and oil from underground formations. CO2 - Sand - Fracturing technology uses a mixture of proppant sand and liquid CO2 to form and expand fractures through which oil and natural gas can flow more freely. The CO2 then evaporates, leaving only sand in the formation with no other residues from the fracturing process to be removed. This technology allows you to increase the extraction of natural gas and at the same time does not harm the environment, since it does not create waste underground, and also protects groundwater resources.

o Coiled tubing(coiled tubing) - one of the most dynamically developing areas in the world in the production of oil and gas equipment. Coiled tubing well operation is based on the use of sleeveless flexible pipes during drilling and well operation. Coiled tubing technology includes a metallurgical component - the production of special metal flexible pipes, design - the design of ground and downhole equipment and instrumentation of the information processing program. Coiled tubing technologies significantly reduce the cost of drilling, as well as the likelihood emergency situations and oil spills, reduce the amount of waste, reduce the time of work by 3-4 times in comparison with traditional methods. Coiled tubing can be used in conjunction with demanding drilling operations to improve drilling efficiency, achieve higher hydrocarbon recovery rates and have a lower environmental impact.

o Telemetry systems. In foreign literature, such systems are called MWD (measurement while drilling) - systems developed for measuring drilling parameters and transmitting information to the surface. Information received and processed using modern technologies telemetry, allows field workers to monitor the drilling process, which reduces the likelihood of errors and accidents. In addition, the use of telemetry systems can be useful for geologists, providing information about the properties of the rock being drilled.

o Slimhole drilling. This technology can significantly improve the efficiency of drilling operations as well as reduce the environmental impact. It is an economically viable method for drilling exploration wells in new areas, deep wells in existing fields, and for extracting natural gas from unexploited fields.

o Deep sea drilling(deep-water drilling) . Deep water drilling technology has made a big leap forward in last years... Currently, they enable safe and efficient development of deposits in waters over 3 km. Currently, the main directions for the further development of these technologies are the improvement of offshore drilling rigs, the development of dynamic positioning devices, the creation of complex navigation systems.

o Hydraulic fracturing(fracking) - a method that allows the development of hydrocarbon deposits, including shale gas. It consists in the fact that a special mixture of water, sand and chemical reagents is pumped into a gas-bearing rock formation under high pressure. In the gas-bearing layer, cracks form under pressure, through which hydrocarbons seep to the well. Now hydraulic fracturing is widely used in the development of oil and gas fields. Recently, however, concerns about the risks associated with the extraction of this method have not subsided. The above technology is fraught with water pollution; in addition, there is a potential risk of the relationship between the use of the hydraulic fracturing method and seismic activity.

The listed technological advances provide only a part of the complex technologies that have been introduced into practice in the field of exploration and production of natural gas and are constantly being improved. These technologies allowed the gas industry to achieve better economic results and allow them to develop fields that were previously considered unprofitable.

In turn, there are technologies that open the way to a wider use of the potential of natural gas as an energy carrier. This is, first of all, the use of liquefied natural gas, which has revolutionized the gas industry. In addition, the use of fuel cells opens up great prospects.

o Liquefied natural gas. One of the most promising areas for the development of the gas industry is the development of new technologies and equipment for the production, storage, transportation and use and the creation of equipment for the liquefaction of natural gas. LNG is ordinary natural gas that is artificially liquefied by refrigeration to −160 ° C. At the same time, its volume decreases 600 times. LNG is considered one of the most promising and environmentally friendly energy sources with a number of advantages. First of all, it is easier to transport and store than conventional natural gas. Thus, in its liquid form, LNG does not have the ability to explode or ignite. A particularly important advantage of LNG in terms of ensuring energy security is that it can be delivered anywhere in the world, including those where there are no main gas pipelines. Therefore, for many countries, the importance of LNG is increasing. In particular, in Japan, almost 100% of gas needs are covered by LNG imports.

o Fuel cells. Currently, research continues in the field of creating economically attractive technologies for the use of fuel cells based on natural gas. They are capable of making a qualitative breakthrough in the use of blue fuel, radically expanding the field of natural gas application. It is expected that developments in the production of electricity from fuel cells will soon create a convenient, safe and environmentally friendly source of energy for transport, industry and the domestic sphere. Fuel cells are like rechargeable batteries. They work by transferring a stream of fuel (usually hydrogen) and oxidizer to electrodes separated by an electrolyte. By eliminating the intermediate combustion stage, the efficiency of the power generation process can be increased. Thus, the efficiency of fuel cells is much higher than that of traditional generation using fossil fuels. It is important that the use of fuel cells can drastically reduce the amount of harmful emissions. For example, in some types of fuel cells, the reaction products are only water and heat. Other advantages of fuel cells include their reliability and the ability to create, on their basis, compact energy sources capable of operating in an autonomous mode.

Development of innovations in the gas industry in Russia

The level of innovation development in the Russian gas industry is in an unsatisfactory state. In almost all key areas, foreigners are technologically superior to domestic companies. In particular, they are much better able to work on the shelf, they widely use state-of-the-art methods of enhanced oil recovery and advanced drilling technologies.

Russian companies, on the other hand, are rather reluctant to invest their funds in their own technological developments, which do not guarantee commercial benefits and require many years of investment in pilot production. In turn, research institutes working for oil and gas companies or performing development on their behalf are often simply not ready to solve long-term tasks that require large investments and are accompanied by high risks.

Therefore, the domestic gas complex mostly invests only in the acquisition of high-tech equipment. As a result, today the gas industry has become highly dependent on the transfer of innovations from abroad. This, in particular, is happening by attracting Western contractors in joint projects for drilling in Russia. In addition, domestic companies are actively borrowing the engineering bank that the leaders of the gas business have and adapting their progressive technologies to their own subsoil assets.

Today, the investments of the gas complex in new technologies and innovative developments can be divided into four areas.

Russia expects increased sanctions pressure. The UK and the US are actively looking for new reasons to discriminate against Russian business. However, the results of the latest wave of sanctions policy, which began in 2014, are far from unambiguous. Even independent studies show that the Russian fuel and energy complex has not suffered much from the restrictions, moreover, it was they who pushed the development of industry in Russia. According to industry experts, a possible strengthening of anti-Russian sanctions will also not become critical for the Russian fuel and energy complex, but only if the government and energy companies mobilize forces in time to create a domestic engineering industry that produces equipment for the extraction of hard-to-recover oil reserves (TRIZ).

Russia must learn how to extract TRIZ

On the eve, the Energy Center of the SKOLKOVO Business School presented the results of its research “ Prospects for Russian oil production: life under sanctions”, Which analyzed the impact of the sanctions imposed by the US and the EU on the Russian oil sector, in particular on the commissioning of new traditional fields in Russia, the development of offshore projects, and the production of Bazhenov oil. The authors of the study also made a scenario forecast of Russian oil production until 2030.

The document notes that on the horizon until 2020, despite all the restrictions, Russia has the potential to further increase production volumes at the expense of already prepared fields. This short-term upside potential, however, may be limited by agreements with OPEC. In the medium term until 2025, even in the event of severe restrictions on access to technology and low oil prices, production volumes will not suffer catastrophically. At the same time, the main reason for the decline in production during this period may be not so much the lack of access to Western technologies for the implementation of new projects, but the lack of technological capabilities to intensify production at existing fields.

This study has shown that the most critical technology for maintaining Russian oil production is hydraulic fracturing (hydraulic fracturing), as it is able to maintain production in existing fields.

The use of multi-stage hydraulic fracturing (multi-stage hydraulic fracturing) promises an increase in production at promising unconventional fields.

The authors of the study emphasize that in the current conditions, it is the development of their own hydraulic fracturing and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing technologies, the production of hydraulic fracturing and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing fleets within the country, and personnel training that should become a technological priority for industry companies and regulators. However, so far the work in this direction is being carried out at an obviously insufficient pace. As Yekaterina Grushevenko, an expert from the SKOLKOVO Energy Center, noted in her report, not a single hydraulic fracturing fleet was produced in the period from 2015 to August 2017. Rotary-controlled systems, according to the website of the Scientific and Technical Center of PJSC Gazprom Neft, were at the testing stage at the end of 2016. The expert emphasized that TRIZ already accounts for two thirds of oil reserves.

Production cut not expected until 2020

Director of the Energy Center of the SKOLKOVO Business School Tatiana Mitrova In her speech at the presentation of this study, she noted that the first sanctions against Russia and Russian energy companies were introduced in 2014, but no special studies on their impact on the oil industry have been published.

“We didn't know what result we would get. The first hypothesis assumed that the consequences would be very grave, ”Mitrova said. However, the results showed a slightly different picture of the impact of the sanctions.

“Currently, no serious consequences of the sanctions are being felt in the operating activities of companies. Indeed, production has grown in recent years, despite low prices and sanctions. The oil industry reported success. But the positive current situation should not be misleading, the analysis of the complex of sanctions itself speaks of their very broad interpretation, and this is the main threat of sanctions pressure, ”the expert said.

According to her, until 2020, according to the modeling results, production cuts are not expected, since the main projects have already been financed.

“Starting from 2020, negative trends will become more and more noticeable and may lead to a decrease in oil production in Russia by 5% by 2025 and by 10% by 2030 from current production levels. A decrease in production in such amounts, of course, is not catastrophic for the Russian economy, but nevertheless it is quite sensitive, ”Mitrova said.

She stressed that sanctions are a long history and in order for the Russian oil industry has adapted to them, additional efforts of the state and companies are needed to develop their own technologies and produce the necessary equipment.

“There is a huge part of oil production, which directly depends on hydraulic fracturing technology. It is the availability of this equipment that has the greatest impact on the volume of oil production in the country. But the development and implementation of the production of this technology is largely the task of the Russian government and industry, ”explained the Director of the Energy Center.

A new industry is required

Head of Gas and Arctic at SKOLKOVO Business School Roman Samsonov In his speech, he noted that, according to his personal observations, in Russia only against the background of sanctions can one observe progress in the development and production of its own high-tech equipment.

“The situation with the production of high-tech equipment is complex, but it can be learned to manage. In fact, we are talking about the creation of a whole multifunctional sub-branch of oil and gas engineering, ”noted Samsonov.

According to the participants in the study “Prospects for Russian oil production: life under sanctions,” such a large-scale task of creating a new sub-branch of heavy engineering in Soviet times was solved only thanks to state directives. In the conditions of the modern market economy, in which the Russian Federation is now developing, the mechanisms for the implementation of this task have not yet been worked out.

However, this is only in Russia. If you look at the experience of Western countries that successfully overcome all difficulties for TRIZ mining, it becomes clear that such a method has long been found. This is most clearly seen in the example of the US shale industry, which was actively credited even during the period low prices which helped her to survive. Obviously, such a tolerant attitude of banks towards this oil production sector could not do without state participation. Now, grateful shale producers are helping the US authorities to restrain OPEC and other oil producers, actively influencing the global oil and gas market.

Ekaterina Deinogo

This technology, which has been used to intensify the work and increase the output of oil producing wells for more than half a century, causes perhaps the most heated debate among ecologists, scientists, ordinary citizens, and often even the workers of the extractive industry themselves. Meanwhile, the mixture that is pumped into the well during hydraulic fracturing consists of 99% of water and sand, and only 1% of chemicals.

What hinders oil recovery

The main reason for the low productivity of wells along with poor natural permeability of the formation and poor-quality perforation is a decrease in the permeability of the bottomhole formation zone. This is the name of the area of ​​the reservoir around the wellbore, which is subject to the most intense effects of various processes accompanying the construction of the well and its subsequent operation and violating the initial equilibrium mechanical and physicochemical state of the reservoir. Drilling itself introduces changes in the distribution of internal stresses in the surrounding rock. A decrease in well productivity during drilling also occurs as a result of the penetration of drilling fluid or its filtrate into the bottomhole formation zone.

Poor perforation due to the use of low-power perforators, especially in deep wells, where the energy of the explosion of charges is absorbed by the energy of high hydrostatic pressures, can also be the reason for the low productivity of wells.

A decrease in the permeability of the bottomhole formation zone also occurs during well operation, accompanied by a violation of thermobaric equilibrium in the formation system and the release of free gas, paraffin and asphalt-resinous substances from oil, which clog the pore space of the reservoir. Intense contamination of the bottomhole formation zone is also noted as a result of the penetration of working fluids into it when carrying out various renovation works... Pickup injection wells deteriorates due to clogging of the pore space of the formation with corrosion products, silt, oil products contained in the injected water. As a result of such processes, the resistance to filtration of liquid and gas increases, the flow rates of wells decrease, and there is a need for artificial influence on the bottomhole formation zone in order to increase the productivity of wells and improve their hydrodynamic connection with the formation.

Technologyfracking

To enhance oil recovery, intensify the operation of oil and gas wells and increase the injectivity of injection wells, the method of hydraulic fracturing or fracking is used. The technology consists in creating a highly conductivity fracture in the target formation under the action of a fluid fed into it under pressure to ensure the inflow of the produced fluid to the bottom of the well. After hydraulic fracturing, the flow rate of the well, as a rule, increases sharply - or the drawdown is significantly reduced. Hydraulic fracturing technology makes it possible to “revive” idle wells, where oil or gas production by traditional methods is no longer possible or unprofitable.

Hydraulic fracturing (hydraulic fracturing) is one of the most effective means of increasing the productivity of wells, since it leads not only to the intensification of the production of reserves located in the drainage zone of the well, but also, under certain conditions, makes it possible to significantly expand this zone by introducing weakly drained zones into production. and interlayers - and, therefore, achieve a higher ultimate oil recovery.

Storyhydraulic fracturing method

The first attempts to intensify oil production from oil wells were made back in the 1890s. In the United States, where oil production was developing at a rapid pace at this time, a method of stimulating production from tight rocks using nitroglycerin was successfully tested. The idea was to explode the nitroglycerin to crush the tight rocks in the bottomhole zone of the well and ensure an increase in oil flow to the bottom. The method has been successfully applied for some time, despite its obvious danger.

The first commercially successful hydraulic fracturing was carried out in 1949 in the United States, after which the number began to increase dramatically. By the mid-50s, the number of hydraulic fracturing jobs performed reached 3000 per year. In 1988, the total number of hydraulic fracturing jobs performed exceeded 1 million, and this is only in the United States.

In domestic practice, the hydraulic fracturing method has been used since 1952. The peak of application of the method was reached in 1959, after which the number of operations decreased, and then this practice stopped altogether. From the early 1970s to the late 1980s, hydraulic fracturing in domestic oil production on an industrial scale was not carried out. In connection with the commissioning of large oil fields in Western Siberia, the need for intensification of production has simply disappeared.

… And today is

The revival of the practice of using hydraulic fracturing in Russia began only in the late 1980s. Currently, the leading positions in terms of the number of hydraulic fracturing operations are held by the USA and Canada. They are followed by Russia, where the use of hydraulic fracturing technology is carried out mainly in the oil fields of Western Siberia. Russia is practically the only country (not counting Argentina) outside the United States and Canada where hydraulic fracturing is a common practice and is perceived quite adequately. In other countries, the application of fracturing technology is difficult due to local biases and misunderstandings of the technology. In some of them, there are significant restrictions on the use of hydraulic fracturing technology, up to an outright ban on its use.

A number of experts argue that the use of fracturing technology in oil production is an irrational, barbaric approach to the ecosystem. At the same time, the method is widely used by almost all major oil companies.

The use of hydraulic fracturing technology is quite wide - from low to highly permeable reservoirs in gas, gas condensate and oil wells. In addition, using hydraulic fracturing, it is possible to solve specific problems, for example, eliminate sand production in wells, obtain information about the reservoir properties of test objects in exploration wells, etc.

In recent years, the development of hydraulic fracturing technologies in Russia is aimed at increasing the volume of proppant injection, the production of nitrogen hydraulic fracturing, as well as multistage hydraulic fracturing in the reservoir.

Equipment forhydraulic fracturing

The equipment required for hydraulic fracturing is manufactured by a number of enterprises, both foreign and domestic. One of them is the TRUST-ENGINEERING company, which offers a wide range of equipment for hydraulic fracturing in a standard design, and in the form of modification, performed at the request of the customer. .

As a competitive advantage of the products of TRUST-ENGINEERING LLC, it is necessary to note the high share of production localization; application of the most modern design and production technologies; use of units and components from world leaders in the industry. It is also important to note the high culture of design, production, warranty, post-warranty and service maintenance inherent in the company's specialists. Equipment for hydraulic fracturing produced by TRUST-ENGINEERING LLC is easier to purchase due to the presence of representative offices in Moscow ( the Russian Federation), Tashkent (Republic of Uzbekistan), Atyrau (Republic of Kazakhstan), as well as in Pancevo (Serbia).

Of course, the hydraulic fracturing method, like any other technology used in the extractive industry, is not without certain disadvantages. One of the disadvantages of fracking is that the positive effect of the operation can be negated by unforeseen situations, the risk of which with such an extensive intervention is quite high (for example, an unforeseen violation of the tightness of a nearby water reservoir is possible). At the same time. hydraulic fracturing is one of the most effective methods of well stimulation today, which penetrates not only low-permeability formations, but also reservoirs of medium and high permeability. The greatest effect from hydraulic fracturing can be achieved when introducing integrated approach to the design of hydraulic fracturing as an element of the development system, taking into account various factors, such as reservoir conductivity, well placement system, reservoir energy potential, fracture mechanics, characteristics of fracturing fluid and proppant, technological and economic constraints.

Despite forecasts that in the near future the fuel industry will allegedly remain out of work, experts predict such minerals as oil and gas, long relevance and not yet a fast decline. However, the paradigm shift in energy complex will definitely happen - for example, it is assumed that blue fuel (aka natural gas) will become several times more in demand among the population than black gold (oil), which in currently has a significant impact on the global economy.

And yet now the rates of extraction of both one and the other of the fossil remain high, which means that people employed in this segment will try to do everything possible to find and obtain their maximum reserves. New technologies will help them in this.

Exploration and drilling: modern methods

Before starting the extraction process, oil or gas must be found in the bowels of the earth. Companies have to work in an environment of ever-increasing demand for these resources - so, according to forecasts, the peak of their relevance will be in 2023. That is why mining organizations are adopting advanced methods that will help ensure an adequate supply of valuable resources to the inhabitants of the earth, as well as make their development as safe, efficient and environmentally friendly as possible.

Seismic exploration is the study of the main characteristics of rocks in order to identify what kind of rock is in this place, and how deep from the surface it lies. The main landmarks here are the patterns observed in the earth's crust during the artificial creation of elastic waves. These periodic fluctuations are caused by:

• explosions of TNT charges in shallow 10- or 20-meter depressions;
• regularly renewed and prolonged vibration exposure (for example, using special machines).

Today, seismic exploration has reached a qualitatively new level, because obtaining information that is important from the point of view of engineering geology (volumes, age, state of a mineral, etc.) is now possible in 3 dimensions thanks to high-tech receiving devices. Unlike the 2D method, where devices are placed in a straight line with respect to the source, here the equipment is placed around the entire perimeter of the prospective survey area. This allows you to identify complex value in the context of subsequent mining, because powerful computers display not insufficient information at all, but visual volumetric models of underground layers with comprehensive data.

Sometimes the efficiency and economy of the method is increased even more by tracking a promising field over time (4D method). The analysis of continuously changing characteristics can help workers not only reduce the costs associated with drilling, but also minimize the number of dry holes (those that turned out to be unproductive and did not provide an industrial flow of valuable resources).

Carbon monoxide, sand, hydraulic fracturing: a safe combination

Next new technology oil and gas production was first used back in 1947, but still it continues to be considered innovative and highly efficient in terms of the volume of rocks extracted from underground formations. The method is based on hydraulic fracturing - a process during which a mixture of substances (water, sand and chemicals) under pressure is fed into a drilled well. As a result of such an impact, clogging the hole, the formation and expansion of cracks occurs, due to which the inflow of minerals becomes more intense, and work with it becomes easier.

As a kind of "fillers" for hydraulic fracturing can be used different materials... If we talk about the working fluid, then usually hydrochloric acid solutions or solutions with high molecular weight polymers are used here, as well as, in some cases, the crude oil itself. The proppant, as a rule, is quartz sand or some kind of proppant with granules up to 1.5 mm.

One of the most productive indicators is demonstrated by sand-mixed carbon monoxide injected into the well using hydraulic fracturing technology. Subsequently, it evaporates, due to which only sand remains in the layer, unable to have any destructive effect on the soil. So this method allows not only to make the development of the field much more intensive, but also to protect the environment, rocks and groundwater from the accumulation of hazardous waste.

In the Russian language, the phrase migrated from English, where "coiled tubing" literally translates as "a column of flexible pipes". At the moment, the equipment made using this technology is considered the most innovative among the rest. Fundamentally new here is the rejection of traditional prefabricated drilling rigs in favor of flexible continuous (sleeveless) pipes. This method allows the oil and gas industry to:

• become less and less dependent on costs;
• reduce the amount of waste;
• reduce the operating time by 3-4 times compared to performing work in the usual way!

Coiled tubing is inextricably linked with the metallurgical industry, because first it requires the production of flexible mechanisms of light, medium or heavy class, then - correct assembly by designers, and at the very end - installation of software for servicing the hardware complex and competent transformation of the information received. The main disadvantage of the technology is its lack of rotation capability, which is why production companies still prefer to drill main wells using traditional rigs. Only then do they connect coiled tubing equipment to the development of the field, which may include not only flexible metal pipes, but also cutting tools, pumps, equipment for heating liquids, various nozzles and much more.

This new technology in the oil and gas industry, called "Measurement while drilling", is once again inextricably linked with methodological and mathematical hardware and computerization. The point is that in order to prevent errors, accidents and emergency situations, employees need to constantly monitor the key indicators of the process, and, in particular, the position of the well axis in space. For this, a special category was even developed that considers the measurement of angles - inclinometry, within which the development of various telemetric control systems takes place. Some of their sensors are located underground, while others are above the surface. Communication between them is carried out through the following channels:

• hydraulic;
• acoustic;
• electromagnetic;
• electrically conductive and many others.

Today, the functionality of these automated installations is expanding almost every day. For example, the most advanced mechanisms, called "modular", allow not only to control the main technological and navigation characteristics, but also to carry out partial geophysical surveys and research;

• vibrometry;
• resistance of rocks;
• natural gamma radiation from mined minerals, etc.

Other directions: transportation and storage

Also important is the transportation of oil and gas and their further exploitation. So, today all mining organizations have switched to the technology of using universal tank containers for ISO standard, which do not pollute the atmosphere due to the absence of the slightest holes and cracks, even at the joints. However, some companies decided to go even further and turn them ... Into independent long-term repositories for valuable resources! Firstly, it really helps to avoid accidents, because there is simply no need to carry out several unloading and loading operations. The consumer draws up a sales contract and receives blue fuel or black gold all in the same container either using a logistics service from the customer, or by independently transporting the cargo. This method allows you to significantly save on capital investments, because it does not require either pumping equipment for pumping, or interaction with intermediary oil and gas bases. The mineral is actually delivered into the hands of the client directly from the mining plant.

One of the currently actively developed methods of storing oil and gas is also placing them in underground reservoirs of permafrost dispersed rocks. They do not affect the quality of the stored products even after prolonged contact and meet the requirements for stable stability. The future "container" is thawed, after which it is cleaned of the water-soil mixture, filled and thus sealed, as it were.

Let it be necessary to constantly monitor such a repository, tk. theoretically, signs of deformation of the surrounding strata or a decrease in temperature with subsequent thawing of ice may appear at any moment here, yet this is the optimal solution for long-term conservation of resources. Unlike above-ground steel containers, underground permafrost masses are extremely clean from an environmental point of view and practically non-explosive, because they are regulated by natural conditions.

Recently in oil production more and more often they began to use hydraulic fracturing (hydraulic fracturing). Hydraulic fracturing is one of the most effective methods of influencing the bottomhole zone of wells. The very first hydraulic fracturing experiment in the Kogalym region was carried out in 1989 at the Povkhovskoye field. A lot of time has passed since that moment, various technologies have been introduced hydraulic fracturing, and this process has become an integral part of the work of all fields of the enterprise. If earlier the main task of hydraulic fracturing was to restore the natural productivity of the reservoir, deteriorated in the process of drilling and operating wells, now the priority is to increase oil recovery in reservoirs that are at a late stage of development, both by involving weakly drained zones and intervals in objects with a high degree of development. development of reserves, and involvement in the development of low-permeability, highly segmented objects. The two most important areas of development in oil production over the past 15 years are precisely hydraulic fracturing and drilling of horizontal wells. This combination has a very high potential. Horizontal wells can be drilled either perpendicularly or along the azimuth of the fracture propagation. Virtually no other technology in the oil and gas industry provides such a high economic return. The employees of the Tevlinsko-Russkinskoye field were convinced of this, having tested the method of interval hydraulic fracturing on well 1744G. Yuri Miklin, Lead Engineer of the Enhanced Oil Recovery Department, told us about the successful experience.

In an era of high energy prices, producing companies strive to get the most out of their assets by extracting as much hydrocarbons as economically justified, - says Yuri, - for this purpose, long intervals of the reservoir are often involved in development through horizontal wells. The results of conventional hydraulic fracturing in such wells can be unsatisfactory for economic and technological reasons. Method of interval or, as they say, multi-interval Hydraulic fracturing, is able to provide a more efficient development of oil reserves by increasing the contact area of ​​the fracture with the formation and creating highly conductive paths for oil movement. Deteriorated reservoir properties of formations force producing companies to look for more and more new ways of economically profitable ways to construct a well for further stimulation of the formations of interest using the latest advances in science and technology. Realizing this, companies strive to reduce the time and, accordingly, the cost of additional trips and work of well workover crews using special equipment, which becomes part of wells.

One of the ways out is the completion of the well with a horizontal end with a liner with circulation valves on the assembly, which serve to inject a mixture of fluid with proppanite. This assembly includes swellable packers designed to anchor and stabilize the liner in an open open hole.

Process hydraulic fracturing formation consists in the creation of artificial and expansion of existing cracks in the rocks of the bottomhole zone under the influence of increased pressures of the fluid injected into the well. All this system of fractures connects the well with the productive parts of the formation remote from the bottom hole. To prevent the cracks from closing, coarse sand is introduced into them, added to the fluid injected into the well. The length of cracks can reach several tens of meters.

Here it should be borne in mind that the distance between the locations of the circulation valves and, accordingly, the locations of fracture initiation in the horizontal wellbore will affect the productivity of each section, - Yuri notes, - that is, it is required to choose the optimal distance between the fractures, based on the geometry of the projected fractures. We must protect ourselves as much as possible from intersecting fractures in the reservoir, which can cause complications during hydraulic fracturing. Ideally, the maximum production rate is possible when the fracture spacing is equal to the drainage radius. This condition is impracticable, given the design of well 1744G, so the location of the fractures had to be selected with the greatest possible distance from each other.

Taking into account the inclined bedding of the reservoirs, horizontal wells are the best way to increase the contact area with the reservoir. Carrying out Hydraulic fracturing using the "Zone Select" technology is as follows: first, hydraulic fracturing the farthest interval through an arrangement in which the circulation valve is already open. After that, a ball is launched from the surface into the tubing string (tubing) together with the displacement fluid, which, reaching the bottom of the well, first opens the second circulation valve to process the next section, and then sits in a special seat, cutting off the treated interval. At two machining intervals, one ball is used. In proportion to the increase in the number of processing intervals, the number of balls also increases. Moreover, each next ball must be of a larger diameter than the previous one. The balls are made of aluminum and this is important. After stimulating the required number of intervals and injecting the calculated amount of a mixture of fluid and sand, the hydraulic fracturing fleet leaves the well. A fleet of coiled tubing (coiled tubing) is assigned to the well, which performs flushing, milling of balls and development of the well with determination of the inflow profile and production capabilities of the well. The development is carried out with nitrogen - this is the most promising direction for reducing the pressure at the bottom of the well. At the TPP "Kogalymneftegaz", this technology was used to treat two intervals of the well 1744G of the Tevlinsko-Russkinskoye field. Compared to adjacent horizontal and directional wells after hydraulic fracturing using standard technology, this well achieved higher performance indicators. The initial oil production rate at well 1744G was about 140 tons per day.

Finally, I would like to note that it is the large-scale application of Hydraulic fracturing allows to stop the decline in oil production at the fields of TPP "Kogalymneftegaz" and increases the production of reserves from medium and low-productivity reservoirs. The advantages of interval hydraulic fracturing in horizontal wells using the Zone Select technology is not only an increase in the effective contact area of ​​the formation with the well that properties. This indicates that horizontal wells using interval fracturing are more efficient and economically viable.