Application of Propane (LPG) Based Hydraulic Fracturing In The McCully Gas Field, New Brunswick, Canada

Abstract

New Brunswick Canada's first commercial unconventional gas field, the McCully field, is located near the town of Sussex in southern New Brunswick. The field is comprised of low permeability Hiram Brook sandstones as well as the underlying Frederick Brook shale. The McCully field started producing gas from the Hiram Brook in April 2003 from two wells and was followed by full production in June 2007. Currently there are twenty-nine wells producing from the Hiram Brook. The Frederick Brook shale was placed on production in March 2008 and is producing gas from one hydraulically fractured vertical well. Additional wells have been drilled, hydraulically fractured and flow tested to further evaluate the development potential of the shale. Prior to 2009, development of the McCully field has included the use of water based hydraulic fracturing to enhance production. In 2009 a fracture program based on using LPG as the fracture fluid was undertaken. Both the Hiram Brook sands and the Frederick Brook shale have been hydraulically fractured with LPG and the results have been compared to the performance of the water based fractures performed in the past. It has been found that both clean up and initial well performance for these tight sands were significantly enhanced using LPG fracs rather than water fracs. This paper compares the clean up performance and the initial flow performance for wells fractured using the two fracturing methods.