Zooming Out: Integrating Near Wellbore Analyses to Optimize Field Performance

SPE-230656-MS

Presented at HFTC 2026, the full whitepaper is available here: “Zooming Out: Integrating Near Wellbore Analyses to Optimize Field Performance.”

High-resolution acoustic imaging has been deployed to analyze over half-a-million perforations, offering transformative insights into perforation erosion and stimulation effectiveness. This data has previously been analyzed at the individual well level. To connect the dots between individual well and pad-wide performance, aggregating stimulation and well integrity data across entire pads provides a broader perspective. These insights enhance failure investigations and help operators optimize frac designs to ultimately increase production rates and hydrocarbon recovery. This paper presents aggregate “intra-frac” and post-frac analysis of casing integrity and perforation erosion data from multiple wells to highlight the value of multi-well analysis and a novel assessment methodology.

Using a redesigned imaging probe, high-resolution acoustic imaging technology was seamlessly integrated into the perforating gun string to capture perforation and casing integrity data in each stage, “intra-frac”. Aggregating this data across entire pads supports improved perforation analysis, through the collection of accurate reference perforation data, and stage-by-stage casing deformation monitoring. Following this, insights gleaned from the aggregate half-million perforation dataset highlight several examples of how multi-well post-frac analyses have identified several valuable insights and a novel analysis process to determine the impact that interactions between wells on the same pad have on the pad’s overall performance.

This study demonstrates the unique value of integrating high-resolution acoustics directly into the perforating gun string for the efficient capture and aggregation of intra- and post-frac stimulation and casing integrity data across entire pads.

Paper Number: SPE-230656-MS
Authors: Adam McQueen; Charles Bourgeois; Trent Pehlke; Aryan Rampal and Edward Soriano.