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As I write this, my third and final opportunity to select technical papers for this feature, I find myself in Baku, Azerbaijan, the birthplace of our modern-day petroleum industry. This is an amazing place, where the history of our industry collides with the present. It is still possible to see some of the earliest commercial oil wells that were dug by hand and cased with wood; while just offshore, huge new development projects use some of the most modern technology available to the industry.
Even with current prices for oil and gas, our industry struggles to supply the energy to support the dynamic economies of the world today. Achieving the goal of long-term, low-cost sources of hydrocarbons will require significant technology advances in the area of well stimulation. From the papers I have seen this year, it is apparent that these technological advances will affect many different portions of our industry, from old, mature fields, where significant reserves have previously been economically unattractive, to the new, major ultradeepwater projects that are being evaluated today. The challenge will be to increase productivity, and then to maintain that increased productivity throughout the life of the field to provide improved ultimate recovery.
New and innovative stimulation technologies are emerging that will shake the foundations of some of our tried and proven methods. Still, in other cases, we see elegant enhancements to improve the performance of existing technologies. It appears that the future challenge will be for us to find more-cost-effective ways to improve well productivity.
It appears that well stimulation will remain a dynamic part of our industry. I am hopeful that this industry will continue to be attractive to new, innovative, and challenging minds who will continue to shape the future of the petroleum industry.
Well Stimulation additional reading available at the SPE eLibrary:
SPE 98329 "Evaluation of Nonlinear Fracture Relative Permeabilities and Their Impact on Waterfrac Performance in Tight Gas Sands" by R.B. Sullivan, SPE, Anadarko Petroleum Corp., et al.
SPE 98314 "A Breakthrough Fluid Technology in Stimulation of Sandstone Reservoirs" by F.E. Tuedor, SPE, Schlumberger, et al.
SPE 97659 "Controlling Formation Fines at Their Sources To Maintain Well Productivity" by P.D. Nguyen, Halliburton, et al.
SPE 97161 "Proppant Flowback Prevention—A New Technology for Low-BHST Applications" by D.E. Johnson, SPE, Hexion Specialty Chemicals Inc., et al.
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