Expand exploration in Pimienta formation

Operating in the Burgos basin, PEMEX needed to evaluate the shale gas potential of its reserves within the Pimienta formation located in northern Mexico. Since tight cost controls and operational excellence are critical factors for profitability, the operator needed to implement the most effective completion design to confirm reserves and expand exploration in the basin.

Optimized completion design

Schlumberger was selected to develop the best strategy for characterizing the Pimienta formation and to recommend an optimal completion strategy. The BroadBand Sequence fracturing service, supported by Mangrove stimulation design, was proposed and implemented for the horizontal wells drilled in the northern part of the Pimienta formation. This was the first application of the BroadBand Sequence service outside US unconventional plays.

Mangrove stimulation design was used to quantify reservoir and completion quality along the wellbores, model fracture complexity in 3D, and estimate well production rates from the complex fracture networks. The completion advisor module offered through the Mangrove design was used to create the most effective completion design and select the optimal perforation placement, number of stimulation intervals, and diversion stages. During the design phase, Mangrove design was used for simulation of complex fracture geometry in the heterogeneous Pimienta formation and to provide a production forecast.

The BroadBand Sequence service reduced stimulation time by 65%, breaking the previous record and setting higher standards for the shale completion market in Mexico. To prove reserves in the basin, PEMEX used the initial production data from the first of the three wells stimulated with the BroadBand Sequence service. PEMEX approved the BroadBand Sequence service for the two subsequent horizontal wells, which were completed with higher completion efficiency. Based on these results, PEMEX has adopted the combined use of the Broadband Sequence service with the completion advisor module in Mangrove design as standard practice for all future unconventional completions in their program.