By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Feb. 27 -- Questar Exploration & Production Co., Salt Lake City, said unusually strong gas flows from its Trail 13-15J well in Southwest Wyoming indicate that the well encountered one or more natural fractures in Cretaceous Baxter shale.
The well, in 15-13n-100w, Sweetwater County, produced more than 65 MMcf of gas in its first 11 days on production and on Feb. 26 was making 9 MMcfd up 4-1/2-in. casing with 6,100 psig flowing wellhead pressure on a 16/64-in. choke.
The company ran a frac job on Cretaceous Frontier and a seven-stage frac in Baxter. The results are vastly different from Questar's 17 previous wells in the Vermillion basin deep play. The strong flows may not be an indication of ultimate gas recovery and may not be repeatable, the company cautioned. TD is 13,700 ft.
"We've seen indications of naturally occurring fractures from cores and well logs, but this is the first time we've seen evidence of the influence of natural fractures on well production performance," Questar said.
"Once the natural fracture network depletes, we would expect gas rates to fall back in line with other wells in the play. However, the early performance of this well does demonstrate the potentially significant effect that natural fractures can have on initial production rate."
