Clean Stimulation Technology

About 60 years ago, Halliburton played a major role in developing the hydraulic fracturing technology that has enabled many oil and gas wells to become commercially viable. Hundreds of thousands of hydraulic fracturing treatments have been completed since that time and significant advancements in the equipment, processes, chemistries and materials used in fracturing treatments have been achieved.

Today, hydraulic fracturing is needed more than ever to assist operators in accessing more difficult reservoirs, using fewer wellbores, optimizing production and meeting growing energy demands. To help meet those needs, a hydraulic fracturing fluid has been developed that is comprised solely of ingredients sourced from the food industry.

Composed of Food Ingredients

The new food-industry-sourced (FIS) fluid formulation is comprised only of ingredients that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved for use directly in food. All of the components—the gelling agent, crosslinker, surfactant and breakers—that make up the essential elements of the FIS fluid formulation come from the food industry.

Technical Benefits

This new FIS fluid system provides excellent performance in terms of pumpability, proppant transport and enhanced fracture cleanup/retained conductivity. The system is applicable over a broad temperature range and can be crosslinked and used for conventional gelled fracturing treatments, used as a linear fluid system, or used to provide friction reduction for slick water fracturing treatments.

Viscosity for the FIS fluid (See Figure 2) in general is comparable to other standard guar/metal crosslinker fluids normally used for this purpose in the industry today. Being a complete system allows for adjustments in the gelling agent, crosslinker or the use of the breaker suite to obtain the desired profile to enable the placement of the proppant and a controlled break for the necessary temperature profile and wellbore geometry.