Gerrit Nitters, Head of Well Stimulation and Impairment Prevention Research at Shell, presented “Well Stimulation – A New Challenge” during the 2005-2006 Society of Petroleum Engineers Distinguished Lecturer Series.

About the Lecture
Well Stimulation is there to stay. Over the years it delivered billions of barrels of oil to the industry worldwide. The exact volume is difficult to establish but one major oil company estimates it at around 1.8 billion BOE over the last 50 years. Acidizing and fracturing form the bulk of all stimulations and probably will continue to for some time to come.

Well stimulation is getting more costly and difficult to apply. Modern completions such as multilaterals and smart wells, call for development of new technologies. Incremental improvements to conventional stimulation methods, however useful, are no longer sufficient. Research institutes around the world are working on novel alternatives, including various forms of sound waves. The application of heat is also being rethought. At the same time, diagnostic technologies that analyze problem wells are emerging as are new ways to interpret this data. The development of downhole power generation opens the door to self-maintaining wells. Further improvements need to be made such that the well is producing at its optimum throughout its full lifecycle. The challenge that lies ahead of us is to develop technologies that maximize productivity with minimum intervention.

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