As global energy demand continues to increase, deepwater/high pressure (DWHP) oil & gas reserves are projected to make up a greater share of long-term supply than any other source. Accessing DWHP reserves requires wells with a total vertical depth (TVD) of at least 15,000 ft., where pressure is dramatically higher than the average onshore well. Accordingly, DWHP wells require alternative procedures, equipment, and materials capable of meeting the demands of high pressure environments. One of the most critical of these needs is proppant, specialized materials injected into the formation that allow oil or gas to flow into the wellbore. While sand and ceramic proppants are widely available and used consistently in onshore and shallow water wells, they are woefully inadequate for the harsher conditions under which DWHP wells operate.
Melior Innovations, Inc. has developed a step-change proppant using a highly specialized material new to the oil & gas industry, designed to optimize production from DWHP wells. Our unparalleled, unique product platform directly addresses the four key performance requirements of the DWHP market: strength, weight, sphericity, and uniformity.
Until now, the strength of proppant has been directly correlated to its weight—the higher the strength, the greater the weight. Melior’s unique production method has made Melior Advantage™ the first truly lightweight proppant capable of withstanding the pressure found in DWHP wells. In fact, Advantage is less than half the weight of competing products with similar strength. The significance of this very high strength-to-weight ratio is twofold—first, Advantage travels further into the formation, as it stays suspended in fracturing fluid longer than its heavier counterparts. Second, downhole engineers can safely reach the solid-to-fluid ratio limits of frac fluid (maximize amount of proppant entering the formation) without exceeding weight limits, which had previously been impossible.
Melior Advantage™ is a new class of proppant, developed and engineered from unique materials to deliver unparalleled performance and recovery. By delivering a combination of critical feature functions — high crush strength, low weight, uniform size and perfect sphericity — Melior Innovations has created an IDEAL proppant that is unmatched by the competition.
The high strength of Melior Advantage™ gives it the ability to operate at closure stress levels up to 15,000 psi. Its light weight enables it to travel further into fractured formations than other, heavier proppants, delivering increased hydrocarbon recovery relative to the competition. Finally, the sphericity and uniform size inherent in Melior Advantage™ proppant ensures optimal conductivity throughout the proppant pack, delivering unmatched estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) to the producer.
The synergistic interaction of these attributes makes Melior Advantage™ a unique, step-change product capable of increasing individual well return, maximizing initial production (IP), EUR and significantly reducing unit cost of production.
