Ann: Project Icewine Operations Update, page-258

Interesting then that we have seen the last 3 days post shut in of an FF flow of 100bbls/day OW on that reduced choke which is a substantial increase on the average % u have calculated.

Im hoping they have reached a better compromise from this choke adjustment and we will consequently see the hydrostatic reduce as the days go on due to density reduction of the FF/HC ratio in that vertical column.

If we get to a horizontal test well it will be interesting to see just how the fine tuning of a horizontal in the max landing zone with multiple vertical fractures affects the ability of the reservoir to clear this FF column given what should b a greater reservoir fracture volume exposure post any potential shut in requirement.

One wonders if they have utilized any viscosity modifiers with this slick water frac and whether the application of such modifiers may streamline the shut in by reducing the shut in period. The less time the frac team is on site at each well the better and the quicker they can move on to the next well. This is all on the assumption of continued Ice 2V progress from here on in.

I'm also thinking of how much more of a contributor the vapour phase component within the liquid hydrocarbons will become more of a flow factor once we have seen the entire removal of the FF in the well column.

Will we also see a considerable viscosity/flow improvement once this water component is soaked and the potential clearing of the water molecule fraction from the shale.

I think I've mentioned before if the shale has successfully imbibed without swelling the clay component then any hydrocarbon attraction component to the shale will have been reversed and the solid mineralized shale component should now be hydrocarbon repellant effectively altering any initial hydrocarbon attraction the reservoir initially had and adding to the ability of the HRZ to flow

These relative effects r essentially all equalized at depth so the initial imbibe component shut in may still be required IF this reservoir requires the above water to shale interaction to achieve the reservoir hydrocarbon repellancy.

I refer readers to a search on Shlumberger and visosity alteration if one wishes to read up more on this aspect of what might be happening in this respect to the HRZ.

This is also possibly why they selected slickwater stimulation rather than gel or oil based as it would have simply either blocked,
or worse still, hydrocarbon saturated the formation and blocked the permeability/pore throats rather than potentially altering the shale to an additive repelant hydrocarbon flow factor than a potentially neutral of negative flow factor. I say potentially as we still r yet to confirm just how this shale will continue to behave in this respect.

If the above has indeed occurred then we should see continued improvement in well performance over time.

This is not to mention the potentially complex
relationship between the kerogens and the vapour gas phase although I suspect this should be sorted by the correct GOR and Tmax zone selection the UV has made. The more mature and higher Tmax the less association there should be between the kerogens and the gas phase hydrocarbons. In other words one might hope that the vapour phase gases are more in liquid hydrocarbon solution than still bound to the original kerogen.

Again I bow to PBs experience in all things shale as He would no doubt have taken all this into consideration when building this HRZ model and would not have prioritized IT as his preferred reservoir unless he was substantially convinced these above dynamics would have a decent chance of working to the positive rather that the negative.

I would certainly be interested as to why He might have thought this would initially flow faster and clear the FF quickly. I'm thinking it has much to do with that central zone that is allowing pressure communication between the upper and lower fracced zones as well as the requirement for a longer soak phase if there is a
lower average organic %/hydrocarbon component within this zone.

Still lots to sort on this I feel but hopefully moving towards a positive resolution now.

d.