According to the present invention, the production of petroleum from a petroleum-bearing subterranean formation penetrated by a wellbore is accomplished by (a) fracturing the subterranean formation and injecting a conductive proppant into the fracture, the conductive proppant comprising particles which are at least partially coated with a heat hardenable, conductive resin to create a fluidly and electrically conductive fracture in the formation; (b) passing an electrical current into the formation through the wellbore to heat the formation and harden the conductive resin thereby at least partially aggregating the particles and retaining the particles in the fracture and heating the fracture and the subterranean formation in the vicinity of the fracture.
An improved hydraulic fracturing method for fracturing an unconsolidated zone in a subterranean formation by fracturing a nearby consolidated zone to form a fracture which extends into the unconsolidated zone. This invention further relates to a method for producing fluids from an unconsolidated subterranean zone via a fracture extending from the unconsolidated zone through a consolidated zone to a wellbore.
A method for fracturing a horizontal well at a plurality of locations along the length of the horizontal portion of the well by plugging previously fractured downstream fracture zones with a mixture of a proppant and a slump-inhibiting material.
A method for heating a subterranean formation includes the steps of positioning a well to a subterranean formation; disposing an energy transforming material in the formation; and exposing the material to energy whereby the material generates heat.
An electrode well for use in powerline-frequency heating of soils for decontamination of the soil. Heating of soils enables the removal of volatile organic compounds from soil when utilized in combination with vacuum extraction. A preferred embodiment of the electrode well utilizes a mild steel pipe as the current-carrying conductor to at least one stainless steel electrode surrounded by a conductive backfill material, preferably graphite or steel shot. A covering is also provided for electrically insulating the current-carrying pipe. One of the electrode wells is utilized with an extraction well which is under subatmospheric pressure to withdraw the volatile material, such as gasoline and trichioroethylene (TCE) as it is heated.
The present invention provides improved methods of placing proppant in fractures formed in a subterranean zone to prevent the subsequent flow-back of the proppant with fluids produced from the zone. The methods are basically comprised of the steps of depositing a mixture of hardenable resin composition coated proppant and uncoated proppant in the fractures and then causing the resin composition to harden into stationary permeable masses in the fractures.
