| Slickwater hydraulic fracturing has become commonplace in tight gas developments as with Shell Canada's Groundbirch position in the Montney play. Water is a technical and non-technical issue for both surface and subsurface disciplines. Critical concerns pertaining to water at Groundbirch included sourcing water to stimulate wells, ensuring that the water used in hydraulic fracturing was not detrimental to the production of natural gas, and predicting the flows and potential storage volumes of water throughout the field such that water handling facilities could be appropriately designed enabling water to be optimally recycled. This thesis presents the author's work at Groundbirch as a pragmatic basis for developing a hydraulic fracturing water chemistry specification, water forecasts and balances for design considerations, and special analyses used to better quantify the mobility of water or aqueous phase trapping potential in tight gas sands, while emphasizing the importance of acquiring quality water rate and chemistry data. |
