簡介：ExxonMobil 公司最近發布一款新型壓裂技術，將壓裂作業時間由幾天降低為幾個小時。其多段壓裂增產技術（MZST）尤其適合于非常規氣藏的開發。
A fracturing stimulation technology pioneered by ExxonMobil promises to reduce complicated stimulation jobs from several days to less than 24 hours. By conducting many fracturing activities simultaneously, the company’s MultiZone Stimulation Technology (MZST) has provided greater access to the unconventional gas reserves in the Piceance Basin.

Conventional fracturing technologies might successfully stimulate four to five hydrocarbon zones, a number that is economically unjustifiable in the complex structure of ExxonMobil’s Piceance Basin reservoirs in northwest Colorado. The relatively thin sand layers containing the tight-gas reserves are up to 16,000 ft below the surface and tend to be isolated; however, many of these zones may be within 20 ft of one another. Optimizing production means that as many as 50 of these gas-rich zones may have to be fractured.

The MZST provides greater efficiency, by incorporating the techniques and tools to quickly isolate a target zone, perforate the casing, and fracture the rock, in one continuous process. The fracture sequence begins at the lowest completion zone and then continues up the well to each new zone.

Greater efficiency is afforded by combining several wells—ExxonMobil has done nine wells at a time—with surface locations spaced approximately 15 ft apart on a single pad. This provides the advantage that all equipment can be moved easily from one well to the next without having to tear down, travel, and set up at a new location. This single-pad concept provides additional environmental benefits in terms of protecting the local flora and fauna, and includes programs to reuse produced water and reduce the use of fresh water.

While conventional fracturing technology may take several weeks to complete a few high-quality fracture treatments in one well, the company states that the MZST process has treated 22 zones in one day.

This process has expanded in the Piceance to include seven rigs, allowing tight-gas production to reach 100 MMcf/D. ExxonMobil is undeterred by the current lull in natural gas prices, and in fact now plans to export this process to other unconventional gas reserves it has accumulated elsewhere in the world, including in Germany, Eastern Europe, Canada, and the Marcellus Shale in the northeastern US.

Additional information provided by The Dallas Morning News and ExxonMobil.