Cotton Valley Independent Study
Independent pressure match and design fracture composite modeling study evaluating Hallux Mannanase HT enzyme breaker against conventional oxidizer breakers. A calibrated fracture model was developed from actual production data on an existing Cotton Valley well, then used to forecast performance across five completion designs — incorporating independent regained proppant pack permeability testing and rheology properties into all modeling.
The CV Analog 1H was completed using conventional oxidizer breakers. Post-job production history match (PHM), forecasting, and discrete fracture network (DFN) pressure match modeling was conducted to calibrate a fracture model from the well's actual production data. The calibrated model resulted in an effective propped half-length of 324 ft, fracture conductivity of 2.08 mD-ft, and was confirmed within 1% of actual production after 3.3 years.
Using that calibrated model, three completion designs (Designs 1–3) were developed at the original proppant loading of 1,500 lbm/ft — comparing oxidizer vs. Hallux Mannanase HT enzyme breaker across slickwater (SW), linear gel (LN), and crosslinked gel (XL) fluid systems.
Two additional designs (Designs 4–5) were modeled at an increased proppant loading of 2,000 lbm/ft to evaluate performance at higher proppant concentration with both breaker types.
Oxidative Breaker (commodity chemical): 30–40% Proppant Pack Clean-Up
Hallux Mannanase HT (Patented): 90–100% Proppant Pack Clean-Up
Regained proppant pack permeability testing results and rheology properties of the Mannanase HT enzyme breakers were incorporated into all the modeling.
Not all enzymes are created equally. Designs utilizing Hallux Mannanase HT enzyme breaker delivered 29–54% more production at 1 year compared to conventional oxidizer-treated completions — with regained fracture conductivities of 3.29–4.63 mD-ft versus 1.81–1.84 mD-ft for oxidizer designs. At $3/Mcf, this translates to $1.3–2.4 million per year in additional revenue per well.
Production forecasts show 29.5 to 54.4% production uplifts at 1 year when using Hallux Mannanase HT enzyme breaker compared to the baseline completion.
Fluid designs utilizing Mannanase HT enzyme breaker exhibited greater fracture conductivity, width, and propped fracture height and length in the fracture model.
Production forecast shows Design 2 and Design 5 with the best performance using SW / 20# linear gel / 20# crosslinked gel with MHT enzyme breaker. Design 2 shows a 30.9% production uplift at 1 year compared to the baseline. Design 5 shows the strongest result with 54.4% production uplift at 1 year.
| Model Run | CV Analog 1H PM | Design 1 | Design 2 | Design 3 | Design 4 | Design 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pump Schedule | Hybrid | Hybrid | Hybrid | LIN/XL | Hybrid | Hybrid |
| Fluid 1 | SW | SW | SW | 8# LIN MHT | SW | SW |
| Fluid 2 | 20# LIN VICON | 20# LIN PB 470 | 20# LIN MHT | 15# LIN MHT | 20# LIN PB 470 | 20# LIN MHT |
| Fluid 3 | 20# XL VICON | 20# XL PB 470 | 20# XL MHT | 15# XL MHT | 20# XL PB 470 | 20# XL MHT |
| Breaker Type | Oxidizer | Oxidizer | Hallux Mannanase HT | Hallux Mannanase HT | Oxidizer | Hallux Mannanase HT |
| Total Fracture Height, ft | 343 | 344 | 344 | 375 | 359 | 355 |
| Propped Height, ft | 70 | 70 | 106 | 99 | 115 | 118 |
| Created Frac Half-Length, ft | 949 | 976 | 857 | 696 | 1,161 | 977 |
| Propped Frac Half-Length, ft | 311 | 244 | 360 | 302 | 305 | 396 |
| Avg Hydraulic Frac Width, ft | 0.084 | 0.077 | 0.092 | 0.167 | 0.077 | 0.097 |
| Base Frac Conductivity, mD-ft | 1.52 | 1.34 | 1.66 | 2.33 | 1.37 | 1.98 |
| Regain Frac Conductivity, mD-ft | 2.05 | 1.81 | 3.29 | 4.63 | 1.84 | 3.94 |
| 1-year EUR, Bscf | 1.49 | 1.25 | 1.95 | 1.93 | 1.54 | 2.30 |
| 1-year Uplift | PM Baseline | -16.1% | 30.9% | 29.5% | 3.4% | 54.4% |
| 5-year EUR, Bscf | 3.36 | 2.77 | 4.09 | 3.87 | 3.39 | 4.61 |
| 5-year Uplift | PM Baseline | -17.6% | 21.7% | 15.2% | 0.9% | 37.2% |
| 10-year EUR, Bscf | 4.24 | 3.44 | 5.08 | 4.71 | 4.26 | 5.70 |
| 10-year Uplift | PM Baseline | -18.9% | 19.8% | 11.1% | 0.5% | 34.4% |
CV Analog 1H — Pressure Match. Baseline analog used for calibration to measured pressure and proppant response. Propped height 70 ft, propped half-length 311 ft, regained conductivity 2.05 mD-ft.
Mannanase HT enzyme designs (D2, D3, D5) show 29–54% production uplift at 1 year versus the baseline. Toggle to Revenue to see the incremental value at current EIA gas prices.