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MICROFRAC Questions & Answers   Page 2

The following material was emailed to us by David Mallard of Microfrac Technologies Corp.  AnaLog Services, Inc. has no economic interest in Microfrac, and we make no representations as to the accuracy of the material on this page (we have verified nothing on this page).  Minimal spelling and grammatical corrections have been made, but we lack the time to properly edit this material.

20. Will part of the fluid pad be vaporized when the tool is ignited?

Not enough to worry about.  Temperature is approximately 5300 degrees F for several moments after the shot.


21. Can we stimulate under a packer and tubing?

No.  It has been tried and in each case you end up losing the tubing; you have to pull it and replace it.  So why not just spend the extra $2,000 and get it out of the way before you begin.


SAFETY

22. What service, design, guarantees, training and technical help can we get from you as we sell this product and get it into the field?

We will offer a 100% replacement policy, providing the tool, for whatever reason, fails to ignite. The catch is that the customer will need to ship it back.  If a tool is lost down hole, that issue will fall upon the wire line service company.  If the tool does not return to the surface 99% of the time it ignited.  We will offer regional training via video training and encourage all sales people to visit a local shot to actually see the well site and become familiar with all of the well equipment on the job.


23. Is there a safety manual or a Standard Operating Procedure?

We are developing a safety manual and this document will become part of it.  We will send a complete outline later.


24. What do we do if the tool does not ignite or part of it comes back out of the hole?

Again if they can produce a dud or part of a dud, we will replace the tool(s) as soon as they become available.  At some point it is our intention to stock pile for situations like this, we are not at that point yet.


25. What federal, state, explosives or transportation permits are required to transport and store the tool?

Become familiar with ATF guidelines, your sales group will need to work under a distribution license and will be required to have access to a Class One Storage bunker, even if you do not use it.  On our liquid- frac none of the above licenses will be required, however it may be several years before we offer the new generation to the customer base.


26. How is it safely transported, and does it go to a service/storage center or to the wireline camp?

In transportation matters, we have developed the first exception to shipping requirements.  If we restrict the number of grains to 4 per box, less than 12 pounds, we have a permit that will allow us to ship UPS ground anywhere in the U.S. (3 DAY). For $38.00 per box.  Otherwise anyone else would have to ship with a licensed dromedary 18 wheeler from 1 -2500 pounds at, depending on distance $1,250.00 per 2,500 pounds of Class 1 explosives.


27. Who loads the tool?

All Microfrac Tools should be loaded and set up by a licensed and trained wire line company owner or skilled employee.  Part of their overall bid should include this minor assembly.  If they know what they are doing it should not take more than 30 minutes per 2 grains or 1 tool.


28. Who attaches the tool to the wireline company tools?

The wire line company always makes the connection to our tool/hollow carrier.  Remember they are used to attaching their wire line to perforator guns, that's how they make their living, day in and day out.


29. How do the tools and wireline react when the tool is set off?  Can the wireline jump up and loop around itself?

If the tool is set up properly there may be an instant where the line pulls downward as the energy is released.  The weight of the hollow carrier will keep the line from snapping back.  We have had shots in the early development stages, where some line curled and we lost 300 feet.  But that was 2 years ago.  Since those days we have perfected the delivery system.


30. What accidents have there been?

Over the years mishandling this type of energetic material has killed several people.  Extreme care must be taken.  One gentleman was killed because he tried to force a tool into a well bore that was too small and started beating it with a hammer.  On the third strike he went to see God in a million pieces.  However, most of the five deaths were as a result in grinding the energetic materials to smaller micron size.  It is in the mixing and grinding work at our laboratories where 98% of the risk is found.  Hence the cost rise in the technical labor needed to mix and grind these materials.  Also the materials are in short supply, but we have grand fathered guarantees that will assure Microfrac can move forward in building and delivering these tools.


31. Does the top of the well have to be open to the atmosphere or can we have it closed in?

You must never close a well bore or seal it off at the top!  One of our recent customers did this and damaged his well casing when he went against our instructions.  To pull and replace and cement a 2000-foot string of 5½ inch steel casing can cost $20,000 or more, depending on the depth of the damage.  Casing can also be cut and be replaced by a section of 30 feet, but do not go there and warn your customers and wire line people to do this work at our direction.


32. If the well must be left open how do we handle pressure at the surface when trying to get the tools out of the hole?

Depending on the depth of the pay zone and the length of the water-block, the hydrostatic pressure will not allow much of an upward thrust of fluid.  Also we must remember that the same weight factor will block any renewed stream of gas and some cases formation energy.  Unexpected oil flows will also block new streams of natural gas.  In every case, the well bores must be swabbed and put back on pump as soon as possible.


STIMULATION

33. How can we best describe the downhole action to impress the well owner that we have something he can use to improve his production?

In most cases cost is an important element in developing a complete stimulation treatment.  Remember, as a backdrop that all forms of stimulation rely on energy deposits being present in the formation.  In High Energy Gas Fracturing only approximately 75% of good candidate wells respond to High-Pressure stimulation.  Having said this, HEGF is and can even be more effective than a hydraulic water or sand frac for thousands of dollars less. It is quick and easy.  All wells should be perforated at least 4-6 ½ inch shots throughout the pay zone.  A wire line crew can set up to shoot one well in less than 2 hours.  There is minimal swabbing; hence the well can go back on line much quicker.  Because our HEGF is the most powerful pressure frac of its kind, if the energy is there odds are good that our system will increase production.


34. Is it true that the tool uses a quick burn to generate high pressure gases that quickly expand and overcome the fracture strength of the formation?

Just the opposite.  Our tool in 1.5 to 2 seconds is considered a slow burn.  The energy pulse created by just the right amount of chemical combination in the burn creates a jet stream so powerful that it overcomes the tensile strength of the rocks in the formation thereby generating a wave of multiple fractures in a radial pattern throughout the pay zone.


35. What are the gases?

We can not release any proprietary information.


36. How much pressure?

We are evaluating this information, but for general purposes, our engineers and scientists are saying more than double or (40,000 psi) directed into the pay zone at the moment of release.


37. How can we generate enough pressure/force to fracture the formation but not overcome the burst strength of the casing and the cement sheath between the casing and the formation?

Providing the casing has been properly installed and cemented, the quickness of the burn will not do any damage.  Remember our tool transforms from solid to powerful gases, it does not nor will it ever explode down hole.


38. Is the energy direction controlled to go horizontally?  How do we prove it?

Yes.  When carried to the pay zone in a hollow carrier, which has a top and a bottom, the energy must escape out the jet-ports, designed to give way under pressure.


39. How can we prove the pattern of the stimulated reservoir?  Is it a conical shape or a does the cone build and then dissipate to a point?  Can we show that after the stimulation enters the perf that it doesn't angle down into unwanted water reservoirs?

In physics, the release of energy will follow the layered rock upward, straight, or downward however the rock was formed, until after 4 to 5 energy releases, the thrusting and fracturing experiences a diminishing power curve.


40. How far out horizontally does the stimulation affect the reservoir?  If it depends on rock properties, is this taken into consideration when the tool is designed?

The horizontal thrust in Tennessee was observed at the next well over, which was prepped and uncovered, with Thiokol scientists present.  The following day the same event occurred going to the first well, which we left uncovered.  The measured distance was an amazing 1,250 feet.  Most HEGF contemporaries struggle to send their wave 60 feet.  Clearly Microfrac tools are the most powerful instruments available today in the oil service industry.  This test was conducted in Limestone at 1,600 feet in depth.  Coal-beds, shale formations and tight sandstone formations, where the perms are tight and the porosity is less than 18 milidarcy should be excellent candidates.


41. How can we show or prove it has this much reach into the reservoir?

Today we have eyewitnesses and signed affidavits.  We are scheduling seismic sensors on new demonstration well sites, which maybe able to pick up readings at depths of less than 6,000 feet.


42. A hydraulic frac stimulation produces a fracture perpendicular to the plane of least resistance.  Does Microfrac have the same result and also produce fractures in the other planes?  If yes how can we prove this?

A Hydraulic frac will pick the path of least resistance and open along one or two elongated fissures.  In the Expanded Technical Resume there is a long comparison between the two systems.  Pressure fracturing will always generate many more multiple fractures because of the dynamics and the turbo-shock waves released into the pay zone.  On proving up any technology, except penetrators, which can be objectively measured at surface, all modes of fracturing must be measured by their performance and the duration of the increased flows of energy, and increased deposits in the well owner's bank account.


43. How do we prove that the energy pulse or expanding gases don't go up and down in the casing, where the only resistance is a hydrostatic column of fluid?

In some cases, depending on the mode of delivery of the tool, a small percentage will go up the well (12% maximum), however there are methods of delivering the tool into the well bore that can effectively cut this loss to 3 % or less by using a sealed hollow carrier.


44. Does the stimulation damage any down hole conditions such as squeezed perforations, cast iron bridge plugs, open perfs?

In the Wyoming test, we fired 2 separate pay zones 200 feet above a newly installed bridge plug and noted no damage to the cast iron plug, whatsoever. Normally the new energy opens clogged perfs it does not further squeeze them.


45. What is effective treatment of the reservoir for a typical length of the tool?

Ideal coverage is 5 foot of pay zone for each 1 grain used in the stimulation effort.  For example, in trying to treat a 100 foot pay zone, one would employ 8 ten-foot hollow carriers spacing them 3-5 feet apart.  Be careful to limit the number of 10 foot tools to 3 on any one string effort.  Start at the bottom of the zone and work your way up to the top of the pay zone.


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Exercise extreme caution when working with explosives.  Stay alert and THINK; complacency kills!  Follow the guidelines in the American Petroleum Institute (API) Recommended Practices for Oilfield Explosives Safety, RP 67.

Last 10-20-10