The DOE-sponsored Geothermal Reservoir Well Stimulation Program group performed hydraulic fracture treatments on two wells located in Union's Baca Project Area in north-central New Mexico. The treatment in Baca 23 was conducted on March 22, 1981, utilizing a cooling water pre-pad followed by a high viscosity frac fluid carrying a mixture of sintered bauxite and resin-coated sand as the proppant. A nonproductive 231-foot interval from 3,300 feet to 3,531 feet was isolated for the treatment. Post-stimulation surveys and production tests indicated a fracture had been successfully .created; however, the production rates declined to noncommercial levels because of the low formation temperature in the open interval and reduced relative permeability caused by two-phase flow effects in the formation. The second treatment was conducted in Baca 20 on October 5, 1981, again utilizing a cooling water pre-pad followed by a high viscosity frac fluid carrying only sintered bauxite as the proppant. A 240-foot interval from 4,880 feet to 5,120 feet, which was indicated to have produced only a small portion of the well's 56,000 lb/hr total mass flow, was isolated for the job. The temperature in this interval (540?F) gave Baca 20 the distinction of being the hottest well to be fractured in the United States to date. Post-stimulation tests and analyses indicate a fracture was created with a vertical height o f only about 100 feet at the bottom of the open interval. The productivity o f the well is poor, probably because of the low permeability formation surrounding the artificially created fracture. An acid cleanout operation is planned to remove possible damage to the fracture conductivity caused by the calcium carbonate fluid-loss additive.

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