The effect of gravity on the shape and direction of vertical hydraulic fractures

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 668
Author(s):  
Saeed Salimzadeh

Australia has great potential for shale gas development that can reshape the future of energy in the country. Hydraulic fracturing has been proven as an efficient method to improve recovery from unconventional gas reservoirs. Shale gas hydraulic fracturing is a very complex, multi-physics process, and numerical modelling to design and predict the growth of hydraulic fractures is gaining a lot of interest around the world. The initiation and propagation direction of hydraulic fractures are controlled by in-situ rock stresses, local natural fractures and larger faults. In the propagation of vertical hydraulic fractures, the fracture footprint may extend tens to hundreds of metres, over which the in-situ stresses vary due to gravity and the weight of the rock layers. Proppants, which are added to the hydraulic fracturing fluid to retain the fracture opening after depressurisation, add additional complexity to the propagation mechanics. Proppant distribution can affect the hydraulic fracture propagation by altering the hydraulic fracture fluid viscosity and by blocking the hydraulic fracture fluid flow. In this study, the effect of gravitational forces on proppant distribution and fracture footprint in vertically oriented hydraulic fractures are investigated using a robust finite element code and the results are discussed.

SPE Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (04) ◽  
pp. 1839-1855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bing Hou ◽  
Zhi Chang ◽  
Weineng Fu ◽  
Yeerfulati Muhadasi ◽  
Mian Chen

Summary Deep shale gas reservoirs are characterized by high in-situ stresses, a high horizontal-stress difference (12 MPa), development of bedding seams and natural fractures, and stronger plasticity than shallow shale. All of these factors hinder the extension of hydraulic fractures and the formation of complex fracture networks. Conventional hydraulic-fracturing techniques (that use a single fluid, such as guar fluid or slickwater) do not account for the initiation and propagation of primary fractures and the formation of secondary fractures induced by the primary fractures. For this reason, we proposed an alternating-fluid-injection hydraulic-fracturing treatment. True triaxial hydraulic-fracturing tests were conducted on shale outcrop specimens excavated from the Shallow Silurian Longmaxi Formation to study the initiation and propagation of hydraulic fractures while the specimens were subjected to an alternating fluid injection with guar fluid and slickwater. The initiation and propagation of fractures in the specimens were monitored using an acoustic-emission (AE) system connected to a visual display. The results revealed that the guar fluid and slickwater each played a different role in hydraulic fracturing. At a high in-situ stress difference, the guar fluid tended to open the transverse fractures, whereas the slickwater tended to activate the bedding planes as a result of the temporary blocking effect of the guar fluid. On the basis of the development of fractures around the initiation point, the initiation patterns were classified into three categories: (1) transverse-fracture initiation, (2) bedding-seam initiation, and (3) natural-fracture initiation. Each of these fracture-initiation patterns had a different propagation mode. The alternating-fluid-injection treatment exploited the advantages of the two fracturing fluids to form a large complex fracture network in deep shale gas reservoirs; therefore, we concluded that this method is an efficient way to enhance the stimulated reservoir volume compared with conventional hydraulic-fracturing technologies.


2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manhal Sirat ◽  
Mujahed Ahmed ◽  
Xing Zhang

Abstract In-situ stress state plays an important role in controlling fracture growth and containment in hydraulic fracturing managements. It is evident that the mechanical properties, existing stress regime and the natural fracture network of its reservoir rocks and the surrounding formations mainly control the geometry, size and containments of produced hydraulic fractures. Furthermore, the three principal in situ stresses' axes swap directions and magnitudes at different depths giving rise to identifying different mechanical bedrocks with corresponding stress regimes at different depths. Hence predicting the hydro-fractures can be theoretically achieved once all the above data are available. This is particularly difficult in unconventional and tight carbonate reservoirs, where heterogeneity and highly stress variation, in terms of magnitude and orientation, are expected. To optimize the field development plan (FDP) of a tight carbonate gas reservoir in Abu Dhabi, 1D Mechanical Earth Models (MEMs), involving generating the three principal in-situ stresses' profiles and mechanical property characterization with depth, have been constructed for four vertical wells. The results reveal the swap of stress magnitudes at different mechanical layers, which controls the dimension and orientation of the produced hydro-fractures. Predicted containment of the Hydro-fractures within the specific zones is likely with inevitable high uncertainty when the stress contrast between Sv, SHmax with Shmin respectively as well as Young's modulus and Poisson's Ratio variations cannot be estimated accurately. The uncertainty associated with this analysis is mainly related to the lacking of the calibration of the stress profiles of the 1D MEMs with minifrac and/or XLOT data, and both mechanical and elastic properties with rock mechanic testing results. This study investigates the uncertainty in predicting hydraulic fracture containment due to lacking such calibration, which highlights that a complete suite of data, including calibration of 1D MEMs, is crucial in hydraulic fracture treatment.


1982 ◽  
Vol 22 (02) ◽  
pp. 209-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunder H. Advani ◽  
J.K. Lee

Abstract Recently emphasis has been placed on the development and testing of innovative well stimulation techniques for the recovery of unconventional gas resources. The design of optimal hydraulic fracturing treatments for specified reservoir conditions requires sophisticated models for predicting the induced fracture geometry and interpreting governing mechanisms. This paper presents methodology and results pertinent to hydraulic fracture modeling for the U.S. DOE's Eastern Gas Shales Program (EGSP). The presented finite-element model simulations extend available modeling efforts and provide a unified framework for evaluation of fracture dimensions and associated responses. Examples illustrating the role of multilayering, in-situ stress, joint interaction, and branched cracks are given. Selected comparisons and applications also are discussed. Introduction Selection and design of stimulation treatments for Devonian shale wells has received considerable attention in recent years1-3. The production of natural gas from such tight eastern petroliferous basins is dependent on the vertical thickness of the organically rich shale matrix, its inherent fracture system density, anisotropy, and extent, and the communication-link characteristics of the induced fracture system(s). The investigation of stimulation techniques based on resource characterization, reservoir property evaluation, theoretical and laboratory model simulations, and field testing is a logical step toward the development of commercial technology for optimizing gas production and related costs. This paper reports formulations, methodology, and results associated with analytical simulations of hydraulic fracturing for EGSP. The presented model extends work reported by Perkins and Kern,4 Nordgren,5 Geertsma and DeKlerk,6 and Geertsma and Haafkens.7 The simulations provide a finite-element model framework for studying vertically induced fracture responses with the effects of multilayering and in-situ stress considered. In this context, Brechtel et al.,8 Daneshy,9 Cleary,10 and Anderson et al.11 have done recent studies addressing specific aspects of this problem. The use of finite-element model techniques for studying mixed-mode fracture problems encountered in dendritic fracturing and vertical fracture/joint interaction also is illustrated along with application of suitable failure criteria. Vertical Hydraulic Fracture Model Formulations Coupled structural fracture mechanics and fracture fluid response models for predicting hydraulically induced fracture responses have been reported previously.12,13 These simulations incorporate specified reservoir properties, in-situ stress conditions, and stimulation treatment parameters. One shortcoming of this modeling effort is that finite-element techniques are used for the structural and stress intensity simulations, while a finite-difference approach is used to evaluate the leakoff and fracture-fluid response in the vertical crack. A consistent framework for conducting all simulations using finite-element modeling is formulated here.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 1634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juhyun Kim ◽  
Youngjin Seo ◽  
Jihoon Wang ◽  
Youngsoo Lee

Most shale gas reservoirs have extremely low permeability. Predicting their fluid transport characteristics is extremely difficult due to complex flow mechanisms between hydraulic fractures and the adjacent rock matrix. Recently, studies adopting the dynamic modeling approach have been proposed to investigate the shape of the flow regime between induced and natural fractures. In this study, a production history matching was performed on a shale gas reservoir in Canada’s Horn River basin. Hypocenters and densities of the microseismic signals were used to identify the hydraulic fracture distributions and the stimulated reservoir volume. In addition, the fracture width decreased because of fluid pressure reduction during production, which was integrated with the dynamic permeability change of the hydraulic fractures. We also incorporated the geometric change of hydraulic fractures to the 3D reservoir simulation model and established a new shale gas modeling procedure. Results demonstrate that the accuracy of the predictions for shale gas flow improved. We believe that this technique will enrich the community’s understanding of fluid flows in shale gas reservoirs.


2013 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 375
Author(s):  
Chaolang Qiu ◽  
Mofazzal Hossain ◽  
Hassan Bahrami ◽  
Yangfan Lu

With the reduction of conventional reserves, the demand and exploration of unconventional sources becomes increasingly important in the energy supply system. Low permeability, low porosity, and the complexities of rock formation in unconventional gas reservoirs make it difficult to extract commercially viable gas resources. Hydraulic fracture is the most common technique used for commercial production of hydrocarbon resources from unconventional tight-gas reservoirs. Due to the existence of an extremely long transient-flow period in tight-gas reservoirs, the interpretation of welltest data based on conventional welltest analysis is quite challenging, and could potentially lead to misleading results. This peer-reviewed paper presents a new approach based on a log-log reciprocal rate derivative plot. Emphases are given on the identification of factors affecting the welltest response in multiple hydraulic-fractured wells in unconventional gas reservoirs based on numerical simulation. The objective is to investigate the sensitivity of various reservoir and hydraulic-fracture parameters, such as multiple hydraulic-fracture size, fracture number and fracture orientation on welltest response, and the effect of the pressure derivative curve on the slopes of welltest diagnostic plots, as well as on well productivity performance. The results can be used to understand the welltest response for different hydraulic-fracturing scenarios for the efficiency and characteristics of hydraulic fractures.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ikhwanul Hafizi Musa ◽  
Junghun Leem ◽  
Chee Phuat Tan ◽  
M Fakharuddin Che Yusoff

Abstract Hydraulic fracturing is vital in unconventional shale gas development in order to produce economically from the reservoir. An optimum hydraulic fracturing design and operation can be the key difference between good and poor producing well and economics of the well. One of the most common hydraulic fracturing designs is ball drop system. Using ABAQUS software with XFEM method, a three layers model is used to represent overburden formation, shale gas formation and underburden formation. Rock properties, pore pressure and stress data are used as inputs for the generated model. A horizontal well is created in the middle shale gas formation with three fracture stages and 100m perforation spacing between them. Each hydraulic fracture stage is pressurized sequentially based on the treatment plan of ball drop sliding sleeve completion. The simulated hydraulic fractures are evaluated and compared with the measured field data. The comparison of the average wellbore pressure is good as they all showed within 10% of the measured data. The comparison of the hydraulic fracture geometry with the micro-seismicity data is reasonable overall in view of the data evaluation showing considerable uncertainties in the data. The hydraulic fracturing results also show that at 100m perforation spacing and using sequential hydraulic fracturing method (such as ball drop system), the effect of stress shadow is minimal and does not inhibit the fractures growth. However, the stress shadow effect is found to be pronounced for closer spacing between hydraulic fractures. For future application of the developed XFEM hydraulic fracturing model, it can be utilized to design new hydraulic fracturing completion in order to recommend the optimum completion, including perforation spacing, of development wells in unconventional shale gas field.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Wu ◽  
Ole Sorensen ◽  
Nabila Lazreq ◽  
Yin Luo ◽  
Tomislav Bukovac ◽  
...  

Abstract Following the increase in demand for natural gas production in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), unconventional hydraulic fracturing in the country has grown exponentially and with it the demand for new technology and efficiency to fast-track the process from fracturing to production. Diyab field has historically been a challenging field for fracturing given the high-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) conditions, presence of H2S, and the strike-slip to thrust faulting conditions. Meanwhile, operational efficiency is necessary for economic development of this shale gas reservoir. Hence "zipper fracturing" was introduced in UAE with modern technologies to enable both operational efficiency and reservoir stimulation performance. The introduction of zipper fracturing in UAE is considered a game changer as it shifted the focus from single-well fracturing to multiple well pads that allow for fracturing to take place in one well while the adjacent well is undergoing a pumpdown plug-and-perf operation using wireline. The overall setup of the zipper surface manifold allowed for faster transitions between the two wells; hence, it also rendered using large storage tanks a viable option since the turnover between stages would be short. Thus, two large modular tanks were installed and utilised to allow 160,000 bbl of water storage on site. Similarly, the use of high-viscosity friction reducer (HVFR) has directly replaced the common friction reducer additive or guar-based gel for shale gas operation. HVFR provides higher viscosity to carry larger proppant concentrations without the reservoir damage, and the flexibility and simplicity of optimizing fluid viscosity on-the-fly to ensure adequate fracture width and balance near-wellbore fracture complexity. Fully utilizing dissolvable fracture plugs was also applied to mitigate the risk of casing deformation and the subsequent difficulty of milling plugs after the fracturing treatment. Furthermore, fracture and completion design based on geologic modelling helped reduce risk of interaction between the hydraulic fractures and geologic abnormalities. With the application of advanced logistical planning, personnel proficiency, the zipper operation field process, clustered fracture placement, and the pump-down plug-and-perforation operation, the speed of fracturing reached a maximum of 4.5 stages per day, completing 67 stages in total between two wells placing nearly 27 million lbm of proppant across Hanifa formation. The maximum proppant per stage achieved was 606,000 lbm. The novelty of this project lies in the first-time application of zipper fracturing, as well as the first application of dry HVFR fracturing fluid and dissolvable fracturing plugs in UAE. These introductions helped in improving the overall efficiency of hydraulic fracturing in one of UAE's most challenging unconventional basins in the country, which is quickly demanding quicker well turnovers from fracturing to production.


Geofluids ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Jun Zhang ◽  
Yu-Wei Li ◽  
Wei Li ◽  
Zi-Jie Chen ◽  
Yuan Zhao ◽  
...  

Natural fractures in tight sandstone formation play a significant role in fracture network generation during hydraulic fracturing. This work presents an experimental model of tight sandstone with closed cemented preexisting fractures. The influence of closed cemented fractures’ (CCF) directions on the propagation behavior of hydraulic fracture (HF) is studied based on the hydraulic fracturing experiment. A field-scaled numerical model used to simulate the propagation of HF is established based on the flow-stress-damage (FSD) coupled method. This model contains the discrete fracture network (DFN) generated by the Monte-Carlo method and is used to investigate the effects of CCFs’ distribution, CCFs’ strength, and in-situ stress anisotropy, injection rate, and fluid viscosity on the propagation behavior of fracture network. The results show that the distribution direction of CCFs is critical for the formation of complex HFs. When the angle between the horizontal maximum principal stress direction and the CCFs is in the range of 30° to 60°, the HF network is the most complex. There are many kinds of compound fracture propagation patterns, such as crossing, branching, and deflection. The increase of CCFs’ strength is not conducive to the generation of branched and deflected fractures. When the in-situ stress difference ranges from 3 MPa to 6 MPa, the HF network’s complexity and propagation range can be guaranteed simultaneously. The increase in the injection rate will promote the formation of the complex HF network. The proper increase of fracturing fluid viscosity can promote HF’s propagation. However, when the viscosity is too high, the complex HFs only appear around the wellbore. The research results can provide new insights for the hydraulic fracturing optimization design of naturally fractured tight sandstone formation.


1984 ◽  
Vol 24 (01) ◽  
pp. 19-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence W. Teufel ◽  
James A. Clark

Abstract Fracture geometry is an important concern in the design of a massive hydraulic fracture for improved natural gas recovery from low-permeability reservoirs. Determination of the extent of vertical fracture growth and containment in layered rock, a priori, requires an improved understanding of the parameters that may control fracture growth across layer interfaces. We have conducted laboratory hydraulic fracture experiments and elastic finite element studies that show that at least two distinct geologic conditions can inhibit or contain the vertical growth of hydraulic fractures in layered rock:a weak interfacial shear strength of the layers andan increase in the minimum horizontal compressive stress in the bounding layers. The second condition is more important and more likely to occur at depth. Differences in elastic properties within a layered rock mass may be important-not as a containment barrier perse, but in the manner in which variations in elastic properties affect the vertical distribution of the minimum horizontal stress magnitude. These results suggest that improved fracture treatment designs and an assessment of the potential success of stimulations in low-permeability reservoirs can be made by determining the in-situ stress st ate in the producing interval and bounding formations before stimulation. If the bounding formations have a higher minimum horizontal stress, then one can optimize the fracture treatment and maximize the ratio of productive formation fracture area to volume of fluid pumped by limiting bottomhole pressures to that of the bounding formation. Introduction In 1949, Clark introduced the concept of hydraulic fracturing to the petroleum industry. Since then, hydraulic fracture treatment to enhance oil and gas recovery in tight reservoir rocks has become standard practice. More recently, as a result of an increased need for better recovery techniques, massive hydraulic fracturing (MHF) has been used in low-permeability, gas-bearing sandstones in the Rock Mountain region and in Devonian shales of the Appalachian region, where it is uneconomical to retrieve gas in the conventional manner. Massive hydraulic fractures are designed to extend as much as 1000 m (3,281 ft) radially from the wellbore and generally require up to 1000 m3 (6,293 bbl) of fracture fluid. MHF has been developed by trial and error, and the results are uncertain in many situations. Some of these large-scale stimulation efforts have been successful, but others have been extremely disappointing failures. The reasons for these failures are not clear, but it seems likely that improved understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of hydraulic fracturing should suggest ways of improving the efficiency and reliability of the MHF stimulation technique or at least indicate where this technique can be applied successfully. Among the many technological problems encountered in MHF, one of the most important questions that must be answered properly to design a hydraulic fracture treatment for optimal gas recovery concerns the shape and overall geometry of the fracture. The question of fracture height and whether the hydraulic fracture will propagate into formations lying above and below the producing zone. When a fracture treatment is designed, the height of the fracture is the parameter about which the least is known, yet this influences all aspects of the design. A hydraulic fracture usually grows outward in a vertical plane and propagates above and below the packers as well as laterally away from the wellbore. Vertical propagation is undesirable whenever the fracturing is to be contained within a single stratigraphic interval. If the hydraulic fracture is not contained within the producing formation and propagates in both the vertical and lateral directions (an elliptical fracture), failure of the treatment can occur because the fracture fails to contact a sufficiently large area of the reservoir. Moreover, there is an effective loss of the expensive fracture fluid and proppant used to fracture the unproductive formations. An extreme example where the containment of a hydraulic fracture is essential is the case of developing a fracture in a gas-producing sandstone without fracturing through the underlying shale into another sandstone that is water-bearing. Therefore, it is of great economic importance to the gas industry to understand the parameters that can restrict the vertical propagation of massive hydraulic fractures. There are several parameters that are considered to have some effect on the vertical growth and possible containment of hydraulic fractures. SPEJ P. 19^


Author(s):  
Chong Hyun Ahn ◽  
Robert Dilmore ◽  
John Yilin Wang

The most effective method for stimulating shale gas reservoirs is horizontal drilling with successful multi-stage hydraulic fracture treatments. Recent fracture diagnostic technologies have shown that complex fracture networks are commonly created in the field. The interaction between preexisting natural fractures and the propagating hydraulic fracture is a critical factor affecting the complex fracture network. However, many existing numerical models simulate only planar hydraulic fractures without considering the pre-existing fractures in the formation. The shale formations already contain a large number of natural fractures, so an accurate fracture propagation model needs to be developed to optimize the fracturing process. In this paper, we first understood the interaction between hydraulic and natural fractures. We then developed a new, coupled numerical model that integrates dynamic fracture propagation, reservoir flow simulation, and the interactions between hydraulic fractures and pre-existing natural fractures. By using the developed model, we conducted parametric studies to quantify the effects of rock toughness, stress anisotropy, and natural fracture spacing on the geometry and conductivities of the hydraulic fracture network. Lastly, we introduced new parmeters Fracture Network Index (FNI) and Width Anistropy (Wani) which may describe the characteristics of the fracture network in shale gas reservoirs. This new knowledge helps one understand and optimize the stimulation of shale gas reservoirs.


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