An Analytical Solution of Fracture-Induced Stress and Its Application in Shale Gas Exploitation

2013 ◽  
Vol 136 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jia Li ◽  
Boyun Guo ◽  
Yin Feng
Keyword(s):  
Shale Gas ◽  
Analytical Method ◽  
Hydraulic Fractures ◽  
Gas Reservoirs ◽  
Hydrocarbon Recovery ◽  
Fracture Spacing ◽  
Well Completion ◽  
Gas Formation ◽  
Exploration And Production ◽  
Transverse Fractures

Natural gas and oil exploration and production from shale formations have gained a great momentum in many regions in the past five years. Producing hydrocarbons from shale is challenging because of low productivity of wells. Optimal design of transverse fractures is a key to achieving successful well completion and field economics. This paper presents a simple analytical method to determine the minimum fracture spacing required for preventing fracture-merging. Result of the analytical method has been verified by a Finite Element Method for a typical fracturing condition in a shale gas formation. Field performances of shale gas wells are found consistent with what suggested by this work. The analytical method presented in this paper can replace the sophisticated solutions and time-consuming numerical simulators in calculating stresses around hydraulic fractures and identifying the minimum required fracture spacing. The method can be applied to designing of multifrac completions in shale plays to optimize placement of transverse fractures for maximizing well productivity and hydrocarbon recovery. This work provides engineers a simple tool for optimizing their well completion design in shale gas reservoirs.

A Simple Method for Quantifying Inter-Well Communication Using Production Data from Single-Phase Shale Gas Reservoirs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamidreza Hamdi ◽  
Hamid Behmanesh ◽  
Christopher R. Clarkson
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulation ◽  
Shale Gas ◽  
Analytical Method ◽  
Single Phase ◽  
Material Balance ◽  
Production Data ◽  
Hydraulic Fractures ◽  
Gas Reservoirs ◽  
Simple Method ◽  
Shale Gas Reservoirs

Abstract Hydraulic fracture/reservoir properties and fluid-in-place can be quantified by using rate-transient analysis (RTA) techniques applied to flow rates/pressures gathered from multi-fractured horizontal wells (MFHWs) completed in unconventional reservoirs. These methods are commonly developed for the analysis of production data from single wells without considering communication with nearby wells. However, in practice, wells drilled from the same pad can be in strong hydraulic communication with each other. This study aims to develop the theoretical basis for analyzing production data from communicating MFHWs completed in single-phase shale gas reservoirs. A simple and practical semi-analytical method is developed to quantify the communication between wells drilled from the same pad by analyzing online production data from the individual wells. This method is based on the communicating tanks model and employs the concepts of macroscopic material balance and the succession of pseudo-steady states. A set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) are generated and solved simultaneously using the efficient Adams-Bashforth-Moulton algorithm. The accuracy of the solutions is verified against robust numerical simulation. In the first example provided, a MFHW well-pair is presented where the wells are communicating through primary hydraulic fractures with different communication strengths. In the subsequent examples, the method is extended to consider production data from a three-well and a six-well pad with wine-rack-style completions. The developed model is flexible enough to account for asynchronous wells that are producing from distinct reservoir blocks with different fracture/rock properties. For all the studied cases, the semi-analytical method closely reproduces the results of fully numerical simulation. The results demonstrate that, in some cases, when new wells start to produce, the production rates of existing wells can drop significantly. The amount of productivity loss is a direct function of the communication strengths between the wells. The new method can accurately quantify the communication strength between wells through transmissibility multipliers between the hydraulic fractures that are adjusted to match individual well production data. In this study, a new simple and efficient semi-analytical method is presented that can be used to analyze online production data from multiple wells drilled from a pad simultaneously with minimal computation time. The main advantage of the developed method is its scalability, where additional wells can be added to the system very easily.

scholarly journals An Analytical Method for Parameter Interpretation of Fracture Networks in Shale Gas Reservoirs considering Uneven Support of Fractures

Geofluids ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Shijun Huang ◽  
Jiaojiao Zhang ◽  
Sidong Fang ◽  
Xifeng Wang
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Shale Gas ◽  
Analytical Method ◽  
Material Balance ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Production Data ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Gas Reservoirs ◽  
Data Analysis Method ◽  
Parameter Interpretation

In shale gas reservoirs, the production data analysis method is widely used to invert reservoir and fracture parameter, and productivity prediction. Compared with numerical models and semianalytical models, which have high computational cost, the analytical model is mostly used in the production data analysis method to characterize the complex fracture network formed after fracturing. However, most of the current calculation models ignore the uneven support of fractures, and most of them use a single supported fracture model to describe the flow characteristics, which magnifies the role of supported fracture to a certain extent. Therefore, in this study, firstly, the fractures are divided into supported fractures and unsupported fractures. According to the near-well supported fractures and far-well unsupported fractures, the SRV zone is divided into outer SRV and inner SRV. The four areas are characterized by different seepage models, and the analytical solutions of the models are obtained by Laplace transform and inverse transform. Secondly, the material balance pseudotime is introduced to process the production data under the conditions of variable production and variable pressure. The double logarithmic curves of normalized production rate, rate integration, the derivative of the integration, and material balance pseudotime are established, and the parameters are interpreted by fitting the theoretical curve to the measured data. Then, the accuracy of the method is verified by comparison the parameter interpretation results with well test results, and the influence of parameters such as the half-length and permeability of supported and unsupported fractures on gas production is analyzed. Finally, the proposed method is applied to four field cases in southwest China. This paper mainly establishes an analytical method for parameter interpretation after hydraulic fracturing based on the production data analysis method considering the uneven support of fractures, which is of great significance for understanding the mechanism of fracturing stimulation, optimization of fracturing parameters, and gas production forecast.

Fracture Initiation and Propagation in a Deep Shale Gas Reservoir Subject to an Alternating-Fluid-Injection Hydraulic-Fracturing Treatment

SPE Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (04) ◽  
pp. 1839-1855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bing Hou ◽  
Zhi Chang ◽  
Weineng Fu ◽  
Yeerfulati Muhadasi ◽  
Mian Chen
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Shale Gas ◽  
Fracture Initiation ◽  
Fluid Injection ◽  
Hydraulic Fractures ◽  
Stress Difference ◽  
Gas Reservoirs ◽  
Complex Fracture ◽  
Initiation And Propagation

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.

Sensitivity Studies of Horizontal Wells with Hydraulic Fractures in Shale Gas Reservoirs

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xu Zhang ◽  
Changan Du ◽  
Franz Deimbacher ◽  
Martin Crick ◽  
Arvind Harikesavanallur
Keyword(s):  
Shale Gas ◽  
Horizontal Wells ◽  
Hydraulic Fractures ◽  
Gas Reservoirs ◽  
Shale Gas Reservoirs ◽  
Sensitivity Studies

scholarly journals Development and Calibration of a Semianalytic Model for Shale Wells with Nonuniform Distribution of Induced Fractures Based on ES-MDA Method

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 3718 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Zhang ◽  
Shu Jiang ◽  
Xinyue Wu ◽  
Yan Wang ◽  
Qingbang Meng
Keyword(s):  
Shale Gas ◽  
Fractal Dimensions ◽  
Nonuniform Distribution ◽  
Fracture System ◽  
Gas Reservoirs ◽  
Gas Reservoir ◽  
Unconventional Gas ◽  
Fracture Spacing ◽  
Unconventional Gas Reservoirs ◽  
Induced Fractures

Given reliable parameters, a newly developed semianalytic model could offer an efficient option to predict the performance of the multi-fractured horizontal wells (MFHWs) in unconventional gas reservoirs. However, two major challenges come from the accurate description and significant parameters uncertainty of stimulated reservoir volume (SRV). The objective of this work is to develop and calibrate a semianalytic model using the ensemble smoother with multiple data assimilation (ES-MDA) method for the uncertainty reduction in the description and forecasting of MFHWs with nonuniform distribution of induced fractures. The fractal dimensions of induced-fracture spacing (dfs) and aperture (dfa) and tortuosity index of induced-fracture system (θ) are included based on fractal theory to describe the properties of SRV region. Additionally, for shale gas reservoirs, gas transport mechanisms, e.g., viscous flow with slippage, Knudsen diffusion, and surface diffusion, among multi-media including porous kerogen, inorganic matter, and fracture system are taken into account and the model is verified. Then, the effects of the fractal dimensions and tortuosity index of induced fractures on MFHWs performances are analyzed. What follows is employing the ES-MDA method with the presented model to reduce uncertainty in the forecasting of gas production rate for MFHWs in unconventional gas reservoirs using a synthetic case for the tight gas reservoir and a real field case for the shale gas reservoir. The results show that when the fractal dimensions of induced-fracture spacing and aperture is smaller than 2.0 or the tortuosity index of induced-fracture system is larger than 0, the permeability of induced-fracture system decreases with the increase of the distance from hydraulic fractures (HFs) in SRV region. The large dfs or small θ causes the small average permeability of the induced-fracture system, which results in large dimensionless pseudo-pressure and small dimensionless production rate. The matching results indicate that the proposed method could enrich the application of the semianalytic model in the practical field.

scholarly journals History Matching and Forecast of Shale Gas Production Considering Hydraulic Fracture Closure

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 1634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juhyun Kim ◽  
Youngjin Seo ◽  
Jihoon Wang ◽  
Youngsoo Lee
Keyword(s):  
Shale Gas ◽  
Hydraulic Fracture ◽  
History Matching ◽  
Gas Flow ◽  
Fluid Pressure ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Hydraulic Fractures ◽  
Gas Reservoirs ◽  
Shale Gas Reservoirs ◽  
Fracture Closure

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.

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