A New Analytical Model of Finite-Conductivity Hydraulic Fracture in a Finite Reservoir

Author(s):  
J.S. Olarewaju ◽  
W.J. Lee
2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (02) ◽  
pp. 254-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yueming Cheng ◽  
W. John Lee ◽  
Duane A. McVay

Summary Gas wells in low-permeability formations usually require hydraulic fracturing to be commercially viable. Pressure transient analysis in hydraulically fractured tight gas wells is commonly based on analysis of three flow regimes: bilinear, linear, and pseudoradial. Without the presence of pseudoradial flow, neither reservoir permeability nor fracture half-length can be independently estimated. In practice, as pseudoradial flow is often absent, the resulting estimation is uncertain and unreliable. On the other hand, elliptical flow, which exists between linear flow and pseudoradial flow, is of long duration (typically months to years). We can acquire much rate and pressure data during this flow regime, but no practical well test analysis technique is currently available to interpret these data. This paper presents a new approach to reliably estimate reservoir and hydraulic fracture properties from analysis of pressure data obtained during the elliptical flow period. The method is applicable to estimate fracture half-length, formation permeability, and skin factor independently for both infinite- and finite-conductivity fractures. It is iterative and features rapid convergence. The method can estimate formation permeability when pseudoradial flow does not exist. Coupled with stable deconvolution technology, which converts variable production-rate and pressure measurements into an equivalent constant-rate pressure drawdown test, this method can provide fracture-property estimates from readily available, noisy production data. We present synthetic and field examples to illustrate the procedures and demonstrate the validity and applicability of the proposed approach.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Behjat Haghshenas ◽  
Farhad Qanbari

Abstract Characterization of hydraulic fracture system in multi-fractured horizontal wells (MFHW) is one of the key steps in well spacing optimization of tight and shale reservoirs. Different methods have been proposed in the industry including core-through, micro-seismic, off-set pressure data monitoring during hydraulic fracturing, pressure depletion mapping, rate-transient analysis, pressure-transient analysis, and pressure interference test. Pressure interference test for a production and monitoring well pair includes flowing the production well at a stable rate while keeping the monitoring well shut-in and recording its pressure. In this study, the coupled flow of gas in hydraulic fractures and matrix systems during pressure interference test is modeled using an analytical method. The model is based on Laplace transform combined with pseudo-pressure and pseudo-time. The model is validated against numerical simulation to make sure the inter-well communication test is reasonably represented. Two key parameters were introduced and calculated with time using the analytical model including pressure drawdown ratio and pressure decline ratio. The model is applied to two field cases from Montney formation. In this case, two wells in the gas condensate region of Montney were selected for a pressure interference test. The monitoring well was equipped with downhole gauges. As the producing well was opened for production, the bottom-hole pressure of the monitoring well started declining at much lower rate than the production well. The pressure decline rate in the monitoring well eventually approached that of the producing well after days of production. This whole process was modeled using the analytical model of this study by adjusting the conductivity of the communicating fractures between the well pairs. This study provides a practical analytical tool for quantitative analysis of the interference test in MFHWs. This model can be integrated with other tools for improved characterization of hydraulic fracture systems in tight and shale reservoirs.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evgeniy Viktorovich Yudin ◽  
George Aleksandrovich Piotrovskiy ◽  
Maria Vladimirovna Petrova ◽  
Alexey Petrovich Roshchektaev ◽  
Nikita Vladislavovich Shtrobel

Abstract Requirements of targeted optimization are imposed on the hydraulic fracturing operations carried out in the conditions of borderline economic efficiency of fields taking into account geological and technological features. Consequently, the development of new analytical tools foranalyzing and planning the productivity of fractured wells, taking into account the structuralfeatures of the productive reservoir and inhomogeneous distribution of the fracture conductivity, is becoming highly relevant. The paper proposes a new approach of assessing the vertical hydraulic fracture productivityin a rectangular reservoir in a pseudo-steady state, based on reservoir resistivity concept described in the papers of Meyer et al. However, there is a free parameter in the case of modeling the productivity of a hydraulic fracture by the concept. The parameter describes the distribution of the inflow along the plane of the fracture. This paper presents a systematic approach to determining of the parameter. The resulting model allows to conduct an assessment of the influence of various complications in the fracture on the productivity index. During the research a method of determining the free parameter was developed,it was based on the obtained dependence of the inflow distribution on the coordinate along the fracture of finite conductivity. The methodology allowed to refine existent analytical solution of the Meyer et al. model, which, in turn, allowed to assess the influence of different fracture damages in the hydraulic fracture on the productivity index of the well. The work includes the cases of the presence of fracture damages at the beginning and at the end of the fracture. A hydraulic fracture model was built for each of the types of damages, it was based on the developed method, and also the solution of dimensionless productivity ratio was received. The results of the obtained solution were confirmed by comparison with the numerical solutions of commercial simulators and analytical models available in the literature. The advantage of the methodology is the resulting formulas for well productivity are relatively simple, even for exotic cases ofvariable conductivity fractures. The approaches and algorithms described in the paper assume the calculation of the productivity of a hydraulic fracture with variable conductivity and the presence of other complicatingfactors.The methodology of the paper can be used for analysis and diagnosis problems with formation hydraulic fracturing. The efficiency of the calculations allows using the presented methodology to solve inverse problems of determining the efficiency of the hydraulic fracturing operation.


2013 ◽  
Vol 446-447 ◽  
pp. 479-485
Author(s):  
De Tang Lu ◽  
Qing Xie ◽  
Cong Niu ◽  
Lei Wang

Most current pressure transient analysis techniques of hydraulically fractured wells are based on the fully penetrating assumption, which assumes equal thickness of hydraulic fracture and the formation. However, field application show that the fractures thickness can be shorter than the thickness of formation, which leads to vertical flow into the fracture. Thus applying the thickness equality assumption of current well test models to a partial penetrating fracture may give contradictory result. Further, there are very few studies concerning pressure transient analysis of partial penetrated wells. So it is important to develop analysis model and procedure to this type of fracture. In this paper, we presented an analytical model for partially penetrating hydraulic fracture in isotropic systems, along with the assumption that fracture is finite conductive. This model is then applied in the analysis of field production data, which verified validity of this new model.


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