Summary The existence of faults, pre-existing hydraulic fractures, and depleted areas can negatively impact the development of unconventional reservoirs using multifractured horizontal wells (MFHWs). For example, the triggering of fault slippage through hydraulic fracturing can create the environmental hazard known as induced seismicity (earthquakes caused by hydraulic fracturing). A premium has therefore been placed on the development of technologies that can be used to identify the locations of fault systems (particularly if they are subseismic) as well as pre-existing hydraulic fractures and depleted areas. The objective of this study is to develop a diagnostic tool to identify these conditions using DFIT-FBA, a modified diagnostic fracture injection test (DFIT) with flowback analysis (FBA). The time and cost efficiencies of the DFIT-FBA method in reservoir characterization provides an opportunity to conduct multiple field tests at a single point or along the lateral section of a horizontal well. An analytical model that considers critical processes and mechanisms occurring during DFIT-FBA was first developed herein. The results of analytical modeling demonstrate that reservoir heterogeneities (i.e., faults) can be identified either by implementing multiple cycles of the DFIT-FBA method at a single point or by applying multiple DFIT-FBAs at different points along the lateral section of a horizontal well or at different wells. The analytical model is then verified using a fully coupled hydraulic fracture, reservoir, and wellbore simulator, and flowing pressure responses in the presence of a fault are illustrated. The practical application of the proposed method is demonstrated using DFIT-FBA field examples performed in a tight reservoir. Analysis of the field examples leads to the conclusion that a fault likely occurs near the toe of the horizontal lateral. This finding was confirmed by other field information and provides the opportunity to modify the main-stage hydraulic fracturing design to avoid induced seismicity events.
Summary The post-fracture pressure decay (PFPD) technique is a low-cost method allowing for stage-by-stage hydraulic fracture characterization. The analysis of the PFPD data is complex, with data affected by both hydraulic fracture and reservoir properties. Available analysis methods in the literature are oversimplified; reservoir or fracture properties are often assumed to be constant along the horizontal well, and therefore changes in the trend of pressure decay data are attributed to hydraulic fracture or reservoir properties only. Moreover, methods analogous to those applied to the analysis of conventional diagnostic fracture injection tests (DFITs) are often used and ignore critical mechanisms involved in main-stage hydraulic fracture stimulation. A conceptual numerical simulation study was first conducted herein to understand the key mechanisms involved in main-stage hydraulic fracturing. An analytical model was then developed to account for the dynamic behavior of the hydraulic fracture, leakoff, proppant distribution, multiple fractures, and propped- and unpropped-closure events. The analytical model is cast in the form of a new straightline analysis (SLA) method that provides stage-by-stage estimates of the ratio of unpropped fracture surface area to total fracture surface area. The SLA method was validated against numerical simulation results. Moreover, to account for the variation of reservoir properties along the horizontal well, the PFPD model is integrated with DFIT-flowback (DFIT-FBA) tests, performed at some points along the lateral, to obtain a reliable stage-by-stage hydraulic fracture and reservoir characterization approach. The practical application of the proposed integrated approach was demonstrated using PFPD and DFIT-FBA data from a horizontal well completed in 22 stages in the Montney Formation. The numerical simulation study demonstrated that the use of proppant and injection into multiple clusters (creating multiple fractures) results in multiple closure events. The closure process may start early after the pump-in period at a pressure significantly higher than the minimum in-situ stress. Using DFIT-based analytical models, which ignore the presence of proppant, causes significant errors in hydraulic fracture and reservoir property estimation. The PFPD field data examined herein exhibited a similar pressure trend to the numerical simulation cases. The ratio of unpropped fracture surface area to total fracture surface area was determined stage by stage using the PFPD SLA method, constrained by DFIT-FBA data. Engineers can use this information to optimize the hydraulic fracture stimulation design in real time, optimize the well spacing, and forecast the production. The cost and time advantages of this diagnostic method make this approach very attractive.
The DFIT flowback analysis (DFIT-FBA) method, recently developed by the authors, is a new approach for obtaining minimum in-situ stress, reservoir pressure, and well productivity index estimates in a fraction of the time required by conventional DFITs. The goal of this study is to demonstrate the application of DFIT-FBA to hydraulic fracturing design and reservoir characterization by performing tests at multiple points along a horizontal well completed in an unconventional reservoir. Furthermore, new corrections are introduced to the DFIT-FBA method to account for perforation friction, tortuosity, and wellbore unloading during the flowback stage of the test. The time and cost efficiency associated with the DFIT-FBA method provides an opportunity to conduct multiple field tests without delaying the completion program. Several trials of the new method were performed for this study. These trials demonstrate application of the DFIT-FBA for testing multiple points along the lateral of a horizontal well (toe stage and additional clusters). The operational procedure for each DFIT-FBA test consists of two steps: 1) injection to initiate and propagate a mini hydraulic fracture and 2) flowback of the injected fluid on surface using a variable choke setting on the wellhead. Rate transient analysis methods are then applied to the flowback data to identify flow regimes and estimate closure and reservoir pressure. Flowing material balance analysis is used to estimate the well productivity index for studied reservoir intervals. Minimum in-situ stress, pore pressure and well productivity index estimates were successfully obtained for all the field trials and validated by comparison against a conventional DFIT. The new corrections for friction and wellbore unloading improved the accuracy of the closure and reservoir pressures by 4%. Furthermore, the results of flowing material balance analysis show that wellbore unloading might cause significant over-estimation of the well productivity index. Considerable variation in well productivity index was observed from the toe stage to the heel stage (along the lateral) for the studied well. This variation has significant implications for hydraulic fracture design optimization, particularly treatment pressures and volumes.
Summary The main parameters of interest derived from a diagnostic fracture injection test (DFIT) are minimum in-situ stress, reservoir pressure, and permeability. The latter two can only be obtained uniquely from the transient reservoir responses, often requiring days to weeks of test time. The DFIT flowback analysis (DFIT-FBA) method, a sequence of pump-in/flowback (PIFB), is a fast alternative to the pump-in/falloff (conventional) DFIT for estimating minimum in-situ stress and reservoir pressure. Because the properties of the fracture are unknown, reservoir permeability cannot be estimated directly and therefore well productivity index (PI) has been reported in previous DFIT-FBA studies. The goal of the current study is to develop a methodology for estimating reservoir permeability and fracture properties from a DFIT-FBA test. In this study, a fully coupled hydraulic fracturing, reservoir, and wellbore simulator was used as a first step to identify critical mechanisms operating during the flowback period of a DFIT-FBA test. Subsequently, findings from the simulator were used to develop an analytical solution to estimate reservoir permeability, fracture surface area, open fracture stiffness, and contact pressure. The analytical model relies on a new rate-transient analysis (RTA) technique that accounts for the dynamic behavior of the fracture and changing leakoff rate during the before-closure period. The proposed approach was validated against a simulation case, and its practical application was demonstrated using a field example performed in a tight reservoir. The reservoir permeability and fracture surface area, derived from the analytical model at the contact point, agree within 2% of the simulation model input. The field example examined herein exhibited flow regimes similar to the simulation case, and fracture surface area, open fracture stiffness, contact pressure, minimum in-situ stress, reservoir pressure, and permeability were all obtained in a fraction of the time required by conventional DFITs.
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