Fracture Treatment Optimization for Horizontal Well Completion

Soliman, Mohamed Y.; Pongratz, Reinhard; Rylance, Martin; Smith, Martyn J.

doi:10.2523/102616-ms

“…Introduction of a tectonic activity is obviously not possible, but what about a "micro"tectonic activity using a hydraulic fracture? Warpinski, et al 14 and Soliman, et al 15 theorized that fracture redirection can be caused by previous fractures. Warpinski demonstrated that nearby wellbore fracturing can affect fracture direction in a well.…”

Section: The Quest For the Most Productive Fracturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This difference could be between 38 and -38°, based on earlier evidence. 15,16 Since the fractures are in different layers, angular differences should be much smaller. The complex, dual-fracture shape in Fig.…”

Section: Evidence Showing Fracture Redirectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Single Point of Initiation, Dual-Fracture Placement for Maximizing Well Production

Surjaatmadja

¹

2007

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fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractPlacement of a fracture in a formation has become a wellunderstood process in the industry. Recently, this practice was improved by the introduction of a method to properly initiate the fracture into a specific direction using super-high-energy jetting. A drawback of this jetting method though is not knowing exactly where the far-field fracture has gone. Although we know that the fracture will extend in the local minimum-stress direction, it is not known where that direction might be. In all probability, the fracture has gone into a lessthan-desired area in the formation, and will result in only an "acceptable" improvement of production.It was once thought that refracturing merely reopened existing fractures. Recently, however, it has been shown that refracturing can actually create new fractures. In addition, when refracturing causes older fractures to reopen, the results generally show that some new area has been reached by the fracture. It is the opinion of this paper that these new areas are not substantially different from the one reached by the first fracture because local depletion enhances the effects of the original stress regime. This paper discusses a process whereby fractures are generated in a formation using at least two different fracturing techniques to reach formations in a manner not reached by conventional fracturing alone. In this process, the first fracture may achieve "acceptable" production goals, although the cost may be high. A second fracture is then quickly created to take advantage of the stress modification resulting from the first fracture. This rapid followup fracture is thus able to reach more productive rock not accessible to the initial fracture. Field data supporting the feasibility of this concept will be presented. Various situations where this approach could reap substantial benefits are also described.

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“…Inducing a tectonic activity is obviously not possible, but what about a "micro"-tectonic activity using a hydraulic fracture? Warpinski, et al 6 and Soliman, et al 7 have theorized that fracture redirection can be caused by previous fractures. Warpinski demonstrated that nearby wellbore fracturing can affect fracture direction in a well.…”

Section: The Productive Second Fracture Conceptmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Important Second Fracture and Its Optimal Placement for Maximizing Production

Surjaatmadja

¹

2007

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fax 01-972-952-9435. AbstractPlacement of a fracture in a formation has become a wellunderstood process in the industry. Recently, this practice was improved by the introduction of a method to properly initiate the fracture into a specific direction using super-high-energy jetting. A drawback of this jetting method though is not knowing exactly where the far-field fracture has gone. Although we know that the fracture will extend in the local minimum-stress direction, it is not known where that direction might be. In all probability, the fracture has gone into a lessthan-desired area in the formation, and will result in only an "acceptable" improvement of production.It was once thought that refracturing merely reopened existing fractures. Recently, however, it has been shown that refracturing can actually create new fractures. In addition, when refracturing causes older fractures to reopen, the results generally show that some new area has been reached by the fracture. It is the opinion of this paper that these new areas are not substantially different from the one reached by the first fracture because local depletion enhances the effects of the original stress regime. This paper discusses a process whereby fractures are generated in a formation using at least two different fracturing techniques to reach formations in a manner not reached by conventional fracturing alone. In this process, the first fracture may achieve "acceptable" production goals, although the cost may be high. A second fracture is then quickly created to take advantage of the stress modification resulting from the first fracture. This rapid followup fracture is thus able to reach more productive rock not accessible to the initial fracture. Field data supporting the feasibility of this concept will be presented. Various situations where this approach could reap substantial benefits are also described.

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“…The shorter fractures are due to more resistance being felt when stimulation is being performed on the well. In these areas, the stress concentration is very high, requiring more pressure to initiate a fracture (Soliman et al, 2006). Hence, when the rocks do Model 5b but using a smaller distance between the fractures would increases the interference due to the stress interactions, and hence the breakdown pressure.…”

Section: Effects Of Permeability Anisotropy On Stress Profilesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Numerical Study of the Effects of Packer-Induced Stresses and Stress Shadowing on Fracture Initiation and Stimulation of Horizontal Wells

Singh¹,

Miskimins

²

2010

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ABSTRACT"Stress shadowing", where the creation of hydraulic fractures affect the stresses in certain parts of the reservoir, has the dual effect of assisting and hampering the generation of hydraulic fracture stimulation in horizontal wells. In this thesis, the stress contrast and pressure profiles around the near wellbore regions of a horizontal wellbore are investigated when packers are placed in the wellbore and when hydraulic fractures are introduced. The main objective of this thesis was to investigate the stress shadowing behaviors observed when pumping multiple fracturing treatments in horizontal wells.This was accomplished by using a finite element software package where the numerical results of the behavior of the stress envelopes and stress shadowing phenomena could be evaluated and different sensitivities analyzed. Additionally, an assessment was made as to whether the extent of the stress envelopes, pressures profiles and stress shadowing around the wellbore could be successfully modeled using these simulation models.From the results obtained, it can be concluded that packers with higher pressure ratings will allow for easier fracture initiation as compared to packers with lower pressure ratings. Also two packers as compared to one had different stress profiles and hence needed lower breakdown pressures. The permeability anisotropy had no impact on the stress concentrations but the variations of the anisotropic properties of the ratio of the Biot's constant affected the minimum horizontal stress.The stress concentration at or near the wellbore varied along the length of the wellbore and there were no distinct pattern as to whether the stresses and pressure gradients would increase or decrease from the heel to the toe of the horizontal wellbore for the given model parameter. It can be concluded that in areas of high stress concentration, the ability to generate hydraulic fractures is reduced as compared to areas of low stress concentrations. An increase of the spacing between the fractures induced less interference and hence requires less breakdown pressures to initiate a fracture and also eliminates the effects of stress shadowing. This thesis also showed that COMSOL Multiphysics is a powerful tool which can be used for poroelastic simulations to model the wellbore, near wellbore, fractures and reservoir environment.iv

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Fracture Treatment Optimization for Horizontal Well Completion

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Single Point of Initiation, Dual-Fracture Placement for Maximizing Well Production

Single Point of Initiation, Dual-Fracture Placement for Maximizing Well Production

The Important Second Fracture and Its Optimal Placement for Maximizing Production

A Numerical Study of the Effects of Packer-Induced Stresses and Stress Shadowing on Fracture Initiation and Stimulation of Horizontal Wells

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