Altered-stress fracturing

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:5200300

Warpinski, N R; Branagan, P T

Altered-stress fracturing is a concept whereby a hydraulic fracture in one well is reoriented by another hydraulic fracture in a nearby location. The application is in tight, naturally fractured, anisotropic reservoirs in which conventional hydraulic fractures parallel the highly permeable natural fractures and little production enhancement is achieved by conventional hydraulic fracturing. Altered-stress fracturing can modify the stress field so that hydraulic fractures propagate across the permeable natural fractures. A field test was conducted in which stress changes of 250 to 300 psi (1.7 to 2.1 MPa) were measured in an offset well 120 ft (37 m) away during relatively small minifracs in a production well. These results show that stress-altered fracturing is possible at this site and others. Analytic and finite element calculations quantify the effects of layers, stresses, and crack size. Reservoir calculations show significant enhancement compared to conventional treatments. 21 refs., 12 figs., 3 tabs.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DP00789
• OSTI ID: 5200300
• Report Number(s): SAND-87-2510C; CONF-880573-1; SPE-17533; ON: DE88006659
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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03 NATURAL GAS
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COMMINUTION
CRACKS
DATA
DIRECTIONAL DRILLING
DRILLING
ENGINEERING
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FAILURES
FIELD TESTS
FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
FLOW RATE
FLUID MECHANICS
FRACTURE MECHANICS
FRACTURES
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MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
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NATURAL GAS WELLS
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NUMERICAL SOLUTION
PERMEABILITY
PRODUCTION
RESERVOIR ENGINEERING
RESERVOIR ROCK
ROCKS
SANDSTONES
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
STIMULATION
STRESSES
TESTING
WELL STIMULATION
WELLS
YOUNG MODULUS