Hydraulic fracturing to determine the regional in situ stress field, Piceance Basin, Colorado
Journal Article
·
· Geol. Soc. Am., Bull.; (United States)
Using specially designed equipment, the state of stress was determined on a regional scale in the Piceance Oil Shale Basin of NW. Colorado. Seven oil-shale test holes scattered throughout the Piceance Basin were logged with an acoustic borehole televiewer to select unfractured solution-free intervals. Fracture-free intervals, ranging in depth from 60 to 460 m, were isolated between packers and hydraulicaly fractured. Induced fractures were propped with ground lucite and relogged with the televiewer to determine their strike and dip. These data, combined with pressure measurements made during the fracturing experiments, were used to compute the orientation and magnitude of the stress tensor. Field observations showed that in a tectonically relaxed area, vertical fractures can be induced at hydraulic pressures as low as 0.6 of the overburden stress. Below a depth of 120 m, the induced fractures were approx. vertical, with a prominent strike of N70/sup 0/W. (18 refs.)
- Research Organization:
- Geological Survey
- OSTI ID:
- 6553037
- Journal Information:
- Geol. Soc. Am., Bull.; (United States), Journal Name: Geol. Soc. Am., Bull.; (United States) Vol. 87:2; ISSN BUGMA
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
040300* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Drilling
Fracturing & Mining
040500 -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Properties & Composition
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
BOREHOLES
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CAVITIES
COMMINUTION
ENERGY SOURCES
ENHANCED RECOVERY
FIELD TESTS
FOSSIL FUELS
FRACTURING
FUELS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
HYDRAULIC FRACTURING
MATERIALS
MINERAL RESOURCES
OIL SHALE DEPOSITS
OIL SHALES
OVERBURDEN
PICEANCE CREEK BASIN
PROPPING AGENTS
RECOVERY
RESERVOIR PRESSURE
RESERVOIR ROCK
RESOURCES
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
STRESSES
TESTING
WELL LOGGING
040300* -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Drilling
Fracturing & Mining
040500 -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Properties & Composition
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
BOREHOLES
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CAVITIES
COMMINUTION
ENERGY SOURCES
ENHANCED RECOVERY
FIELD TESTS
FOSSIL FUELS
FRACTURING
FUELS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
HYDRAULIC FRACTURING
MATERIALS
MINERAL RESOURCES
OIL SHALE DEPOSITS
OIL SHALES
OVERBURDEN
PICEANCE CREEK BASIN
PROPPING AGENTS
RECOVERY
RESERVOIR PRESSURE
RESERVOIR ROCK
RESOURCES
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
STRESSES
TESTING
WELL LOGGING