(333e) Multi-Stage Hydraulic Fracturing Simulation with Fluid and Heat Flow, and Geomechanical Effects

Multi-stage hydraulic fracturing and horizontal wells are the technologies responsible for enhanced oil and gas production from unconventional reservoirs. In fracturing operations, fractures are created in series along a horizontal well and the stress field is locally altered, affecting the orientation and propagation of new, adjacent fractures that are created next. New fractures tend to propagate in a complex manner due to local stress field redistribution during fracturing. Here, we develop a modeling approach to simulate realistic 3-D fracturing geometry while incorporating the effects of existing fractures (or stress shadow) and elevated formation pressure due to injected fracturing fluids on new fracture development. We developed a general three-dimensional hydraulic fracturing model that accounts for fluid and proppant flow and heat transfer in the wellbore, the rock mechanics of fracturing including fracture initiation, growth, and propagation, as well as fluid and proppant flow and heat transfer in the fracture. The model is capable of simulating multiple fractures that would occur during fracturing of a horizontal well in an unconventional reservoir and includes geomechanical effects such as the Stress Shadow effect, the effect on fracture growth from superposition of induced stresses by near-by fractures.

We will present a series of simulations using analytical solutions and problems from the literature for model verification and demonstration of its capabilities. We will then conduct a series of field-data based modeling studies using tight gas field data to better design and optimize fracturing operations.