The Case For Planar Fracture Modeling

Mark McClure's presentation for the series of 'Robe Talks' organized by the HFC of the American Rock Mechanics Association, April 15, 2020. Should we use 'planar fracture' models or 'complex fracture network' models? The answer depends on geologic setting and modeling objectives. In this talk, Mark synthesizes field results published by operators, modeling results, and his experience performing modeling studies to lay out the case for why planar fracture modeling is best for most shale formations. Sub-model scale features such as natural fractures and small-scale complexity are handled with constitutive relations and continuum theory. Permission was obtained to reproduce the figures. Reference list: Bahorich, B., J. E. Olson, J. Holder. 2012. Examining the effect of cemented natural fractures on hydraulic fracture propagation in hydrostone block experiments. SPE 160197. Paper presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio, TX. Delaney, Paul T., David D. Pollard, Joseph I. Ziony, and Edwin H. McKee. 1986. Field relations between dikes and joints: emplacement processes and paleostress analysis. Journal of Geophysical Research. Fisher, M. K., C. A. Wright, B. M. Davidson, A. K. Goodwin, E. O. Fielder, W. S. Buckler, and N. P. Steinsberger. 2002. Integrating fracture mapping technologies to optimize stimulation in the Barnett Shale. Paper presented at the SPE Annual Technology Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio, TX. Fowler, Garrett, Mark McClure, and Craig Cipolla. 2019. A Utica Case Study: The Impact of Permeability Estimates on History Matching, Fracture Length, and Well Spacing. Paper SPE-195980-MS presented at the SPE Annual Technology Conference & Exhibition, Calgary, CA. Gale, Julia F. W., Sara J. Elliott, and Stephen E. Laubach. 2018. Hydraulic fractures in core from stimulated reservoirs: Core fracture description of the HFTS slant core, Midland Basin, West Texas. Paper presented at the Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, Houston, TX. Gu, H., and X. Weng. 2010. Criterion for fractures crossing frictional interfaces at non-orthogonal angles. Paper presented at the 44th US Rock Mechanisms Symposium, Salt Lake City, UT. Kaufman, Peter, Mark McClure, Nick Franciose, Sean Owens, Fabiano Srur, David Russell. 2019. Optimizing Completions in Tank Style Development. Paper presented at the Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, Denver, Colorado. McClure, M. W. 2012. Modeling and characterization of hydraulic stimulation and induced seismicity in geothermal and shale gas reservoirs. PhD Thesis, Stanford University, Stanford, California. McClure, Mark, and Roland Horne. 2014a. Characterizing hydraulic fracturing with a tendency-for-shear-stimulation test. SPE Reservoir Engineering & Evaluation. McClure, Mark W., Mohsen Babazadeh, Sogo Shiozawa, and Jian Huang. 2015. Fully coupled hydromechanical simulation of hydraulic fracturing in 3D discrete-fracture networks. SPE Journal. McClure, Mark, and Charles Kang. 2019. ResFrac Technical Writeup. arXiv:1804.02092. Raterman, Kevin T., Helen E. Farrell, Oscar S. Mora, Aaron L. Janssen, Gustavo A. Gomez, Seth Busetti, Jamie McEwen, Michael Davidson, Kyle Friehauf, James Rutherford, Ray Reid, Ge Jin, Baishali Roy, and Mark Warren. 2017. Sampling a Stimulated Rock Volume: An Eagle Ford Example. Paper presented at the Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, Austin, TX. Raterman, Kevin T., Yongshe Liu, Logan Warren. 2019. Analysis of a drained rock volume: An Eagle Ford example. URTec-263. Paper presented at the Unconventional Resources Technology Conference, Denver, CO. Renshaw, C. E., and D. D. Pollard (1995), An experimentally verified criterion for propagation across unbounded frictional interfaces in brittle, linear elastic materials, International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences & Geomechanics Abstracts, 32(3), 237-249, doi:10.1016/0148-9062(94)00037-4. Sen, Vikram, Kyoung Suk Min, Lujun Ji, and Richard Sullivan. 2018. Completions and Well Spacing Optimization by Dynamic SRV Modeling for Multi-Stage Hydraulic fracturing. SPE 191571. Paper presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition. Snee, Jens-Erik Lund, and Mark D. Zoback. 2016. State of stress in Texas: Implications for induced seismicity. Geophysical Research Letters, 43. Walton, Ian, and John McLennan. 2013. The role of natural fractures in shale gas production. InTechOpen. Weng, X., O. Kresse, C. Cohen, R. Wu, and H. Gu. 2011. Modeling of hydraulic fracture network propagation in fractured formation. Paper presented at the SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference and Exhibition, The Woodlands, TX. Wu, Kan, and Jon E. Olson. 2015. Numerical investigation of complex hydraulic fracture development in naturally fractured reservoirs. SPE 173326. Presented at the SPE Hydraulic Fracturing Technology Conference, The Woodlands, TX.