Impact of the stress state and the natural network of fractures/faults on the efficiency of hydraulic fracturing operations in the Goldwyer Shale Formation
Partha Pratim Mandal A C , Reza Rezaee A and Joel Sarout BA WA School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering, Curtin University, Kensington, WA 6151, Australia.
B CSIRO Energy, Rock Properties Team and Geomechanics and Geophysics Laboratory, Kensington, WA 6151, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: p.mandal@postgrad.curtin.edu.au
The APPEA Journal 60(1) 163-183 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ19025
Submitted: 9 December 2019 Accepted: 29 January 2020 Published: 15 May 2020
Abstract
Cost-effective hydrocarbon production from low-permeability unconventional reservoirs requires multi-stage hydraulic fracturing (HF) operations. Each HF stage aims to generate the most spatially extended fracture network, giving access to the largest volume of reservoir possible (stimulated volume) and allowing hydrocarbons to flow towards the wellbore. The size of the stimulated volume, and therefore, the efficiency of any given HF stage, is governed by the rock’s deformational behaviour and presence of pre-existing natural fractures/faults. Naturally elevated pore pressures at depth not only help to reduce the injection energy required to generate hydraulic fractures but can also induce slip along pre-existing fractures/faults, and therefore, enhance production rates. Here we analyse borehole image, density, resistivity and sonic logs available from a vertical exploration well in the Goldwyer Shale Formation (Canning Basin) to (i) characterise the pre-existing network of natural fractures; and (ii) estimate the in-situ pore pressure and stress state at depth. The aim of such an analysis is to evaluate the possibility of fracture/fault reactivation (slip) during and following HF operations. Based on this analysis, we found that an increase in the formation's pore pressure by only a few MPa (typically ~5–10 MPa) could lead to slip along pre-existing fractures/faults, provided they are favourably oriented with respect to the prevalent stress field for future production. We also found that slip along the horizontal or sub-horizontal bedding of the Goldwyer Formation is unlikely in view of the prevalent strike-slip faulting regime, unless an extremely large overpressure exists within the reservoir.
Keywords: deformation, fault slip, Goldwyer Formation, induced seismicity, natural fractures/faults, stress regime, pore pressure, unconventional shale exploration.
Partha Pratim Mandal is a PhD student at WA School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering, Curtin University. His research focuses on creating geomechanical workflows for laboratory measurements of the mechanical aspect of shale gas, including the incorporation of multi-channel active and passive wave velocity recording and fundamental rock physics principals, which will lead to an improved understanding of: (i) the relationship between static and dynamic elastic properties of shale; (ii) brittle zone identification; (iii) fracture growth patterns; (iv) HF operation in the field; and (v) micro-seismic monitoring. He is the recipient of the Higher Degree Research Training Program Scholarship and PESA Federal Post-graduate scholarship. He is the founding member and the president of EAGE-SEG student chapter at Curtin University. Previously he worked for six years as an Imaging Geophysicist at Petroleum Geo-Services both in India and Australia. He received his first-class BSc degree in Physics (Hons) from the Presidency College, University of Calcutta, India and his MSc Tech degree in Applied Geophysics from the IIT (ISM), Dhanbad, India. His technical and management expertise are in geomechanics, seismic imaging, rock-physics, machine learning and leading non-profit organizations. He is very passionate about teaching science subjects, like mathematics and physics, to high school students. |
Professor Reza Rezaee of Curtin University’s Department of Petroleum Engineering has a PhD in Reservoir Characterisation. He has over 27 years’ experience in academia, being responsible for both teaching and research. During his career, he engaged in several research projects supported by major oil and gas companies, and these commissions, together with his supervisory work at various universities, have involved a wide range of achievements. He has received more than $2.2M funds through his collaborative research projects. He has supervised over 70 MSc and PhD students during his university career to date. He has published more than 160 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers and is the author of four books on petroleum geology, logging and log interpretation and gas shale reservoirs. His research has been mostly on integrated solutions for reservoir characterisation, formation evaluation and petrophysics. Currently, he is focused on unconventional gas studies, including gas shale and tight gas sand. As a founder of the ‘Unconventional Gas Research Group’ of Australia, he has established a unique and highly sophisticated research laboratory in the Department of Petroleum Engineering, Curtin University. This laboratory was established to conduct research on petrophysical evaluation of tight gas sands and shale gas formations. He is the winner of the Australian Gas Innovation Award for his innovation on tight gas sand treatment for gas production enhancement. |
Joel Sarout is a Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO in Perth (Australia), where he leads the Rock Properties Research Team. Since 2006, he was involved and led multiple government- and industry-funded research projects to better understand and predict the effects of anthropogenic subsurface activities in the energy/resources sector, e.g. oil and gas exploration and production, CO2 geo-sequestration. Through a science-based approach, these projects have contributed to: (i) a more accurate interpretation of 3D/4D seismic and micro-seismicity data; (ii) improved reservoir depletion and borehole stability monitoring/predictions; (iii) optimized exploration for oil, gas and geothermal resources; and (iv) enhanced energy resources recovery. Joel holds a MSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota (2003), and a PhD in Earth Science (Rock Physics) from the Ecole Normale Supérieure / University Paris Orsay (2006). His technical expertise lies in rock physics, geomechanics and geophysics. He co-authored 53 refereed journal articles, and his work has attracted 1590 citations since 2006 (source: Google Scholar). Joel is currently acting as an Associate Editor for the AGU's Journal of Geophysical Research-Solid Earth and for the EAGE's Geophysical Prospecting journal. |
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