Abstract
The natural-fracture network and a large part of hydraulic fractures are poorly supported, and the conductivity of the natural-fracture network is highly sensitive to stress and strain during the production stage. In this work, we aimed to understand the impact of mode I (tensile) and mode II (shear) fractures on fracture-gas permeability as a function of effective stress in Long Ma Xi shale in the Dragon Horse Creek Group in Western China. Experimental results showed that the two-mode fracture tortuosity and width of shale were opposite those of sandstone. Our results implied that in Long Ma Xi shale, mode I fractures likely contributed significantly to early-stage high well productivity, with low effective stress, and mode II fractures may contribute to well productivity after the initial stage of gas production, with relatively high effective stress.
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