Investigation on the influence of multiple fracture interference on hydraulic fracture propagation in tight reservoirs

Abstract

The combination of horizontal well drilling and staged fracturing technology is one of the most effective ways to increase unconventional oil and gas production. The orientation of the horizontal wellbore is mostly considered to be consistent with the minimum horizontal principal stress in the numerical simulation. However, horizontal wellbores are usually at an angle to the minimum principal stress in field operations. In this case, the dynamic growth of the fractures will be limited during subsequent perforation and fracturing operations. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to build an effective numerical model to investigate the propagation of hydraulic fractures in the case of a horizontal wellbore that is not co-linear with the minimum horizontal principal stress. The extended finite element method is applied for multi-stage fracturing flow-solid coupling in horizontal wells. In addition, the effect of sequential and alternate fracturing on the propagation of fractures in horizontal wells was compared. The simulation results show that fracture growth on one side of the horizontal wellbore is severely restricted as the pinch angle increases. It is most evident in sequential fracturing mode while increasing the fracture spacing is one of the effective ways to reduce inter-fracture interference. Meanwhile, compared to sequential fracturing, alternate fracturing is more effective in reducing inter-fracture interference, allowing for effective fracturing at closer fracture spacing. Finally, the density of the fracturing section has been increased, and a higher reservoir reconstruction area can be obtained. This work, for the first time, evaluates the dynamic propagation of fractures when the horizontal wellbore is not collinear with the minimum horizontal principal stress orientation and helps operators to optimize the fracturing process.