Abstract
The problem of hydraulic fracture propagation is of great interest for unconventional gas development because of wide use of fracturing treatment. In this paper, we analyzed a microseismic dataset from hydraulic fracture stimulation of a tight gas reservoir at Dowdy Ranch field, USA in order to determine the kinematics of fracture propagation. Evaluation of the spatial‐temporal distribution of microseismic events reveals an asymmetric hydrofracture growth on two sides of the injection well; the east wing was almost three times longer than the west wing. The asymmetry was also reflected in the speed of growth and the number of microseismic events, with almost four times greater speed and ten times more events to the east than to the west. The east and west wings propagate at an average rate of 0.49 and 0.13 m/minute separately in a three‐hour period. The average rupture size per event is around 0.58 m and 1.87 m for the east and west wings, respectively. Full waveform based complete moment tensor inversion indicates a dominant shearing mechanism of hydrofracture events. The derived source radius is similar to the average rupture size.
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