Abstract
Fracture-driven interactions (FDIs) in unconventional reservoirs significantly affect well production and have thus garnered extensive attention from the scientific community. Furthermore, since the industry transitioned to using large completion designs with closer well spacing and infill drilling, FDIs have occurred more frequently and featured more prominently, which has primarily led to destructive interference. When infill wells (i.e., “child” wells) are fractured, older, adjacent producing wells (i.e., “parent” wells) are put directly at risk of premature changes in production behavior. Some wells may never fully recover following exposure to severe FDIs and, in the worst case scenario, will permanently stop producing. To date, previous investigations into FDIs have focused mainly on diagnosis and detection. As such, their formation mechanism is not well understood. To address this deficiency, a three-dimensional, multi-fracture propagation simulator was constructed based on the unconventional fracture model (UFM) and applied to a system that included both an older, adjacent passive well (“parent” well) and an active well (“child” well). Herein, the theoretical framework for overall complex fracture modeling is described. Furthermore, numerical simulation results are presented, demonstrating the critical roles of in-situ stress distribution and pre-existing natural fractures and aiding in the development of appropriate strategies for managing FDIs.
Highlights
Advances in drilling and fracturing technologies have facilitated new, unconventional reservoir design trends that consist of large-scale completions with more horizontal cluster wells and multi-stage fracturing
The present findings confirm that lower horizontal stress anisotropies enhance the complexity of hydraulic fractures (HFs) patterns and cause intra-well fractures to connect
The type of fracture-driven interactions (FDIs) that interacts through conductive fracture pathways, resulting in more direct and greater damage to the older adjacent passive wells, is often associated with complex fracture-propagation patterns
Summary
Advances in drilling and fracturing technologies have facilitated new, unconventional reservoir design trends that consist of large-scale completions with more horizontal cluster wells and multi-stage fracturing. The more tightly spaced the wells become, the greater the risk of fracture-driven interactions (FDIs), because hydraulic fractures (HFs) between wells are communicated [1]. FDIs associated with infill wells that are adjacent or near-adjacent to production wells are known for being problematic, as they initiate (1) abnormal changes in wellhead pressure, daily gas/oil production, and daily water production; and (2) water flooding, mud backflow, and/or sand production, etc. In the most severe circumstances, the affected production well may never fully recover and may even permanently stop producing. This relationship has been characterized using a variety of terminology
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