The Impact of Stress Shadowing and Geomechanical Effects on Gas Production From Marcellus Shale

Abstract

Abstract Unconventional resources play an important role in meeting the energy demand across the world. In the United States, the unconventional resource development especially shale gas is booming. In order to achieve commercial production from ultra-low permeability shale formations, it necessary to use horizontal wells with multiple hydraulic fracture stages. The properties of the hydraulic fractures and as a result the production performance of the horizontal well with multiple fractures are impacted by the stress conditions during the fracturing and the production. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of the stress shadowing and geomechanical factors on the gas production from the horizontal wells with multiple hydraulic fractures completed in Marcellus Shale. The fracture treatment data and shale properties (Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, and in-situ stresses) from a Marcellus Shale horizontal well were utilized in conjunction with a commercially available hydraulic fracturing software to estimate of the hydraulic fracture properties for different stages which are impacted by stress shadowing. Laboratory measurements as well as the published studies on Marcellus shale core plugs provided the foundation for establishing the geomechanical factors relative to the matrix permeability, fissure permeability, and the hydraulic fracture conductivity. The predicted hydraulic fracture properties for different stages as well as the geomechanical factors were incorporated in a reservoir simulation model to predict the production performance of the horizontal wells under study. The inclusion of the stress shadowing effects provided a close match between the simulated and actual production performance for the well under study. Furthermore, the inclusion of the geomechanical factors in the model improved the simulation results particularly in the early stages of the production. The results indicated the stress shadowing negatively impacted the production. The impact of the stress shadowing can be reduced by increasing the fracture spacing.