Enhancing oil production from tight formations under a reverse faulting stress regime by multistage fracturing

Abstract

Conventional hydraulic fracturing in multi-layered tight formations under reverse faulting stress regime has not been very promising. This is because of constraints of stress regime and improper modeling of fracture treatment, leading to the development of fracture turning, twisting, premature screen-outs, and shorter fracture length. Thus, this is a treatment design problem, where mathematical parameters relating to fracture geometry suitable for reverse faulting stress regime are not well presented. This article presents the integrated model for pinpoint multistage fracturing, which incorporates in-situ stress regime, constrained fracture geometry, material balance, and conductivity and production model. The model has been applied to multi-layered tight oil formations and benefits have been presented as compared to un-stimulated formations. The result shows about five-fold of production increment.