Developing Guidelines for Selection of Appropriate Fracture Models in the Numerical Simulation of Well Performance Behavior for Liquid Rich Ultra-Low Permeability ULP Reservoirs

摘要

The numerical prediction of production from stimulated Ultra-Low Permeability (ULP) media is highly correlated with the type of fracture model used in the simulator. Although there are some general rules about the applicability of these fracture models, there are no guidelines for the a-priori selection of an appropriate model — generally, the fracture model is selected based on the preference and/or familiarity of the person performing the modeling, rather than some "more technical" criteria. In that light, this work presents an effort to provide guidance for fracture model suitability for cases from the Eagle Ford, Bakken, Three Forks, and Wolfcamp formations.