Conductivity and performance of hydraulic fractures partially filled with compressible proppant packs

摘要

Hydraulic or fluid-driven fracturing techniques are often utilised to enhance the production of oil or gas from hydrocarbon reservoirs. There are a number of engineering guidelines to identify the optimum fracture dimensions (i.e, length and average opening) and optimum fracture conductivity, which maximize the efficiency of a given hydraulic fracturing procedure. However, the fracture dimensions as well as conductivity during the production stage may be below the expected design values due to the compressive in-situ stresses, the non-uniform distribution of the proppant within the fracture, as well as the compressibility of the fractured rock and proppant pack.