The Effects of Stress Changes and Natural Fractures on Hydraulic Fracture Interactions

摘要

A fully three-dimensional hydraulic fracture simulator was used to demonstrate the impact of stress changes and natural fractures on hydraulic fracture network geometry. Propagating hydraulic fractures change the local stress field, affecting the trajectory of nearby fractures propagating simultaneously (e.g. in a multi-cluster stage) or sequentially (e.g. subsequent stages in the same or other laterals). This can induce fracture complexity even in a very simple stress regime with no pre-existing natural fractures. The paper also shows that the geometry of a natural fracture system can dominate the shape of the fracture network developed during hydraulic fracturing. It is essential to simulate fracture propagation in three dimensions to capture these effects accurately.