We present a method for modeling the transient growth of drilling-induced fractures through a porous medium in the near wellbore region. Understanding the early time fracture growth behavior, and related near wellbore stress state, can provide an effective tool to improve the treatment selection through parameters such as particle size distribution and ideal drilling fluid rheology. Also, it will help with field diagnostics for various lost circulation treatments and lost return events. ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company and SIMULIA~R co-developed fully-coupled hydraulic fracturing modeling capabilities. The model was benchmarked with known solutions to analytical fracture growth regimes and validated with a laboratory scale experimental setup of hydraulic fracturing. The model allows for fluid leak-off from the wellbore and fracture faces into the porous medium for an arbitrary injection schedule. The time-dependent fracture growth and interaction between the stress concentration region near the fracture tip and the wellbore result in a non-linear behavior of the near-wellbore stress state during early time fracture propagation, which was not possible to capture with static models. This analysis allows for recommendation of an optimum fracture width for maximum increase in wellbore integrity in the target formation. This is done by selecting the fracture width at the mouth, at which the desired increase in the near- wellbore tangential stresses has been achieved as to prevent initialization of further fractures. The model was applied to a field scale example and the predicted integrity gain from fracture plugging agrees well with observations.
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