EFFECT OF COMPLEX FRACTURE GEOMETRY ON HYDRAULIC FRACTURE PRODUCTIVITY IN HORIZONTAL WELLS

• Main Author: Natalia Kakalang, Desty
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Subjects: Pertambangan dan operasi berkaitan
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/87758
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Hydraulic fracturing can be performed in both high and low permeability reservoirs. In low permeability or tight reservoirs, horizontal wells are needed to optimize hydrocarbon recovery. Horizontal wells depend on the principal stresses (overburden, horizontal, and vertical). If the direction of the horizontal well does not align with these three principal stresses, the fracture, which should be planar, will deviate. This happens because hydraulic fractures are influenced not only by the formation's permeability but also by in-situ stress. In fracture design calculations, it is assumed that the fracture formed is planar. Fractures that do not meet this assumption are referred to as complex fractures. As such, deviations in fractures will affect the well's productivity. Therefore, this study aims to understand the impact of fracture complexity on well productivity and to develop a dimensionless productivity equation for complex fractures. This study uses unified fracture design for hydraulic fracture design calculations. The results show that the productivity values for complex fractures are lower than those for planar fractures.