Toward Controllable Infill Completions Using Frac-Driven Interactions FDI Data

Abstract

Infill completions have been explored by many operators in the last few years as a strategy to increase ultimate recovery from unconventional shale oil reservoirs. The stimulation of infill wells often causes pressure increases, known as fracture-driven interactions (FDIs), in nearby wells. Studies have generally focused on the propagation of fractures from infill wells and pressure changes in treatment wells rather than observation wells. Meanwhile, studies regarding the pressure response in the observation (parent) wells are mainly limited to field observations and conjecture. In this study, we provide a partialcorrective to this gap in the research.We model the pressure fluctuations in parent wells induced by fracking infill wells and provide insight into how field operators can use the pressure data from nearby wells to identify different forms of FDI, including fracture hit (frac-hit) and fracture shadowing. First,we model the trajectory of a fracture propagating from an infill well using the extended finite element methods (XFEM). This method allows us to incorporatethe possible intersection of fractures independent of the mesh gridding. Subsequently, we calculate the pressure response from the frac-hit and stress shadowing using a coupled geomechanics and multi-phase fluid flow model. Through numerical examples, we assess different scenarios that might arise because of the interactions between new fractures and old depleted fractures based on the corresponding pressure behavior in the parent wells. Typically, a large increase in bottomhole pressure over a short period is interpreted as a potential indication of a fracture hit. However, we show that a slower increase in bottomhole pressure may also imply a fracture hit, especially if gas repressurization was performed before the infill well was fracked. Ultimately, we find that well storage may buffer the sudden increase in pressure due to the frac-hit. We conclude by summarizing the different FDIs through their pressure footprints.