Hydraulics and Geomechanics Parameters for Hydraulic Fracturing Optimization in Production's Developments of Shale Gas/ Shale Oil in North America

Unconventional reservoirs (NCR) have been responsible for an important revolution in the volume and profile of gas production in the USA and are now arousing interest of other countries e.g. China, Canada, Argentina and Australia. In most of the NCR, the development of production has been made possible through horizontal wells with multiple transverse fractures. In order to optimize the well hydraulic fracturing design for exploration and production’s development of shale gas/shale oil, is required to understand the key parameters that influence in the complex fractures network. In terms of reservoir stimulation through horizontal wells, the practice by smaller operators came before the theory, generating nice results and promoting theoretical development. The recent join of big operators into the unconventional reservoirs environment raised about the huge volumes of fluids and propping agents used in the complex fractures network, have generated some questions about shale gas/shale oil well stimulation. This work presents the main parameters that have influence on the complex fractures network built in shales, aiming to understand their effects in shale rock in order to avoid problems and optimize the hydraulic fracturing design.