Abstract
Hydraulic fracturing (HF) is the prime technology for stimulation of unconventional reservoirs including shale plays. Multi-stage HF is performed in long laterals to develop shale reservoirs. Several parameters need to be considered in design of a multi-stage fracking job. Formation properties and the state of stresses in the field are the two major controlling parameters that affect the fracture geometry and the stimulated reservoir volume (SRV). The formation heterogeneity in shales and existence of natural fractures have dominant effect in completion design. The well spacing and cluster spacing are therefore chosen to optimize the SRV while avoiding problems such as stress shadow and fracture driven interaction (FDI). In this presentation, a review of some of the parameters affecting the design of multi-stage HF will be given and some of the lab experimental work and field studies that have been conducted in our research group are presented.
Short Bio
Dr. Rasouli is the LeNorman Endowed Leadership Chair and the Head of Department of Energy and Petroleum Engineering at University of Wyoming. Prior to that, he was the Chair and Continental Resources distinguished Professor at the Department of Petroleum Engineering, University of North Dakota for 7 years. He served as the head of Department of Petroleum Eng at Curtin University in Western Australia and the Department deputy in Amirkabir University in Iran. During his 18 years of academic career, Dr. Rasouli has been involved in the development of Petroleum Eng Programs at both undergraduate and graduate levels, establishment of advanced Petroleum Engineering labs and has supervised several Ph.D. students. He has a strong record of collaboration with the oil and gas industry and has been the recipient of several industry and research funded projects. Dr. Rasouli has been a consulting Engineer to Schlumberger since 2004 and from 2012 is an instructor for their NExT (Network of Excellence in Training) program, delivering industry short courses worldwide in different subjects including Petroleum Geomechanics, Horizontal Drilling, Hydraulic Fracturing, Sand Control and Shale Play characterizations.