Open Access

ARTICLE

Hydraulic Fracture Parameter Inversion Method for Shale Gas Wells Based on Transient Pressure-Drop Analysis during Hydraulic Fracturing Shut-in Period

Shangjun Gao^1,2, Yang Yang¹, Man Chen¹, Jian Zheng¹, Luqi Qin^2,*, Xiangyu Liu², Jianying Yang¹
1 Sichuan Changning Natural Gas Development Company, Chengdu, 610000, China
2 National Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, 610500, China
* Corresponding Author: Luqi Qin. Email:

Energy Engineering https://doi.org/10.32604/ee.2024.053622

Received 06 May 2024; Accepted 27 July 2024; Published online 11 September 2024

Abstract

Horizontal well drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing are key technologies for the development of shale gas reservoirs. Instantaneous acquisition of hydraulic fracture parameters is crucial for evaluating fracturing effectiveness, optimizing processes, and predicting gas productivity. This paper establishes a transient flow model for shale gas wells based on the boundary element method, achieving the characterization of stimulated reservoir volume for a single stage. By integrating pressure monitoring data following the pumping shut-in period of hydraulic fracturing for well testing interpretation, a workflow for inverting fracture parameters of shale gas wells is established. This new method eliminates the need for prolonged production testing and can interpret parameters of individual hydraulic fracture segments, offering significant advantages over the conventional pressure transient analysis method. The practical application of this methodology was conducted on 10 shale gas wells within the Changning shale gas block of Sichuan, China. The results show a high correlation between the interpreted single-stage total length and surface area of hydraulic fractures and the outcomes of gas production profile tests. Additionally, significant correlations are observed between these parameters and cluster number, horizontal stress difference, and natural fracture density. This demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed fracture parameter inversion method and the feasibility of field application. The findings of this study aim to provide solutions and references for the inversion of fracture parameters in shale gas wells.

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Keywords

Well test analysis; shale gas; hydraulic fracturing; boundary element method; fracturing effect evaluation

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