Fluid-Leakoff Delineation in High-Permeability Fracturing

Starting from the original concept proposed by Carter, Howard and Fast, this paper reviews the description of fracturing fluid leakoff in view of modeling flow in porous media. It is shown how various linear leakoff models have been developed and why a new, radial leakoff concept is necessary for high-permeability fracturing, where the injection time is commensurable to the response time of the reservoir. Using Laplace space methods, the new radial leakoff law is calculated and compared to linear leakoff. For comparison purposes a calibration test executed in high-permeability formation is interpreted using several approaches, namely: linear leakoff1bulk leakoff coefficient; filtercake resistance1linear flow in the formation and finally, filtercake resistance1radial flow in the formation.