Hydraulic fracturing is a technology used to extract natural gas from shale rock formations found deep beneath the earth. It raises many public health and environmental issues of concern to municipalities and planners, both urban and rural. These issues range from potential water contamination and air pollution to noise, dust, truck traffic, and even minor earthquakes. This article identifies r...

Breakdown pressures obtained from the classic, linear elastic breakdown model are compared with the corresponding pressures obtained using a nonlinear material model. Compression test results obtained on sandstone and siltstone are used for that purpose together with previously formulated nonlinear model which introduces elasticity functions to address nonlinear stress-strain behaviour of rocks...

Many natural examples of complex joint and vein networks in layered sedimentary rocks are hydro-fractures that form by a combination of pore fluid overpressure and tectonic stresses. In this paper, a two-dimensional hybrid hydro-mechanical formulation is proposed to model the dynamic development of natural hydrofractures. The numerical scheme combines a Discrete Element Model (DEM) framework th...

We performed an integrated study of multistage hydraulic fracture stimulation of two parallel horizontal wells in the Bakken Formation in the Williston Basin, North Dakota. There are three distinct parts of this study: development of a geomechanical model for the study area, interpretation of multiarray downhole recordings of microseismic events, and interpretation of hydraulic fracturing data ...

There has been little interest in the application of hydraulic fracture treatment in Iranian oil fields, thanks to the primarily suitable production rates of the vast oil fields. In this paper, hydraulic fracturing treatment was simulated by different models for a carbonate reservoir in the southwest of Iran. Suitable pay zones were nominated based on the lithology, water-oil saturation, geomec...

In 2000 and 2003, two massive hydraulic fracturing experiments were carried out at the European Geothermal Hot Dry Rock site at Soultz-sous-Forêts, France. The objective was to create a dense network of enhanced permeability fractures, which would form the heat exchanger. The injection of water in the fractured rock generated a high level of microseismic activity: around 30,000 and 90,000 micro...

Outcrop studies have revealed the presence of abundant cemented fractures in many low permeable formations. Recovered cores have also revealed the opening of some of these smaller size fractures on the wall surface of main hydraulic fractures. Furthermore, earlyproduction well-testing analysis in some of these cases provide estimates for hydraulically induced fracture surface areas which are mu...

Shale gas represents a major fraction of the proven reserves of natural gas in the United States and a collection of other countries. Higher gas prices and the need for cleaner fuels provides motivation for commercializing shale gas deposits even though the cost is substantially higher than traditional gas deposits. Recent advances in horizontal drilling and multistage hydraulic fracturing, whi...