The study compares the fracture propagation in a case study for hydraulic fracturing in the Oligocene formation with lower permeable formation based on radial C, PKN-C, and GDK-C models including fracture length and fracture width under the constraint parameters such as young’s modulus, fracture toughness, and poison’s ratio and fracturing parameters such as flow behavior index, and consistency index of non-Newtonian, injection rate, and injection time, and overall leak-off coefficient. Hydraulic fracturing in the Oligocene formation of the White Tiger field under the constrained condition of the reservoir has low permeability, low effective porosity, heterogeneous formation, and low fracture conductivity, leading to a producer well with low production rates. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct hydraulic fracturing to increase the level of fracture conductivity to increase the production rate. Based on the constrained rock properties and fracturing parameters, and the permeable formation, the maximum fracture widths at the near wellbore for the PKN-C, GDK-C, and radial-C fracture models are 0.38in, 0.32in, and 0.31in, respectively, and the fracture lengths for the PKN-C, GDK-C, and radial-C models are obtained 217ft, 208ft, and 217ft, respectively.
The White Tiger oil field is located in Block 09-1, and it is the largest oil field in the Cuu Long Basin. The main oil exploitation in the White Tiger is in the Miocene, Oligocene, and pre-tertiary basement reservoirs (Figure-1). Between the lower and upper sections of the stratigraphy, the column could be described in the following formations:
- The pre-tertiary basement was characterized by a fractured basement with the main components, including granite, diorite, and granite biotite.
- The Oligocene formation was characterized by alternating sand, sandstone, and claystone layers divided into two parts, including lower Oligocene and upper Oligocene. Production history was shown that this formation has high reserves, and it was contained the main source rock of the Cuu Long Basin.
- The Miocene formation could be divided into three parts comprising Lower Miocene, Middle Miocene, and Upper Miocene. Furthermore, one of the most interesting units in the Lower Miocene, and it is characterized by the alternating sandstone and claystone.
