Abstract
When calculating the downhole stresses affecting a wellbore during depletion it has become a standard industry practice to assume only the pore pressure changes, and not the rock mechanical properties. This assumption has the potential to underestimate the total horizontal stress (Sh) causing unrealistic fracture containment. It will also overestimate the effective horizontal stress (Sh' = Sh - Biot * Pore Pressure) for open-hole wellbore failure. High effective horizontal stress assumption can potentially transform rock from brittle to ductile behavior and failure mechanics from shear to compaction and the model becomes overly conservative. Ductile and compaction failure can cause changes in well integrity, as well as changes in fracture geometry from offset infill wells. This paper will document changes in rock properties in the Bakken formation during variable depletion (10% to 65%) and recalculate rock properties (velocities, mechanical properties - Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, and Biot's anisotropic compressibility constant) as a function of effective stress due to production in order to accurately calculate fracture geometry at an offset well and parent well bore integrity. Hydraulic fracturing simulations are performed to simulate well communication between the fractured well and the depleted parent well along with the potential to re-fracture the parent well using the pore pressure, linear, and non-linear models. Laboratory testing performed on rock samples is shown to validate the non-linear model.
