Semester

Fall

Date of Graduation

2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

Department

Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering

Committee Chair

Kashy Aminian

Committee Member

Samuel Ameri

Committee Member

Ebrahim Fathi

Abstract

The design of the well stimulation treatment has significantly changed over the last decade because of the advancement of hydraulic fracturing. The cluster and stage spacing design component of hydraulic fracturing has been a key factor in enhancing the production from the horizontal wells. Recently, the treatment designs are moving towards lower cluster spacing. The reduction of the spacing alters the in-situ stresses in the formation and begin to impact the propagation of next set of future fractures and the properties of previous fractures. These stress alterations from hydraulic fracturing is referred to as stress shadowing.

The objective of study was to investigate the impact of the cluster spacing and the completion design on the production from a horizontal shale gas well. The available completion, drilling, and reservoir data from a horizontal shale gas well located at Marcellus Shale Energy and Environment Laboratory (MSEEL) in Morgantown, WV was used to develop the base model for this study using GOHFER 3D fracture modeling software coupled with CMG reservoir simulation software. Subsequently, different the cluster spacings and the completion designs were modeled with GOHFER 3D to evaluate the impact that stress shadowing has on fractures properties. The predicted fractures properties were then imported into CMG reservoir simulation to predict the production performance. The results of the study provided a better understanding of the stress shadowing in shale gas reservoirs relative to the cluster spacing of the completion design.

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