..

SPE
SPE 14261

Induced Fracture Orientation Determination

in the Kuparuk Reservoir
by K.W. Griffin,
ARCO

Alaska Inc.

SPE Member

Copyrighi

i 985, %Iefy

of Peiroieum

Engineers

This papar was prepsred for presentation

Vegaa, NV Septembsr
22-25,
1985.

at the 60th Annual

Technical

Conference

and Exhibition

of the Society

of Petroleum

Engineers

held in Las

This paper waa selected for presentation

by an SPE Program Committee following review of information contained in an abatract aubmined by the
author(a). Contents of the paper, aa presented, have not been reviewed by the Sodety of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the
author(a). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any poaifion of the Society of Petroleum Engineera, its officers, or members. Papera
presented at SPE maetinga are subject to publication review by Editorial Commineea
of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Permission to copy ia
restricted to an abatract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abetract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment
of where
and by whom the paper

is presented.

Write

Publication

Manager,

SPE,

P.O.

Box 833836,

Richardson,

TX 75083-3S36.

Telex,

7S0989

SPEDAL.

SUMMARY :
The orientation
of hydraulic fractures Is
often a significant factor in the generation of an
A . . ..-l--&
-1.TL.k*>a&..
&.-...+d.,...&~..l..ldAdAueveIupwIcIII,
p[arl.
UPL
IIIIUIII
I ICIUWIUC
Irre
auttrcy
LU
predlct or determine fracture orientation allows
evaluation of the impact of fracturing on drainage
patterns and on waterflood
performance,
and
plannlng of further development drilling. In the
Kuparuk A Sand--a medium porosity, heavily mineralized, shaly sandstone--hydraulic
fractures are
required to achieve the necessary injection and
production rates to sustain waterflood and peripheral development.
A program was developed to test the applicability of a variety of fracture
orientation
determination
techniques, and
aiso to provide
information on the orientation of Kuparuk hydraulic
fractures.
Seven fracture orientation
determination and prediction techniques were compared in
a single wellbore:
Calculation
of wellbore
elliptlcity
from four-arm
dipmeter
calipers;
on-site measurement
of core strain relaxation;
laboratory measurement of differential strain on
oriented core samples (DSA); laboratory measurement
of sonic velocities through oriented core samples;
analysls
of trlaxlal
borehole
seismic
data;
evaluation of expandable packer impressions and
evaluation of borehole acoustic televiewer results.
Results from this, and other, single-wellbore tests
were then compared with fieldwide DSA data, sonic
velocity data, wellbore elllpticity data, and fault
and structure mapping.
All of the techniques
examined
provided
indications of fracture orientation. The downhole
triaxlal seismometer surveys proved to t@._lmth
definitive and economical as a method of deterReferences at end of paper.

mining fracture orientation.

The methods which
require rock property measurements to Infer stress
A ...44..4..&4ur
IeIILab

IUII

..

1-s-.4+\uII->i

I,e

,. 4 ...4....>Lralrl

Iela

1..

.+4....
Aa &lull,

A4 CC..s
ulllel

entlal strain, and sonic veloclty), require careful

orientation of the core samples, a homogeneous sand
with low shale content, and multiple samplings to
ensure a correct interpretation
of the results.
Wellbore elliptlcity measurements provide fair to
good approximations
of stress field orientation.
The quality of the data increases with an lncreaslng degree of borehole spalllng or eccentricity.
The openhole techniques, while very useful
for verification and diagnostic purposes, are too
expensive for general use as fracture orientation
determination tools.

INTROWCTI(N:
According
to current rock mechanics
and
hydraulic fracturing theory, the orientation of the
In-situ stress field is the dominant factor influencing fracture orientation.1 A hydraulic fracture
is created when bottomhole
injection pressure
overcomes the pore pressure and the minimum in-situ
compressive stress of the formation. Rock material
will be displaced in the direction of the minimum
compressive stress,
and the fracture will extend
in a plane normal to this stress (I.e., In the
directions of the maximum and intermediate compressive stresses).
8ecause the overburden is
generally the maximum compressive stress at depths
greater than approximately
2000 ft (600m), hydraulic fractures are near vertical In the Kuparuk
FormatIon (5700 - 6800 ft; 1740-2070M). Assuming
the existence of higher compressive stresses in the
overlying and underlying barrier layers, fratiure
creation and extensiort-.will
occur primarily within
A4.6#.++An
A#
~~e
~~e ?Gwer I/,,sw.,,b
~afi~ ?R tha
RukJul
urn
!.11=
Uil=bbiwtl
VI
maximum horizontal stress.
..

.,
.
L

TN1)lTCUT)
URA(!TITRT?
-.-. ---.
L..uvM-

OR
TF.NTATTON
-----.------

DETEFWINATION

IN THE KUPARUK

RESERVOIR

SPE

14261
-1

The Kuparuk River FormatIon

(Fig.1) Is am
sequence of terrlgenous clastlc sediments deposited
on a shallow marine shelf during the Lower CreThe reservoir Is an antlcllnal
taceous Period.
structure on the Prudhoe Uplift on the northern
edge of the Alaskan North Slope. Oeposltionally,
It Is at the juncture between two major fault
systems; and older, northwesterly-southeasterly
fauit system, and a younger, north-south fauit
The formation consists of two sand-silt
system.
sequences which are separated by an erosional
..----z-#
A.. -rL.-1----------------4-*-z *b.- n
unccmTonnl

Ly.

tne

Iuwer

>equenue

LunsI>L>

WI

LrIe

Indirect Measurement
-------- ----------Triaxial Borehole Selsmlcs14-16
Predictive Inference
---------- --------a)

act

Ca

Vf

an extensive
ARCO Alaska, Inc. developed
program; 1) to compare the accuracy and applicability of a variety of induced fracture orientation
detection and prediction techniques, and 2) to use
these techniques to map fracture orientations in
the Kuparuk A Sand.
All of the techniques used In this work have
been previously described in the literature. Much
of the past work was of a development 1 nature or
restricted to a few testing methods. !-9 This is
the most extensive comparison to date of fracture
orientation determination
and prediction technlques.
The techniques investigated in this work can
be divided into three categories based on type of
measurement;
direct observations (at the wellbore
sand face), indirect measurements (from formation
signals), and predictive Inference (testing of
related properties). The following techniques were
used:
Direct Observation
------ ----------a)
b)

ImpressIon Packers
Borehole
Acoustic
viewerl@13

Tele-

e)

Fault and Structural Mapplngg

,41

V11U8 1 J

The A Sand has been found to be very susceptible to damage. Hydraulic fracturing has been
found to be a convenient and effective technique
for removing wellbore damage and providing some
stimulation of the reservoir. Presently, 100 ft
(30m) fracture lengths are used, which result In
productivity improvements of 3.0. This Improvement
is eveniy divided between damage removal and
stimulation, and enhances the economics on many
Kuparuk drill sites.
In such a situation, proper
placement of wells and proper distribution
of
producers
and injectors
can minlmlze
unswept
reserves, overlapping flood patterns, and cycling
of injection fluids.

U1

b)
C)

Sands, a thinly laminated series of interbedded

sandstones, slltstones, and mudstones; overlain by
the 8 II-i+
a eab-{ae
n*4m.w.ilv
~fin+nvhnrit+ad
,?!!,=,
=.=
Ultil,,
The upper sequence
slltstone
and mudstone.
consists of four marine sandstones, the C Sands;
overlain by a siltstone, the D unit. The Kuparuk
reservoir sands are in the A and C units. The
Kuparuk A Sands are more widespread than the C
Sands and provide approximately
60% of the reserves. The A Sands are quartozose, very fine to
44..A
..,/.1
1I e,-...4aA
.-,-I
l,b~r....ll,,
fi-?l+arl
*,,8m
yralilcu,
WCI
auf
L.vu$
aIIU
, ,J
L=,,-l,b=
1 l[IC m.4..n..l
part by ankerlte.
Shaliness varies widely both
vertically and aerally throughout the sand. in
cleaner sections porosities
are near 23% and
permeabilities are near 100 millidarcies.

weiibore Eilipticity measurements

from Four-arm
Ipmeter
Caliper Data5S 6* 17-1~
_,A.-k---n->.....ba--?(b~~
Oii-slLe>Lraln fwlaxabluri-Differential
Strain
AnalysIs23-26
analvc{c27
C--{.Ualnei+,,
.x/,,,u
,=,Q,*J
..wrJ.7.-

The direct observation techniques use oriented

downhole tools to observe the the induced fracture
st the wellbore. The borehole seismometer detects
and orients seismic signals emanating from the
freshly created fracture face.
The predictive
4-.4.

l,~>L>

--...,,-,.

Inea>urc

,,.w~.+tane

a,

,Cll,,,,a

in
m-wb
nwnnnr+inc
ahm]t
,,,
,Vsm
+/1+/=,
,-w.-

the diameter
of the core and require proper
application of rock mechanical property theory to
induced fracture
infer In-situ stresses and
orientations from this data.
Two well
known techniques
for fracture
orientation detection were not used In this work
due to practical limitations of the data. Lack of
resolution of surface tiltmeter data due to the
depths involved and to the exlstlng permafrost
inapplicable.28
layer renders
this technique
Interference or pulse pressure testing @also
is
.._*...._
lnappiicabie because the longest nyarauilc Tracwre
half-len ths are far less than one-half the well
spacing,2$-32
L. W. Teufe14 has proposed the microcrack
model of strain relaxation with which to relate
core properties to the in-situ state of stress.
Core relaxation
will be the greatest
In the
dlrectlon of maximum horizontal stress, due to the
formation and opening-up of microcracks perpendiFracturing theory predicts
cular to this stress.
that hydraulic fractures will propagate perpendicular to these cracks -- in the direction of
maximum horizontal stress.
OESCRIPTIUOF

TECIMIQUES:

The Impression packers

IMPRESSION PACKERS:
are expandable-type
production packers with a
malleable rubber jacket over leaf-type flexible
They are run on tubing and are
steel elements.
oriented by landing a wirellne-conveyed gyroscope
into an orienting profile just above the packers.
Once a plug has been wirellne set In the bottomof
the string the packers are inflated with tubing
Several packers can be stacked to cover
pressure.
The flexible steel leaves cause
a long interval.
the packers to retract when tubing pressure is
released so that the tools can be pulled out of the
hole.
BOREHOLE
ACOUSTIC
TELEVIEWER:10-13
The
borehole acoustic televiewer is an ultrasonic tool
which employs a high resolution transducer rotating
through 360 to generate both a travel time and a
reflectance picture of the borehole wall. The
.

SPE 14261

-%r-\
IE-5

/
LEGEND

WELLBORE
DATA

~~

SONIC

ELLIPTICITY

VELDCITY

DATA

DIFFERENTIAL
STRAIN
--- ANALYSIS
DATA

KUPARUK

RIVER

UNIT

10Comoarieon ofpredicted
oriantetion
ofinducedfracturaa
fromwallboreellipticity,
sonic velocity, and difFicI.
ferential atrain knalyaia date.

KUPARUK

Fig. O-TOP of mwfure

RIVER

UNIT

map of predkfcfl orlenfation

of Induced fracfuroa from 8cJnic veloclfv dam.

A~
~
I \XWIL

Fig. S-TOP of 8frucfura map of pmdkfod orknfafloa of Induc.d fmcfums from dlffwenfhl strain IWV81Ddata.

s
Fig. 3Rw6 dkgmms gmmmmd from dngl~

626s,

6276,

and 2wo-ph66666ismic dat6-Well

2G07.

1!

PACKER
ELEIIN7

PACKER
ELEhhNl

s
Fig. 4-Pm2fmc2u m Inllambk
8ion6-Well 2(3-07.

packw

lmpm8-

Fig. 6-Ros6

d681gnfrom wellbore elliptklty dm6-Well

2G07.

..

s
Fig. 6-Rose

dnigps

generated from tingle. and two-pha8e selsmlc dafa-Well

1L-o7.

&l

rw.
5750

..

23

\.

575Q

-a

%Ai&_x

Wml

I m-n
U&H

\
\
Fig. 7-ToP

-----

KUPARUK

-- ..-

RIVER

UNI I

of structure map of pmdlcfcd otfentatlon of Induced fracfuma from wellbore .lIlptlclfv data

TABLE V
OATA
TRIAx IAL BOREHOLE SEISMIC
KUPARUK WELL 2F-01

S-P ARRIVAL
SEISNIC
CHARACTER
------------

EVENT
NW8ER
------

*Inttlal
1
2
3
4

POLARIZATION
(DEGREES)
------------

TIME

SEPARATION
(Ine)
---------------

8seakdown**
SI ngl e-phase
s i ngie-phase
s 1ngl e-phase
single-phase
SI ngl a-phase

150
45
43
1%

single-phase
s i ngl a-phase
:
s 1ngl e-phase
9
single-phase
s 1ngl e-phase
10 *Injtlal
p~-in
st.s9e**

*1 o

11
12

two-phase
two-phase

20:5

13
14
15
16
17
18

two-phase
two-phase
two-phase
single-phase
s 1ngl e-phase
s 1ngl e-phase
single-phase
single-phase
single-phase
s 1ngle-phase
a i ngle-phase
single-phase
single-phase
single-phase
single-phase
two-phase

;:
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28

::
40
35
42
42
:!

8.8

1::

3:::

1#1
62
33
E
43
70
51
58
40
59
52

28.0

TABLE VI
FIELOWIOE

ORi:H~~~iof4

um

I mrmr
LLMWIIL

..

OEVIATION OATA
OIR.
INCLIN.
(OE6REES)
(OESREES)

NELL
------

---------

US-15

90

--------

:
5

158+/:
100+/-

1!
1:

2%
148

~~

27

152+/-5
163+/-10
158+/- 5
8+/.15
63+/- 5
98+/- 5
12+;- 5
122+/- 5
120+/-15
137+/- 5

;:
15,118
122
4
10
12

107+/5

135

new;-y

5
5

68+/:
10+/-

5
5

16

TABLE VII
FIELC4110E DIFFERENTIAL STRAIN MTA, SWIC VELOCITY
ANO HELL80RE ELLIPTICITY
OATA

t(ELL

----- -----.,.. . .
.?.Ws-i>

Qlm

uS-23
~p~~
lL-07
lL-07
2A-02
2F-01
26-07
26-07

6127
~~g
~
6424
6524
6349.5
6360

2v-fM 6283
3C-06 6343

n.
W

NEARBY
FAULTING
(OEGREES)

;:

1::
270
8

OEPTH
( FT-MO)

elr.r.
>IKIKL

H.8. ELLIPT.
WOR AX.
(DE6REES)

. . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . .. . .

:
4

:
2

OATA

*i[~~~~i~

OF MAXIWN
STRESS
(OE6REES)
62+/. 5
73+/-10
68+/- 5
98+/.15
153+/- 5
8+/- 5
102+/- 5
32+/- 5
30+/-15
47+ f- 5
17+/- 5
20+;-2:

US-18
US-23
US-25
lE-05
lL-07
lQ-09
IV-14
2A-02
20-15
2F-01
2G-07
2W36
2U-07
3C-06

NELLBORE ELLIPTICITY

ORIENTATION OF
MINIMUM SONIC
VELOCITY
(OESREES)

-------------. .

ml

. ,

-,5

-a

13$J-~
.-. , --0+/- 5
176+/- 5
21+/- 5
;37+;-1:
44+/- 5
50+/-10

55+/-5

ORIENTATIW
OF
KAxIMU4 DIFFERENTIAL
STRAIN
(OE6REES)

-------------------,.. .,

W/-

AZINUTH OF K4XIWI
HORIZWTAL STRESS
FR. HELL80AE ELLIPT.
(DEGREES)

w{-,
;
-- .,--188+/21+;.
125+/-1
129+/31+/-

MTA

1
2
2
4

50+/-o
52+/.4

8+/- 5
8+/- 5
30+/-15
17+/. 5
20+/-20
20+/-20
5+/- 5
100+/- 5

I?R.E-FRACTURE

Fig. l--Kuparuk

type log.

Fig. 2Pre- and ,pa)stfracture

POST FRACTJJW.

televiewer

displays.

..

SPE

Kenneth

14261

W.

real advantage of this tool Is that It produces a

direct record of the physical features of the
borehole wall. The tool is run on electric line at
a very slow speed (5 ft/mln; .03m/s) across the
openhole interval and Is oriented using a magnetfc
compass which emits a signal each time the transducer rotates past magnetic north. Other direc4.4#lm.
.-A +hn.
4.+,......1
.+..As..-...
+&..-....l.+-.i+&-.&
puIa
Lcu
I r cm
brveae
II II,9SIIIII LL9SIIL
urufJ=arc
I,II=l!
rIlvci
signals.
TRIAXIAL
BOREHOLE
SEISMOMETER:14-16
The
trlaxlal borehole seismometer, described byT. L.
Dobecki15, contatns three orthogonally mounted
seismic detectors. It is lowered Into the borehole
on a seven-conductor electrlc line and is hydraulically clamped Into place In the open hole interval
or near the perforations in a cased well. It is
oriented using a coaxially mounted gyroscope.
Fracturing fluid is pumped past the anchored tool,
thus creating the fracture. The surface equipment
is then shut down and isolated from the well.
During the monitoring
period, seismic signals
generated from the fracture face are received by
the seismometer.
The orthogonal configuration of
the detectors allows the seismic signals to be
sorted into compressional and shear events, and
the compressional
events can be oriented
to
determine
the direction of their source (the
fracture face) with respect to the tool.
HELLBORE ELLIPTICITY MEASUREMENTS:5*6S17-19
-rL- z- .... -..
_. . -.. ... &L.
Ine

Tour-arm

cailper

on Lne

gyroscopfc

dipmeter

tool is used to determine the major and minor

measured axes of the borehole on a foot-by-foot
basis.
Examination of this data statistically for
an entire zone allows estimation of the overall
borehole axes of ellipticity.
Although drilled
with a round bit, in the presence of horizontal
stress differences the borehole spans
or wears
into an elliptical shape. The major axis of this
elllpse will be In the dlrectlon
of minimum
horizontal stress, and, therefore, perpendicular to
the direction
of predicted
Induced fracture
propagation.
ON-SITE STRAIN RELAXATION:20-22
Horizontal
strains are measured on a piece of freshly-pulled
oriented core using three pairs of transducers
mounted on a single rigid ring and equally spaced
around the diameter of the core. This core sample
should be taken from the bottom of the core barrel
and
is generally available 4-6 hours after it Is
cut.
It 1s wiped clean and Inmedlately mounted in
the strain relaxation apparatus in a temperature
stable environment.
The strain response of the
core is monitored until the next sample is ready
for testing (6 to 8 hours) or until the strain
response has ended.
The effects of minor temperature changes on the transducers are accounted
for, although by the the the cores are recovered
they have cooled to near room temperature and the
strain relaxation Is assumed to be isothermal, The
effects of dehydration on the core are assumed to
be nondirectional and to have little impact on the
final results.
From the strain data, the interpolated directions of maximum and minimum strain
can be determined. Based on the microcrack model, the direction
of maximum strain predicts the
direction of maximum in-situ stress, and, hence,
the direction of fracture propagation.

Griffin

DIFFERENTIAL STRAIN ANALYSIS (DSA):23-26 DSA

requires repressuring a sample of oriented core
well above Its original pressure and then recording
the oriented
strain data as the pressure
Is
gradually released. This technique was introduced
in the literature by Strickland and Ren.23 The
effects of microcracks on relaxation data can be
.3 -A,e.-J
loenzlTlea, and the dt~e~ti~n Of the Cwoilfi dXiS Gf
and
maximum
stratn,
maximum
in-situ
stress,
predicted fracture propagation determined.

SONIC VELOCITY ANALYSIS:27 Sonic veloclty

analysis Involves determining the sonic velocity
across several diameters of a sample of oriented
core. Sonic compressional waves will experience
maximum scattering, attenuation, and slowing of the
signal perpendicular to the predoininantorientation
The least amount of
of microcracks
in the core.
disturbance In the signal will occur parallel to
the orientation of mlcrocracks. Thus, the orientation of minimum sonic compresslonal wave veloclty
corresponds to the direction of maximum in-situ
stress and predicted induced fracture orientation.
FAULT AND STRUCTURAL MAPPING:9 Comparison of
fault data with fracture orientation data provides
an estimation of the Impact of faulting on fracture
It also allows one to estimate the
orientation.
amount of variation In the horizontal stress fields
between the time of faulting and today. Overlays
of fracture orientation data with field maps help
current
preferred
wi th
correiate
structure
fracture orientations. (Figs. 7, 8, 9).
KUPARUKUELL2G-07

TESTIN6:

Seven fracture orientation determination and

prediction techniques were compared in testing
conducted In this wellbore or on core samples or
log data taken from this well. The procedure for
the well work follows, while the testing procedures
Inmost cases are only briefly described. In these
cases the testing followed procedures outlined in
the references.
Procedure:
Each of the above techniques was tested in
The sequence of events is as
Kuparuk Well 2G-07.
follows:
1.

The well was drilled through the lower Kuparuk

Sand
and casing was set at the top of the
lower Kuparuk Sand.

2.

A core was taken through the lower Kuparuk A

Sand. This core was oriented at five-foot
Intervals using a gyroscope. Onsite strain
/-- relaxation, differential strain, and sonic
velocity measurements
were taken on three
samples from the cores. As only one set of
relaxation
equipment
was
onslte
strain
available, only one sample per coring run
could be tested.
3.

Openhole logs, includlng a four-arm dipmeter,

were run across the 140 ft (43m)
openhole
interval from TD to the casing shoe. The
dipmeter caliper data was processed to determine the axes of wellbore ellipticity.

INDUCED

FRACTURE

ORIENTATION

DETERMINATION

IN

THE KUPARDK RRSERVOIR

SPE

14261

OTHERKUPAIW UELL TESTIN6:

4.

Forty barrels of 10.3 ppg (1.23 g/cm3) NaC1-Br

brine were spotted over the openhole interval
and the borehole acoustic televlewer was run
across the openhole Interval.

5.

Five expanding rubber seal impression packers

were run and set in the openhole sand. The
packer assembly was oriented using a gyroscope
and setting profile. The packers were set with
a differential pressure of 1000 PSI (6.9 MPa)
for 30 minutes.
The packers were then
released and pulled out of the hole.

6.

7.

A fracture string was run In the hole and the

packer set near the casing shoe. The openhole
sand Interval was broken-down with 3000 gals
,..
{11.4 iii~jof 2% KCI water plus frtction
reducing agent.
The trlaxlal borehole seismometer was run in
the hole on electric line and clamped to the
formation face. The seismometer was oriented
using a gyroscope.
Downhole selsmlcs were
then monitored
for 30 minutes.
On each
seismometer run, weights attached to the tool
were required to start the seismometer and
electric line falllng downhole.

8.

An unpropped hydraulic fracture was then

pumped In three stages, each followed by a 30
minute period In which formation
seismic
responses were monitored.
The pump schedule
is outlined in Tabie i.

9.

After pulling the seismometer and the fracture

string out of the hole, the borehole acoustic
televlewer was rerun. The gelled fracture
fluid squelched
the signal such that no
useable data could be gathered.

10.

Drill pipe was rerun, and the openhole

interval was reamed, washed, and condltloned,
A NaC1-Br pill was spotted In the openhole
interval and the drill pipe pulled out of the
hole.

11.

The borehole acoustic televiewer was rerun but

squelching of the sonic signal still rendered
the data useless.

12.

Drill pipe was rerun and the openhole Interval

was again reamed and conditioned,
and a
NaC1-Br pill was spotted in the openhole
Interval.

13.

The borehole acoustic televlewer was run

across the openhole Interval using both low
and high frequency signals.
The tool was
oriented using a magnetic compass.

14.

Our expanding rubber seal Impression packers

were run and set In the openhole sand. The
....
---1-------L1.
... orlen~ea
-..4
--L.J using
paGKerassemuly
was
a gyroscope
and setting profile. The packers were set with
a differential pressure of 500 PSI (3.5 MPa)
for 15 minutes.
The packers were then
released and pulled out of the hole.

In further testing, seven on-site strain

relaxation measurements were taken In Kuparuk Well
lL-07 during oriented coring operations. DSA and
sonic veloclty measurements were also run on the
same samples, and wellbore elllpticlty measurements
were made from four-arm dipmeter callper data.
Kuparuk Well 2F-01 was drilled, cased, and
completed In the Kuparuk A Sand. The sand was
broken down with sllck water, and borehole seismic
surveys were run prior and subsequent to pumping an
unpropped hydraulic fracture. Wellbore elllpticlty
calculations were also made on callper data from
this well.
.FTFllWI1lF
.-..

-F
..,

Iti

.-

AMl

m.

CJMWT
B-L,

MTA.
-mm.

Fleldwlde data was generated from DSA and

sonic velocity measurements
on 13 Kuparuk A Sand
oriented core samples, and from wellbore elliptlcity measurements of both the A and the C Sand from
15 Kuparuk four-arm caliper data tapes. This data
was reviewed and compared with the above test data
and with fault and structural mapping.

OISCUS!WM:
WELL 2G-07, PREFRACTURE DATA: The prefracture
A.zelevfewer run provided baseilne data about the
original
borehole
wall conditions
(Fig. 2).
Although no orientation data was gathered due to a
- .--m
. A
. L _
m.14,,
.....+4....
ffi Lrlt!l.- ------Vllal
I UT!(,L
lull
cumpass,
r.ne prerracrure
televiewer run revealed a smooth, round borehole
with onl,y minor vugs and rough spots. A natural
fracture zone was Identified just belaw the casing
shoe and the tracks produced by the openhole
iogging runs were visible.
It was possible to
orient this data visually with respect to the
post fracture televlewer data using the logging
tool tracks visible In each.
The prefracture impression packer run provided
Important Information about the performance of the
packers under our conditions.
The top four
ImpressIon packers were completely torn up, with
most of the rubber removed from the elements. ARCO
personnel determined that the recmnnended setting
time and pressure differential were too high for
these tools and decided to reduce both by one-half
when running the post fracture ImpressIon packers.
4...- . . . ...-4----,------.
I&4&4hI
The hntt,.wm
IIIIpIe>SIUII
pacawm
was
plugged
Wvtibw:ll
(1 Il&llj
with mud and formation
solids,
and dld not
inflate.
The seismometer was run after the Initial
formation
breakdown
because expected
Initial
breakdown pressures were at the failure llmlt of
the seals In the tool. The prefracture seismometer
survey dld not begin until 4 hours after the
conclusion
of the breakdown. No selsmlc signals
were received from the formation, verifying that
alvaariw
haalarl
the fr~~t~re h~~ -,,
WJ
,,SZU,=.
WELL
fracture
results.
revealed
28+/-7.
collected
period.

2G-07, POST FRACTURE DATA:

The post
data all produced relatively consistent
The post fracture seismometer survey
a fracture extending at an orientation of
The useful seismic responses were all
during the first post fracture monitoring
No useable data was collected after the

SPE

14261

Kenneth

second and third stages apparently because erosion

of the formation around the seismometer clamp
loosened the tool, squelching the formation seismic
-.--.1
I-L. J.A. m.. &L. e, .-L
signal.
Ine aa~a Trom c.ne TlrsL post fracture
monitoring
period (Table II) consisted of 125
events. Of these,
37 were unusable because of
excessive noise, weak signal, or poor clamplng
effects (questionable tool orlentatlon). Fortythree signals had identifiable compresslonal and
shear wave phase components, and 45 were of only a
single, unknown phase.
The orientation of the
Induced fracture was clearly Identlfled by the
two-phase signals as 28+/-7, and this orientation
was reinforced by the single phase data as seen in
the rose diagrams (Fig. 3).
The televiewer
run Indicated
an erratic
fracture extending from the casing shoe to the
bottom of the hole,
extending through both sides
of the borehole (Fig. 2). The crack dld not pass
through the center of the borehole, but rather
Intersected the borehole wall roughlyat NOE and
S30W. The overall fracture azimuth Is 15+/-10. The
televlewer also revealed that the fault indicated
in the prefracture data had undergone considerable
erosion.
The strike of this fault is 16 at a dip
angle of 25 from vertical. The post fracture
travei time dlspiay also indicates slight wellbore
ellipticity with the minor axis, which theoretically corresponds to predicted fracture orientation, oriented at 14+/-15. Substantial spalling
of the formation Is apparent in the deeper openhole
intervals. It probably is due to the two periods of
circulation before the data was taken, and should
occur primarily
in the direction
of minimum
horizontal stress,
perpendicular to the induced
fracture.
The orientation of the spalllng is 82
+/-25, which suggests an orientation of 172 +/-25
for the major horizontal stress. The two periods
of circulation were necessary to clear the wellbore
of the gel used in the fracturing fluid. This gel
absorbed the sonic signal and rendered the televiewer useless until the bottom of the wellbore was
cleaned out and gelled fluids had stopped leaking
from the fracture . After a clean brine pill was
spotted and the flow from the fracture had stopped,
the available post fracture televiewer data was
obtained.
The televiewer compass worked properly
and good orientation data was obtained along with
the sonic display.
The post fracture
Impression
packer run
produced impressions of the fracture on the bottom
two packers.
The impression produced when the
rubber seal inflated into the lip of one or both
illt,e4-a+&4
4.,
edges ~f the ~r~~k {c u4cihla
the line drawings (~g~~~\~~s~s~~p~~~CYo~~
generally match the corresponding televiewer data,
although deflation of the packers made the match
difficult to do.
No equipment was available with
which to reinflate the packers.
The fracture
impressions
run generally along an azimuth of
8+/-20.
On-site strain relaxation data collected on
three core samples predicted fracture azimuths of
36+/-4$ 22+/-2, and
115+/-~0 (Table !!!). The
first two samples match the other data collected,
both with respect to the stress field orientation
and with respect to the vertical variability in
this field through the sand interval. The third

W.

Griffin

sample, the shaliest of the three, predicted an

azimuth almost perpendicular to the actual orientation of fracturing.
The caliper data in this well indicated very
little wellbore ellipticity. At no point did the
recorded values exceed .1 inch -- the limit of
resolution for the caliper tool. Nevertheless, the
statistically distributed data (Fig. 5) indicated
a preferred axis of ellipticity at an azimuth of
The maximum horizontal stress, and
110 ./-20.
preferred
orientation
of induced fracturing,
therefore is predicted to lie at an azimuth of 20
+/-20 . While of poor quality,
this data reinforces the results of the other testing on this
well. The minimal wellbore ellipticity recorded by
the caliper data probably is due to the fact that
the well was not drilled past the base of the sand.
In all other cases at least 200 to400 additional
feet of hole were drilled.
WELL lL-07; ON-SITE STRAIN RELAXATION DATA:
Three oriented A Sand core samples were tested for
strain relaxation (Table IV). All of the samples
are thin, very shaly sands interbedded with shale
stringers. On-site strain relaxation data predicts
stress field orientations
in the A Sand roughly
perpendicular
to those predicted
by wellbore
ellipticity, DSA, and sonic velocity measurements;
and also perpendicular
to stress orientations
predicted by fault mapping.
WELL 2F-O1; TRIAXIAL BOREHOLE SEISMIC DATA:
Seismic responses provided orientable data during
two monitoring
periods; the first, after the
initial breakdown of the formation before the tool
was run in the hole and clamped near the perforations; and the second, after the first pump-in
period (Table V). During subsequent monitoring
periods the seismic tool came unclamped from the
casing wall and rotated freely.
No meaningful
orientation data was gathered during these periods.
Ten single-phase events were recorded after the
initial breakdown. Five two-phase events, followed
by 15 single-phase events and a final two-phase
event, were recorded after the first pump-in stage.
TL- r..-A
tne
TracLure azimuth was determined to be 44./-8
(Fig. 6) which compares well with that determined
from the seismometer survey in Well 2G-07 (offset
wells, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) apart), and with that
determined from wellbore ellipticity measurements
in Well 2F-01.
This orientation is perpendicular
to that predicted from DSA and
sonic velocity
measurements. All of the anomolous seismic signals
in the well 2F-Oi data were oriented essentially
perpendicular to this orientati~n.

FIELDWIDERATACOLLECTI(MM

EVALUATION:

Data from 12 Kuparuk wells, in which the well

deviation
is judged not to have altered- the
wellbore ellipticity, was evaluated (Tables VI and
... ..
- .-Vll). ultterentiai
strain and sonic velocity
analyses were performed on 12 Kuparuk A Sand
samples from eight Kuparuk wells (Table VII). All
of this data was evaluated and compared with the
results of the single-wellbore tests and with fault
mapping.
Results from each of the fieldwide tests
are mapped on a Kuparuk structure and fault map in
Figs. 7, 8, and 9. Overall, the data points in
each wellbore
compare well with each other,
although some discrepancies do exist particularly

INDUCED

PRACTURE

ORIENTATION

DETERMINATION

between the wellbore elliptlclty data and the core

These seemto be primarily
sample measurements.
due to weak stress field orientations In some areas
of the field which result In varying test results
depending on the particular properties of the
sample and the actual property measured by each
test, upon the avallablllty of a nonshaly section
in the core on which to run the test, and upon
whether the test measures data frcm a single sample
or data averaged across the interval. Generally,
the fracture orientations
run in northeasterlysouthwesterly directions, although the influence of
nearby faulting is apparent in several cases. In
wells WS-15 and WS-18, which lie along the periphery of the field, the predicted Induced fracture
orientations are perpendicular to the contours of
the structure.

2.

SPE

14261

The onsite strain relaxation measurements

seemed to produce definite oriented stressstrain responses. The technique works best in
cleaner, homogeneous sand samples.
In Well
2G-07 the results compared favorably with
other techniques. In Well lL-07, the onslte
strain relaxation measurements were 60 to 90
different from those predicted by wellbore
ellipticity, sonic velocity and differential
manning,
~traj~ rn~~stlrtamentc.
-, . .... .. . . . ~n~ by fault
. .-rr
The sands in this well are heavily laminated
and shaly.
The wide variation in data from
this well suggests that the stress field in
this well is rather weak, and that rock
heterogeneities
dominated or influenced many
of the measurements.

4.

Impression packers can be used to obtain an

estimate of fracture orientation and variability.
Equipment should be available with
which to reinflate the packers to borehole
diameter
before
taking
photographs
and
measurements.
Even with a series of packers
stacked together, significant intervals of
information
are lost at each coupling.
Tailpipe should be run below the bottom packer
to minimize plugging of the bottom packer with
bottomhole
sediments.
The
prefracture
impression packer run was important as a basis
from which to judge the proper packer inflation parameters in the post fracture run.

The borehole acoustic televiewer produces

very clear,
detailed representations of the
borehole walls.
It not only identifies the
presence and orientation of fractures, vugs,
and other features; but also reveals the
irregularity of the fracture face where it
intersects the borehole. The televiewer can
also be used to infer fracture orientation by
determining the major axis of ellipticity as
well as the main axis of wellbore spalling.
The wellbore spalling features, especially,
provide a consistent fracture orientation
interpretation which coincides with actual
fracture orientation determined in this well.
Its use is limited to uncased intervals and it
requires a clear, solids-free fluid, such as
a heavy brine, as
the borehole medium in
order to produce a clear sonic picture.
The triaxlal borehole
seismometer.
which
directly measures the seismic disturbances
emanating from the fracture face, produces
the most reliable and precise measurement of
Induced fracture orientation. The tool may be
oriented using either an attached gyroscope or
an oriented
surface disturbance.
While
proppant cannot be safely pumped with the tool
and electric line in the hole, this tool can
be run as part of an expanded pre-fracturing
breakdown and pump-in sequence at a reasonable
cost. Only small volumes of fluid of ungelled
fluid are required to produce substantial
seismic responses in medium porosit sandstones.
In this work, volumes of .75 bbl/ft
(.39 m3/m) of openhole interval were adequate
to produce clear, frequent, orientable seismic
disturbances for a 20 to 30 minute period, The
slimhole tool which was used in this work due
to tubing restrictions
imposed some severe
pressure limitations on our operation. Also,
the sllmhole tool could not generate enough
force in the clamping arm to securely anchor
the weighted tool string to the casing walls
in the 2F-1 test. Whether used in openhole or
casing, care should be taken to reset and
ensure a good clamp before each pump-in. It
was unnecessary to use gel in the fracturing
fluid; in fact, the gel served to squelch the
seismic signals rather than extend the active
period.

THE KUPARUK RESERVOIR

3.

EVALUATION OF TESTING TECHNIQUE PERFORMANCE

AMI
RELM61LITY:

1.

IN

ARCO determined that under our conditions (Pr

= 3000 psig; 20.7 MPa, Tr=160F;
71C), a
15 minute inflation period at 500 psi (3.45
MPa) pressure differential was adequate to
obtain clear impressions without damaging the
packer rubber. Also we found that it is
important to ensure that the packers are not
inflated
across large vugs or washouts,
because the steel leaves will lock in the
overinflated position resulting in a badly
damaged packer when the string Is pulled out
of the hole.
5.

Wellbore ellipticity measurements provide very

useful predictions of In situ stress field and
Induced fracture orientations.
The major
factors affecting the quality of wellbore
ellipticity measurements
are the wellbore
Inclination through the zone of Interest and
the degree of spa?ling
seen.
Wellbore
ellipticities
are influenced
by wellbore
deviations of 10 or more from vertical in the
:::a;:;i;;!%r;:;:;;::

,/

r~:;h::~::~;!

tions much less than this influence wellbore

ellipticities
in shallower zones, and no
impact of limited deviations has been seen in
some deeper, harder zones.
Spalling which results in ellipticities of
less than .2 in. (.5 mm) is often due to
factors other than stress field orientation
and should be neglected if possible, particularly If it disagrees with data from larger
scale spalling in the same interval. If data
from small-scale spalling is used to predict
fracture orientation,
it should be compared
carefully with structure and fault mapping and
any other available data to determine whether
the interpretation of the wellbore ellipticity

SPE

14261

Kenneth

data Is reasonable. The minor eccentrlcltles

in many cases seem to reflect the stress
orientation of the formation and coincide with
the orientation of the large-scale elllptlIn other cases they seemto result
cltles.
from the Inhomogeneitles In the rock material
Itself and are oriented at obllque angles to
the large-scale elllpticltles. They seem to
reflect the minor stress axis In many cases
and are oriented perpendicular to the largerscale elllpticlty values. In every case where
small-scale wellbore eccentricity does not
coincide with the large-scale spalling, data
from the large-scale
spalllng
matches other stress field orlentatton data
It iS
from the wellbore or nearby wells.
evident that several factors could control the
orientation of minor wellbore elllptlclties
includlng; the stress field itself, rock
Inhomogeneltles, and a minor stress axis.

W.

the degree of spalling which has occurred and

hole angle, rather than formation
anlsotropics.
7.

On-site strain relaxation, differential strain

analysls, and sonic velocities are limited by
the fact that the measurements are taken on
Varlatlons
of stress
discrete
samples.
orientation throughout the interval are thus
missed and
can lead to large errors In the
overall orientation estimates. This problem
Is probably significant particularly In shaly,
Inhomogenous and/or faulted intervals in which
the stress field orientation Is fairly weak.
These measurements must be taken in clean,
homogeneous samples to be representatlve.

8.

All of the techniques which depend on core

analyses
have a major limitation
in the
It is often very
Kuparuk River Reservoir.
dlfffcult to cut an unbroken core. The bit
often jams and breaks the core repeatedly
during a single run. This seems to be more of
a problem In the heavily laminated areas of
the field and probably Is due to the differences between mechanical properties In the
shale and in the sand laminae. The spinning
of the core barrel, which results, makes it
~~=~+filll+fiftfin
+*Vn palate
~~fl~~~~~~on
~~~v~y~
u! I 1 ILU I L. v
e=}!
r =.
.-

generated

Foot-by-foot data for the Interval should be

sorted by magnitude of the eccentrlclty, and
the smaller eccentricity values deleted to
determine the major wellbore ellipticity axis.
The lower cutoff for useable wellbore elllpticlty data is generally about .2 fn. (.5 inn),
although
It Is dependent
on the actual
, A------ 1--I..--A
.4..*1l4m
L...
erosional stresses ImJUUW
w
w I I I Irly
as
we?]
as upon the formation rock properties, and is
best determined
for each set of data by
Factors such as bit weight,
InspectIon.
velocities
and viscosities,
circulation
circulation times, and
length of time the
interval Is open during subsequent drilling
operations Impact the degree of spalling seen,
and affect the elllpticlty cutoff used on each
~~~ of ~~~~:
In Well 2G-07, because the
formation
was cored and no rathole was
drilled, the borehole wall was relatively undisturbed
and only small-scale
wellbore
In this case,
eccentricities
were created.
the small-scale wellbore eccentricity values
do predict the orientation of the major stress
as evidenced by comparison of the results from
these measurements
with those from other
techniques, especially the wellbore spalllng
data detected
by the borehole
acoustic
televiewer.
6.

Each of the predictive tests (on-site strain

relaxation, wellbore elllptlclty,
differential strain analysis, and sonic velocity
measurements)
attempt to Infer the in-situ
stress field orientation from rock mechanical
properties.
For this reason they are susceptible to errors Induced by rock anlsotroples, including vugs, inclusions, secondary
fracturing
and crumbling,
laminations and
shale volumes. This would be especially true
in areas without
a strong stress field
orientation. One advantage of DSA and sonic
velocity measurements
over on-site strain
relaxation is that the technician has a better
opportunity to select a relatively nonshaly
sample for testing.
In wells such as lL-07,
this selection
could result in superior
orientation
results using the laboratory
The quality of wellbore elllptltechniques.
city data seems to be primarily dependent on

Griffin

to scribe llnes on a sample taken several feet

from the survey. Thus the orientation of the
core sample for many sections of the core may
be unknown or in question. Care must be taken
when selecting
samples In the field for
testing, that good orientation data for that
core sample will be available.

COMCLUSI.14S:

1:

Local stress field orientations and Induced

fracture orientation vary across the Kuparuk
River Field, although the general trend is
These variations appear to be
north-south.
largely due to the Influence of two distinct
stress fields and their related faultlng. In
some areas (Wells WS-15 and WS-18) along the
periphery of the sand, the preferred fracture
orientation seems also to be normal to the
contours of the structure.

2.

The stress field In the Kuparuk River Reservoir does not seem to be strongly oriented in
many areas, probably due to the stress rellef
provided by the extensive faultlng which has
occurred, and also to the shaly nature of many
areas of the reservoir. This is evidenced by
the extremely uneven televlewer traces of the
fracture In Hell 2G-07, by thewiciely varying
results of on-site stress relaxation testing
In Well lL-07, and by the wide variation in
stress orientations determined from fleldwlde
wellbore elllptlclties, DSA measurements, and
sonic veloclty measurements.
It is obvious
that such factors as nearby faultlng and rock
Inhomogeneltles easily alter local stress and
fracture orientations.
Because of the inelastic nature of shale, the high shale volume
and high degree of shale lamination found in
many areas likely served to relleve much of
the directional stress which may have existed
In such cases, reservoir
at one time.

TNTIU(WJI
-..-.--

.R

FRACTURE
ORIENTATION DETERMINATION IN THE KUPARUK RESERVOIR
_--_-

Inhomogeneitles
would likely dominate and
alter the results of wellbore face or core
sample measurements.
3.

Any of the discussed techniques can be used to

. . . .
a...-,.
basca.
aetermtne fracture cm!~fitst!cm iiiinaily
The borehole seismometer Is the most versatile
and definitive of the techniques used. A tool
must be used which can be run through drill
pipe or tubing, can withstand the frac@rin9
pressures used, and which can anchor itself
fiwmlv
racina
,,,...,<to ~h~
--- ...= or wellbore wall. The
on-site strain relaxation, DSA, and sonic
velocity
measurements
require
non-shaly
homogeneous samples and multiple sampling to
ensure quality results. In addition the core
----S..1
1./
aw+-n+.d
wham
it
ic
txiknn
-..-+
I.VI
IClll,=u
Wl,=rl
I*
l-.
.?..
-...
Illu>l.
Ue
Gal
c1 u I ly
Wellbore
el.lipticity measurements,
when
relatively large-scale spalling occurs, also
can provide good estimates of induced fracture
orientation. While the borehole televiewer
provides a detailed display of the borehole
wall, both it and the impression packers
require an openhole environment. The expense
of this type of work is generally prohibitive.

8.

Teufel, L. W., Hart, C. M., Sattler,

A. R.,
and Clark, J. A. Determination of Hydraulic
Fracture Azimuth by Geophysical, Geological
and Oriented Core Methods at the MWX Experiment Site, Rifle, CO, 59th Annual SPL Technl~al Conference,
Houston, TX, September
16-19, 1984. SPE 13226.

9.

The Prediction of Hydraulic

Clark, J. A.
Fracture Azimuth through Geological, Core, and
SPE/DOE
Studies,
SPE 11611,
Analytical
$ymposium on Low Permeability Gas Reservoirs,
Oenver, CO, March, iS183.

10.

Wiley, Ralph, 1980, Borehole Televiewer Revisited, Transactions,

SPWLA 21st Annual
Logging Symposium, paPer HH.

11.

Zemanek,
J., g& Q.,
1969, The Borehole
Televiewer:
A New Logqing
Concept
for
Fracture Location and Other Types of Borehole
Inspection, Journal of Petroleum Technology,
Vol. 21, pp. 762-774.

12.

Taylor, T. J. Interpretation and Application

of Borehole Televiewer Surveys, 24th Annual
sPiAiAsyllposiiiin,
June 27=30, 19830

13.

Pasternak, E. S., and Goodwill~ w p w

cations
of Oiqital
Borehole
Televiewer
24th Annual SPWLA Symposium, June
W<.3.

14.

Schuster,
Carl L., Detection
Within the
Wellbore
of Seismic
Signals
Created
by
Hydraulic Fracturing, paper SPE 7448 presented
at the 1978 annual meeting, Houston.

15.

Dobecki, T. L. Hydraulic Fracture Orientation

Using Passive Borehole Seismics, SPE 12110,
58th Annual SPE Meeting, San Francisco, CA,
Oct., 1983.

16.

Oobecki. T. L., and Romig, P. R. Acoustic

Signals Generated by Hydraulic Fract~
Situ Observations, paper presented at the 1983
annual meeting of the Midwest Society of
Exploration Geophysicists, Denver, March 7-9.

17.

Hassan, O. A Method for Predicting Fracture

AZiiiiut.harwi the Lmpl!catlons
Thereof
to
~
Petroleum Society Technical Meeting, Calgary,
Canada, June 6-9, 1982, CIM 82-33-19.

18.

Cox, J. W. Long Axis Orientation in Elongated

Boreholes and Its Correlation with Rock Stress
~,
24th Annual SPWLA Logging Symposium and
9th CWLS Formation
Evaluation
Symposium,
Calgary, Canada, June 27-30, 1983, paper J.

REFERENCES:

1.

Hubert, M. K. and Willis, O., Mechanics of

Hydraulic
Fracturing,
Trans.
AIML,
20,
153-168, 1957.

2.

Warpinskl, N. R., Branagan, P. and Wihner, R.,In Situ Stress Measurements atDOEs Multiwell Experiment Site, Mesaverde Group, RifleL
Colorado, SPE 12142, presented at the 58th
Annual SPE Meeting, San Francisco, CA, Oct.
5-8, 1983.

3.

Hardwick, P. and Carmas, G. R. Geology of the

Kuparuk River Oil Field, Alaska.
Annual
AAPG-SEPM-EMO-OPA Convention, Calgary, Canada,
June 27-30, 1982.

4.

Teufel, L. W. Prediction of Hydraulic Fracture

Azimuth from Anelastic Strain Recover Measurements of Oriented Core, Proceeding of 23rd
Symposium on Rock Mechanics: Issues in Rock
Mechanics, Ed. by R. E. Goodman and F. F.
Hughs, p. 239, Society of Mining Eng. of AIME,
New York, 1982.

5.

6.

Gough, O. I. and Bell, J. S., Stress Orientation from Borehole

Wall Fractures
with
Examples from Colorado, and Northern Canada,
Can. J. of Earth Sciences (19),
D.
1358,
..-.
1982.
~ro~,
~v.O., Forgotson, J. M. and Forgotson,
~h~
Q~j~n~~~l~n
of
b.
.Drori+t-t+na
. . - . ..=
Hydr~~lically Created Fractures in the Cotton
Valley Formation of East Texas, 55th Annual
~
Dallas,
exas, September
21-24, 1980. SPE 9269.

7.

Smith, M. B., ttohnan,G. B., Fast, C. R., and

Coulin, R. J. The Azimuth of Oeep Penetrating
Fractures in the Wattenburg F ield, J. of Pet.
~at.h
1--

{~~)$

P.

~w~9

1 a7n
--J-.

SPE 1426:

19.

Babcock, E. A., 1978.

Measurement of Subsurface Fractures from Dipmeter Logs, American
Association of
Petroleum Geologists Bulletin,
...
62, pp. 1111-1126.

20.

Blanton, T. L. The Relation Between Recover

Deformation and In Situ Stress Magnitudes, SP
11624
PE/DOE Symposiunon
Low Permeability
Gas Reservoirs, Oenver, CO, March, 1983.

Kenneth

SPE 14261

W.

Griffin

Evans, K. and Holzhauser, G. On the Development of Shallow Hydraulic Fractures as Viewed

F~~i~~
Part
AL--..*L &k.-.C.,v.#...e a+nnnatlnn
vnruuyn
I,ItC aur
I uec
&=IV
. ...
..-...o.
II-Case Histories, J. Pet. Tech., P. 411

Blanton. T. L. and Teufel, L. W. A Field Test

of the- Strain Recovery Method of Stress
Oetermlnatlon
in DevonIan Shaies, WE 12304,
nresented at the Eastern Regional SPE Meeting,
~h~pion, PA, November 9-11; 1983.

29.

22.

Teufel, L. W. Determination of In Situ Stress

from Anelastlc Strain Recovery Measurements of
Oriented Core, SPE/DOE 11649, SPE/DOE Symposium on Low Permeablllty Reservoirs, Denver,
CO, March, 1983.

30.

Cinco-Ley, H., and Samanle90~ V minatlon

of the Orientation
of a Flnlte
Conductlvlty Vertical Fracture by Transient
Pressure Analysis, SPE 6750 presented at the
13fi.av. fnlnradn.
J a-- ..-1
U=IIV=J * v-., --->
52m
~nnudl F~ii I-lccullly,
--+m
1977.

23.

Strickland, F. and Ren, N. Predicting the In

Situ Stress for Deep Wells Using the Dlfferentlal Strain Curve Analysis, SPE 8954, 1980.

31.

Ekles, S., Hadlnoto, N., and Raghavan, R.

Pulse-Testing of Vertically Fractured Wells,
SPE 6751 presented at the 52nd Annual Fall

21.

24.

25.

26.

27.

(Feb., 1983).

, CO, 1977.

I=nwfic
u
.*A
c s--Ca--C..,4...A n.,
Ullu
I=V-a,
!!.9
Ieu,
R.
>llmnuns, G., ait!ylr
Olfferentlal Strain Analysls: A New
1974.
Method for Examining Cracks In Rocks, J.
Geophys. Res., Vol. 79, 4383-4385.

99
ac.

Seigfrled, R., and s~~ns,

G.> 1978 !&C
acterlzation of Oriented Cracks with Differential Strain Analysis, J. Geophys. Res. 83,
pp. 1269-1278.

33.

Ren, N. K., and Rolegers, J. C. Differential

Strain Curve Analysis
-A New Method
of
Determining In-Situ Stress State from Rock
Core Measurements,
In Proc. 5th Int. Sot.
Rock Mech. Congress, Melbourne, April, 1983.

Kamal, M. M. Interference and Pulse Testing A Review, International Petroleum Exhlbltlon

~nlcal
Synposlumof SPE, Bejlng, China,
March 18-26, 1982, SPE 10042.

34.

Durfee, B. A. Borehole Geometry of the West

Sak Sands - A Method of Fracture Orlentatlon
Predlctlon, ARCO Alaska Internal Report, July,
1984.

, ----

LdLY,

~.

~.

P---.,4.,.m
.-.4 rwSe+i,wa
bumpar
ISull ul I I aebur=

Meetlna.
.--- - ..=, Denver.
---- Ila...+...+
ura!eb,

A.

D%h . ...*
mJyIIaVaIIS

R.,

I=IIG

atlon Techniques, 59th Annual SPE Technical

Conference and Exhlbltlon, Houston, Texas,
September 16-19, 1984. SPE 13225
28.

Evans, K. On the Development

of Shallow
Hydraullc Fractures as Viewed through the
Surface Deformation Field: Part I-Principles,
J. Pet. Tech., p. 406 (Feb. 21, 1983).

TABLE I
OPENHOLE FRACTURE
..... --PUMP
--- SCHEDULE
WtLLL Zb-Ul

-.--1

PUMPED
VOLUME
(gals)
-----4800

1000O

20000

STAGE

Thcwnne
,I,u!,lua,

C
.

U
.

Determination of the Orientation of a Vertical

Fracture by Interference Tests, J. Pet. Tech.
(Jan, 1977) 73-80.

nm4mmtVI

~~~

ADDITIVES
TO WATER-BASE
FRAC. FLUID
----------2%KC1 +
fluid loss agent
2% gelled KC1+
fluid loss agent
2%KC1 +
friction reducer

SURFACE
TUBING
PRESSURE
(P$i9)
-------2050

INSTANT.
SHUT-IN
PRESSURE
(PS19)
-------1600

13

2150

1500

16

2200

RATE
(BPM)
----14

.,
elm

TABLE

TNO-PHASE

SEISMIC
-------------------------

ORIENTATION
OF SIGNAL
(degrees
)
-----------

iwc

II

TRIAXIALEOREHOLESEISMIC
WELL 2G-07
KOPARUK

DATA

SIGNALS
S-P

ORIENTATION OF SINGLEPHASE SEISMIC SIGNALS

(degrees)
-------------------16

ARRIVAL

TINE SEPARATION
(ins)
--------------2.5
43.4
3.5
8.0
3.5
1.8

148
60
140
170
120
120
115
4s

138
172
27
25
165
35
45
145
140
130
12
140
39
18
16S
165
25
0
150
8
150
175
150
155
30
50
45
120
28
35
33

3.9
5.3
6.0
6.3
7.0
4.6
2.8
4.2

40
30
45
38
29
32
35
34
23
37
30
32
25
30
157
35
30
26

3.1
2.8

:::
8.4
5.3
6.0
6.0
1.1
1.4
5.3
7.4
1.8
3.5
2.1
2.1
6.3
17.5
10.5
6.0
3.9
6.7
4.9
7.0
7.0
4.6
4.2
4.2
3.9

:!
50
130
50
30
32
32
50
42
30
110
29
40
41
40
33

8:
40
45
46
140
25
30
128
45
27

TABLE 111
ON-SITE

CORE
OEPTH
SAMPLE
NIFIBER (FT-MO)
----------

STRAIN RELAXATIONDATA
KUPARUKHELL 26-07

LITHOLOGIC
CORE
UNIT
DESCRIPTION
--.--.--.- -----------

ON-SITE

TABLE IV
STRAIN RELAXATION

INJPARUK

SAMPLE
NDMBER
------

CORE
--- ..
DEFTH
(FT-TVDGL)
-----

6405

6411

6462

ORIENTATIONOF
MXIPUBI STRAIN
(OE6REES)
..............

NELL

----

CORE

DESCRIPTION
-----------

Ssnd/shale
laminae
Sandl shale
Mminse
Sand-some
ahale laminae

TEMPERATURE
CHANGE OURING
TEST (F)
.............

DATA

lL-07

TEMPERATURE
ORI ENTATATION
-- .......... ------- ----- ----..-

or

HAxlmum

STSALN

(degrees )
---------

90+ f-25

3
3

uuKLNb

(deg. F)

------------

99+1- 4

119+/-

UIANtia

TEST

lLI.L1
1-F

LCJ.L