Numerical Simulation of Fracture Sequence on Multiple Hydraulic Fracture Propagation in Tight Gas Reservoir

Abstract Hydraulic fracturing with horizontal well is an effective technology for the unconventional resources development, especially for the shale gas, tight gas and oil. Simultaneous fracturing, sequential fracturing and alternating fracturing were the main technologies applied in the horizontal well stimulations. Based on the extended finite element method, the 2D seepage-stress-damage models for simulating fracture propagation of simultaneous fracturing, sequential fracturing and alternating fracturing were proposed to investigate the influence of fracture sequence on fracture propagation and fracture aperture. From the simulations, the sequential fracturing and alternating fracturing can dramatically decrease the limitation on fracture propagation caused by “stress shadow”, the total fracture length increased by 20.6% and 26.1% compared with simultaneous fracturing. The fracture aperture also affected by the fracture sequence. The simulation results demonstrates that the alternating fracturing is an effective method to prevent the fracture width reduction caused by squeezing effect, which can effectively improve the well productivity. These simulations are useful for horizontal wellbore stimulation design to acquire the desired fracture lengths, fracture conductivity and production rates.