A New Approach to Determining Multistage Hydraulic Fracture Size by Well Production Data

Abstract

The simplified two-zone model to describe fluid flow in steady-state horizontal holes with multistage hydraulic fracturing is proposed, and the analytical solution in order to calculate sizes of hydrofractures is presented. The new procedure to determine size of multistage hydrofractures in horizontal holes is tested using field data on China deposits. The calculation results prove the efficiency of the procedure in the determination of steady-state conditions. The procedure can be used in optimization of hydraulic fracturing.