Abstract: The oil recovery factor from shale oil remains low, about 5 to 7% of the oil in place. How to increase oil recovery from shale oil reservoirs is attracting more and more attention. CO2 huff-and-puff was historically considered one of the best approaches to improve the oil rate. Most previous simulation studies have been based on dual porosity, but simulation results from dual-porosity...

A method for determining the size of a crack induced by hydraulic fracturing is presented. The procedure is based on the measurement of the crack opening displacement and the fracture mechanics approach. The proposed method has been tested by conducting laboratory small-scale hydraulic fracturing tests on a granite. It is shown from the preliminary tests that the method provides a reasonable pr...

One of the most critical capabilities of realistic hydraulic fracture simulation is the prediction of complex (turning, bifurcating, or merging) fracture paths. In most classical models, complex fracture simulation is difficult due to the need for a priori knowledge of propagation path and initiation points and the complexity associated with stress singularities at fracture tips. In this study,...

The generalized conceptual model for a fractured bedrock aquifer consists of low-permeability matrix blocks separated by highly permeable fractures that act as preferential pathways for ground water flow. The National Research Council (NRC 1996) summarizes three approaches for simulating ground water flow in fractured aquifers. The most common approach is to represent the system with an equival...

The primary objective of our current research is to develop a computational test bed for evaluating borehole techniques to enhance fluid flow and heat transfer in enhanced geothermal systems (EGS). Simulating processes resulting in hydraulic fracturing and/or the remobilization of existing fractures, especially the interaction between propagating fractures and existing fractures, represents a c...

Coal bed methane (CBM) is generated primarily through the microbial degradation of coal. Despite a limited understanding of the microorganisms responsible for this process, there is significant interest in developing methods to stimulate additional methane production from CBM wells. Physical techniques including hydraulic fracture stimulation are commonly applied to CBM wells, however the effec...

Hydraulic fracturing real-time evaluation technology provides an effective way to understand formation and fracturing, assess the quality of fracturing construct, and ensure the safety of fracturing construction. In this paper, combined with numerical simulation and data analysis, a new 3D model of real-time fracture extension is established on the basis of the theories of fluid dynamics, linea...

The recent development of tight oil reservoirs has led to an increase in oil production in the past several years due to the progress in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. However, the expected oil recovery factor from these reservoirs is still very low. CO2-based enhanced oil recovery is a suitable solution to improve the recovery. One challenge of the estimation of the recovery is ...

The term ‘Unconventional Reservoirs’ is used in the oil and gas industry for hydrocarbon reservoirs that have very low permeability in the magnitude of microdarcy (μd) and therefore rely on artificially introducing pathways for fluids and gases, commonly by using hydraulic fracturing techniques, to enable economic production. This approach of using fracturing stimulation campaigns is also incre...

The trajectory of a hydraulically driven crack near natural fractures, faults, and inhomogeneities has been studied using the complex variable hypersingular boundary element technique. The crack trajectories are presented for the cases of an oblique and a steeply inclined fault. It has been demonstrated that natural fractures, faults, and other inhomogeneities generate unstable fracture conÞgur...