INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 882 I. HYRAULIC FRACTURING POSES ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS TO DRINKING WATER SUPPLIES ........................... 885 II. HYDRAULIC FRACTURING REGULATION IN THE UNITED STATES ..................................................................... 887 A. THE SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT AND THE EPA’S TIMID IMPLEMENT...

This paper presents a method to predict and evaluate effects of hydraulic fracturing jobs by using reservoir and well flow numerical simulation. The concept of the method i5 that steam production rate at the operating well head pressure is predicted with different fracture conditions which would be attained by the hydraulic fracturing jobs. Then, the effects of the hydraulic fracturing is evalu...

Hydraulic fracturing is one of the most common methods of well stimulation for reservoirs with low permeability. Hydraulic fracturing increases the flow capacity, alters flow geometry, bypasses damage and improves recovery factor. The pressure of most of Iranian oil reservoirs is declined and consequently the production is reduced. It is necessary to improve the production by using new stimulat...

In this study, variable injection-rate technology was numerically investigated in a pre-existing discrete fracture network (DFN) formation, the Tarim Basin in China. A flow-stressdamage (FSD) coupling model has been used in an initial attempt towards how reservoir response to variable injection-rates at different hydraulic fracturing stages. The established numerical model simultaneously consid...

A theoretical method is proposed to estimate post-fracturing fracture size and transmissivity, and as a test of the methodology, data collected from two wells were used for verification. This method can be employed before hydrofracturing in order to obtain estimates of the potential hydraulic benefits of hydraulic fracturing. Five different pumping test analysis methods were used to evaluate th...

BACKGROUND The development of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing methods has dramatically increased the potential for the extraction of previously unrecoverable natural gas. Nonetheless, the potential risks and hazards associated with such technologies are not without controversy and are compounded by frequently changing information and an uncertain landscape of international politics...

Numerical simulation is very useful for understanding the hydraulic fracturing mechanism. In this paper, we simulate the hydraulic fracturing using the distinct element approach, to investigate the effect of some critical parameters on hydraulic fracturing characteristics. The breakdown pressure obtained by the distinct element approach is consistent with the analytical solution. This indicates...

With the introduction of hydraulic fracturing technology, the United States has become the largest natural gas producer in the world with a substantial portion of the production coming from shale plays. In this review, we examined current hydraulic fracturing literature including associated wastewater management on quantity and quality of groundwater. We conclude that proper documentation/repor...

Hydraulic fracturing and matrix stimulation are two major methods of the reservoir stimulation. Hydraulic fracturing, which is the newest technique and technically more complex, is very useful in low permeability reservoirs. Although it has been used widely in hydrocarbon production wells, it is a new method in Iran. In this paper, the effect of sufficient barrier layers on hydraulic fracturing...

Most of the Iranian oil and gas wells in the Persian Gulf region are producing through their natural productivity and, in the near future, the use of stimulation methods will be undoubtedly necessary. Hydraulic fracturing as a popular technique can be a stimulation candidate. Due to the absence of adequate research in this field, numerical simulation can be an appropriate method to investigate ...