oa Applied Rock Mechanics in Developing Tight Gas Reservoirs

The experimental results indicate that the tensile fractures are much less conductive than shear fractures and the shear fractures are less conductive than propped fractures. The concept of effective stress within the rock matrix is totally different than that of natural fractures; therefore, the effective stress function for both matrix and natural fractures should be separately evaluated to obtain representative functions for any simulation study. The tensile fractures lose conductivity at very early stages of reservoir depletion. Recommendations to manage these tensile fractures for optimum hydrocarbon recovery are suggested.