f Accounting the Fracture to Wellbore Connection for Design and Pressure Transient Testing of Hydraulically Fractured Wells-A Gulf of Mexico Challenge

Wells drilled from pads on shore and from platforms or drill ships offshore use extended reach drilling to reach the target reservoir location. Often drillers prefer to keep the same angle through the productive zone even when the intent is to hydraulically fracture the well. Because the hydraulic fracture is usually a vertical plane, frequently the wellbore trajectory is not aligned with the far field plane of the hydraulic fracture, leading to a choked fracture skin. A recent paper characterized the choked fracture skin by the number of perforations connecting the hydraulic fracture to the wellbore. <br>This paper provides a new model for the hydraulic fracture pressure transient response taking into account the fracture to wellbore connection. The model for the fracture skin accounts for the well deviation angle, the angle between the wellbore trajectory and hydraulic fracture plane azimuths, the perforation tunnel diameter and length, the hydraulic fracture half length and conductivity, and fracture face skin. <br>Sensitivity studies show the pressure transient behavior for a wide range of model inputs. The results are significant because they help determine the mechanical skin used for flux analysis. <br>