This paper investigates how thermoelasticity effects may impact cluster stimulation uniformity and fracture initiation and growth in horizontal, multifractured laterals. Thermal cooling has been previously shown to lower the minimum principal stress and induce fracturing in conventional reservoirs. In the current study, cool fluid is injected prior to the primary stimulation to investigate whether local minimum principal stress can be reduced. In the base case without pre-treatment, fractures are propagated in non-uniform manner after the primary stimulation. This results in few clusters being the dominant ones leaving the rest of the reservoir’s hydrocarbon unstimulated. The pre-treatment period can be utilized to reduce the in-situ stress at the entry of the clusters. Simulation results show that clusters with a pre-cooling period have more uniform fractures compared to the base case. Utilizing thermally controlled fluid is a novel method for improving cluster uniformity and efficiency.
