Should we use ‘planar fracture’ models or ‘complex fracture network’ models? Exciting new field data has been published by operators that helps us answer this question, at least for modeling hydraulic fracturing in shale.

In this talk delivered for the ARMA HFC ‘Robe Talk’ Series, I lay out the case for ‘planar fracture modeling’ in shale. I synthesize field results published by operators, modeling results, and our experience within ResFrac. Sub-model scale features such as natural fractures and small-scale complexity are handled with constitutive relations and continuum theory.