In this study, we present field monitoring observations indicating consistently oriented, planar fractures in an offset-well at different landing zones in the Permian basin. Frac hit counts, location, and timing statistics can be compiled from the data using offset wells at different distances and depths. The statistics can be used to calibrate a detailed three-dimensional fully coupled hydraulic fracturing and reservoir simulator. In addition to these high-level observations, detailed fibre signatures such as strain response during frac arrival to the monitoring well, post shut-in frac propagation and frac speed degradation with length can be modeled using the simulator for further calibration purposes.

Application to frac modeling calibration is presented through different case studies. The simulator was used to directly generate the ‘waterfall plot’ output from the fibre-optic under a variety of scenarios. The history match to the large, detailed synthetic fibre dataset provided exceptional model calibration, enabling a detailed description of the fracture geometry, and a high-confidence estimation of key model parameters. The detailed synthetic fibre data generated by the simulator were remarkably consistent with the actual data. This indicates a good consistency with classical analytical fracture mechanics predictions and further confirm the interpretation of planar fracture propagation.

This study shows how careful integration of offset-well fibre-optic measurements can provide detailed characterization of fracture geometry, growth rate, and physics. The result is a detailed picture of hydraulic fracture propagation in the Midland Basin. The comparison of the waterfall plot simulations and data indicate that hydraulic fractures can, in fact, be very well modeled as nearly-linear cracks (the ‘planar fracture modeling’ approach).