We use a high-quality dataset in the Bakken Shale to calibrate a numerical model to a complex and diverse set of parent/child observations. Two vertical wells (V1 and V2) were drilled 1000 ft and 1200 ft away from a legacy well with 10 years of production, H1. A DFIT was performed in the V1, followed by a 24 hour low-rate injection in the H1 (a microseismic depletion delineation, MDD, test). Subsequently, a small frac job was performed in the V1, followed by DFITs in the V1 and V2. The dataset yields a diversity of data to calibrate a numerical model: historical production of the H1, pressure response in the H1 from the MDD injection and the V1 fracture treatment, production rate uplift in the H1 following the V1 frac, microseismic, and pressure response during the three DFITs. The entire dataset was history matched in a single continuous simulation with a numerical simulator that fully integrates hydraulic fracture and reservoir simulation. The simulation was set up to closely match a geologic model that was built in prior work. The integrated simulation allows simulation of the fractures reopening around the H1 as a consequence of the MDD, the transport of proppant from the V1 to the H1 well, and the subsequent communication and poroelastic stress response. The Biot coefficient was calibrated to match the observed change in stress at the H1 well after ten years of depletion. The fracture toughness was calibrated to match the observed fracture geometry from the microseismic around the V1 well during fracturing. A proppant transport parameter called ‘maximum immobilized proppant’ was tuned to the production and DFIT data. The match to the V2 DFIT suggests that it is not directly in contact with the V1 fracture, even though the wells are relatively close together along fracture strike. The initial V1 DFIT suggests that it has, at most, weak contact with the H1. The second V1 DFIT, performed after the fracturing treatment, demonstrates communication with the H1, and consequently, depletion. The observations demonstrate that the H1 was able to produce from the previously undepleted rock around the V1, even though it was 1000 ft away. Overall, the results indicate that Bakken wells can achieve substantial (at least 1000 ft) effective half-length, that frac hits on parent wells in the Bakken do not necessarily result in production degradation and can even increase production, that the apparent Biot coefficient is relatively low (∼0.34), that the amount of proppant trapping due to localized screenout is relatively low (but nonzero), and this entire, complex dataset can be explained using a planar fracture modeling approach.
