Abstract As high-quality reservoirs deplete, tight carbonate formations gain importance in Middle East. Hydraulic fracturing, crucial for these reservoirs, still encounters challenges associated to their complexity and limited exposure. This study examines the entire fracturing process, from geologic model generation using logs and cores, to execution and recalibration with pressure data and short-term production testing, offering valuable insights for future fracturing efforts. This paper details the development of a 1D Mechanical Earth model (1D MEM), integrating reservoir architecture, mechanical rock properties, stress estimations, and rock failure attributes. Advanced techniques were used to analyze data from horizontally fractured wells, with step-by-step model calibration. Pre-treatment testing and pumping parameters were thoroughly examined. Short-term production and pressure transient analysis were incorporated to calibrate fracture geometry via simulation. Sensitivity analysis identified key fracture parameters for optimizing production. Challenges and lessons learned are discussed, concluding with best practice recommendations. The present work emphasizes the importance of integrating geophysical logs, rock structure, and composition to effectively represent depth variability which is critical for the proper hydraulic fracturing treatment design. Initial calibration with core testing and field data was crucial for generating 1D MEMs, finite element simulations, and wellbore stability analyses. Results from Leeb hardness tests, uniaxial and triaxial compressive stress tests, Brazilian tests, Biot's coefficient, fracture conductivity, and acid solubility tests were examined. The MEMs building process utilized data from two offset vertical wells, providing calibrated logs for Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS), Tensile Stress (TS), Internal Friction Coefficient (IFC), Young's Modulus (YM), Poisson's Ratio (PR), Shear Module, and Bulk Module. Closure Stress, Net Pressure (Pnet), and leakoff behavior observed during job execution were used to recalibrate these properties for the target reservoir. The updated models enhanced the assurance of expected fracture propagation. Important results on fracture initiation, expected fracture conductivities, and fracture-wellbore communication, which impact productivity, were obtained. Post-job surveillance highlighted the need to enhance fracture length while maintaining good conductivity. Overall, a better-calibrated model has been developed, increasing confidence in designs and the effectiveness of future treatments. The research concentrates on a tight carbonate reservoir in Middle East, of initially perceived marginal economics, that became a highly attractive asset due to the outcomes of hydraulic fracturing and its ability to unlock the substantial reserves. It underscores the importance of modern re-evaluation techniques and the integration with detailed reservoir descriptions, architectural insights, and natural fracture assessments, allowing the advancing of hydraulic fracturing and accessing previously unreachable reserves.
Leguizamon et al. (Mon,) studied this question.
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