ABSTRACT The shale gas in southern Sichuan Basin is characterised by complex geological structures, strong heterogeneity, well‐developed natural fractures, and a large horizontal stress difference. During hydraulic fracturing, frequent interwell interference (i.e., frac‐hit) significantly impairs well production, thus making the optimisation of fracturing parameters imperative. This study takes the W2 Platform as a research object. Based on distribution characteristics of natural fractures, by analysing the frac‐hit characteristics and production dynamic data, a complex fracture propagation model of the well group was established. Then, a new method for diagnosing and analysing the frac‐hit effects based on the simulation of hydraulic fracture propagation was developed. The results indicate that the approach angle of natural fractures and in situ stress are the primary geological factors of the influence degree of frac‐hit. By optimising the fracturing‐fluid volume intensity and cluster spacing to mitigate the influence degree of frac‐hit and facilitate the initiation and propagation of hydraulic fractures. For the large approach angle, the influence degree of frac‐hit decreases with the increase of fracture‐fluid intensity and cluster spacing. In the case of the small approaching angle is just the opposite. For low horizontal stress difference, the low fracture‐fluid injection intensity and large cluster spacing are more favourable. Application of the optimised parameters to the five fracturing wells on W2 Platform effectively mitigates interwell interference and boosts cumulative production by 4.95% relative to the pre‐optimisation numerical simulation results. This study can provide reasonable suggestions for well optimisation, fracturing designs, and interwell interference mitigation to achieve the highest gas recovery of all multi‐well shale gas reservoirs.
Luo et al. (Mon,) studied this question.
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