Inducing Multiple Hydraulic Fractures from a Horizontal Wellbore

A series of stimulations were designed to open and propagate natural fractures known to exist along a 2000 foot horizontal well in Wayne County, West Virginia. The stimulations were also designed to induce fractures in the formation as well as propagate the natural fractures by manipulating pressure and injection rates. A number of radioactive tracers were used to determine where fractures were opened and propagated at different injection rates. The tracers were found in fractures in zones other than the one pumped into, a fact considered prima facie evidence that natural fractures with two or more orientations had been opened and propagated. Pressure testing and gas sampling of the isolated zones confirm that fracture communication was accomplished along nearly 1000 feet of borehole by stimulation of one 400 foot long section. A technique for inducing multiple hydraulic fractures with multiple orientations was demonstrated.