Facies control on fracture characteristics in the Cardium

Hydrocarbon production from the Cardium Formation of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin peaked in the 1970’s. However, in recent years multistage hydrological fractured horizontal wells have unlocked large volumes of oil from low porosity permeability thin-bedded sandstones, laminated shales, and the bioturbated muddy sandstones. However, the geometry of the induced fractures is poorly understood. The proposed internship research project will analyze and compile a database of hydraulic completion data for different sedimentary facies using internal Penn West data. Further, integration of well logs (FMI, gamma ray, sonic, etc.), cores, hydraulic completion data, microseismic, and production data will likely lead to an better identification of most productive facies. The developed model and established relationships will secondly be compared with an existing Cardium outcrop study of the relationship between sedimentary facies and natural fracture networks (i.e. fracture dimensions, spacing and orientation). This latter part will allow construction of a predictive fracture model of fracture length and connectivity data for further modelling of the induced fractures in the subsurface by the sponsoring company.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Per Kent Pedersen

Student:

Daniel Hill

Partner:

Penn West

Discipline:

Geography / Geology / Earth science

Sector:

Oil and gas

University:

University of Calgary