Abou-Sayed, A.S., Clifton, R.J., and Simonson, E.R.
Presented at Paper SPE 6089, Society of Petroleum Engineers Journal, 1978, p.27.
Containment of Massive Hydraulic Fractures
Abstract
Hydraulic fracture containment is discussed in relationship to linear elastic fracture mechanics. Three cases are analyzed: 1. the effect of different material properties for the pay zone and the barrier formation, 2. the characteristics of fracture propagation into regions of varying in-situ stress, propagation into regions of varying in-situ stress, 3. the effect of hydrostatic pressure gradients on fracture propagation into overlying or underlying barrier formations. Analysis shows the importance of the elastic properties, the in-situ stresses, and the pressure gradients on fracture containment.