Interpretation of Hydraulic Fracturing Pressure in Tight Gas Formations1

Abstract

The interpretation of hydraulic fracturing pressure was initiated by Nolte and Smith in the 1980s. An accurate interpretation of hydraulic fracturing pressures is critical to understand and improve the fracture treatment in tight gas formations. In this paper, accurate calculation of bottomhole treating pressure was achieved by incorporating hydrostatic pressure, fluid friction pressure, fracture fluid property changes along the wellbore, friction due to proppant, perforation friction, tortuosity, casing roughness, rock toughness, and thermal and pore pressure effects on insitu stress. New methods were then developed for more accurate interpretation of the net pressure and fracture propagation. Our results were validated with field data from tight gas formations.