Data Analytics & Shale-Gas Well's Design Optimization
Hydraulic fracturing also called fracking is a WELL-STIMULATION technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid (see illustration above). The process involves the high-pressure injection of "fracking fluid" (primarily water, containing sand or other proppants suspended with the aid of water and thickening agents) into a wellbore to create cracks in the deep-rock formations through which natural gas, petroleum, and brine will flow more freely. When the hydraulic pressure is removed from the well, small grains of hydraulic fracturing proppants (either sand or aluminum oxide) hold the fractures open. Hydraulic fracturing is used to increase the rate at which petroleum or natural gas can be recovered from subterranean natural reservoirs. Reservoirs, as depicted in Figure 1 below, are typically porous sandstones , limestones, or dolomite rocks, but also include "unconventional reservoirs" such as shale rock and tight sands . H