NATURAL FRACTURE SYSTEMS IN RESOURCE-PLAY SHALES

John Lorenz
FractureStudies LLC

Natural fractures are common in resource-play shales, and different types can combine to form
fracture-controlled permeability systems. Vertical extension fractures are the most common type,
even in ductile, clay-rich shales since high pore pressures associated with organic maturation can make
these rocks brittle and prone to fracturing. Extension fractures can be several meters tall, crossing
numerous bedding boundaries where bedding is poorly developed, or they may be short and confined
to bedding in well-bedded depositional systems. Extension fractures can be closely spaced and will
create good vertical connectivity within a reservoir even if mineralized. However, fracture-controlled
reservoir drainage in these systems is highly anisotropic because extension fractures form in parallel
sets. Unless multiple extension-fracture sets are superimposed on the strata, efficient stimulation
depends on the relative orientations of fractures and the in situ compressive stress.
Horizontal extension fractures with prismatic calcite also occur in many shales. Their origin is under
debate, but horizontal extension fractures have been traced laterally for up to 100 m and can offer
important pathways that connect with vertical extension fractures to form an intersecting fracture
permeability network. Bed-parallel shear fractures form easily in folded shales where bedding planes
are mechanically weak; such shears also offer pathways for connecting bed-normal extension
fractures. Caution must be exercised since many horizontal structures are induced fractures, artifacts,
or even shell fragments.
Conjugate shear fracture pairs occur in some shale formations, creating interconnected permeability
systems that are easy to exploit but that are subject to damage during reservoir production. Small
faults that can compartmentalize a reservoir are also common in some shales; they are typically
mineralized with calcite and have been reactivated multiple times. Another type of shale fracture
formed in extension, very early in the depositional history of a unit. These fractures became folded
and sheared during final compaction. Although typically small, they have irregular strikes, where well
developed they may create local horizontal high-permeability zones in a reservoir.
The composition of a formation, local bedding thickness, heterogeneity, organic content, structure, and
burial/maturation history all control the intensity and type of fractures that develop in resource-play
shale formations.