CSUG/SPE 137514

Flow Regime Analysis of Multi-stage Hydraulically-Fractured Horizontal

Wells with Reciprocal Rate Derivative Function: Bakken Case Study
Shanqiang Luo, Lane Neal, Pathman Arulampalam, Jessica McDonough Ciosek, Hess Corporation

Copyright 2010, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the Canadian Unconventional Resources & International Petroleum Conference held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 1921 October 2010.
This paper was selected for presentation by a CSUG/SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not
been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers,
its officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to
reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.

Abstract
Activities in developing tight oil and gas reservoirs, such as the Barnett shale and the Bakken formation, have grown
tremendously in recent years. Economic production of these unconventional resources relies heavily on advanced completion
technology such as horizontal wells with multi-stage hydraulic fracture stimulations.
Unlike single-stage fractured vertical wells, multi-stage fractured horizontal wells (MFHW) exhibit a unique flow regime,
compound formation linear (CFL) flow, which consists of linear flow in the formation toward the collective hydraulic
fractures after interference has occurred between neighboring fractures. This flow regime can easily be mistaken for
a reservoir-boundary (or compartmentalization) effect in production analysis. Such a misinterpretation will result in incorrect
reservoir property estimates and long-term production forecasts.
This paper applies log-log reciprocal rate derivative plots to identify and analyze flow regimes of MFHW wells producing
under constant bottomhole pressure. It is observed that the CFL straight line slope in the reciprocal rate derivative plot
depends on the ratio of fracture length over fracture spacing but is not sensitive to reservoir permeability. As a result, the CFL
slope can be used to diagnose fracture stimulation effectiveness.

Introduction
MFHW has been proven to be an effective way of developing unconventional resources such as the Barnett shale and the
Bakken formation. Various analytical, semi-analytical, and empirical models have been developed to study MFHW
rate/pressure behavior in tight systems. Van Kruysdik and Dullaert18 provided a boundary element solution to understand
transient pressure response of a MFHW. Larsen and Hegre7 introduced methods to generate synthetic pressure transient data
for MFHW with finite-conductivity fractures in unbounded reservoirs. Raghavan et al.13 introduced a new model to analyze
MFHW pressure transient behavior and provided a comprehensive discussion of the variables that influence MFHW
production performance. Larsen and Hegre5,8 presented a comprehensive investigation of pressure transient behavior of
horizontal wells with single or multiple vertical fractures, and also, later, presented methods to determine the productivity of
horizontal wells with multiple transverse or longitudinal fractures. Hegre6 investigated the effect of grid size and fracture
conductivity on transient pressure behavior of MFHW wells through detailed reservoir simulation study. Chen and Raghavan1
designed a rigorous and stable algorithm to improve computational efficiency of MFHW calculations in a rectangular drainage
region. Zezar and Bettam19 presented an analytical model for MFHW wells in anisotropic closed or semi-infinite,
homogeneous or naturally fractured systems, and discussed corresponding flow regimes with log-log pressure and pressure
derivative plots. Using reciprocal rate and reciprocal rate derivative functions, Malallah et al.10 applied the direct synthesis
technique16 to determine reservoir and fracture properties of vertical oil wells with infinite-conductivity hydraulic fractures
under constant bottomhole pressure from finite reservoirs. Freeman et al.4 constructed a fit-for-purpose numerical simulator to
investigate production mechanisms of tight gas and shale gas reservoir systems and examined flow regimes with specialized
plots of rate and pressure functions.

CSUG/SPE 137514

This paper uses the log-log reciprocal rate derivative plot to examine the different flow regimes exhibited by a MFHW well
assuming: (a) constant bottomhole pressure production; (b) flow from the reservoir only takes place through hydraulic
fractures. The streamline simulation technique is also used to illustrate these different flow regimes in more detail. In tight
reservoir systems, the transient flow period can last a long time. Very often, analysis and interpretation of well performance
relies on short-period production data. As discussed by Freeman, et al.4, the CFL flow regime of a MFHW well can easily be
mistaken as a reservoir boundary effect and the misinterpretation will give incorrect reservoir/fracture properties estimation
and long term production forecast. Using an analytical tool, this paper investigates the main parameters that influence the CFL
flow regime of a MFHW well. Also, a numerical tool is used to study flow regimes and investigate interference effects in a
reservoir simulation model covering a 6-mile by 6-mile area in a Williston Basin Bakken field.
Flow Regime Analysis of MFHW
Horizontal wells with multi-stage hydraulic fractures exhibit very complex flow regimes1,13,14,18, which are described below
and illustrated in Fig. 1 for a MFHW well with 6 transverse fractures:
Bilinear or linear flow: Fluid flows down the fracture and in the reservoir the flow is normal to the fracture planes.
The type of flow regime (bilinear or linear) that dominates this period will depend on the fracture conductivity and
length. Flow across the fracture tips is negligible, and each fracture behaves independently of other fractures.
Early radial/elliptical flow: During this period, there is flow across the fracture tips. The existence of this period will
depend primarily on the fracture length and fracture spacing. Fractures do not communicate and production from
each fracture is independent of other fractures.
Compound formation linear (CFL) flow: During this period, fractures interact and the system is characterized by
linear flow from the formation into the collection of fractures. The flow pattern is predominantly normal to the
vertical plane that contains the horizontal well. The CFL flow concept was originally proposed by van Kruysdijk and
Dullaert18.
Pseudo radial/elliptical flow: In this period, the flow towards the entire fracture-well system appears to be radial (or
elliptical) and flow across the outermost elements becomes dominant. This flow pattern is similar to that of the longterm behavior of a vertically fractured well.
Boundary-dominated flow: This flow period occurs when a reservoir boundary is reached. In the case of closed
boundaries, the flow will eventually reach pseudo-steady state.
The flow regimes described above may not exist in a single well-test. Depending on system properties (such as fracture length
and spacing), some of the flow regimes may be absent. The focus of this study was to investigate the unique CFL flow regime
in detail. A MFHW well with 3 transverse fractures was studied using the Kappa Topaze17 production analysis software under
the following assumptions: (a) production is only from hydraulic fractures (no production from horizontal drain of the
wellbore); (b) fractures are equally spaced with identical properties; (c) the reservoir is homogeneous. Table-1 summarizes
the base reservoir and fracture properties. Sensitivities were conducted for three scenarios regarding the ratio of total fracture
length (2Xf) over fracture spacing (Df): (a) 2Xf/Df>1; (b) 2Xf/Df=1; (c) 2Xf/Df<1. Fig. 2 shows the log-log reciprocal rate
derivative plots of these 3 scenarios and also the comparison with 1 vertical fracture scenario. It is observed that the slope of
the CFL flow regime increases with increasing 2Xf/Df ratio and the duration of the early radial/elliptical flow regime decreases
with increasing 2Xf/Df ratio. A similar study was also conducted for a MFHW well with 7 transverse fractures. Fig. 3 shows
the results. It is also observed that the slope of the CFL flow regime increases with increasing 2Xf/Df ratio and the duration of
the early radial/elliptical flow regime decreases with increasing 2Xf/Df ratio. The effect of reservoir permeability was also
investigated. Fig. 4 shows the comparison of K=0.01md vs. K=0.001md for a MFHW with 3 transverse fractures. As
expected, decreasing reservoir permeability delayed the onset of the CFL flow. However, the CFL slopes showed similar
characteristics for both reservoir permeability scenarios (CFL slope is not sensitive to reservoir permeability). Fig. 5 shows
the comparison of K=0.01md vs. K=0.001md for a MFHW with 7 transverse fractures, and the resulting effect of reservoir
permeability is similar to that seen in the MFHW with 3 transverse fractures case. These observations suggest that in actual
production analysis when the CFL flow regime exists, the slope of the reciprocal rate derivative can be used to effectively
diagnose fracture stimulation effectiveness (higher CFL slope means more fracturing stages, smaller fracturing spacing or
bigger fracture length) and potentially indicate the necessity for further stimulation such as re-fracturing, etc.

Simulation Study of Bakken Examples

The Bakken formation of eastern Montana and western North Dakota contains a tremendous hydrocarbon accumulation and
has experienced a rapid increase in development activities with technology advancement in horizontal drilling and completion
practices. This formation is composed of three distinct geological members:
Upper shale
Middle Bakken (MB), a tight siltstone to sandstone with variable calcite and dolomite content
Lower shale

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Fig. 6 illustrates a type log of the Bakken formation. Both shale members are organic rich and are believed to have sourced
the Bakken oils. The Middle Bakken is a low porosity, low permeability reservoir composed of mixed clastic and carbonate
sediments primarily deposited in a shallow marine environment. The Middle Bakken reservoir is further subdivided into 3
zones (MB 1, 2, and 3) based on log character. MB 2, defined here by the cleaner GR interval, is non-continuous throughout
North Dakota. Reservoir properties vary subtly between the zones, which are most easily distinguished by mineral content and
grain size. MB 1 contains the highest silt-sized quartz content, MB 2 is generally a highly-cemented sandstone with high
calcite content, and MB 3 is the most dolomitic interval, generally composed of silt-sized grains.
Since its discovery, the Bakken play has experienced three development periods9,15:
Conventional vertical drilling (1953-1987)
Horizontal drilling in the upper Bakken Shale (1988-2003)
Horizontal drilling in the Middle Bakken Formation (2004-present)
The Middle Bakken member is the primary reservoir target of current development activities with horizontal wells that stretch
5,000 ft-10,000 ft and are stimulated using the multi-stage hydraulic fracturing technique.
A static geomodel covering 1 township (6 miles by 6 miles) was constructed to perform the simulation study. The geomodel
uses well data as the primary input. The reservoir zones in the model correspond to the MB zones described above, which are
sandwiched between 2 zones that represent the shale units. Petrophysical properties (porosity, water saturation, and
permeability) were populated using the results of geostatistical analysis of core-calibrated well log data. Fig. 7 illustrates the
geomodel.
A reservoir simulation model was then constructed using this static geomodel. A 9000-ft horizontal well with 10 transverse
fractures was placed into each 1280-acre spacing unit (18 MFHW wells in this model). All wells were produced under
constant bottomhole pressure conditions with a 40-year well life. The resulting log-log reciprocal rate derivative analysis are
shown in Fig. 8. All of the wells and the average of these wells clearly exhibit the linear, early elliptical, compound formation
linear, and late elliptical flow regimes. To study well interference effects, another simulation model with 3 wells per 1280acre spacing unit (54 MFHW wells in the model) was constructed. Fig. 9 compares the corresponding averages of the 18
center wells in the two simulation models. Fig. 9 shows increasing CFL slope with the 3 wells per spacing unit model, which
is indicative of the interference effect between neighbouring wells. Fig. 10 shows the pressure map corresponding to CFL
flow regime for the 1 well per spacing unit scenario. Fig. 11 shows the pressure map corresponding to CFL flow regime (and
well interference) for the 3 wells per spacing unit scenario. Because the well interference effect happens during the CFL flow
regime, it is important to distinguish them for proper production performance analysis.

Conclusions
Multi-stage hydraulically fractured horizontal wells exhibit very complex flow regimes. This paper uses both analytical and
numerical simulation techniques to study MFHW flow regimes and yields the following observations:
The CFL slope depends on the ratio of fracture length 2Xf over fracture spacing; the bigger the ratio, the bigger the
CFL slope.
The CFL slope is not sensitive to reservoir permeability.
Interference effects between neighbouring wells has shown to result in an increased CFL straight line slope.

References
1. Chen, C. and Raghavan, R.: "A Multiply-Fractured Horizontal Well in a Rectangular Drainage Region", paper SPE 37072
presented at the International Conference on Horizontal Well Technology in Calgary, Canada, 18 November 1996.
2. Cox, S.A., Cook, D.M., Dunek, K., Jump, C., and Barree, B.: "Unconventional Resource Play Evaluation: A Look at the
Bakken Shale Play of North Dakota", paper 114171 presented at the SPE Unconventional Reservoirs Conference held in
Keystone, Colorado, USA, 10-12 February 2008.
3. Eclipse software, Schlumberger, 2010.
4. Freeman, C.M., Moridis, G., IIK, D., and Blasingame, T.A.: "A Numerical Study of Performance for Tight Gas and Shale
Gas Reservoir Systems", paper SPE 124961 presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 4-7 October 2009.
5. Hegre, T.M. and Larsen, L.: "Productivity of Multifractured Horizontal Wells", paper SPE 28845 presented at the SPE
European Petrolem Conference, London, October 1994.
6. Hegre, T.M.: "Hydraulically Fractured Horizontal Well Simulation", paper SPE 35506 presented at the European 3-D
Reservoir Modeling Conference held in Stavanger, Norway, 16-17 April 1996.
7. Larsen, L. and Hegre, T.M.: "Pressure Transient Behavior of Horizontal Wells with Finite-Conductivity Vertical
Fractures", paper SPE 22076 presented at the International Arctic Technology Conference in Anchorage, Alaska, USA,
29-31 May 1991.

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19.

CSUG/SPE 137514

Larsen, L. and Hegre, T.M.: "Pressure Transient Analysis of Multifractured Horizontal Wells", paper SPE 28389
presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in New Orleans, September 1994.
LeFever, J.A.: "Evolution of Oil Production in the Bakken Formation", North Dakota Geological Survey, available from
https://www.dmr.nd.gov/ndgs/bakken/bakken.asp, 2004.
Malallah, A., Nashawi, I.A., Algharaib, M.: "Constant-Pressure Analysis of Oil Wells Intercepted by InfiniteConductivity Hydraulic Fracture using Rate and Rate-Derivative Functions", paper SPE 105046 presented at the 15th SPE
Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference held in Bahrain International Exhibition Center, Kingdom of Bahrain, 11-14
March 2007.
Medeiros, F., Ozkan, E., and Kazemi, H.: "Productivity and Drainage Area of Fractured Horizontal Wells in Tight Gas
Reservoirs", paper SPE 108110 presented at the Rocky Mountain Oil & Gas Technology Symposium held in Denver,
Colorado, 16-18 April 2007.
Medeiros, F., Kurtoglu, B., Ozkan, E., and Kazemi, H.: "Analysis of Production Data from Hydraulically Fractured
Horizontal Wells in Tight, Heterogeneous Formations", paper SPE 110848 presented at the SPE Annual Technical
Conference and Exhibition held in Anaheim, California, USA, 11-14 November 2007.
Raghavan, R., Chen, C., and Agarwal, B.: "An Analysis of Horizontal Wells Intercepted by Multiple Fractures", paper
SPE 27652 presented at the SPE Permian Basin Oil and Gas Recovery Conference held in Midland, Texas, USA, 16-18
March 1994.
Roberts, B.E., van Engen, H., and van Kruysdijk, C.P.J.W.: "Productivity of Multiply Fractured Horizontal Wells in Tight
Gas Reservoirs", paper SPE 23113 presented at the Offshore Europe Conference held in Aberdeen, 3-6 September 1991.
Tabatabaei, M., Mack, D., Daniels, R. 2009: "Evaluating the Performance of Hydraulically Fractured Horizontal Wells in
the Bakken Shale Play", paper SPE 122570 presented at the SPE Rocky Mountain Petroleum Technology Conference held
in Denver, Colorado, USA, 14-16 April 2009.
Tiab, D.: "Direct Type-curve Synthesis of Pressure Transient Tests", paper SPE 18992 presented at the SPE Rocky
Mountain Low Permeability Reservoirs Symposium, Denver, Colorado, 6-8 March 1989.
Topaze software, Kappa Engineering, 2010.
Van Kruysdijk, C.P.J.W. and Dullaert, G.M.: "A Boundary Element Solution of the Transient Pressure Response of
Multiple Fractured Horizontal Wells", paper presented at the 2nd European Conference on the Mathematics of Oil
Recovery, Cambridge, England, 1989.
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Malaysia, 20-21 October 2003.

Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank Hess Corporation for permission to publish this paper. The authors also thank Tom
Blasingame and Dilhan IIK at Texas A&M University, Martin Wolff, Lifu Chu, Paul Comrie, Boniface Igboalisi, and other
colleagues at Hess corporation for inspiring discussions.

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Table-1 Summary of parameters

Reservoir K, md
Reservoir size
Formation thickness, ft
Porosity, %
Fracture Xf, ft
Frac. conductivity, md-ft
Oil viscosity, cp
Oil Bo, rb/STB
-1
Total compressibility, psi

Bilinear/linear flow

Compound formation linear flow

0.01
Infinite
20.0
7.0%
250.0
Infinite conductivity
0.14
1.8
3.0E-05

Early radial/elliptical flow

Pseudo radial/elliptical flow

Boundary dominated flow

Fig. 1 Flow regimes of a horizontal well with 6 transverse fractures (simulation with streamlines)

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Log-log analysis: reciprocal rate derivative

0.1
MFHW_3Fracs (2Xf=frac spacing)
MFHW_3Fracs (2Xf<frac spacing)
MFHW_3Fracs (2Xf>frac spacing)

derivative t*d(1/q)/dt

1 Vfrac

0.01
CFL (2Xf/Df <1)
CFL (2Xf/Df >1)
CFL (2Xf/Df =1)

0.001
1

10

100

1000

10000

100000

Time, day

Fig. 2 Log-log analysis of reciprocal rate derivative (MFHW with 3 transverse fractures; K=0.01md)

Log-log analysis: reciprocal rate derivative

0.1

derivative t*d(1/q)/dt

0.01

CFL (2Xf/Df <1)

CFL (2Xf/Df =1)

CFL (2Xf/Df >1)

0.001

MFHW_7Fracs (2Xf=frac spacing)

MFHW_7Fracs (2Xf<frac spacing)
MFHW_7Fracs (2Xf>frac spacing)
1 Vfrac
0.0001
1

10

100

1000

10000

100000

Time, day

Fig. 3 Log-log analysis of reciprocal rate derivative (MFHW with 7 transverse fractures; K=0.01md)

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Log-log analysis: reciprocal rate derivative

1
MFHW_3Fracs (2Xf=frac spacing)
MFHW_3Fracs (2Xf<frac spacing)
MFHW_3Fracs (2Xf>frac spacing)
K_MFHW_3Fracs (2Xf=frac spacing)
K_MFHW_3Fracs (2Xf<frac spacing)
K_MFHW_3Fracs (2Xf>frac spacing)

derivative t*d(1/q)/dt

0.1

K=0.001md

0.01

K=0.01md
0.001
1

10

100

1000

10000

100000

Time, day

Fig. 4 Log-log analysis of reciprocal rate derivative (3 fractures; K=0.01md vs 0.001md)

Log-log analysis: reciprocal rate derivative

1
MFHW_7Fracs (2Xf=frac spacing)
MFHW_7Fracs (2Xf<frac spacing)
MFHW_7Fracs (2Xf>frac spacing)
K_MFHW_7Fracs (2Xf=frac spacing)
K_MFHW_7Fracs (2Xf<frac spacing)
K_MFHW_7Fracs (2Xf>frac spacing)

derivative t*d(1/q)/dt

0.1

K=0.001md
0.01

0.001
K=0.01md

0.0001
1

10

100

1000

10000

100000

Time, day

Fig. 5 Log-log analysis of reciprocal rate derivative (7 fractures; K=0.01md vs 0.001md)

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Fig. 6 Bakken type log

Fig. 7 Geomodel for reservoir simulation study

CSUG/SPE 137514

Log-log analysis: reciprocal rate derivative

0.1
SU11
SU12
SU13
SU14

derivative t*d(1/q)/dt

SU15
SU16
SU21
SU22
SU23

0.01

SU24

Late elliptical

SU25
SU26
SU31

Formation linear

SU32

CFL

SU33
SU34
SU35

Early elliptical

SU36
Average_1

0.001
100

1000

10000

100000

Time, day

Fig. 8 Log-log analysis of reciprocal rate derivative for Bakken simulations (1 well/spacing unit)

Log-log analysis: reciprocal rate derivative

0.1
Average_3 wells/spacing unit

derivative t*d(1/q)/dt

Average_1 well/spacing unit

Boundary dominated

CFL + well interference

0.01
Late elliptical
Formation linear

CFL

Early elliptical

0.001
100

1000

10000

100000

Time, day

Fig. 9 Log-log analysis of reciprocal rate derivative for Bakken simulations (comparison)

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CSUG/SPE 137514

Fig. 10 Pressure mapping during CFL (1 well/spacing unit)

Fig. 11 Pressure mapping during CFL and well interference (3 wells/spacing unit)