Case Study: Western Canadian Operating Company improves hydraulic fracturing design and fracture prediction with SLB Mangrove stimulation design

Mangrove Stimulation Design Defines Geomechanical Characteristics in Unconventional Reservoir

SLB worked with Western Canadian Operating Company, a shale gas operator in the Western Canadian sedimentary basin, to improve completion and production planning in a complex unconventional reservoir. The company needed to calibrate maximum horizontal stress and stress anisotropy in a deep, naturally fractured formation so it could better predict stimulated rock volume and optimize hydraulic fracturing design.

Using Mangrove stimulation design in the Petrel E&P software platform, SLB integrated microseismic data, hydraulic fracture characterization, and a discrete fracture network model to build and calibrate a mechanical earth model. The solution reduced uncertainty in geologic and geomechanical parameters, produced fracture network models that matched microseismic events, and improved predictions of stimulated rock volume so the operator could better optimize multistage fracture design, well placement, cluster locations, pumping schedules, and proppant and fluid selection.