Case Study: a leading southern San Joaquin Valley operating company achieves accurate in situ stress measurements for hydraulic fracturing with SLB's MDT modular formation dynamics tester

One-Run In Situ Stress Testing by Microfracturing Guides Hydraulic Fracturing

SLB worked with a leading southern San Joaquin Valley operating company to determine in situ stress for designing hydraulic fracturing across multiple intervals in the Antelope Shale. The company needed reliable stress measurements to plan effective completions in a formation that was not naturally fractured like the nearby Monterey Formation, and it used the MDT modular formation dynamics tester for the evaluation.

SLB solved the challenge by running the MDT tester in a dual-packer configuration to isolate multiple intervals and perform repeated microfracture tests in a single well run. This allowed SLB to measure closure pressure and minimum in situ stress directly downhole, calibrate sonic-log-derived mechanical properties, and support successful hydraulic fracture placement in the Antelope Shale with accurate stress data from multiple intervals.