Case Study: a large Athabasca oil sands company achieves integrated caprock stress analysis with SLB imaging and minifrac testing

Wireline Imaging and Minifrac Testing Provide Integrated Caprock Stress Analysis Athabasca Oil Sands

SLB worked with a large Athabasca oil sands company in northeastern Alberta to stress test the caprock above thermally stimulated heavy oil reservoirs. The customer needed a reliable way to confirm that pressure from SAGD and CSS operations would not exceed the minimum stress in the shale caprock and compromise seal integrity.

SLB used the FMI fullbore formation microimager to identify suitable test intervals and document a minifrac test run with the MDT modular formation dynamics tester and Dual-Packer Module. The integrated approach confirmed a breakdown pressure gradient of 21 kPa/m and, by imaging the created fracture, showed that the hydraulic fracture was vertical, proving the minimum stress was horizontal and helping avoid an incorrect interpretation of caprock stress.