Stress Magnitudes from Logs: Effects of Tectonic Strains and Temperature

Abstract

Summary An improved method of calibrating in-situ stress logs was validated with data from two wells. Horizontal stress profiles are useful for hydraulic fracture design, wellbore stability analysis, and sand production prediction. The industry-standard method of estimating stresses from logs is based on overburden, Poisson's ratio, and pore pressure effects and gives an estimate of minimum horizontal stress. The model proposed here adds effects of temperature and tectonics and outputs of minimum and maximum horizontal stress magnitudes, which are particularly important to the successful completion of horizontal and deviated wells. This method was validated using data collected from a GRI research well and a Mobil well. Seven microfrac stress tests in GRI's Canyon Gas Sands Well of Sutton County, Texas, provided a means of comparing the predictive capability of different methods. First, one of the seven stress tests was selected as a calibration standard for the stress log. Then the results obtained from the two calibration methods were compared to stress magnitudes from the other six stress tests. This process was repeated using each of the seven stress tests as a calibration standard and comparing predictions to the other six. In every case, the method incorporating tectonic strain and thermal effects produced significantly more accurate values. The Mobil well is located in the Lost Hills Field in California, and pre-frac treatment breakdown tests were used to calibrate a log-derived stress profile. All of the data were used simultaneously to get a best fit for the log-derived stress. The log and its fracture height growth implications compared favorably with available fracture diagnostic data, and maximum horizontal stress values were consistent with published values for a similar, nearby reservoir.