Estimation of hydraulic fracture pressure in clay

Abstract

For offshore drilling, and in particular when drilling from fixed platforms in deep waters, the mud pressure will be high compared with the hydraulic fracture pressure (i.e., the formation strength) close to the sea floor. The first casing (the conductor) should therefore be installed to a depth where the formation strength is sufficient to prevent hydraulic fracturing of the soil. The consequences of hydraulic fracture could be mud flowing into the formation and loss of mud circulation. This slows down the drilling and, in cases where large quantities of mud flow into the formations beneath the platform, may even threaten the integrity of the foundation soils and create a safety problem. A conservative approach with too deep conductor setting depths will, on the other hand, lead to high unnecessary costs. This paper presents a new approach for calculating hydraulic fracture pressures. The new calculation approach considers two important factors that are generally not covered by theories found in the literature: nonlinearity of the stress–strain properties of the soil, and pore-pressure changes in the soil due to changes in total normal stress and shearing of the soil. The stress–strain properties and the shear-induced pore pressure are determined from laboratory tests. The proposed calculation approach has been verified against a series of laboratory model hydraulic fracture tests and in situ hydraulic fracture tests carried out at numerous offshore sites. The paper also presents a rational approach to establish the maximum allowable drilling mud pressure in clay formations and recommends partial safety coefficients that depend upon the consequences of hydraulic fracture and the quality of the soil data. Key words : hydraulic fracture, boreholes, clay, conductor setting depth, model tests, in situ tests, calculations.