Hydraulic fracture model and diagnostics verification at GRI/DOE multi-site projects and tight gas sand program support. Final report, July 28, 1993--February 28, 1997

The Mesaverde Group of the Piceance Basin in western Colorado has been a pilot study area for government-sponsored tight gas sand research for over twenty years. Early production experiments included nuclear stimulations and massive hydraulic fracture treatments. This work culminated in the US Department of Energy (DOE)`s Multiwell Experiment (MWX), a field laboratory designed to study the reservoir and production characteristics of low permeability sands. A key feature of MWX was an infrastructure which included several closely spaced wells that allowed detailed characterization of the reservoir through log and core analysis, and well testing. Interference and tracer tests, as well as the use of fracture diagnostics gave further information on stimulation and production characteristics. Thus, the Multiwell Experiment provided a unique opportunity for identifying the factors affecting production from tight gas sand reservoirs. The purpose of this operation was to support the gathering of field data that may be used to resolve the number of unknowns associated with measuring and modeling the dimensions of hydraulic fractures. Using the close-well infrastructure at the Multiwell Site near Rifle, Colorado, this operation focused primarily on the field design and execution of experiments. The data derived from the experiments were gathered and analyzed by DOE team contractors