Natural Fractures in the Barnett Shale in the Delaware Basin, Pecos Co. West Texas: comparison with the Barnett Shale in the Fort Worth Basin

Authors: Julia F. W. Gale

Venue: West Texas Geological Society Symposium, in Midland, Texas September 10-12, 2008. http://www.wtgs.org [external site]

Abstract: This study describes the several sets of natural fractures in a Barnett Shale core from Pecos County, including partly open fractures, fractures associated with chert layers and early, deformed fractures. These are compared with fractures previously described in the Barnett Shale in the Fort Worth Basin. The basic fracture attributes are discussed in terms of their implications for hydraulic fracture treatments. The steep, narrow, calcite-sealed fractures that are present in many Barnett cores in the Fort Worth Basin are important because of their likely tendency to reactivate during hydraulic fracture treatments. Larger open fractures are possibly present, clustered on the order of several hundred feet apart. In the core studied from the Delaware Basin there is evidence that a greater number of narrower fractures may be open. Thus, their importance for completions may be rather different than those in the Fort Worth Basin.

Related NETL Project
This presentation is related to the NETL project DE-FC26-04NT15509, "Integrated Synthesis of the Permian Basin: Data and Models for Recovering Existing and Undiscovered Oil Resources from the Largest Oil-Bearing Basin in the U.S." The objectives of the project are twofold: (1) to produce a detailed, comprehensive analysis and history of Paleozoic depositional and reservoir systems in the Permian Basin, and (2) to create spatially integrated databases of depositional, stratigraphic, lithologic, and petrophysical properties for selected reservoir plays and stratigraphic horizons. These objectives will be undertaken and completed sequentially during the 3 years of the project. The overall objective is to provide Permian Basin operators with (a) outcrop and subsurface reservoir specific data, data syntheses, and models to be applied to geological, engineering, and completion-based redevelopment of existing reservoirs, and (b) a detailed regional stratigraphic framework for applying such models to new exploration targets.

Project Contacts
NETL – Virginia (Ginny) Weyland (Virgina.Weyland@netl.doe.gov or 918-699-2041)
Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas at Austin – Stephen C. Ruppel (stephen.ruppel@beg.utexas.edu or 512-471-1534)