In Permian Basin fracturing operations, azimuths and intensities recorded by single-use distributed fiber optics in two wells are integrated and compared with post-flowback production-allocation and interference testing acquired with intervention fiber optics to identify areas of hydraulically conductive fractures and communication between offset wells. The production-allocation/interference testing method appears to reveal hydraulically connected fractures even in the absence of strain data.
Introduction
Intervention-based fiber optics have proved a valuable and cost-effective tool in understanding during-fracturing and post-flowback well and section performance. During-fracturing diagnostics, such as crosswell strain measurements from an offset monitor well, describe where fractures intersect the monitor well and reveal details such as azimuth, fracture-propagation velocity, and activation and reactivation statistics. These critical data points help inform cluster, stage, and well-spacing decision-making.
