Characterization of hydraulic fractures and reservoir properties of shale using natural tracers

Hydraulic fracturing plays a major role in the economic production of hydrocarbon from shale. Current fracture characterization techniques are limited in diagnosing the transport properties of the fractures on the near wellbore scale to that of the entire stimulated reservoir volume. Microseismic reveals information on fracture geometries, but not transport properties. Production analysis (e.g., rate transient analysis using produced fluids) estimates fracture and reservoir flow characteristics, but often relies on simplified models in terms of fracture geometries and fluid storage and transport. We present the approach and potential benefits of incorporating natural tracers with production data analysis for fracture and reservoir characterization. Hydraulic fracturing releases omnipresent natural tracers that accumulate in low permeability rocks over geologic time (e.g., radiogenic 4He and 40Ar). Key reservoir characteristics govern the tracer release, which include: the number, connectivity, and geometry of fractures; the distribution of fracture-surface-area to matrix-block-volume; and the nature of hydrocarbon phases within the reservoir (e.g., methane dissolved in groundwater or present as a separate gas phase). We explore natural tracer systematics using numerical techniques under relevant shale-reservoir conditions. We evaluate the impact on natural tracer transport due to a variety of conceptual models of reservoir-transport properties and boundary conditions. Favorable attributes for analysis of natural tracers include the following: tracer concentrations start with a well-defined initial condition (i.e., equilibrium between matrix and any natural fractures); there is a large suite of tracers that cover a range of at least 7x in diffusion coefficients; and diffusive mass-transfer out of the matrix into hydraulic fractures will cause elemental and isotopic fractionation. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.