ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Earth Sci.
Sec. Georeservoirs
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feart.2025.1696774
The influence mechanism of natural fractures on hydraulic fracture propagation in Mabei shale reservoir
Provisionally accepted
- 1Xinjiang Oilfield Company, Karamay, China
- 2Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
The resource potential of shale in Fengcheng formation in Mabei is huge, but it must rely on efficient hydraulic fracturing technology to obtain reservoir stimulation and achieve economic development. The propagation of hydraulic fractures in shale oil reservoir is significantly affected by natural fractures, and the interaction mechanism between hydraulic fractures and natural fractures is the key of realizing the optimal fracturing design. In particular, shale oil reservoir has complex conditions, such as interlayer blocking effect, differentiation of natural fracture development and variation of formation dip angle. In that case, the influence law of natural fracture on hydraulic fracture propagation is not clear, which restricts efficient development of shale oil. Therefore, based on the mechanical properties of shale in the Fengcheng formation, numerical model of the intersection of natural fractures and hydraulic fracture has been built. This intersection behaviors with different approach angle, interlayer stress and strength, natural fracture development degree and formation inclination have been fully analyzed. The results indicate that the hydraulic fracture is more favorable to penetrate the natural fracture with the increasing of the approaching angle. The barrier layer is conducive to the hydraulic fracture penetrating the natural fracture, restricting activation of the natural fracture. Also, the stress barrier effect is greater than the strength barrier effect. With the increase of the development degree of natural fractures, a large number of fractures weaken the overall strength of the formation, which is more conducive to the propagation of hydraulic fractures. When formation dip is large and propagation from weak strength to strong strength formation, hydraulic fracture is more susceptible to the influence of natural fractures and show the characteristics of turning along natural fractures. Outcomes deepen the understanding of the interaction mechanism between natural fracture and hydraulic fracture, which is beneficial for the optimal fracturing design and providing theoretical support for shale oil exploitation.
Keywords: natural fracture, hydraulic fracture, Fracture propagation, Barrier layer, Formation dip
Received: 01 Sep 2025; Accepted: 23 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gan, Fu, Dong, Wu, H, Ding and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yi Ding, dingswpu@foxmail.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.