An apparatus and method of using drilling vibrations generated by the deformation of a rock formation in response to forces acting on the rock formation, where the forces are related to a drill bit and/or drilling fluid system, to identify the nature and occurrence of fractures, fracture swarms and other mechanical discontinuities (boundaries) such as bedding planes and/or faults that offset or otherwise separate rock formations with different mechanical rock properties.

Embodiments provide a pressure meter testing apparatus and method that allows operations/engineers the ability to determine in-situ stiffness values of geological stratum.

Hydraulic fracturing a subterranean formation including to count the number and types of fractures created in real time. The hydraulic fracturing involves injecting a frac slurry having frac fluid and proppant through a wellbore into the subterranean formation, hydraulic fracturing the subterranean formation with the frac slurry, and observing change in fracture counts with changes in proppant size and proppant concentration in the frac slurry. The hydraulic fracturing includes shear fracturing the rock in the subterranean formation. Operating parameters of the hydraulic fracturing may be adjusted in real time to increase the amount of shear fracturing occurring per unit time. Such adjusting may be based on resonant frequency at which the rock fractures with destruction as super shearing. The large surface areas caused by super shearing may assist with diffusion production from areas of high hydrocarbon concentrations (reservoir source rocks) to areas with lower hydrocarbon concentrations (water-filled hydraulic fractures).

System and methods of controlling treatment parameters over stages during stimulation treatments are provided. Distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) measurements may be acquired at an observation wellbore during a current stage of a stimulation treatment along a treatment wellbore within a reservoir formation. A cumulative strain trace for the current stage of the stimulation treatment may be determined based on the DAS measurements. Based on the cumulative strain trace, whether or not to adjust a spacing of perforation clusters and/or a stage length used at the treatment wellbore for a subsequent stage of the stimulation treatment may be determined. Responsive to determining to adjust the spacing of the perforation dusters or to adjust the stage length, at least one treatment parameter for the subsequent stage may be adjusted. The subsequent stage may be performed based on the adjusted at least one treatment parameter.

Embodiments of determining a hydraulic fracture completion configuration for a wellbore that extends through a subterranean formation are provided herein. Embodiments of performing a hydraulic fracturing operation on a wellbore that extends through a subterranean formation are also provided herein.

A method that includes lowering a formation testing tool into a wellbore intersecting a subterranean formation. The formation testing tool comprises an expandable member. The method also includes performing a pressuremeter test (PMT) by expanding the expandable member.

A method of determining fracture complexity may comprise receiving one or more signal inputs from a fracturing operation, calculating an observed fracture growth rate based at least partially on the one or more signal inputs, calculating a predicted fracture growth rate, determining a fracture complexity value, and applying a control technique to make adjustments a hydraulic stimulation operation based at least in part on the fracture complexity value. Also provided is a system for determining a fracture complexity for a hydraulic fracturing operation may comprise a hydraulic fracturing system, a sensor unit to receive one or more signal inputs, a calculating unit, a fracture complexity unit, and a controller unit to apply a control technique to adjust one or more hydraulic stimulation parameters on the hydraulic fracturing system.

The shear head device includes a monitoring head having geophones and transmitters inside a cylindrical body. A shear head is coupled to the monitoring head from below. The shear head has a tubular structure with a plurality of apertures formed around an outer surface of the tubular structure. A plurality of cones are coupled with modified tips and disposed within the plurality of apertures. A sheet supports the plurality of cones inside the shear head. The sheet is selectively movable between a first radial position and a second radial position for the modified tips to apply radial force to the rock by adjustment of an internal pressure of the shear head. The transmitters transmit the recorded acoustic emission to a computing system for determining properties of the rock while the shear head device is testing the rock in the bore.

A tool (100) for measuring direct in-situ stress in rock (10) surrounding a borehole (12) includes: a slot cutting system (136), a flat-jack stress measurement device (134), a hydraulic system (124), and a sensor (514). The slot cutting system (136) cuts a slot (502) having an original width in the rock (10) surrounding the borehole (12). The flat-jack stress measurement device (134) fits into the slot (502). The hydraulic system (124) expands the flat jack stress measurement device (134) when it is in the slot to the original width of the slot (502). The sensor (514) measures pressure in the hydraulic system (124) when the flat-jack stress measurement device (134) has expanded to the original width of the slot (502).

Systems and methods include a computer-implemented method for optimized injection/production and placement of wells. Stress change correlations are received over space and time for injection/production of fluids to/from a reservoir. A stress distribution of the reservoir is determined using reservoir geomechanical modeling tools and stress change correlations. Fracture growth/propagation behavior for the reservoir is determined using fracture modeling software and geomechanical properties for optimizing treatment. Fracture design and orientation needed for optimum recovery of hydrocarbons are determined by analyzing relationships between fluid injection/withdrawal and geomechanical changes and stress distribution, reservoir geomechanical, and flow characteristics. Changes in the stress distribution in the reservoir are determined through injection/production of fluids. An optimized injection/production and placement of wells are determined using the changes in the stress distribution and the fracture design and orientation. An optimum stress distribution for placement of new wells is determined using the optimized injection/production and placement of wells.