INDUCED FRACTURES

Courtesy
Alfred Lacazette
Borehole fractures are the result of a severe difference in the pressure of the drilling mud introduced into a bore
and the hydrostatic pressure of the material through which the bore is drilled.

• Borehole breakouts form as the result

of compressive failure, which causes caving
of the borehole wall .
• For breakouts to form, the circumferential
stress at the borehole wall must exceed the
compressive strength of the rock.
• Fractures are commonly caused by stress
exceeding the rock strength, causing the
rock to lose cohesion along its weakest
plane.
• Fractures can provide permeability for fluid
movement, such as water or hydrocarbons.
Drilling-induced fractures (DIFs) interpreted on Formation Micro Imager (FMI) logs.
DIFs are observed as narrow well defined conductive features separated by 180o and oriented sub-parallel to the
borehole axis.
(a) DIFs are oriented towards 010oN and 190oN, indicating an approximately N-S maximum horizontal stress
orientation.
(b) DIFs are oriented towards 040oN and 220oN, indicating an approximately NE-SW maximum horizontal stress
orientation.
(c) DIFs are oriented towards 045oN and 225oN.
(d) Furthermore, breakouts are also observed co-incident with the DIFs.
(e) Both the breakouts and DIFs indicate an approximately NE-SW maximum horizontal stress orientation.
• Borehole breakouts form as the result of compressive failure, which causes caving of the borehole wall (Bell and Gough, 1979).
• For breakouts to form, the circumferential stress at the borehole wall must exceed the compressive strength of the rock (Peška and
Zoback, 1995).Jul 2, 2019
• Fractures are commonly caused by stress exceeding the rock strength, causing the rock to lose cohesion along its weakest plane.
• Fractures can provide permeability for fluid movement, such as water or hydrocarbons.
 Distinguishing natural from induced fractures in image logs

• Induced tensile fractures are the most common and easily visible induced fractures observed in image logs and
core.
• Induced fractures are easily distinguished from natural fractures in core by visually examining fracture surface
morphology and the geometric relationships between the core and the fracture shape, origin flaw and
propagation path.
• Individual fractures cannot be identified positively as natural or induced based solely on the fracture trace in an
image log.
• However, the origin of a group of fractures is determinate from image log data because natural fractures and
induced fractures have different geometries relative to the borehole.
• If breakouts are present and if the natural fractures formed in a stress field significantly different from the
present-day stressfield, then the orientation of the fractures relative to the breakouts provides an additional
(though less rigorous) criteria for distinguishing the two types of fractures.
The Rules
Rule 1: The stacking rule.
• Induced fractures that do not completely cut the wellbore have a consistent orientation and tend to appear at the same
azimuth in the image but natural fractures with a consistent orientation that do not completely cut the wellbore appear at
different azimuths in the image.
Rule 2: The aperture rule.
• Induced tensile fractures are always open; natural fractures may be open or partially to completely mineralized or gouge-
filled.
Rule 3: The continuity rule.
• The continuity of a fracture trace is not an indication of its origin.
Rule 4: The orientation rule.
• The orientation of a fracture relative to the in-situ (present day) stress is not an indication of its origin.
Rule 5: The breakout rule.
• Hydraulically induced fractures form in, and tend to be restricted to, the tensile quadrants of the wellbore wall, which are
90º from the breakouts.
• Petal fractures, another common type of tensile induced fracture, form ahead of the bit in what will become the
compressive quadrants (where breakouts develop); poorly developed petal fractures tend to be restricted to the
compressive quadrants.
Rule 6: The symmetry rule.
• Individual natural fractures are often symmetrically developed on opposite sides of the borehole; petal and centerline
fractures are nearly always symmetrical; but hydraulic fractures are usually asymmetrically developed.
• Note: These rules apply to sections of the wellbore where the in-situ stresses maintain a constant orientation relative to the
wellbore.
• The in-situ stress can vary in orientation and magnitude along the length of the wellbore due to recent tectonic activity,
lithologic changes and other reasons.
• This poster does not directly address induced shear fractures.
• However, Rule 1 is applicable to them.
Orientations of breakouts and induced fractures
• Schematic cross-section of a wellbore showing the orientation of breakouts and induced hydraulic and centerline
fractures relative to the borehole perpendicular in-situ earth stress components.
• Broken-out (missing) material shown in dark gray.
• In most of the world one of the three principal stresses is oriented vertically, which requires the other two to be
oriented horizontally.
• However, inclined stress fields do occur, especially in tectonically active areas.
• Breakouts form in response to the minimum and maximum stress components that are oriented perpendicular to
the wellbore.
• Note that these components may or may not be principal stresses depending on the orientation of the wellbore
relative to the in-situ stress field.
• Induced fractures tend to form perpendicular to the least principal stress, so that well-developed, borehole-
parallel induced fractures form when 3 (the minimum principal stress) is oriented perpendicularly to the borehole.
• Hydraulic induced fractures tend to be inclined to the wellbore when 3 is inclined to the wellbore, although they
may not form perpendicular to 3 in this case.
• Imagine that Figure 1 is a cross-section of a vertical well.
• In a normal faulting stress regime, 𝝈min = 3 and 𝝈 = 2.
• In a strike-slip faulting stress regime, 𝝈 min = 3 and 𝝈 max = 1. In a reverse faulting stress regime, 𝝈 min = 2
and 𝝈 max = 1.
Figure 1.
Petal fractures, centerline fractures, and petal-centerline fractures
• Petal, centerline, and petal-centerline fractures form ahead of the bit during both coring and normal drilling
operations.
• They normally extend beyond the final borehole diameter so that they can usually be correlated between core and
image logs.
• The direction of fracture propagation is easily determined in core and is always downhole).
• Petal fractures form just ahead of the bit and are due to excessive bit weight.
• Centerline fractures propagate ahead of the bit but probably within approximately 1/2 meter of the bottom of the
hole.
• Centerline fractures are driven by a combination of mud pressure and bit-induced stresses.
Photos of 4” (10cm) diameter core of the sandstone reservoir rock from
an oil well in West Texas, U.S.A. showing petal, centerline and petal-
centerline fractures.

Petal fractures ("petal" as in "flower petal") are the curved

fractures that begin on the edge of the wellbore and curve
parallel to the centerline fracture in the center of the core.
• Petal fractures can form in isolation whether or not a
centerline fracture is present (Figure 2a).
• Petal fractures that grow to become a centerline fracture or
that join with a centerline fracture (Figure 2b) are
termed petal-centerline fractures.

Figures 2a &2b.
The centerline fracture is the continuous fracture that
bisects the core in these two detailed photos.
Borehole stress interpretations.
• Centerline fractures form perpendicular to the least principal earth stress.
• Well-developed centerline fractures form only when the least principal stress is perpendicular or nearly
perpendicular to the wellbore.
• The orientation of centerline fractures gives the orientation of the least principal stress and indicates the
tensile quadrant of the wellbore but the location of a centerline fracture is not an accurate guide to the
location of the tensile quadrant because centerline fractures propagate ahead of the bit and do not accurately
track the center of the well.
• In contrast, petal fractures always accurately mark the compressive quadrant of the wellbore wall because
they form immediately ahead of the bit.
Schematic log images and cross-sections illustrating identification criteria
• Natural fractures are distinguished from induced tensile fractures in image logs using gross geometric criteria.
• These criteria are expressed succinctly as the six rules for distinguishing natural from induced fractures in image logs.
• Explanations and illustrations of these geometric criteria and provides criteria for distinguishing pre-drill from post-drill
fractures.
• The principals are illustrated with schematic image logs and cross-sections similar next slide figure.
1. The most fundamental principle for discriminating between natural fractures and all types of induced fractures, tensile
or shear: Induced fractures are geometrically related to the wellbore but natural fractures are not.
This relationship causes the traces of natural fractures that do not cross the entire wellbore to appear at different
azimuthal positions in image logs even if the fractures have similar orientations. However, the traces of induced fractures
that do not cross the entire wellbore tend to stack in depth.
2. The extent of a fracture is not an indication of its origin because: Both natural and induced fractures can cross the
entire wellbore or can be confined to a particular lithology.
• The wellbore may incompletely sample a natural fracture.
• Induced fractures may be confined to a particular part of the wellbore wall.
3. The orientation of a fracture relative to the in-situ (present-day) stress is not an indication of its nature even though
induced fractures are consistently oriented relative to the in-situ stress because: Most natural rock fractures formed in
response to paleostresses (ancient stresses) that are unrelated to the in-situ stress.
• In tectonically active areas natural fractures may have formed recently or may even be forming at the present time so
that induced fractures can form with the same orientations as natural fractures.
• The paleostresses that caused natural fracturing may coincidentally have been oriented similarly to the in-situ stress.
• Induced fractures are not necessarily parallel to the wellbore because sigma3 may not be perpendicular to even a
vertical wellbore.
• Petal fractures are never perpendicular to sigma 3.
• Hydraulic induced fractures are not necessarily perpendicular to sigma3 in the wellbore because the stress-
state of the wellbore is complexly related to the relative magnitudes of the in-situ stresses and the orientation
of the wellbore relative to them.
• A hydraulically induced fracture will become perpendicular to sigma3 as it grows away from the wellbore.
CBIL images of oil well in limestone from Oklahoma, U.S.A. showing petal, centerline and petal-centerline
fractures.
The images show the amplitude ultrasonic pulses reflected from the wellbore wall by a rotating transducer.
The images are compressed in depth (the vertical dimension).

4016-4036 ft 4016-4036 ft 4012-4032 ft

(1,224.1-1,230.2 m) (1,224.1-1,230.2 m) (1,222.9-1,229.0 m)
4. Distinguishing pre-drill from post-drill fractures.
A. Symmetrical fractures are usually predrill: Natural fractures are always pre-drill.
• They are often symmetrically developed across the wellbore because natural fractures with apertures
sufficient to resolve in image logs often have a minimum diameter equal to or greater than the wellbore so
that fracture traces tend to be present on both sides of the image.
• Petal, centerline, and petal-centerline fractures are usually larger than the wellbore so that they also show
two symmetrical traces.
B. Asymmetrical fractures are usually post-drill: Hydraulic fractures form after passage of the bit due to excessive
mud weight, swabbing (pistonnage), surging, water hammering, overdriving turbo-drills on startup and other
reasons.
• Tensile fractures can also form by thermal contraction caused by cooling of the rock by the mud and for a variety
of other reasons.
• Regardless of their origin, fractures that form behind the bit form in isolation because opposite sides of the
wellbore are mechanically decoupled.
• Consequently, they usually are asymmetrically developed.
 Schematic lustrations

• The well has randomly caught four wellbore-parallel

fractures, which are color coded.
• Projections of the fractures are shown on the bottom of
the core view at right to facilitate visualization.
• If these fractures were induced, they would appear at
the same azimuth and there would be 180 degrees
between each trace.
• These fractures have no particular relationship to the
breakout orientations because they are natural.
• Fractures only developed in the blue lithology.
• In the image log view the yellow sine waves show
fracture orientations, the black lines show the fracture
traces.
• All of the fractures have the same orientation.
• The fracture traces are present at different azimuths in
the wellbore because the well randomly samples a
population of small fractures.
• These fractures have no particular relationship to the
breakout orientations because they are natural.
• The stratigraphy, orientation of bedding, and fracture
orientations are identical in this figure and Figure 4b.
• Because these fractures are induced they form at a
consistent azimuth in the wellbore.
• The lowermost fracture is the same in Figure 4b and
this figure.
• If natural fractures were present in this orientation in
this well, it would not be possible to determine if that
particular fracture was natural or induced.
• These fractures are induced so they develop only in
the tensile quadrant of the wellbore, at 90 degrees to
the breakouts.
• Schematic log images showing wellbore parallel
(left) and inclined (right) post-drilling induced
fractures.
• The fractures are only developed in the tensile
quadrant of the wellbore, at 90 degrees to the
breakouts.
• The orientations of these fractures often can be
used as a rough guide to the orientation of the
minimum principal stress if the stress axis is not too
far out of perpendicular with the wellbore,
however it is usually difficult or impossible to make
reliable orientation measurements of them in
image logs because they are not symmetrically
developed.
• A common interpretation error is to incorrectly
correlate two such independent fracture traces
(red sine wave).
• Note that two independent fracture segments can
coincidentally lie on the correct sine wave (green
sine wave).
Petal fractures are induced, form in the
compressive quadrants, and have a consistent
relationship to the breakouts.
However, the centerline fracture formed ahead of
the bit and may wander around all over the image,
although on average a well-developed centerline
fracture will closely track the center of the tensile
quadrant.
Petal fractures are curved so that they cannot be
fit by a sine wave (colored sines).
Petal fractures may only develop in one lithology.
Natural or are they induced?
False-color STAR image (red: amplitude, green: microtopography, blue: resisitivity) from an
oil well in granite.

• Image shows two natural fractures (A) and well-developed induced fractures
arranged in parallel rows on opposite sides of the wellbore (B).
• Breakouts are absent.
• Fracture C is less easy to interpret because it crosses the entire borehole and is
oriented parallel to the smaller induced fractures above and below it.
• The induced fracture immediately above C crosses into the compressive quadrant
of the borehole, indicating that fracture C is also induced.
• These induced fractures appear to be post-drill, probably hydraulic, fractures
rather than petal fractures because they are asymmetrically developed and
nucleated in two parallel rows on opposite sides of the borehole rather than
nucleating on one side of the well and propagating towards the centerline.
• Note that induced fractures abut both natural fractures, which shows their
relative ages.
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