April Luncheon

Please RSVP by 3:00pm on Friday, April 17, 2026.

Reservations made after the deadline will incur an additional fee of $10.

LOCATION: In-Person luncheon meeting will be held at the Bush Convention Center. Virtual meeting on Zoom. 

TOPIC:

Natural fracture attributes and their influence on hydraulic fracture growth

^*1Julia F. W. Gale, ¹Qiqi Wang, ²Hunjoo P. Lee, ³J. E. Olson

1.      Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin

2.      School of Chemical Engineering, Oklahoma State University

3.      Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin

* Speaker

ABSTRACT: Natural fractures may impact hydraulic fracture growth in petroleum reservoirs that require stimulation, for example by hydraulic fracture arrest or diversion, but too often this possibility is simply assumed. Moreover, this assumption is commonly carried forward to imply a complex fracture network and increased stimulated reservoir volume (SRV). I will briefly review some of the evidence for natural fracture-hydraulic fracture interaction including distribution of microseismic events, tendency of natural fractures to act as weak planes, and results from laboratory studies and computer models. Observations in post-stimulation cores, however, show that interaction does not always occur. In this talk we will examine the factors controlling interaction, emphasizing the need to understand the systematic variation of natural fracture attributes in single fractures, and across single and multiple sets. The setting, in terms of far-field stress, the natural fracture stratigraphy, and location relative to stimulation wells is also likely to impact interaction. We conclude that the type of interaction could be predicted with sufficient data, but that not all natural fractures influence hydraulic fracture growth.

BIO: Julia Gale obtained a Ph.D. in Structural Geology from Exeter University, UK in 1987, working on the Archean of southern West Greenland. She taught structural geology and tectonics for 12 years at the University of Derby, UK. Julia moved to the University of Texas at Austin in 1998. She recently retired from her position as Research Professor at the Bureau of Economic Geology in the Jackson School of Geosciences but currently has a part time appointment and is a Fellow of the Dave P. Carlton Centennial Professorship in Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences. Her research focuses on natural fracture characterization and prediction in shale and carbonate hydrocarbon reservoirs, and on hydraulic fracture characterization in unconventional reservoirs. Additionally, she is heading a team working on a comprehensive Bureau publication, titled “Economic Mineral Resources of Texas."

Please note that this luncheon will not be recorded.