A fractured well performance evaluation study, in the Frontier formation of
the Moxa Arch area (southwestern Wyoming), revealed pressure depletion due
to older 640- and 320-acre-spaced producers along the NE-SW diagonal in 64
0-acre sections. This was confirmed by six buildup tests across these secti
ons. Reservoir simulation also showed that the production decline of some o
f these old, 320-acre-spaced wells causes enough pore pressure depletion to
affect the fracture geometry in the new 160-acre infill offsets on the oth
er diagonal in the same section. This paper presents the simulated pore pre
ssure distribution in the drainage area of these older wells validated by b
uildup tests and their effects on the principal effective stress field and
consequent fracture-geometry evolution around the newer wells.
The present paper also shows that depending on the location of the new well
in the depleted zone and the original azimuth of the induced fractures, th
e newly created fracture may be asymmetric with only one wing of the fractu
re extending into the depleted area developing significant length and condu
ctivity. This happens at the cost of development of the other fracture wing
. Such asymmetric development of fracture wings can negatively impact produ
ction, in addition to the production loss due to actual reservoir pressure
depletion.