This talk will use natural fracture examples and create complex fracture geome-tries using numerical fracture propagation modeling and scaled laboratory experiments. Evidence of stress shadow ef-fects is illustrated for natural fractures, and the consequent effect in hydraulic fractures is demonstrated through model-ing. Cemented natural fractures are proposed as primary pre-existing flaws with which hydraulic fractures might inter-act, and the factors influencing this interaction are illustrated. Scaled laboratory experiments simulating hydraulic frac-turing in naturally fractured reservoirs illustrate the range of fracture interaction geometries that might occur in the sub-surface. Lessons learned from this integrated approach to fracture complexity characterization can help guide well planning, geologic data collection, and hydraulic fracture optimization efforts.

 About the Author

Jon E. Olson 

Professor, The University of Texas at Austin

Jon Olson is an associate professor in petroleum and geosystems engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. He also serves as sole proprietor of JEO Associates, a petroleum consulting and software company. Olson holds BS de-grees in civil engineering and earth sciences
From the University of Notre Dame, and a PhD degree in geomechanics from Stanford University. He has published extensively on geomechanics and structural geology.