Pressure response and production performance of volumetric fracturing horizontal well in shale gas reservoir based on boundary element method

The stimulated reservoir volume (SRV) creates a complex fracture network around the horizontal well in shale reservoirs, which significantly increases the gas well production. This paper considers gas desorption and multi-scale flow effects, and proposes a composite model with a double porosity continuum medium in the fractured area and a single porosity medium in the unfractured region. By employing the Laplace transform, source function theory, Green formula and boundary element theory, a semi-analytical solution of transient pressure is obtained in the volumetric fracturing reservoir with an arbitrary fractured region. The transient pressure and production performance of a volumetric fracturing horizontal well in the real space are obtained by means of Stehfest numerical inversion. Certain influences of relevant parameters on the performance of volumetric fracturing horizontal well are discussed. These parameters include the shape and size of the fractured region, hydraulic fracture number and length, permeability correction coefficient, and gas desorption coefficient. We demonstrate that these parameters have differing effects on the performance of the well. The results provided in this paper will aid in understanding the transient performance of a volumetric fracturing horizontal well in shale gas reservoirs, and promote the development of unconventional reservoirs.