An analytical model for fracture initiation from radial lateral borehole

Radial drilling-fracturing, the integration of radial drilling and hydraulic fracturing, is an innovative approach to develop low permeability, thin target layer and naturally fractured reservoirs, etc. Understanding the fracture initiation process is required in the practical application to avoid high fracture initiation pressure (FIP) and complex fracture geometries near the wellbore. In this paper, we develop an analytical model to determine FIP, location of rock failure zones and initial fracture direction from the radial lateral borehole. This model is based on the stress superposition induced by cased main wellbore and radial borehole, and the maximum tensile stress criterion is adopted. Then, we perform a series of sensitivity analysis by examining different effects of in-situ stress regime, lateral orientation (the included angle between borehole axis and maximum horizontal in-situ stress), lateral length, and lateral diameter. Besides, the effect of pre-existing weakness plane, across which the tensile strength is much lower than that of the intact rock, is also investigated, when the plane is drilled through by the radial borehole. Results show that for intact rock with no weakness plane, the in-situ stress regime and lateral orientation are main factors influencing FIP, location of rock failure zones, and initial fracture direction. Under the in-situ stress regime of normal fault, fracture initiates vertically, and FIP enlarges as lateral orientation increasing; under the in-situ stress regime of strike slip, fracture initiates vertically with small lateral orientation, while fracture initiates horizontally with large lateral orientation; and under the in-situ stress regime of reverse fault, fracture initiates horizontally with any lateral orientation, and FIP decreases as the lateral orientation increasing. It is also found that when the fracture initiates vertically, the location of rock failure zones is at the base of radial borehole on its top and bottom sides; and when the fracture initiates horizontally, the location of rock failure zone is at the remote region of radial borehole on its right and left sides. The lateral length has a minor effect on fracture initiation, and the influence of lateral diameter is negligible. When the weakness plane is drilled through by the radial borehole, fracture initiation pressure from weakness plane is affected by its occurrence, i.e., azimuth and inclination. FIP is determined by taking the minimum between fracture initiation pressure from rock matrix and the weakness plane. The key findings of this work could provide critical insights into understanding radial drilling-fracturing initiation characteristics.