A hydraulic fracture opens against the smallest of the three principal stresses, which in most reservoirs means it grows vertically and extends horizontally away from the well. Where it grows, how far it goes and whether it stays within the target zone are controlled by the stress profile, the rock properties and the treatment itself. Understanding that stress profile is the first step in any fracture design.

The production benefit depends on conductivity relative to the reservoir. In tight rock a long fracture is needed because the reservoir cannot deliver fluid quickly; in higher permeability rock a short, highly conductive fracture is better, because the constraint is getting fluid through the fracture rather than into it. This trade-off, expressed through dimensionless fracture conductivity, governs most design decisions.

Treatments fail for practical reasons as often as technical ones: proppant that screens out early, fluid that does not break and leaves gel damage, fracture height growth into water-bearing zones, and insufficient clean-up after the job. This course gives the physical foundation needed to understand both the design and the things that go wrong.

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• Describe in-situ stress and the rock properties that control fracture growth.
• Explain fracture initiation, propagation and containment.
• Interpret fracture geometry models and their assumptions.
• Select fracturing fluids and additives for given well conditions.
• Select proppant type, size and concentration for required conductivity.
• Calculate fracture conductivity and dimensionless fracture conductivity.
• Outline a fracture treatment design, including fluid volumes, rates and proppant schedule.
• Describe field execution, surface equipment and quality control.
• Explain flowback and clean-up practice.
• Predict and interpret the production response of a fractured well.

Organisations sending participants to this training will:

• Build a common technical foundation across teams involved in fracturing.
• Improve the quality of discussion between operators and service companies.
• Reduce treatment failures caused by misunderstanding of basic design principles.
• Improve candidate screening for fracture stimulation.
• Prepare staff for advanced fracture design and diagnostics training.

Participants will:

• Understand how hydraulic fractures are created and why they grow as they do.
• Be able to read and interpret a fracture treatment design.
• Understand fluid and proppant selection.
• Be able to calculate fracture conductivity and judge design adequacy.
• Understand what happens during a fracturing job at the wellsite.

• Production engineers
• Completion engineers
• Reservoir engineers
• Drilling and well engineering staff
• Well services and field engineers
• Graduate engineers entering stimulation work

Upon successful completion of this training course, delegates will be awarded an official Certificate of Completion issued by the Petroleum Engineers Association (PEA), an ISO 9001:2015 certified training organization. The certificate carries 10 Credits and formally records the total learning hours completed.

Each certificate is signed by the Course Facilitator and the CEO of the Petroleum Engineers Association, and serves as verifiable proof of professional training that delegates can present to employers and professional bodies worldwide