Patent ID: 8498852

Claim:
A method for fracturing a hydrocarbon formation accessible by a treatment well extending into the hydrocarbon formation, the method comprising: (a) supplying hydraulic fluid to the treatment well to produce fractures in a hydrocarbon formation; (b) obtaining and processing field data obtained during (a); (c) processing the field data to solve for geometric and geomechanical properties of a complex fracture network representing fractures in the hydrocarbon formation produced during (a); (d) processing the geometric and geomechanical properties derived in (c) in conjunction with a fracture model to generate data that characterizes fractures in the hydrocarbon formation produced during (a), wherein the fracture model includes a height, a major axis and an aspect ratio of an elliptical boundary defined by fracturing in the hydrocarbon formation; and (e) outputting the data generated in (d) to a user; wherein the fracture model represents two perpendicular sets of parallel planar fractures along an x-axis and y-axis, respectively, wherein fractures parallel to the x-axis are equally separated by distance d y , wherein fractures parallel to the y-axis are separated by distance d x , and wherein the formation has plane strain modulus E and applies confining stresses σ cx , σ cy along the x-axis and y-axis, respectively; and wherein the distances d x , d y , and a stress contrast Δσ c representing the difference between the confining stresses σ cx , σ cy are solved according to a set of equations involving the height h, the major axis a and the aspect ratio e of the elliptical boundary defined by fracturing in the hydrocarbon formation as well as at least one treatment parameter associated with the hydraulic fluid supplied to the treatment well, the at least one treatment parameter selected from the group consisting of a time period of treatment, a wellbore radius, a wellbore net pressure, a flow rate, a viscosity, and at least one non-Newtonian fluid parameter.