Hydraulic Fracture Testing Offshore

Oil well drilling operations in the North Sea pose some unique and challenging problems, associated with the unprecedented size of the platform structures and the hostile environment. Mud circulation may be difficult to obtain in the upper levels of the seafloor because of hydraulic fracture, and therefore equipment has been developed in recent years to perform downhole HF tests on site. A review of the situation shows that errors exist in the two mathematical theories presently being applied to HF, and indicates sources of error in the analysis of field results. The paper concludes with a discussion of the information available from HF tests, and the field procedures to be followed in the conduct of such tests.