The work described represents a move towards better representations of the natural fracture system. The discrete fracture network model used during the study was the NAPSAC code (Grindrod et al, 1992). The goals of the work were to investigate the application of discrete fracture network models to Hot Dry Rock systems, increase the understanding of the basic thermal extraction process and more specifically the understanding of the Rosemanowes Phase 2B system. The aim in applying the work to the Rosemanowes site was to use the discrete fracture network approach to integrate a diverse set of field measurements into as simple a model as possible.

This paper presents the initial results of a survey of the occurrence and characteristics of geopressured fluid resources in California using the publicly-available database involving more than 150,000 oil and gas wells drilled in the State. Of the 975 documented on-shore oil and gas pools studied, about 42% were identified as potentially geopressured. Geothermal gradients in California oil and gas fields lie within the normal range of 1°F to 2°F per 100 feet. Except for the Los Angeles Basin, there was no evidence of higher temperatures or temperature gradients in geopressured pools. The porosity of geopressured pools shows the same normal distribution as for normal pressured pools, with a mode in the range of 20 to 25%. The salinity distribution of both the geopressured and normal pressured pools appear to be bimodal, each with two peak ranges of 0 to 10,000 and 25,000 to 30,000 ppm. Compared to the U.S. Gulf Coast region, geopressured pools in California display much lower water salinities, and therefore, should have a higher solubility for methane. Geopressured pools in California occur in the depth range of less than 1,000 feet to more than 18,000 feet. The modal depth of geopressured pools in California is 2,000 …

A method for determining the size of a crack induced by hydraulic fracturing is presented. The procedure is based on the measurement of the crack opening displacement and the fracture mechanics approach. The proposed method has been tested by conducting laboratory small-scale hydraulic fracturing tests on a granite. It is shown from the preliminary tests that the method provides a reasonable prediction of experimentally observed crack sizes.

A long term interference test was conducted under conditions of multiwell variable flow rate at Takigami for about ten months in 1987. The test data have been analyzed with an on-line analysis method on the basis of the linesource solution. This method employs Kalman filtering to process the data and then provides the best estimates of reservoir transmissivity and storativity when a new pressure data at an observation well becomes available. The pressure changes measured at seven observation wells have been analyzed with the present method using an infinite reservoir model. The data from one observation well have been further analyzed assuming a presence of a linear boundary. Performances of the parameters estimated for different reservoir models are compared. Fairly good estimates of reservoir parameters are obtained on the basis of an infinite reservoir model for two wells using the entire pressure data whereas for other five wells using a part of the pressure data.