Constraining Minimum Horizontal Stress in the Cretaceous Intervals of Offshore UAE - Results from Recently Concluded Wireline Microfrac Campaign

Abstract

This study presents a geomechanical workflow of pre-job modeling, planning and execution of wireline microfrac test campaign, data interpretation for closure pressure interpretation and post-job Shmin calibration. Eight microfrac tests were successfully conducted in the Fiqa, Halul, Laffan, and Salb Shil formations spanning across the Middle to Late Cretaceous. The shut-in pressure decline and flowback pressure responses were interpreted, which yielded a closure pressure range between 0.68 and 0.77 psi/ft in the studied interval. These Shmin data from microfrac campaign have been ranked as ‘A-quality’ following the WSM guidelines for stress magnitude quality ranking. The Shmin, well-constrained with high-resolution collapse pressure measurements, along with core-derived rock-mechanical properties, enabled a robust calibration of a geomechanical model for the Cretaceous interval, with direct implications for mud weight optimization and mitigation of drilling hazards in this geologically complex succession.