Experimental Investigation of Fracture Propagation in Clayey Silt Hydrate-Bearing Sediments

More than 90% of the natural gas hydrate resources are reserved as marine clayey silt sediments. It is of great significance to efficiently develop a clayey silt hydrate. At present, there are problems of low single well production and small depressurization range in its production test, which is still a long way from commercial exploitation. The combination of hydraulic fracturing technology and other methods such as depressurization method is regarded as one of the potential technical means to achieve the commercial exploitation of the hydrate. However, compared with shale gas reservoirs and coalbed methane reservoirs, clayey silt hydrate reservoirs have special mechanical properties, resulting in unique hydraulic fracturing processes. Therefore, it is necessary to study the fracture initiation and propagation laws of clayey silt hydrate reservoirs. To this end, we carried out large-scale (30 × 30 × 30 cm) true triaxial hydraulic fracturing experiments using a simulated material with similar mechanics, porosity, and permeability to clayey silt hydrate-bearing sediments. The effects of completion method, fracturing method, and fracturing fluid displacement on hydraulic fracture propagation of clayey silt hydrate-bearing sediments were studied. The results showed that a perforated completion can significantly increase the fracture reconstruction area and decrease the fracture initiation pressure compared to an open hole completion. Due to the small horizontal stress difference, it is feasible to carry out temporary plugging fracturing in clayey silt hydrate reservoirs. Temporary plugging fracturing can form steering fractures and significantly improve fracture complexity and fracture area. Increasing the fracturing fluid displacement can significantly increase the fracture area as well. When conducting fracturing in clayey silt hydrate-bearing sediments, the fracturing fluid filtration area is obviously larger than the fracture propagation area. Therefore, it is recommended to use a high-viscosity fracturing fluid to reduce the filtration of the fracturing fluid and improve the fracturing fluid efficiency. This study preliminarily explores the feasibility of temporary plugging fracturing in clayey silt hydrate reservoirs and analyzes the effect of completion methods on the propagation of fracturing fractures, which can provide a reference for the research conducted on the fracturing stimulation of clayey silt hydrate reservoirs.