PREDICTION OF FRACTURE PRESSURES

During drilling operations, it is essential to keep the wellbore pressure within the maximum value of the fracture pressure and minimum value of the pore pressure of the formation. To handle this challenge, the fracture pressure of the formation must be known as it is significant to determining the mud window design. This study developed a correlation that could predict the formation fracture pressure in the Niger Delta deep offshore field. Two different fields were considered for this model named Field 1 and 2. From these fields, fracture pressure data were gotten from 21 wells during leak off test (LOT) at different casing shoe depths. While carrying-out the analysis of data, assumptions were made that the formations throughout the Niger Delta basin obeys the principle of horizontality. Also, that the fracture pressure at same depth is uniform with the pressure at other location in the Delta. Scatter plot was used as the tool for this data analysis.