Short Course

SC-04 Interpreting Diagnostics Fracture Injection Tests (DFIT) (SPE)

Sunday, 8 June 2025, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.  |  Houston, Texas

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Who Should Attend

Engineers and geoscientists involved in executing, interpreting, or using the results from DFITs.

Course Content

Diagnostic fracture injection tests (DFITs) are fracture-injection tests used to estimate stress, pore pressure, and permeability. In a typical procedure, 5-300 bbl of fluid is injected to create a small fracture. Then, pressure is monitored for hours, days, or weeks after shut-in. In this course, I outline modern best-practices for estimating key parameters from a DFIT. Topics include: (a) preparing data and understanding context, (b) diagnosing trends in the pressure transient, (c) the influence of permeability, injection volume, and wellbore orientation on the observed transient, (d) estimating stress, (e) estimating pore pressure, (f) estimating permeability, and (g) identifying common 'gotchas'. The course covers the fundamental physics and derivations that explain DFIT phenomena. Finally, the course reviews interpretation of DFIT-FBA, flowback tests that can be used to accelerate the test.

Why Attend: Learn how to interpret DFITs, design and implement DFITs, and assess confidence in the interpretation. Develop a physical intuition to explain 'what is happening and why.

Disciplines: Completions, Reservoir Engineering

Learning Level: Intermediate

Instructors

Mark McClure

Mark McClure established ResFrac in 2015 to help operators maximize value through the application of advanced geomechanics and reservoir simulation. Before founding ResFrac, Mark was an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin in the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering. After earning a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering and a Master of Science in petroleum engineering from Stanford University, Mark earned a PhD in energy resources engineering at Stanford. Mark has earned multiple awards, including the Hank Ramey Award from Stanford University, Best Paper in Geophysics, three outstanding paper awards at URTeC, Hart Energy 40 Under 40, SPE Regional Awards for Completions Optimization and for Young Member Service, and SPE’s TWA Energy Influencers award. On four occasions, he has received recognition from journals as an outstanding reviewer. Mark is the Chairperson for the SPE Golden Gate Section and the 2024 Western Regional Meeting.


 

Fees

Registration Fees: TBD

Attendee Limit: 40

Educational Credits: .8 CEUs/ 8 PDH's will be awarded for attending this 1-day course

Venue

SC-04 Interpreting Diagnostics Fracture Injection Tests (DFIT) (SPE)
George R. Brown Convention Center
1001 Avenida De Las Americas
Houston, Texas 77010
United States

Important notes regarding short courses:

  • Short courses are limited in size and are reserved on a first come, first served basis and must be accompanied by full payment.
  • If you do not plan to attend URTeC, a $35 enrollment fee will be added to the short course fee upon registering. This fee can be applied to a full-conference registration should you change your mind later.
  • A wait list is automatically created when a short course sells out. You will be notified if you are on a wait list and space becomes available.
  • Before purchasing non-refundable airline tickets, confirm the short course will take place as some may be cancelled if undersubscribed.
  • Please register well before 13 May 2024 to help guarantee your spot. Short course cancellations will be considered at this time — no refunds will be accepted for cancellations after this date.
  • Registrations will continue to be processed for short courses that are not cancelled up until they are sold out or closed.

URTeC 2024

9-11 June 2025
George R. Brown Convention Center
Houston, Texas

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