URTeC: 2686732 Application of Fiber-optic Temperature Data Analysis in Hydraulic Fracturing Evaluation: A Case Study in Marcellus Shale Shohreh Amini*, Payam Kavousi, Timothy R Carr, West Virginia University Copyright 2017, Unconventional Resources Technology Conference (URTeC) DOI 10.15530/urtec-2017-2686732 This paper was prepared for presentation at the Unconventional Resources Technology Conference held in Austin, Texas, USA, 24-26 July 2017. The URTeC Technical Program Committee accepted this presentation on the basis of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). The contents of this paper have not been reviewed by URTeC and URTeC does not warrant the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information herein. All information is the responsibility of, and, is subject to corrections by the author(s). Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this paper does so at their own risk. The information herein does not necessarily reflect any position of URTeC. Any reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of URTeC is prohibited. Abstract Technology advancement is a key parameter to gain more information, and valuable insight in the area where we lack proper knowledge to make the right decision at the right time. Development of unconventional resources is an area where application of advanced technology can play a significant role in shedding light on many unknowns pertaining to production from these resources. Fiber-optic is among the new technologies that has recently received more attention in unconventional reservoir development. The data collected through optical fiber running along the horizontal or multi-lateral well, carry vast amount of information, which provides the operator with a near real-time monitoring opportunity. This work is a part of Marcellus Shale Energy and Environment Laboratory (MSEEL) research, which is a unique multi-disciplinary research program, and aims at achieving a better understanding of the shale reservoirs and the best practices for producing from these resources. Despite the common practice of applying the same hydraulic fracturing design for all the stages of horizontal or multi-lateral wells in shale resources development, at MSEEL different stages of the well have been completed and stimulated with varying parameters. Perforation and hydraulic fracturing design along the lateral was performed based on reservoir characteristics, such as petrophysical parameters, geomechanical parameters, natural fracture density, amount of organic carbon, etc. Microseismic and fiber optic technology were used to monitor different stimulation operations performed on the well. Application of these technologies provided a large amount of information related to the performance of each operation. This work is focused on the analysis of fiber-optic temperature data, collected from a multi-lateral well in Marcellus Shale. In this study, the performance of different hydraulically fractured stages of the well is investigated through evaluating the temperature changes along the wellbore during various operations. The analysis shows completion designs that lead to a better production from the corresponding stages. Using these results, best practice completion and stimulation plan can be suggested for infill drilling, re-fracturing or further development of the Marcellus Shale. Introduction During the last couple of decades, gas production from unconventional resources has grown rapidly. Shale gas is one of the unconventional resources, which is playing a major role in the world energy supply (EIA, 2016). Due to the characteristics of the unconventional reservoirs (extremely low porosity and permeability) compared to the conventional reservoirs, utilization of hydraulic fracturing is required to make economic production. High volume hydraulic fracturing over multiple stages in horizontal well bores has employed relatively short history in our industry, and therefore there are many unknowns regarding different aspects of this operation. Application of new technology is significantly beneficial to obtain more information and get more insights into the shale characteristics, fluid flow behavior within the shale formation, and production from multi-stage hydraulically fractured wells. However, the economic burden of utilizing advanced measurement tools on top of the already