Hydraulic Fracturing
Enhance Your Skills and Knowledge of Hydraulic Fracturing with Expert Insights and Practical Techniques to Optimize Well Performance and Production!
- Level
- Intermediate
- Type
- Classroom
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About Training
Hydraulic fracturing has revolutionized oil and gas production by unlocking large reserves that were once uneconomical or technically inaccessible. Over the past 70 years—and especially during the last two decades—this technology has evolved from a basic stimulation service into a sophisticated engineering discipline, backed by extensive research, diagnostics, and operational refinement.
This five-day training course is designed to assimilate the collective learning from fracturing millions of wells, particularly from the U.S. shale revolution, and extend its application to both unconventional and conventional reservoirs globally. The course places special emphasis on fracture design, reservoir integration, and the many advances made through diagnostics—such as proximity wells, fracture coring, and microseismic mapping—that have radically transformed our understanding of fracture geometry, containment, and effectiveness.
Participants will learn how to design and execute fracturing treatments based on modern concepts of fracture complexity, in-situ stress behavior, and geomechanical interactions, while still retaining the ability to perform quick, spreadsheet-based crosschecks using classic tools such as Prats, Holditch, and empirical charts.
Hydraulic fracturing is not only a tool for tight reservoirs, but also a critical lever in high- and moderate-permeability reservoirs for reservoir management, sand control, damage mitigation, and even geothermal applications. This course will illustrate how to apply the right strategy in each case and how to economically justify stimulation through NPV optimization.
Environmental concerns such as groundwater contamination and induced seismicity will be addressed with data and science, empowering participants to separate myth from reality and engage with confidence in technical or regulatory discussions.
The course is delivered in a clear, engaging, and interactive format—combining technical presentations, design exercises, case studies, group quizzes, and practical "fracturing on paper" sessions that simulate full treatment design from concept to execution.
Training Objectives
- Critically evaluate, design, and supervise hydraulic fracture treatments for a variety of reservoir types.
- Master quick, spreadsheet-based fracture designs using classical references alongside modern software tools such as GOHFER. A coparative benefits and limitations of different software will enable participants to chose the right software for their application.
- Understand the geomechanical principles that control fracture propagation, height growth, and asymmetry.
- Apply stimulation concepts to low- and high-permeability reservoirs, sandstones, and carbonates alike.
- Use insights from fracture diagnostics—including pressure analysis, microseismic, fiber optics, and fracture coring—to validate and calibrate designs.
- Perform economic evaluations of different fracturing scenarios, optimizing for maximum NPV.
- Understand environmental and regulatory considerations in fracturing projects.
- Participate confidently in planning and execution teams, making informed decisions about design choices, fluids, proppants, and well spacing.
Audiences
The course is designed for, but not limited to, production technologists, petroleum engineers, and production engineers, who are directly involved with hydraulic facturing operations.
- Production Technologists
- Petroleum Engineers
- Production Engineers
- Field Operators
- Lifting Executives
- Maintenance Engineers
Instructor
Haq Minhas
Haq is a recognized industry professional with 30 years of worldwide experience; 20 years with Schlumberger, 10 years with ENI and PETRONAS, and at present with Baker Hughes as Chief Reservoir Engineer.
He is a subject matter expert in many areas. His core expertise include gas reservoir engineering, field development planning, reservoir management, fluid sampling and analysis, production enhancement, rock mechanics, hydraulic fracturing, EOR, and unconventional gas.
He is a visiting lecturer for post graduate courses in Well Testing and Reservoir Simulation. He has published more than 15 SPE and other papers. Haq had worked as a petrophysicist for three years before working full time on Reservoir Engineering.
Along with dual skills of reservoir engineering and petrophysics; in service and oil companies; in 10 different countries and numerous sandstone and carbonate fields, having industry and academic experience, he has managed large teams, projects, and business across countries. His role varied from team lead, to subsurface manager and mentor; in both conventional and unconventional reservoirs; from land to deep-water projects.
In rock mechanics, he has worked on developing techniques for sanding risk, and numerous
hydraulic fracturing jobs from design to execution and post fracture analysis.
Daily Aims
- Introduction to Hydraulic Fracturing: Principles & Applications
- Historical development: 70+ years of fracturing technology
- Impact of the shale revolution on design practices
- Evolution of fracturing from service to science Field learnings: what fractures really look like — insights from proximity wells, coring, and microseismic
- Fracture types: planar, complex, multistranded
- Stimulated Reservoir Volume (SRV) and effective drainage
- Fracturing applications beyond shale: geothermal, injectivity, damage mitigation
Case studies comparing model-predicted vs. actual fracture geometries
- In-situ stress concepts: vertical, maximum, and minimum horizontal stresses
- Estimating rock mechanical properties: UCS, Young’s modulus, Poisson's ratio
- Building a simple mechanical earth model (MEM)
- Fracture containment: height growth vs. barriers
- Stress contrast and interlayer friction
- Fracture propagation modeling: 2D, P3D, PL3D, Q3D
- Asymmetry, tortuosity, and natural fractures interaction
- Perforation strategy and cluster spacing
Build a MEM using synthetic logs and evaluate height growth potential
- Fracturing fluids: types, rheology, and selection (gel, hybrid, slickwater, foams)
- Additives: friction reducers, breakers, surfactants, diverters
- Fluid loss mechanisms and leak-off control
- Proppant types, selection, strength, transport behavior
- Settling and embedment issues in proppant packs
- Fracture conductivity: lab vs field behavior
- Proppant loading, staging, and packing strategies
- Environmental concerns and sustainability considerations
Fluid system design and proppant selection under different formation conditions
- Fracture design workflow: from data acquisition to job planning
- Introduction to fracture modeling software: GOHFER, FracPro, MFrac
- Using Prats, Holditch, and spreadsheet methods as validation tools
- Minifrac / DFIT Testing:
- Test objectives and procedure
- ISIP, closure pressure, fracture gradient
- G-function and √(t) plots for closure interpretation
- Common pitfalls in tight formations
- Execution best practices: pump schedule QA/QC, screenout prevention
- Real-time analysis: treating pressure, net pressure, tiltmeters, microseismic
Interpret DFIT data to estimate closure pressure and reservoir pressure
Paper Fracture Design: from fluid volumes to stage sequencing
- Post-frac evaluation: production diagnostics and pressure trends
- Decline curve analysis and flow regime identification
- Flowback analysis:
- Interpreting fluid recovery and composition
- Detecting screenout, residual gel, conductivity damage
- Choke Management & Flowback Optimization:
- Controlled closure strategies
- Minimizing proppant returns
- Balancing cleanup with formation protection
- Refracturing: candidate selection, spacing, and economic triggers
- Economic evaluation: NPV, ROI, payout
- Full-cycle design optimization for development strategy
NPV analysis for fracture designs with different cost/recovery assumptions
Case study on flowback optimization and production outcome
Training Schedule
| Code | Start Date | End Date | Locations | Cost | Instructor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PST0015-202603 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | USD 5,150 | Haq Minhas | ||
| PST0015-202604 | Bali, Indonesia | USD 5,350 | Haq Minhas |
Why Choose This Training
Credibility
Align with API/ASME standards. Trusted by major operators.
Expert Instructors
Led by industry veterans with real field experience.
Real Case Studies
Practical application of concepts through real world scenarios.
Practical Skills
Hands on calculations and decision making for FFS outcomes.
Trusted by Operators
Delivered to Aramco, ADNOC, SABIC, and other major operators.
Global Training Standard
Recognized across major industries by PetroSync's proven approach.
Professional Training Aligned with Industry Standards
Practical, industry ready training designed for real work environments
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