During the past two decades, industry perceptions regarding fracture geometry have experienced numerous changes. In the 80''s, 2-D simulators designed frac treatments for the gross interval. In the early 90’s, unconfined fracture height growth became the norm. In the late 90’s, the focus shifted to cluster perforating to minimize fracture complexity. Current completion diagnostic technologies are now indicating that fracture height growth is generally more contained than previously believed.

The reservoir factors controlling fracture height growth containment will be reviewed in this presentation, along with a number of case histories showing how stimulation results can be improved with a better understanding of the fracturing dynamics that control fracture geometry. These case histories will demonstrate that the fracture geometry can be generally predicted and not just post-job history matched. The case histories will also illustrate the effective integration of diagnostic measurements, treatment design optimization, and confirmation of both design and ultimate production optimization on a well-by-well basis.