IN-SITU STRESS ORIENTATION AND MAGNrITJDE AT THE FENTON GEOTHERMAL SITE, NEW MEXICO, DETERMINED FROM WELLBORE BREAKOUTS

Authors

Colleen A. Barton, Stanford University
Mark D. Zoback, Stanford UniversityFollow
Kerry L. Burns, Los Alamos National Laboratory

Date of this Version

1988

Comments

Published in GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 15, NO. 5, PAGES 467-470, MAY 1988

Abstract

The acoustic borehole televiewer provides excellent data for the detection and measurement of stress-induced wellbore breakouts. Analog televiewer data from the Fenton Geothermal well EE-3 in New Mexico were digitized and interactivly processed for detection and analysis of azimuth and shape of stress-induced breakouts occurring in the well at depths of about 2.9 - 3.5 km. A statistical analysis of the measured breakout azimuths yields a well resolved orientation of least horizontal principal stress of 119 °, consistent with least principal stress data from the Rio Grande Rift. As the magnitude of the least horizontal compressive stress, ^Shmin, in EE-3 is known from hydraulic fracturing, we present a new method in which Shmin and data on breakout width are used to estimate the magnitude of the maximum horizontal principal stress.