A Multiscale Study on Shale Wettability: Spontaneous Imbibition Versus Contact Angle

Environmental and technical issues associated with hydraulic fracturing fluid leak‐off and its low recovery in clay‐rich shale reservoirs has challenged the energy sector. One of the main hypothesized mechanisms for the uptake of fracturing fluid is fluid imbibition due to capillary forces that are a strong function of the rock's wettability. However, shale wettability estimated by contact angle and spontaneous imbibition experiments are highly...