ISSN 0263-5046

FIRST BREAK
May 2008 Volume 26

Take Geophysics Further

Successfully meeting the parallel demands of replacing reserves, managing production

4D Seismic
and improving recovery requires an altogether more connected approach.

Now fully part of the Schlumberger family, WesternGeco people and technology are enabling
the integration of the traditionally distinct areas of survey design, seismic acquisition, Special Topic
data processing, inversion and reservoir characterization into a seamless workflow.

The result is advanced geophysics that is globally consistent, calibrated, and connected ■ Technical Articles
with other geophysical and wellbore data in the seismic to simulation process.
www.slb.com/westerngeco Building velocity models for depth imaging: a North Sea case study
Passive seismic and surface deformation monitoring of steam injection
■ Technology Features
Deep water pre-processing: East Coast India
Make reservoir decisions with a greater degree of confidence. Mapping fracture corridors in naturally fractured reservoirs of the Middle East
© 2008 Schlumberger. 08_se_070
first break volume 26, May 2008
Mapping fracture corridors in naturally
fractured reservoirs: an example from
Middle East carbonates
Sunil K. Singh, Hanan Abu-Habbiel and Badruzzaman Khan (Kuwait Oil Company) and
Mahmood Akbar, Arnaud Etchecopar and Bernard Montaron (Schlumberger) point to the
importance of mapping fracture corridors in optimizing reservoir production and show how
high resolution seismic can contribute in Middle East carbonate environments.
In many oil and gas reservoirs, natural
fracture networks help drain hydro-
carbons and other fluids. The role of
fractures is particularly important in
reservoirs having a tight matrix. In
carbonate formations, for example, it is
quite common to observe a permeabil-
ity contrast of 1000 or more between
the rock matrix and surrounding frac-
tures. Natural fractures are a recording
of the reservoir stress history. They tend
to be organized in different families
oriented according to particular direc-
tions. Fracture corridors (FCs) are an
extraordinary cluster of a huge number
of quasi-parallel fractures. FCs vary in
Figure 1 Sabriyah Field in North Kuwait used as a
key area in the study. X-5 and X-6 are the new wells
that were being drilled at the time of the study.
The fracture clusters predicted by FCM for these
wells were validated by the cores and borehole
images obtained from them.
© 2008 EAGE www.firstbreak.org
size and extension (vertical and lateral).
Their dimensions can vary over a wide
range. For instance, some of them have
been found to be 10 m wide, 100 m
high, and 1000 m long. Such FCs can
contain more than hundreds to ten
thousand fractures and have a perme-
ability well above 10 Darcy. Other
types of clusters can also be observed.
Individual fractures or those that do
not appear to be a part of FCs are
called diffuse fractures.
Conductive FCs are major high-
ways for fluids flow in the reservoir and
their exact positions must be known
and accurately mapped in the reser-
voir model in order to obtain realis-
tic dynamic reservoir simulations. This
information is essential in order to
select injector and producer well loca-
tions that maximize the reservoir sweep
efficiency. A workflow to map all major
FCs in a reservoir is described here.
Results are presented for five Middle
East carbonate fields in Kuwait.
Fracture cluster mapping
workflow and results
The workflow is based on the assump-
tion that, when natural fractures exist in
the form of clusters of larger dimensions
(i.e. 10-30 m or more in width, vertical
and horizontal lengths), they should be
expressed in some way in the 3D seismic
data. The workflow mainly involves
integration of borehole data with the 3D
seismic to optimize the extraction proc-
ess achieved through the discontinuity
extraction software (DES) processing.
The 3D seismic data must exhibit
optimal spatial/temporal bandwidth
and signal-to-noise ratio to ensure
technology feature
that the subsequent attributes input
to the DES processing contain mean-
ingful information to map fracture
clusters. This may require bespoke
acquisition design and data process-
ing workflows using single-sensor
data. Seismic attributes sensitive to
fracture clusters are identified and
input to the DES. The direction-
al (azimuthal) and inclination (dip)
filters used in the DES processing
are designed based on the analy-
sis of cores, borehole images, sonic
logs, and VSPs (e.g., offset, walk-
around, walkaway, and 3D VSPs).
Moreover, the structural and tecton-
ic history of the study area is also
employed in the process of param-
eter optimization and assessment of
the results obtained.
The general DES processing
tends to overlook quite a signifi-
cant percentage of fracture clusters
of various orientations and dimen-
sions when the directional filter is
kept open to all 360˚ of azimuth with
a fixed range of features’ inclination.
In such a situation, the DES process-
ing tends to follow the strongest later-
al discontinuities in the vertical plane
caused by larger fracture clusters, and
it skips over the less strong and weak-
er discontinuities or signatures of frac-
ture clusters that are either of the same
orientation or different orientations. To
capture such discontinuities, the direc-
tional filter is divided into a number of
windows/ranges and the inclination fil-
ter is set at one or more than one dip
inclination range. DES processing is
run separately for each set of direction-
al and inclination filters. Each run of
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 technology feature first break volume 26, May 2008

DES gives a 3D volume cube of frac-

ture cluster lineaments. Subsequently,
these individual 3D cubes are merged
into a single 3D volume cube (Figure 1)
of fracture clusters that can be convert-
ed from time index to depth index.
The workflow was applied to the
sequence of Jurassic carbonates in five
fields (NW Raudhatain, Raudhatain,
Umm Niqqa, Sabriyah, and Bahra)
located in the northern part of Kuwait.
The Sabriyah field was selected as
the key area for the study because of
the maximum number of wells (four)
drilled at the time of the study, new
drilling, and a challenging structural
setting (popped up structure caused by
transpression along the east and west
bounding strike-slip faults). In addition
to the fracture evidence at the exist-
Figure 2 Schematic showing the effect of azimuth filter on the extracted fracture clusters from the frac-
ing wells (X-3 and X-4, Figure 2), the
ture sensitive 3D seismic attribute. The 3D cube of fracture clusters obtained through multiple azimuth
filters gives more realistic picture fracture clusters (Model 2) than the one obtained through a single 360˚ newly drilled wells (X-5 and X-6, Fig-
azimuth filter (Model 1). ure 2) were used for the validation of
the fracture clusters located by the DES
on the seismic volume.
Figure 3 shows mainly NNE-SSW
trending fracture clusters at a certain
horizon in the Middle Marrat carbon-
ate reservoir, extracted by DES from
the seismic volume. Fracture clusters of
exactly the same orientation and incli-
nation were observed in the 3D cube
throughout the Marrat section. On the
contrary, the borehole data at Well X-3
showed a large dominance of ENE-
WSW striking fractures (more than
400 open fractures) within Marrat, in
particular. When the DES process was
applied to the same seismic attribute
volume but with two different azi-
muthal filters (315-045, 135-225 and
045-135, 225-315), fracture clusters
with NNE-SSW, ENE-WSE, NE-SW,
NW-SE, and WNW-ESE strike got high-
lighted (Figure 4). The NNE-SSW strik-
ing fracture clusters most probably are
fold-related being parallel to the axis
of the Sabriyah anticline, and ENE-
WSW and WNW-ESE striking fracture
clusters, which are more concentrated
within the Sabriyah anticline, are pos-
sible Riedel shears (Figure 4).
The results were validated at the
Figure 3 A time slice from Middle Marrat showing fracture clusters orienting dominantly in NNE-SSW direc- locations of existing wells and also at
tion when the azimuthal filter is not constrained. the new wells X5 and X-6. Figure 5

110 www.firstbreak.org © 2008 EAGE

first break volume 26, May 2008
Figure 4 As observed in the borehole images, nearly all orientations of fracture clusters were detected from the 3D seismic by running DES for two different sets
of parameters. Possibly fold related longitudinal fractures and strike-slip fault related riedel shear types of fracture clusters were detected with this technique.
shows fracture clusters along a section
through Wells X-2 and X-3 extract-
ed by FCM technique using a 050-080
and 230-260 azimuth filter to enhance
fracture clusters having strike orienta-
tions within that specific range of azi-
muth. It is clear from the plot that the
Well X-3 does not intersect any fracture
clusters over the interval from top Naj-
mah to top Middle Marrat. It intersects
a major fracture cluster in the interval
from Middle Marrat to top Minjur (Fig-
ure 5). A similar observation was made
in the wellbore using cores and borehole
images as shown by the stick plot and
fracture density (number of fractures per
foot) curve for open fractures.
© 2008 EAGE www.firstbreak.org
In addition to the factors men-
tioned under the FCM workflow, reso-
lution of the input seismic data is very
important to highlight fracture clus-
ters of larger to smaller dimensions.
The FCM workflow was applied to
the Q-Land seismic data from the NW-
Raudhatain Field to determine how
much improvement could be made in
the details of fracture clusters. Figure
7 shows a comparison of FCM results
from the conventional 3D surface seis-
mic data with those derived from
Q-Technology single-sensor data. A
good correlation was observed between
well productivity and the proximity of
fracture clusters predicted by the FCM
technology feature
workflow.  This shows that the acqui-
sition of a fracture corridor map can
be an essential element for the place-
ment of injectors and producers to
maximize recovery from a field.
Possible origin of
fracture corridors
Whatever the real mechanism at micro-
scopic scale, brittle failure of a rock
occurs with respect to two modes at
mesoscopic scale: the tensile and shear
modes (Figure 7). The tensile mode
(Mode 1) is a failure that occurs per-
pendicularly to the minimum principal
stress without shear at the fracture
plane. On the contrary, the shear failure
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 technology feature first break volume 26, May 2008

Figure 6 Comparison of FCM results between those

derived using conventional 3D seismic and those
obtained by using Q-Land seismic data at the
NW-Raudhatain Field.

(Mode 2) induces a plane oblique to

the main stress. This plane necessarily
suffers a displacement of one side of the
fracture relative to the other. This dis-
placement is very small at failure time.
Every brittle rock can react both ways
but not for the same state of stress.
The limit between the tensile and shear
modes is an intrinsic property of the
rock, like the Mohr’s envelop that limits
Figure 5 A section through wells X-2 and X-3 showing fracture clusters extracted by the FCM technique the elastic and brittle domains. In many
using 050-080 and 230-260 filter to enhance ENE-WSW trending lineaments. The well X-3 does not inter- vertical wells, induced fractures due to
sect any fracture cluster over the interval from top Najmah to top Middle Marrat. While it intersects a
perturbation of the present-day stresses
major fracture cluster in the interval from Middle Marrat to top Minjur. A similar observation was made
in the wellbore using cores and borehole images as shown by the stick plot and fracture density curve for by drilling illustrate this dual behaviour.
open fractures. They are either tensile or en echelon
depending, on the lithology. Similarly,
during a tectonic phase, the failure may
occur tensile for one particular lithol-
ogy or shear for another one.
During the initiation phase of a
standard fault, the failure in a shear
layer develops along a single plane (Fig-
ure 8). The movement along this plane is
resolved into a vertical throw and a hor-
izontal elongation. This horizontal elon-
gation necessarily induces a reduction of
the minimum stress magnitude in the lay-
ers above and below. If these layers are
tensile type, a number of vertical frac-
tures, i.e. a fracture corridor, will eventu-
ally occur at the vertical of the fault zone.
The sum of the apertures of the frac-
tures will compensate for the elongation
observed in the shear layer when the ver-
Figure 7 Mohr’s representation in which limits between elastic and brittle domain and between tensile and tical throw is usually accommodated by
shear failure are intrinsic property of the rock. a vertical displacement on a few of these

112 www.firstbreak.org © 2008 EAGE

first break volume 26, May 2008
fractures. These vertical displacements
are very difficult to observe on bore-
hole images as the great number of frac-
tures makes it difficult to follow a mark-
er. Many corridors of this type have been
observed in the Paleozoic series of Alge-
ria (Figure 9). It is certainly a common
situation but other origins may exist.
Conclusion
We have presented a workflow that
allows us to map in 3D all major frac-
ture corridors in a field. The workflow
was successfully applied to the NW
Raudhatain, Sabriyah, Umm Niqqa, and
Bahra carbonate fields in Kuwait. Due
to the limited seismic signature of some
of the fracture corridors, best results
are obtained when using high-resolution
seismic technology. The presence of frac-
ture corridors has often been put for-
ward as a possible explanation for water
breakthroughs that occur much earlier
than initially anticipated. With 3D maps
of fracture corridors becoming available,
these can now be integrated in reservoir
models to determine the optimum well
locations using more realistic reservoir
simulations. It is hoped that such a meth-
odology (Montaron et al., 2007) will
avoid water breakthrough surprises and,
Figure 9 Fracture corridor in quartzite developed on top of a small fault in shaly layers.
© 2008 EAGE www.firstbreak.org
technology feature
Figure 8 Fracture corridor development. Left: Fault (f) initiation in a shear layer (S) inducing a lateral
elongation (E) in this layer and extensional stress zones (ESZ) in tensile layers where fractures are initi-
ated. Right: fault propagation inducing a corridor of fractures whose aperture compensates for the fault
elongation (E) and vertical displacement on few of these fracture to compensate the vertical throw on
the fault (vt).
more importantly, will help significantly L., Pedersen, L.S., Bakiler, C. and God-
increase hydrocarbon recovery factors in frey, R. [2008] An Innovative Approach
carbonate reservoirs and other naturally to Characterizing Fractures for a Large
fractured formations. Carbonate Field of Kuwait by Integrat-
ing Borehole Data with the 3D Surface
Acknowledgements Seismic.  GEO2008, Bahrain, Abstract
The authors thank Kuwait Company 118994.
for permission to publish this work and Montaron, B.A.. Bradley, D., Cooke, A.,
Donatella Astratti and Robert Godfrey Prouvost, L., Raffin, A., Vidal, A. and
for their invaluable contributions. Wilt, M. Shapes of Flood Fronts in Het-
erogeneous Reservoirs and Oil Recovery
References Strategies. SPE/EAGE Reservoir Char-
Akbar, M., Singh, S.K., Khan, B., Abu-Habbiel, acterization & Simulation Conference,
H., Maizeret, P.D., Astratti, D., Sonneland, Paper 11147.
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