A new methodology to train fracture network simulation using Multiple Point Statistics.

Natural fracture network characteristics can be establishes from high-resolution outcrop images acquired from drone and photogrammetry. Such images might also be good analogues of subsurface naturally fractured reservoirs and can be used to make predictions of the fracture geometry and efficiency at depth. However, even when supplementing...

An integrated workflow for stress and flow modelling using outcrop-derived discrete fracture networks

Fluid flow in naturally fractured reservoirs is often controlled by subseismic-scale fracture networks. Although the fracture network can be partly sampled in the direct vicinity of wells, the inter-well scale network is poorly constrained in fractured reservoir models. Outcrop analogues can provide data for populating domains of the...

Inter-well scale natural fracture geometry and permeability variations in low-deformation carbonate rocks

Regional natural fracture networks often show variations on a scale below that captured by seismic reflection data. This variability is not considered in most reservoir models, but likely impacts uncertainties in permeability. We quantify this uncertainty using a database of 13,000 fractures in nine outcrops digitised in the carbonate...

2-D to 3-D Fracture Network Detection and Forecasting in a Carbonate Reservoir Analogue Using Multiple Point Statistics (MPS)

Fracturing and fluid-flow during post-rift subsidence in carbonates of the Jandaíra Formation, Potiguar Basin, NE Brazil

Pervasive fracture networks are common in many reservoir-scale carbonate bodies even in the absence of large deformation and exert a major impact on their mechanical and flow behaviour. The Upper Cretaceous Jandaíra Formation is a few hundred meters thick succession of shallow water carbonates deposited during the early post-rift stage of the...

Dissolution along fracture systems in Turonian-Campanian carbonates in Brazil

Using outcrop data for geological well test modelling in fractured reservoirs

Outcrop fracture data sets can now be acquired with ever more accuracy using drone technology augmented by field observations. These models can be used to form realistic, deterministic models of fractured reservoirs. Fractured well test models are traditionally seen to be finite or infinite conductivity or double porosity - corresponding the...

Predicting multi-scale deformation and fluid flow patterns in folds using 3D outcrop models and mechanical modelling

Natural fracture patterns in folded carbonates are highly heterogeneous. The present-day fractures are often the result of pre-folding, syn-folding and post-folding related fractures. Furthermore, syn-folding fractures may differ in different domains of the fold. Although there are studies that characterize fracture patterns in outcropping folds...

Fractures and fracture networks in carbonate reservoirs: A geological perspective (abstract)

A Geologically Consistent Permeability Model of Fractured Folded Carbonate Reservoirs: Lessons from Outcropping Analogue

Presently adopted fracture-related permeability models of large folded reservoirs are simplistic and often unrelated to the geological setting and evolution of the considered structure. In order to improve predictions of fluid flow in more complex subsurface fractured reservoirs, we build a 3D fracture network model of an outcropping fold in...

Predicting multiscale fracture patterns in buried reservoirs: The importance of outcrop data in a coherent workflow

Fracture data from outcropping analogs are often acquired but rarely used to improve permeability predictions in buried reservoirs. To improve this we present a systematic workflow which includes i) the building of a geometric model of the investigated structure, ii) the execution of mechanical simulations to determine state of stress and strain...

Outcropping analogs and multiscale fracture patterns in the Jandaíra formation

Outcropping analogs can provide key information on the 3D organization of fracture networks affecting carbonate reservoirs. Such information, however, needs to be integrated in a consistent work flow which includes i) 3D geometric model of the reservoir architecture, ii) mechanic modeling to determine areas of fracturing, iii) characterization...

Quantifying Fracture Heterogeneity in Different Domains of Folded Carbonate Rocks to Improve Fractured Reservoir Analog Fluid Flow Models

Fluid flow in carbonate reservoirs is largely controlled by multiscale fracture networks. Significant variations of fracture network porosity and permeability are caused by the 3D heterogeneity of the fracture network characteristics, such as intensity, orientation and size. Characterizing fracture network heterogeneity is therefore essential in...

Modeling 3D Fracture Network in Carbonate NFR: Contribution from an Analogue Dataset, the Cante Perdrix Quarry, Calvisson, SE France

The full 3D characterization of fracture networks is a key issue in naturally fractured reservoir modeling. Fracture geometry (e.g., orientation, size, spacing), fracture scale (e.g., bed-confined fractures, fracture corridors), lateral and vertical variations, need to be defined from limited, generally 1D, data. In order to populate a 3D...