Multi-scale Fracture Networks – Combining Subsurface Reservoir and Analogue Field Data

Data from a subsurface productive sequence in the North Sea and a representative analogue outcrop in Jordan are studied to investigate the degree of fault sealing and fracture cementation, deduce the compatibility of the data and to access the potential of this strategy to improve the hydrocarbon production from a reservoir with fracture induced compartmentalization issues. Re-interpretation of PSDM seismic data in the North Sea gas reservoirs reveals a set of faults with limited throw that separates pressure differences in excess of 200 bars. An extensive Shale Gouge ratio study, combined with dynamic reservoir simulations, and detailed evaluation of borehole data are used to determine the fault sealing potential of clay smear and fracture cementation . The field outcrop data, obtained from high-resolution satellite data and digitized field measurements, provides the spatially continuous statistics that can help to predict the inter-well fracture population. A clear relationship between the different orders of fractures in both sites is found, with orientations being similar across several length scales, but increased fracture densities in the fracture corridors.