Curvature versus Strain Analysis for Fracture Prediction (A Case Study in the Gachsaran Oil Field of Iran)

Curvature and strain analysis are two most important and well developed parameters in the anticline scale for fracture prediction (distribution and intensity). Asmari formation from Gachsaran giant oil field in the Zagros folded belt with sufficient seismic(2D) and well data(more than 350 drilled wells up to now), is one of the best case for comparing this two methods. Fracture intensity indictor map on the basis of each method has been produced and then get in the exam with production index data in some wells. Map that produced based on the 3D strain analysis and with special attention to the structural situation, structural evolution and also fracture's position related to local stress direction, is more compatible with production index than map on the basis of curvature analysis. Also it was illustrated that one of the best advantages of 3D strain analysis versus curvature analysis is variation in vertical direction and volumetric result instead of map. So there is a good possibility for correlating this result with other data such as facies, lithology and porosity models and so on, which is not involved in this paper.