Subseismic Scale Fracture Characterization Combining Geomechanics and Tectonic History

The 3D seismic data in fractured basement reservoirs can sometimes be challenging to interpret and allow identifying only the main faults affecting the naturally fractured reservoirs. Moreover, natural small-scale fractures are known to be capable of significantly altering the flow of hydrocarbons and are below the resolution of the seismic data in this type of environment. In order to palliate seismic data quality in these reservoirs and to obtain 3D properties related to fracture orientation and density at a subseismic scale, a geomechanics-based methodology has been developed. This methodology is based on the geomechanical properties of the rock, 3D fault geometry, and far-field stress associated with each tectonic event. The resulting properties can be combined with well log data and seismic attributes to condition a discrete fracture network model and predict the fracture porosity and permeability in challenging environments, like fractured basement reservoirs in SE Asia. It also provides robust fracture orientation distributions, which improve considerably the quality of the models in exploration fields where limited number of wells exists.