Inter-well Connectivity

Subvertical fracturing is a common feature of carbonate reservoirs. Fracturing occurs on the local scale due to variable stress, differential compaction and chemical weakening of the rock. Larger-scale features occur due to deformation associated with folds or faults. Such fracturing can impact significantly on interwell flows if the fractures form a connected network. A stochastic discrete fracture network (DFN) approach can be used to assess the geometry, magnitude and volume of fracture connectivity around wells. Such models make use of data from image logs, core logs, formation microscanner, production logs and outcrop maps.

This demonstration highlights some of the issues involved in the assessment of interwell connectivity using a hypothetical reservoir with generic data. The region considered is 1km square, 160 feet thick. Vertical and horizontal wells are included. There are 80,000 fractures generated in this interwell-scale model. Here the scene shows a horizontal slice through the network with fractures coloured according to fractures set. Two horizontal wells are shown in white.

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Last updated: 06-Mar-2003