AAPG Bulletin, Vol.93, No.11, 1503-1516, 2009
Fracture characterization at multiple scales using borehole images, sonic logs, and walkaround vertical seismic profile
We present a quantitative forward-modeling methodology to link and interpret several measurements relevant to mechanical properties of fractures such as borehole images, sonic anisotropy logs, and borehole seismic anisotropy. The analysis is applied to a case study from a north African tight gas field using data from a vertical well. Two studies are conducted independently using the same geological fracture data to model fracture-induced anisotropy. In the first study, we use the orientation of the natural and drilling-induced fractures interpreted on the image log to model the azimuthal fracture-induced anisotropy at the sonic scale. The mechanical effects of natural and drilling-induced fractures are treated using different compliance parameters for each fracture type. We show that modeled sonic fast shear azimuths could be biased by the presence of noncompliant fractures in each fracture type, and we propose an empirical selection criterion to reject noncompliant fractures prior to compliance estimation. Then, we estimate the fracture compliances and confirm that natural open fractures have larger compliances than drilling-induced fractures. In the second study, we apply interpreted borehole images toward modeling of the azimuthal vertical seismic profile (VSP) attributes as a function of source azimuthal position. Natural fractures inside a window of height, h, and located at depth, d, are included, and several volume sizes and positions (i.e., h and d) are considered. We find a good agreement between modeled and observed transverse-over-radial displacement trends using natural fractures within windows located at the depth of the VSP receiver, and having window heights on the order of one to two VSP shear wavelengths.