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Simulation of Transient Well-Test

Signatures for Geologically Realistic Faults


in Sandstone Reservoirs
Stephan K. Mattha
i, Swiss Federal Inst. of Technology; Atilla Aydin and David D. Pollard, Stanford U.; and
Stephen G. Roberts, Australian Natl. U.

Summary

For the design of production strategies one must identify how faults
that are detected in seismic surveys influence fluid flow in hydrocarbon reservoirs. In this study we use the Entrada sandstone
formation, Arches Natl. Park, Utah, as an outcrop analog of a
faulted sandstone reservoir. Field measurements of the geometry,
thickness, and layered permeability of the normal faults that crosscut this sandstone are incorporated in two-dimensional (2D) fluidflow models, facilitating the simulation of fault signatures in
transient well tests with a high-resolution finite-element method.
In our simulations, structure and inhomogeneous permeability
lead to fault signatures in derivative plots that differ significantly
from those of idealized impermeable barriers. Highly permeable
slip planes facing the well create the illusion of a nonsealing or
nonexisting fault because remote fluids are focused along the slip
planes toward the well. Measured low, fault-normal permeability
shields fault-bounded blocks of the analog sandstone reservoir from
drawdown and large pressure differentials build up across faults
during production.
Thus, test data from a single well are insufficient to assess the
flow properties of a nearby fault with an inhomogeneous permeability like the normal faults in the Arches Natl. Park. Test responses from multiple wells need to be considered to detect fault
segmentation or fault terminations even if the general fault trend is
underpinned by seismic data. Flow paths in the reservoir during
production are complex. Importantly, formation water is likely to
flow into the reservoir along the permeable slip planes of the normal
faults.
Introduction

Hydrocarbon formations are often cross-cut and offset along normal faults, which can act as both flow barriers1,2 and/or conduits
for fluids.3-7 Whether a particular fault impedes fault-normal fluid
flow during production or whether it connects the reservoir to other
permeable domains in the sedimentary pile cannot be inferred from
the seismic or well-log data.
Fluid-flow properties of faults may be estimated from transient
well testing.8-12 Common methods of testing examine the change
of fluid pressure in a well while it is being produced at a constant
rate (drawdown test) or shut in after a prolonged production period
(buildup test). The well tests are interpreted by comparison with
analytical type curves for a range of reservoir geometries and
permeabilities, or nonlinear least squares estimation techniques
(automated type-curve or history matching) are used for the
estimation of reservoir parameters from well-test data. Type curves
are commonly plotted in derivative plots that display the dimensionless pressure in the wellbore, pD, and the dimensionless rate of
pressure change with time multiplied by time, t(p/t) (see Fig.
1).13,14 Dimensionless time, tD, is normalized for permeability and
is frequently divided by the dimensionless wellbore storage, cD,

such that derivative plots obtained for different reservoirs can be


compared. Wellbore storage effects are not addressed in this paper.
In consistent units, pD and tD can be defined as

pD 5

tD 5

2pkh
~ p 2 pw ! , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (1)
qBm i

kt
,
fmct r2w

and ct 5

V
,
dp

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (2)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (3)

where p i , p w , k, q, B, m , F, c t , r w , V, and C, are the initial


reservoir pressure, pressure at the wellbore, permeability, constant
rate of production, formation factor, fluid viscosity, porosity, total
system compressibility, wellbore radius, fluid volume, and the
storage capacity of the well, respectively.15 These definitions and
notation will be used throughout this analysis.
If a reservoir is homogeneous and infinite, constant-rate production is accompanied by an initially rapid change of fluid
pressure followed by a period of radial flow and constant-rate
pressure decline (Fig. 1). Interaction with an inhomogeneity like a
fault will bring the constant-rate pressure-decline period to an end.
The rate of decline will either increase if the fault has a lower
permeability than the reservoir (Fig. 1; e.g., Ref. 11) or decrease if
the fault is a highly permeable fracture.16 Such rate changes are
reflected in a distortion of the radial drawdown pattern, which
would persist in an isotropic, infinite reservoir.
The strategy of estimating fault properties by comparing their
signatures in derivative plots with existing analytical solutions for
linear reservoir inhomogeneities and combinations thereof is
widely applied (see, for instance, Refs. 8, 11, 12, and 44). Commonly, however, faults represent composites of several semiplanar
zones with different deformation structures and hydrological properties.5,6,17-19 This topology implies an inhomogeneous fault permeability for which we did not find analytical solutions in the
literature.

Copyright 1998 Society of Petroleum Engineers


Original SPE manuscript received for review 27 February 1997. Revised manuscript
received 14 November 1997. Paper (SPE 38442) peer approved 12 December 1997.
Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of no more than 300 words.
Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was presented or published. Write
Librarian, SPE, P.O. Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 012149529435.

62

Fig. 1Derivative plot13,14 of a typical drawdown test showing


the normalized cumulative change of dimensionless pressure
pD 5 (2 p kh/qBm) (pinitial 2 p(t)well) (stippled curve) and the
normalized rate of pressure change (solid curve) plotted against
dimensionless time, tD (for notation see Nomenclature section).
SPE Journal, March 1998

Fig. 2Map and cross-section of the Cache Valley showing the Entrada Sandstone and normal faults and joints, Arches Natl. Park,
Utah (adapted from Antonellini and Aydin5,6). (a) Map of normal faults with segmented slip planes and salt anticlines in the Cache
Valley area. (b) Cross section along the profile A A* through the Cache Valley. The graphs below the profile show measured and
inferred permeabilities of joints and faults.

In this paper, we incorporate detailed field measurements of the


geometry, inhomogeneous permeability, and porosity of normal
faults in the Entrada sandstone, Arches Natl. Park, Utah (Fig. 2),
into 2D, single-phase flow, finite-element models of sandstone
reservoirs. Through numerical simulations, we identify the transient well-test signatures of these realistic normal faults with
various permeability distributions. These signatures are significantly different from faults with a homogeneous permeability.
First, we describe how we simulate transient well tests in our
models, and then we review the field measurements of Antonellini
and Aydin5,6 on the dimensions and fluid-flow properties of normal
faults in sandstones. We then present the results of the simulations,
SPE Journal, March 1998

and we conclude with a discussion of well-test interpretations that


are informed by our new results.
Mathematical Model

We use an algebraic multigrid finite-element method20,21 to simulate single-phase fluid flow to a well that is produced at a constant
rate, as in a drawdown test (e.g., Ref. 15). To quantify the fluid
diffusivity in the reservoir we need to quantify fluid viscosity, m,
permeability, k, and storage capacity, S (storativity) of the heterogeneous rock. The storativity, S, describes the change with fluid
pressure, p, of the fluid volume, V, stored in the porosity, F, of a
63

Fig. 3Spatially variably refined triangular finite-element mesh used in the transient fluid flow simulations: largest element with
50-m edge length; smallest element with 0.01-m edge length.

Fig. 4 Typical structure of a small normal fault in the Entrada


formation (after Antonellini and Aydin5).

unit volume of reservoir rock. We calculate S from the sand matrix


and fluid compressibilities, a and b, respectively, for a constant
matrix mass:

~Vf !
5 @~1 2 f!a 1 fb# 5 S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (4)
p
This constitutive equation is similar to the definition of storativity
for an aquifer in Freeze and Cherry,22 and it represents a simplification of the formulation of Brace et al.,23 which also incorporates
the compressibilities of mineral grains. Because the present-day
64

Fig. 5Permeability and porosity profile across a deformation


band in the Moab member of the Entrada sandstone at Delicate
Arch viewpoint (from Antonellini and Aydin5).

compressibility of the Entrada sandstone may have been modified


during exhumation and because compressibility varies with confining stress (see, for instance, Ref. 24), we use compressibility
measurements under in-situ conditions. Dvorkin and Nur25 measured the a of poorly cemented Troll sandstone, which was sampled
from hydrocarbon reservoirs in the North sea. At a porosity of 25%
and an effective pressure of 30 MPa, the matrix compressibility a
of the Troll sandstone is approximately 25 GPa, corresponding to
a storativity of 3.1 3 10210 m3/Pa, for a light oil (API 5 45) as
a pore fluid.
The finite-element code calculates the spatial and temporal
change in fluid pressure from the pressure diffusion equation with
SPE Journal, March 1998

Fig. 6 Summary of permeability measurements for zones of deformation bands, Arches Natl. Park and San Raphael desert. khr,
kp, and kn are the permeability of the host rock, the deformation-band-parallel permeability, and the normal permeability,
respectively.

Fig. 7Permeability of the wall rock of slip planes at Arches Natl. Park. The lower limit of permeability perpendicular to slip planes
is unconstrained because of the detection limit of the minipermeameter. khr, kp, and kn are the permeability of the host rock, the
deformation-band-parallel permeability, and the normal permeability, respectively. *

Darcys law

k
p
5
2p .
t Sm

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (5)

We limit this analysis to single-phase flow, and we therefore


consider a petroleum liquid above the bubblepoint. For common
reservoir conditions such as a fluid pressure of 25 MPa, a temperature of 50C, a gas/oil ratio of 0.1, and an oil density of 800
kg/m23, an oil viscosity of about 4 cp seems appropriate.26 The
compressibility of this oil at reservoir conditions is about 1.1 3
1029 Pa21.27
To implement the reservoir models, the faulted sandstone unit,
in planview, is represented by a 2D finite-element mesh of triangular elements (Fig. 3). This mesh is constructed with a special
octree-based scheme implemented in the commercial mesh-generation tool ICEM TETRA. Spatially variable refinement facilitated
SPE Journal, March 1998

the representation of centimeter-scale features in the kilometerscale models. Calculated flow properties and an initially uniform
fluid pressure are assigned to this mesh. A circular well with a
radius of 9 cm [0.3 ft] is represented by eight triangular elements
forming an octagon such that a perimeter correction of 0.97 relative
to a perfectly circular well is applied. Constant-rate production is
simulated by specifying fluid sink terms on the well elements. The
pressure at the wellbore is measured at the boundary nodes of the
well region. Temporal and spatial variations in fluid pressure are
computed with exponentially increasing timestep size (exponent 5
1.2) ranging from 1 second to 3 days. For the largest timestep we still
obtain a signal to numerical noise ratio of 10.9 This treatment of reservoir fluid flow relies on the following assumptions:
1. Porosities and permeabilities measured in an outcrop are
similar to in-situ values.
2. Three-dimensional reservoir flow can be approximated with a
two-dimensional model.
65

3. Porosity and permeability of the sandstone are nearly uniform


isotropic (f 5 25%, 1000 md, and field variations #1.5 orders of
magnitude).
4. An effective permeability28 can be applied to compensate for
over-representation of slip plane thickness in the model (10 cm
instead of 0.5 mm to 3 cm). This correction reduces the permeability by one order of magnitude.
5. The fluid can be modeled as slightly compressible singlephase petroleum liquid above the bubblepoint.
6. Compaction of the sandstone during the transient well test is
neglected.
Regarding assumption 1, porosity and permeability measured in
an outcrop at Arches Natl. Park are similar to in-situ measurements
on reservoir sandstones of comparable origin (e.g., Horne15). The
slip planes of the normal faults frequently contain open-space
fillings of carbonate and other minerals that were precipitated and
subsequently deformed while the analog reservoir was submersed
and the faults were active, respectively. Thin-sections of the Moab
sandstone do not indicate a significant generation of secondary
porosity during uplift and erosion.5,6 All these observations suggest
that assumption 1 is permissible and that the simulated fault
signatures should be applicable to in-situ faulted reservoirs.
The 2D representation of the reservoir (2) is adequate in view of
the planar geometry of the sandstone unit sandwiched between
impermeable shale layers, and cross-cut by the faults. The simulation of a homogeneous isotropic reservoir sandstone (3) maximizes the sensitivity of our forward simulations with regard to
detecting boundaries, because the effect of small-scale inhomogeneities in the sandstone would be to obscure and blur the fault signal
over time. In this sense, faults should be detected with greater ease
in the simulated well tests rather than in the real tests.
Field Measurements of Sandstone and Normal-Fault
Flow Properties

The Moab and Slickrock sandstones in the Entrada formation,


Arches Natl. Park, Utah (Fig. 2), typify many reservoir sandstones,
and their structure, porosity, and permeability have been documented in detail by the field and laboratory work of Antonellini and
Aydin.5,6 In the Delicate Arch area (Fig. 2), the fluid-flow properties and the geometric attributes of normal faults that cross-cut the
Entrada sandstone also have been documented by Antonellini and
Aydin.5,6 Therefore, this area is ideally suited as an analog reservoir
for our simulations.
The Moab and Slickrock sandstones are crossbedded, wellrounded, and well-sorted dune deposits.29 Their porosity varies
between 4 and 28%, with an average value of about 22%, and their
combined thickness varies between 80 and 200 m. The thickness of
the Moab sandstone ranges between 20 to 40 m in the Delicate Arch
area (typically 30 m). As determined by Antonellini and Aydins5
minipermeameter measurements, the permeability of the undeformed Moab and Slickrock sandstones ranges over three orders of
magnitude between 10 and 10 000 md. In most of the Delicate Arch
area, this range is narrower, between 100 and 10 000 md. In our
simulations, we treat the porosity and permeability of the undeformed reservoir sandstone as uniform (25% at 1000 md).
As is typical for the stratigraphy of many sedimentary basins, the
Moab and Slickrock sandstones occur between the impermeable
Dewey Bridge and the Morrison mudstones. These units bound the
analog sandstone reservoir.

TABLE 1MODEL PARAMETERIZATION


model length (X-dimension)
2400
m
model width (Y-dimension)
2400
m
Sandstone (reservoir matrix)
permeability:
1.00E212
m2 (1000 md)
compressibility:
4.16E211
Pa21
porosity:
0.25
Total System Compressibility (Eq. 4)
ct 5 S:
3.10E210
m3/Pa21
Low-Permeability Part of Fault
thickness:
1
m
permeability:
1.00E218
m2 (0.001 md)
S:
1.24E211
m3 Pa21
Slip Plane (if present)
thickness:
0.1
m
(effective) conductivity
2.08E204
m/s21
S:
1.11E209
m3/Pa21
Fluid Properties
(at 25MPa, 50C)
API
45
GOR
0.1
density
800
kg/m3
dynamic viscosity
4
cp
compressibility
1.11E209
Pa21
Well Characteristics. Implementation: octagon, 8 triangular
finite elements
wellbore radius
0.09
m
placement, center (50 m from fault)
X-coordinate
1200
m
Y-coordinate
1200
m
well perimeter correction
0.9744953
Model M1
with fault (see left column)
Model M2. (with segmented slip plane)
slip-plane segment length
290
m
slip-plane segment separation 20
m
Model M3. (slip planes and fault as in Model M2)
zone of d.b.s thickness
1
m
zone of d.b.s continuous
100
m
length
gaps in zones of d.b.s
20
m
separation from slip plane
1
m
zone of d.b. permeability
1.00E215
m2 (1 md)
Model M4. (with slip planes continuous along fault segments)
fault segment length
200
m
fault segment overlap
20
m
fault segment separation
20
m
fault permeability
1.00E218
m2 (0.001 md)
Model M5. (with slip planes continuous along fault segments)
fault segment length
290
m
fault segment separation
20
m
fault permeability
1.00E218
m2 (0.001 md)

Normal Faults as Composite Zones of Deformation


Bands, Slip Planes, and Joints

Joints and deformation bands form the basic structural elements that
account for small-scale inhomogeneities in the permeability of the
Moab/Slickrock sandstones. Herein, the term joint refers to discrete
fractures with small shear displacements. A more general discussion of joints is given in Pollard and Aydin.30 Deformation bands
(see Fig. 4) are 1-mm-wide planar zones of crushed grains and
reduced permeability and porosity relative to undeformed sandstone in the reservoir.31,32
66

Ensembles of tens to hundreds of deformation bands associated


with slip planes, which tend to occur on the hanging wall side of
the ensemble, constitute the kilometer-scale normal faults at Arches
Natl. Park (Figs. 2 and 4). At the terminations of these faults, at the
point where the slip decreases to less than 6 m, fault-parallel joints
are observed in the hanging wall. Along the strike, slip planes
terminate into zones of deformation bands and often are associated
with joints subperpendicular to the slip plane. These two different
SPE Journal, March 1998

Fig. 8 2D, transient fluid-flow Model M1 of faulted Moab sandstone in a horizontal cross-section through the analog reservoir.
The fault is 15 m wide, straight, with a uniform low permeability
of 1023 md (10218 m2). The well is located at a horizontal distance
of 50 m from the fault. The permeability of the sandstone, 1000
md (10212 m2), is six orders of magnitude higher than that of the
fault representing a zone of altered deformation bands without
a slip plane

types of joints are expected to increase the permeability parallel and


normal to the zone of deformation bands, respectively.
Permeability of Zones of Deformation Bands. Antonellini and
Aydin5 define the thickness of the normal fault zones in the
Moab/Slickrock sandstones from the extent, normal to the slip
plane, of densely clustered, anastomosing zones of deformation
bands. This thickness correlates with fault displacement and varies
along fault strike from tens of centimeters to 23 m.
The deformation bands are thin shearbands (millimeters to several centimeters thick), along which the porosity is reduced and, in
most cases, grains were crushed during brittle shearing.31,32 Antonellini and Aydin5 measured porosities of 1% to 3% in the center
of the deformation bands accompanied by permeability reductions
of up to three orders of magnitude (Fig. 5). Where zones of
deformation bands in the Moab sandstone are filled with calcite
cement, permeabilities down to the detection limit of the minipermeameter (1023 md) were measured (Fig. 6).
Slip-Plane Permeability. In the normal faults the slip planes occur
at the interface with the hanging wall sandstone. The country rock
adjacent to the slip planes shows varying degrees of cataclasis and
carbonate cementation. The two surfaces of a slip plane are smooth
and polished with thin lineations (slickensides). Perpendicular to
the slip direction, the surfaces are wavy with a wavelength of 2 to
15 cm and an amplitude of 1 cm or less. The map pattern of slip
planes is segmented on a scale ranging from tens of meters to 1 km
(Fig. 2). Curvilinear slip planes with a strike length of up to a few
hundred meters also occur. The slip planes are straight in crosssection, and their present-day aperture varies from less than 1 mm
to a few centimeters. Local in-situ dilatation of slip planes up to 15
cm is indicated by open space fillings of calcite, which also may
be considered evidence for preferential fluid circulation in the
faults. Dilatation normal to the slip plane is expected because this
is the direction of the least principal compressive stress during
faulting.
In view of these constraints it appears reasonable to assign an
average in-situ aperture of 1 cm to slip planes in models of larger
normal faults at Arches Natl. Park (Fig. 2). This aperture falls in the
midrange of Cruishank et al.s33 aperture estimates for sheared
joints in the Entrada sandstone. It implies a high fault-parallel
permeability.34,35 However, because the slip planes tend to be
segmented, they should represent discontinuous fault-parallel flow
conduits.
Fluid flow in the slip plane is treated as flow between parallel
plates36,37 leading to an intrinsic permeability k

d2
k5 ,
12

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (6)

where d is the mean fracture aperture.38 Brown39 compared the


permeability predicted by this approximation with solutions to the
SPE Journal, March 1998

Fig. 9 Derivative plots for constant-rate production of the well


in Model M1. (a) The upper curve (diamonds) shows the normalized cumulative change in wellhead pressure, and the lower
curve (square data points) shows the normalized rate of pressure change. These characteristic curves are superposed onto
curves computed for a homogeneous isotropic model (solid
lines), such that deviations after t 5 3 minutes define the fault
signature. The reference curves also indicate when interaction
with the model boundaries begins to show in the well response.
This interaction is indicated by the rise of the rate of pressure
change after 1.4 days. (b) Comparison of the derivative curve
from Model M1 with analytical solutions for finite conductivity
and sealing faults (modified Fig. 9, p. 594, Yaxley11). Here aA is
the specific transmissibility ratio between the fault and the
formation with respect to the distance, b, between the well and
the fault (aA 5 (kfh/lfm)/(kh/bm)). In contrast with the derivative
curve from Model M1 (Fig. 9), the analytical solutions are derived
for a fault of infinite length. Therefore, the derivative curve for
Model M1 reaches a lower maximum value and decays more
rapidly than the analytical solutions after tDA 5 10 and before
interaction with the model boundary begins.

Reynolds equation for fluid flow through rough-walled fractures


with contacting asperities. His results indicate that fracture flow is
approximated by the parallel-plate law within a factor of 2. For
wider and open fractures (d $ 100 mm) deviations further diminish.39 Renshaw40 demonstrated the validity of the parallel-plate law
for fractures with an average critical aperture greater than 1025 m
67

Fig. 10 Spatial variation in fluid pressure 5 minutes (a), 3 hours (b), and 1.4 days (c) after the onset of production from Model M1.
Fluid pressure is displayed in a banded gray scale and juxtaposed pressure contours. (a) Fault-induced perturbation of the radial
drawdown when a noticeable increase in the rate of pressure change occurs (see derivative plot, Fig. 9). (b) Spatial variation of fluid
pressure at time t 5 3 hours when a fault-induced increase in the second derivative of pressure approaches its maximum. (c) A
significant pressure differential has built up across the fault when interaction with the no-flow boundaries leads to an accelerated
pressure decrease in the well.

and a typical surface roughness. He argued that in fractures with


contacting asperities, only a small percentage of the fracture plane
is in contact. Otherwise one should not be able to observe the
frequently described lognormal or fractal distributions of fracture
aperture (e.g., Ref. 41). In our models, we treat slip planes as if their
surfaces were in contact only over a small percentage of their area.
This treatment leads to slip-plane conductivities for the laminar
flow of oil, ranging from 0.001 to 10 m/s21 for apertures of 0.1 and
1 cm, respectively.
We represent each slip plane by a mesh of triangular finite
elements with fixed width. For 1-cm-wide slip planes, the width of
the slip plane in the model is overrepresented by a factor of 10. We
68

compensate for this overrepresentation by a reduction of the slipplane normal permeability by one order of magnitude using the
treatment recommended by Deutsch.28
Permeability of Wall Rock Adjacent to Slip Planes. In the
Slickrock and Moab sandstones the permeability of slip-plane
wallrock is approximately 1 md and less than 1023 md, respectively
(see Fig. 7). The latter value is an upper bound, because it just
reflects the detection limit of the minipermeameter. The porosity in
the wallrock adjacent to well-developed slip planes along fault
zones in sandstone is very low (%1%) because of pronounced grain
crushing, recrystallization, and calcite precipitation in the pores of
SPE Journal, March 1998

Fig. 11Two dimensional, transient fluid-flow Model M2 of


faulted Moab sandstone with a 1-m-wide, straight fault with a
uniform low permeability of 1023 md and a 10-cm-wide permeability equivalent of a 1-cm-wide slip plane with an effective
conductivity of 2.08 3 1024 m/s21. The slip plane has a 20-mwide gap.

Fig. 12Derivative plot for a simulated drawdown test in


Model M2.

the sandstone in some cases. A correspondingly lower storativity of


1.24 3 10211 m3/Pa21 as calculated from Eq. 1 is therefore
assigned to regions representing slip-plane wallrock.
Slip-Plane Storativity. The slip-plane storativity is important because it influences how much fluid the slip plane can supply or
consume during pressure changes, independently from the country
rock. Thus, in our simulations, we implement discrete slip-plane
storativities calculated from the fluid compressibility, Z, and analytical solutions for the compressibility of straight open fractures
without contacting asperities.42 From these solutions, the slip-plane
storativity, Ss, is derived as

Ss

Vs
1 Vsbdp ,
p

Vs 5

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (7)

2 pa3 ~v 2 1!~ p 1 syy !


, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (8)
mm

and

Vs 2 pa3 ~v 2 1!
5
,
p
mm

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (9)

where Vs, n, mm, and syy are the slip-plane volume, Poissons ratio,
shear modulus, and the slip-plane normal stress, respectively; a is
the half-length of the fracture. We use a shear modulus of 15 GPa
and a Poissons ratio of 0.25, as measured on the Troll sandstone
from the North Sea.25
Because the effect of contacting asperities on fracture compressibility is ignored, this treatment overemphasizes slip-plane storativity. We find, however, that the slip-plane storativities calculated
from Eq. 4 to Eq. 6 exceed the storativity of the sandstone only if
SPE Journal, March 1998

the slip planes extend for more than 100 m along a strike. In our
models we calculate slip-plane storativity according to the strike
length of the slip planes.
The composite normal faults are implemented with a fixed width
of 1.1 m. Within this zone we resolve a discrete slip plane (0.1 m)
and an altered-wallrock/zones-of-deformation-band assembly (1
m). These two fault components are assigned effective permeabilities, as calculated from the parallel-plate approximation for fracture
flow and the permeability measurements of Antonellini and Aydin5,6 on deformation bands and the undeformed sandstone, respectively. The effective permeabilities are calculated with the
power-averaging method of Deutsch.28
Results

Simulations are presented for four rectangular models that are


modifications of a reference model for comparison with the analytical solution for a fault as an impervious reservoir boundary
(Table 1, Fig. 2). In the reference model, M1 (2400 3 2400 m)
shown in Figs. 4 and 8, the fault is a continuous 1-m-wide zone
along which the permeability is reduced by six orders of magnitude
relative to the reservoir sandstone. The four other models, M2
through M5, cover the variability in geometry and permeability of
the normal faults in the Arches Natl. Park (see Fig. 2). These models
have the same size and central well placement at a distance of 50 m
from the fault as Model M1. The faulted reservoir is represented in
planview, and in the illustrations only the central part is shown
(Observation Area, see Figs. 8, 11, 14, 17, and 20). A uniform
initial fluid pressure and no-flow boundary conditions are assigned.
Because no flow is permitted across the outer model boundaries,
the rate of pressure change increases when this boundary is encountered by the pressure perturbation spreading from the well. For
the chosen model dimensions and well placement this interaction
begins after 1.4 days of drainage from the well when the signal of
the fault has disappeared or ceases in the derivative plots. This time
span does, however, vary among the models due to the presence or
absence of slip planes in the faults, as will become evident by means
of the illustrations of drawdown pressure.
As discussed earlier, constant-rate fluid sinks are specified on the
elements forming the circular well. Time-dependent fluid pressure
at the well in Models M1 through M5 is visualized in derivative
plots (Fig. 1). For reference, all of these graphs also show the
response of an isotropic, uniform, homogeneous model in solid
lines without datapoints (see, for instance, Fig. 9a).
These lines identify when the interaction with model boundaries
begins and when the presence of the fault creates a significant
deviation from the behavior of a homogeneous isotropic reservoir.
Model M1: Low-Permeability Fault. The curves for Model M1
compare well with the analytical solutions for partially communicating faults,11 as is shown in Fig. 9b. This good fit demonstrates
that our numerical model is suited for the simulation of transient
well tests and indicates that the permeability contrast between
undeformed and altered/deformed Moab sandstone in the normal
faults suffices to compartmentalize fluid pressure in the sandstone
reservoir (Fig. 10c). For the 1-m-wide fault with a permeability of
10218 m2 in Model M1, the magnitude of the normalized derivative
deviation (0.9) in Fig. 9b is close to that of a completely impermeable boundary (derivative 5 1.0). A sensitivity analysis shows
that an effect of the fault on the derivative of pressure is visible in
the simulated tests up to a minimum permeability contrast of one
order of magnitude between the fault and the country rock.
In Model M1, after 1.4 days of production, the fluid pressure in
the rock on the far side of the fault has changed by less than 12%
of the pressure difference between the unperturbed reservoir pressure and the pressure at the wellhead. This compartmentalization is
instrumentalized solely by the cataclastic deformation of the sandstone and/or the diagenetic carbonate cementation. It can therefore
occur in faults cutting sandstone reservoirs, independently from
other physical mechanisms, such as the smearing of shale along the
fault from shale layers above and below the sandstone layer. The
spatial variation of fluid pressure in Models M1 to M5, as induced
69

Fig. 13Spatial variation in fluid pressure in Model M2. (a) 6.5 minutes, (b) 25 minutes, and (c) 1.4 days after the onset of production.
Fluid pressure is displayed in a banded gray scale, and the vectors indicate the direction of fluid flow. The snapshots of the spatial
variation in fluid pressure correspond to when (a) a pressure perturbation induced by drawdown reaches the fault; (b) a fault-induced
decrease in the second derivative of pressure reaches a maximum; and (c) the drawdown begins to interact with model boundaries.

by fluid withdrawal from the well, is displayed in reservoir snapshots at 4.5 minutes (directly after the onset of fault interaction, e.g.,
Fig. 10a), after 3 hours of production (when the rate of pressure
change accelerates or reaches a maximum, e.g., Fig. 10b), and after
1.4 days (before the interaction with the model boundaries becomes
appreciable, e.g., Fig. 10c).
Except for Model M4, for which a simple gray scale is used, the
pressure plots use a banded gray scale scheme to emphasize small
spatial variations in fluid pressure. The bands are comparable to
isobars in fluid pressure, and some of the plots contain additional
contour and vector overlays illustrating absolute changes in fluid
pressure and the directions of fluid flow in the reservoir, respectively.
Model M2: Continuous Normal Fault With Slip Plane Facing
the Well. Model M2 is identical to M1 except that it contains the
10-cm-wide permeability equivalent of a 1-cm-open, segmented
70

slip plane in the hanging wall of the fault (see Fig. 11). The two
slip-plane segments have a strike length of 290 m and are separated
by a 20-m gap located at the shortest distance between the well and
the fault (Table 1).
In contrast to Model M1, the derivative plot for Model M2 in Fig.
12 indicates a short-lived, but pronounced, decrease in the rate of
pressure decline ($0.1 at 25 minutes) as the well interacts with
the fault.
The decrease in the pressure derivative accompanies rapid
spreading of the pressure perturbation along the slip plane in the
hanging wall of the fault (Figs. 13a and 13b). The fluid pressure
in the slip plane next to the well stays nearly constant.
The fault behaves similarly to a constant pressure boundary.
Twenty-five minutes after the onset of production (Fig. 13b), the
pressure pattern near the well has developed, reflecting the segmentation of the slip plane. Although the earlier flow was focused
SPE Journal, March 1998

Fig. 14 Two-dimensional, transient fluid-flow Model M3 of


faulted Moab sandstone with a 1-m-wide, straight fault, with a
permeability of 1023 md, a 10-cm-wide permeability equivalent
of a 1-cm-wide slip plane, and a 1-m-wide discontinuous zone
of deformation bands with a reduced permeability of 1 md
shielding the slip plane.

Fig. 15Derivative plot for simulated drawdown test in Model M3.

radially into the well, the slip plane is now underpressured relative
to the country rock along its strike such that fluid in the sandstone
reservoir at a greater distance to the well first flows into the slip
plane and then is focused toward the well. After 25 minutes,
semiradial drawdown patterns develop at the far tips of the slip
planes around the fault terminations (Fig. 13b). As drainage continues, interaction with the lateral no-flow boundaries of the model
begins earlier than in Model M1, leading to a final increase in the
rate of pressure decline. As in Model M1, within the first day of
drainage there is little change in the fluid pressure on the far side
of the well (Fig. 13c). The fault compartmentalizes fluid pressure
in the reservoir.
Importantly, we can infer with certainty that the changes in the
pressure derivative are related to rapid flow along the slip plane of
the fault, only because structure and fluid-flow properties of Model
M2 are known. A comparison of this result with the derivative plot
for Model M1 in Fig. 9 illustrates that single-well transient testing
only provides nondirectional (scalar type) information on the flow
properties of the reservoir. Therefore, given the derivative plot of
a single well, we cannot discriminate between a fault that permits
crossflow and a sealed fault that has a moderately, but not highly,
permeable slip plane facing the well. Such discrimination is,
however, vital for the design of well placement and reservoir
exploitation strategies. Also, because highly permeable slip planes
are likely to provide flow connections to the stratigraphy above and
below the reservoir unit, they represent a high risk for water coning
during reservoir recovery. Such potential fluid supply from the
strata above and below is not considered in Model M2.
Model M3: Continuous Normal Fault With Shielded Slip
Plane. Model M3 is similar to Model M2, but the slip plane is
continuous and a 1-m-wide zone of deformation bands in the
SPE Journal, March 1998

hanging wall of the fault intermittently shields the slip plane against
the undeformed reservoir sandstone (Fig. 13). There are four
20-m-wide gaps in the shield over the length of the fault. In these
gaps the highly permeable slip plane is in contact with the undeformed sandstone. This arrangement of structures is frequently
observed near fault terminations or overlapping segments of normal
faults in the Arches Natl. Park5 (Fig. 2), and it is comparable to what
is known as the skin effect in petroleum engineering. The
effective permeability of the hanging-wall zone of deformation
bands is simulated as a reduction by three orders of magnitude
relative to the undeformed sandstone (see Fig. 6).
The derivative plot in Fig. 15 shows that the shielding of the slip
plane leads to a fault signature that shows a rise somewhat similar
in shape to Model M1 (Fig. 9). However, the increase in the rate
of pressure change is much less pronounced (#0.15 log units at 6.1
hours). In the idealized model this increase is distinct, but it is
questionable whether it would be identified as a fault signature in
a field situation where other reservoir inhomogeneities are present.
Compared with Model M2, significantly less fluid is supplied to
the well, because the amount of fluid in the slip plane itself is small
compared to the reservoir storage. Thus, a pronounced slip-plane
effect is seen only when the slip plane can draw fluid over a large
area from highly permeable reservoir rock along the fault strike.
Because of the shielding, the slip plane in Model M3 can draw fluid
from the reservoir sandstone only at the gaps in the shield along the
fault strike and at the fault terminations. At these terminations a
radial drawdown pattern develops (Fig. 16).
Model M4: Segmented, Stepping Normal Fault. Model M4
represents a right-stepping normal fault with slip planes in the
hanging wall (Fig. 17). The slip planes are continuous over the
three, 200-m-long fault segments, which are separated by 10-mwide rock bridges providing connections to the sandstone on the
far-side of the fault. The distance of the well to the central fault
segment is 50 m, as in the other flow models.
If the highly permeable slip planes are omitted from Model M4,
the segmented fault has a signature shown in the derivative plot in
Fig. 18 (circle symbols) that is similar to a continuous uniform fault
with a low permeability (normalized derivative maximum 0.82 at
1.1 hours; see Figs. 2 and 10).
The presence of the highly permeable slip planes in Model M4,
however, masks the low permeability of the fault segments. In this
case there is a slight negative pressure-derivative response (#0.3
log units) within the time window of observation (Fig. 18, square
symbols). The spatial variation in fluid pressure with time indicates
the development of enhanced fluid pressure gradients across the
fault-facing rock bridges between the slip-plane segments (Figs.
19a and 19b). In these zones the flow is defocused, leaving the
slip-plane segments distant to the well and entering the slip-plane
segment close to the well. This is illustrated in a pressure-gradient
vector overlay on an image of the spatial pressure variation in the
left segment stepover of the fault (Fig. 19c). The pressure gradient
vectors in the overlay point in the direction of fluid flow. These
vectors also indicate the focusing toward the well of fluid from the
far side of the fault segments.

Model M5: Segmented, Normal Fault with Slip Plane on Far


Side of Well. Simulations for a segmented fault with the slip plane
facing away from the well (Fig. 20) show that the presence of the
slip plane enhances the coupling with the reservoir on the far side
of the fault. This leads to a strong attenuation (derivative change
#0.1 vs. 0.9 in Model M1) of the normalized rise in the derivative
of fluid pressure shown in Fig. 21. It should, therefore, be impossible or more difficult to identify segmented normal faults in
transient well tests on single wells when a slip plane facing away
from the well is present. Also, in Model M5, the drainage region
grows rapidly along the fault strike on the side of the slip plane (Fig.
22). This implies a risk of inflow of formation water into the
reservoir, especially if oil is not present on the hanging-wall side
of the fault.
71

Fig. 16 Spatial variation in fluid pressure in Model M3. (a) 4.5 minutes and (b) 1.4 days after the onset of drawdown. The snapshots
of the spatial variation in fluid pressure correspond to when (a) pressure perturbation reaches the fault and (b) the fault-induced
pressure increase reaches a maximum.

Fig. 17Two-dimensional, transient fluid-flow Model M4 of


Moab sandstone with a 1 m-wide, right-stepping, segmented
fault with a uniform permeability of 1023 md and 10-cm-wide
permeability equivalent of 1-cm-wide slip planes facing the well.

Discussion

The fluid-flow numerical Models M2 to M5 contain idealized but


realistic representations of the normal faults with a variety of
complex internal architectures, as established by the previous
studies of fault geometry and flow properties in Arches Natl.
Park5,6 (Fig. 2). Although our finite-element method reproduces
analytically determined drawdown curves for a homogeneous isotropic reservoir and impermeable43 and low-permeability boundaries11,12 (Fig. 9), we observe previously not described signatures
for the realistic model representations of the normal faults with
discontinuous slip planes and with slip planes shielded by zones of
deformation bands.
These new signatures are based on permeability-porosity measurements obtained after uplift and erosion. However, these values
closely match in-situ measurements on highly permeable sandstone
formations (e.g., Ref. 15). The corrugations, fibrous crystal coatings, and open space-filling carbonate precipitates in the slip planes
72

Fig. 18 Derivative plot for simulated drawdown test in Model


M4. Two sets of curves are shown for Model M4 with and without
highly permeable slip planes in the hanging wall of the segmented fault, respectively.

of the normal faults indicate that these were open fractures when
the faults were active and that the Moab sandstone was submersed.
Our simulation results should, therefore, apply to producing faulted
sandstone reservoirs.
Our analysis further indicates that transient pressure data from a
single well are insufficient to assess the flow properties of faults
that have an inhomogeneous permeability. This is due to the
nondirectional (scalar) nature of any information on flow properties
that can be extracted from test data derived from a single well. Thus,
SPE Journal, March 1998

Fig. 19 Spatial variation in fluid pressure in Model M4. (a) 1.1 hours, (b) 1.4 days, and (c) 1.4 days after the onset of drawdown at
the left stepover region along the segmented fault. The snapshots of the spatial variation in fluid pressure correspond to when (a)
a fault-induced decrease in second derivative of pressure occurs in the presence of the slip plane and (b, c) the pressure derivative
reaches a minimum.

we would estimate that the normal faults at Arches Natl. Park are
highly permeable for crossflow if the test well was placed on the
hanging-wall side of a segmented fault, and we would use the
analytical method of Yaxley11 to determine fault permeability from
the magnitude of the derivative deviation from radial flow. Only by
means of interference tests of wells on either side of the fault should
well testing be able to identify whether a flow connection exists
between adjacent fault blocks. This applies, however, only if the
SPE Journal, March 1998

well test or the production curve spans a sufficiently long period of


time. If the possibility of fault crossflow has been discounted and
if the fault gives no sealing response, pressure data from wells along
the fault strike have to be examined to evaluate whether the pressure
perturbation induced in the well test is transmitted rapidly along a
slip plane like in Model M2.
In our 2D Model M3 (Figs. 14 to 16), the partial shielding of the
slip plane by zones of deformation bands, comparable to a skin
73

Fig. 20 Two-dimensional, transient fluid-flow Model M5 of


Moab sandstone with a 15-m-wide, segmented fault with a
uniform permeability of 1023 md and a 10-cm-wide permeability
equivalent of a 1-cm-wide slip plane facing away from the well.

Fig. 21Derivative plot for simulated drawdown test in Model M5.

Fig. 22Spatial variation in fluid pressure in Model M5. (a) 5 minutes, (b) 25 minutes, and (c) 1.4 days after the onset of production.
Note that the pressure gradients are largest across the fault that forms a quasi-impermeable barrier. In (c), after 1.4 days of drainage,
significant amounts of fluid are focused through the gap in the fault. Most of this fluid is derived from along the slip plane.
74

SPE Journal, March 1998

around a well, partly restored the characteristic response of an


impermeable fault. However, fluid from within the slip plane was
focused toward the well. In a layered sedimentary sequence, this
behavior may imply that fluid invades the reservoir from permeable
strata above and/or below the sandstone unit. This fluid is likely to
be formation water.
Our models are idealized as they do not include potential heterogeneities in the properties of the sandstone or small-scale
structural inhomogeneities such as joints and deformation bands.
Such inhomogeneities are expected to distort the radial drawdown
pattern before fault interaction and thereby to obscure or add noise
to fault signatures.21 In a real reservoir, the pressure response will
not be unique, for instance, if open joints are present in the
sandstone near the well. These will induce derivative variations
similar to the slip plane in Model M2.16 This highlights the
importance of a close geological characterization of the geometry
and the subseismic inhomogeneities in producing reservoirs.
Conclusions

Normal faults in the Entrada sandstone, Arches Natl. Park, Utah,


represent ensembles of zones, meter- to tens-of-meter-wide zones,
of reduced permeability and porosity (1 to #1023 md at 1 to 5%
vs. 1000 md at 25%) on the footwall side of the fault and segmented
but highly permeable slip planes forming the interface to the
hanging wall. This inhomogeneous permeability leads to type
curves that differ strongly from theoretically inferred fault responses.
1. If highly permeable slip planes face the well and are not
shielded by 1-m-wide zones of deformation bands, the increase in
the pressure derivative that is characteristic of low-permeability
barriers disappears or is even inverted.
2. Rapid flow along the slip plane can create the illusion that the
fault is highly permeable, whereas the sandstone reservoir on the
far side of the fault is not drained because it is shielded by the
low-permeability zone in the footwall of the fault.
3. If the fault is discontinuous or stepping, even slip planes facing
away from the well affect the type curves. They improve the
coupling between the tested reservoir block and the reservoir block
on the opposite side of the fault such that the fault-associated
increase in the pressure derivative is smaller or absent. Slip planes
generally act as rapid conductors of drawdown-induced pressure
perturbations. This makes them prone to focus remote fluids promoting water coning.
4. Provided that the normal faults are continuous, $1 m thick,
and that the slip planes face away from the well, measured negative
fault-permeability deviations of greater than or equal to three orders
of magnitude relative to the reservoir sandstone produce a response
of an impermeable barrier in the simulated drawdown tests. Discontinuous, low-permeability faults with gaps still show detectable, but weaker responses than continuous faults without slip
planes.
5. Fault zones with permeabilities reduced by four to six orders
of magnitude due to footwall cementation, recrystallization, and
calcite precipitation compartmentalize fluid pressure in the analog
sandstone reservoir and prevent or postpone production of adjacent
fault blocks.
Nomenclature

a
b
m
mm
n
syy
F
a
B
c
ct
h
k

5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5

matrix compressibility
fluid compressibility
fluid viscosity
shear modulus
Poissons ratio
slip plane-normal stress
porosity
half length of fracture (slip plane)
formation factor
wellbore storage
total system compressibility
formation thickness
permeability

SPE Journal, March 1998

p
pi
pw
q
rw
S
t
V

5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5

fluid pressure
initial reservoir pressure
pressure at the wellbore
constant rate of production
wellbore radius
storage capacity
time
volume

Subscripts
D 5 dimensionless
f 5 fluid
s 5 slip plane
Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Rock Fracture Project, Stanford


U. The authors thank Fikri Kuchuk and Roland Horne for their
helpful comments and review of this work. Special thanks are due
to Albrecht Honecker from ICEM CFD Engineering Ltd. for the
generation of the highly refined triangular finite-element meshes.
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SI Metric Conversion Factors

cp 3 1.0*
ft 3 3.048*
ft3 3 2.831 685
F (F232)/1.8
in. 3 2.54*
lbm 3 4.535 924
md 3 9.869 223
psi 3 6.894 757
*Conversion factor is exact

E203 5 Pa z s
E201 5 m
E202 5m3
5 C
E100 5 cm
E201 5 kg
E204 5 mm2
E100 5 kPa
SPEJ

Stephan K. Mattha
i is a research associate at the Dept. of Earth
Sciences, Swiss Federal Inst. of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland. He previously conducted postdoctoral research at Cornell U., Ithaca, New York, and as a member of the Rock Fracture
Project at Stanford U., Stanford, California. Mattha
i holds a Dip.
degree in structural geology from the Eberhardt Karls U., Tubingen, Germany, and a PhD degree from the Australian Natl. U.,
Canberra. Atilla Aydin is Professor of geomechanics and structural engineering, Codirector of the Rock Fracture Project, and
Director of the Shale Smear Project at Stanford U. His research
interests include fluid flow through fractures and faults with
applications to hydrocarbon migration and recovery; wastecontainment problems; physical processes of faulting and
fault-seal potential; and the characterization of naturally fractured reservoirs and aquifers. Aydin holds a BS degree in geological engineering from Istanbul Technical U. and MS and PhD
degrees in geology from Stanford U. David D. Pollard is Professor
in the Geological and Environmental Sciences Dept., School of
Earth Sciences, Stanford U., and Codirector of the Stanford
Rock Fracture Project. He supervises research focusing on understanding rock fracturing and faulting with applications to
fluid flow in structurally heterogeneous reservoirs and aquifers.
Pollard holds a BA degree in geology from Pomona College,
and MS degree in structural geology and rock mechanics from
Imperial College and a PhD degree in geology from Stanford
U. Stephen G. Roberts is a lecturer in the Mathematics Dept. at
Australian Natl. U., with research interests in efficient numerical
solution of partial-differential equations associated with fluidflow problems and geometric-evolution equations. Roberts
holds a PhD degree in mathematics from the U. of California,
Berkeley. Author photographs are unavailable.

SPE Journal, March 1998

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