SPE 23637

SPE
Society of Petroleum Engineers

Fracture Identification and Quantification Using Borehole Images:

Maracaibo Basin, Venezuela
R. Lambertini, Schlumberger Surenco, c.A.
SPE Member

Copyright 1992, Society of Petroleum Engineers, Inc

This paper was presented at the Second latin American Petroleum Engineering Conference, IlLAPEC, of the Society of Petroleum Engineers held in Caracas, Venezuela, Man:h 8-11, 1992

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ABSTRACT
During FRACVIEW analysis,
different kinds of fractures are
Borehole images obtained with grouped into statistical or
the Formation MicrScanner Tool geological sets using the Image
(FMS) have added a new dimension to Examiner Workstation (FLIP)
reservoir description and according to fracture density,
characterization. As confidence in lenght, width and porosity.
fracture detection ~nd analysis
grows in the petroleum industry, Such information is proving to
more emphasis is been placed on the be a valuable guide to the
modeling of fracture distribution positioning, testing and completion
within the reservoir. of new wells.

The FMS logs that have been

run in several wells in the INTRODUCTION
Maracaibo Basin (Tretiary and
Cretaceous Formations) have been
used with cores, open hole logs and Core examination is an
conventional dipmeter in an excellent way to evaluate and
integrated approach to reservoir characterize fractures, but it is
description. very difficult to recover good
material from a highly fractured
To assist in the intervals. This means that
interpretation and quantification fracture evaluation has to be done
of fractures, especialized image using log data in addition to core
analysis have been developed. analysis.
Borehole imagery records fracture
orientation and allows natural or FMS images has become the
induced fractures to be favoured technique for the
distinguished. Quantitative detection and geostatistical
analysis of fracture revealed with analysis of fractures, recording
the FMS images has been greatly its orientation, associated
ac\venced with the development of porosity, aperture and coverage and
the FRACVIEW software. allowing the interpreter to

89
 SPE 2 J 6J .,

distinguish natural or induced microresistivity data are then

fractures (something that cannot be converted into images format which
done using conventional open hole represents changes in fromation
logs) . resistivity presented as a spectrum
of black and white. and color
This paper presents the images. The darker the image, the
results of fracture detection and higher the conductivity of the
quantification using FMS logs in formation; meaning that in a
several wells in the Maracaibo siliciclastic sequence, the
Basin, both in siliciclastic and interpreter usually correlates
carbonatic environments. darker colors in the FMS with shale
lithology and bright colors with
Four types of fractures were sands/sandstones, on the other
identified from cores and FMS hand, if the FMS is run in a
images carbonatic sequence, limestones
will appear as bright colors and
- Natural open fractures, shales as darker colors.
Natural partially healed CHARACTERIZATION OF FRACTURES
fractures,
- Healed fractures, and Comprehensive analysis of a
fractured reservoir involves the
- Induced fractures. evaluation of the fracture
frequency, distribution, length,
Because the fracture width, morphology and orientation.
fingerprint is affected by
lithology, depositional mode and On the FMS, fractures appear
tectonic setting, the as conductive or resistive
geostatistical analysis will be anomalies according to whether they
carried out evaluating Tertiary and are filled with conductive or
Cretaceous Formations separatelly. resistive material. The fracture
can be picked on the FMS either by
FRACTURE DETECTION overlaying the trace with a
template sinewave (being the
intersection of a planar fracture
To characterize fracture with a cylindrical borehole, when
types, the interpreter has to unfolded onto a flat surface), or
analyse the geometry of the by entering a series of points to
fractures intersected by the well mark out fractures which are not
and use this information in an well represented by a sinewave.
integrated way to evaluate Once the fracture is inteperted, a
geoeconomically the reservoir. quantitative analysis can be
Until recently, the only way to carried out using FRACVIEW
detect fractures was by core software.
analysis but, as stated above, the
removal of fractured cores, intact i Fracview uses the images,
poses major problems. which are calibrated in resistivity
units, to determine a complete
The Formation MicroScanner range of geological and mechanical
Tool (FMSt has brought a parameters that can be used in
significant leap forward in order to obtain a better knowledge
fracture detection. The FMS maps of the reservoir. The fractures
the microresistivity of the attributes that can obtained using
borehole wall from 64 button Fracview analysis are
electrodes (four pads of 16 orientation (dip angle and
electrodes each) (Fig. 1). The azimuth), aperture, hydraulic

90
 SPE 2.3 63 .,

aperture, coverage, planarity Vertical or near vertical

index, length, spacing, associated fractures correspond to either
porosity and density (per unit tension or extension caused by
area) (F ig . 2) . local forces at right angles,
therefore they will be parallel to
Once individual fractures have the maximmun stress axis.
been characterized, the population Horizontal fractures are generally
is analyzed in terms of fracture related to the release of load at
"sets" (Fig. 3). These parameters shalow depth (Fig. 6).
can be plotted as polar projection
or as fracture logs (Fig. 4). HEALED FRACTURES
NATURAL OPEN/PARTIALLY OPEN
FRACTURES Cemented or healed fratures
are characterized by fine to very
fine, elongated and more or less
Natural fracture orientation straight resistive (light) features
can be controlled by a regional (Serra, 1989). In order to get the
stress, although some fracture contrast enough to be recognized,
orientation may be related to the healed fractures have to be
nearby faulting and both, the fault more resistive than the surrounding
and the fracture may act as medium (Fig. 7).
vertical paths for hydrocarbon
migration. In any case, if the
fracture is open at reservoir Because these features
conditions, it will appear as a correspond to a naturally cemented
conductive feature defining a fracture, they indicate that the
sineawave whose amplitude will be formation was subjected to stress
which generated open fractures
directly relate to the dip angle of later cemented. Billings (1972),
the fracture (Fig. 5). stated that the direction of the
principal paleostress (T1), is
When the fracture is partially determined by the dip of the
cemented, the image color will natural fracture plane with respect
depend on the kind of material to the stratification.
which fills the fracture; if the
material is chemically conductive INDUCED FRACTURES
(like pyrite), the response in the
FMS image will be dark, on the
other hand, if the material is During fracture analysis, it
resistive (like calcite or quartz is difficult to differentiate
cement), the image will show a between natural fractures and
light response. . With sufficient induced fractures (produced as a
borehole coverage it is possible to result of a very localized stress)
reconstruct the fracture network from cores and logs data.
(interrelationship, nature, Estimates of the in situ stress
orientation and volumetric tensor in basins like the Maracaibo
analysis). Basin can be inferred from
information gathering drilling and
Natural open fractures provide posterior hydraulic fracture jobs.
information on the main direction
of major faults and their nature. The stress acting at any point
If the interpreter knows the in the borehole walls can be
natural fracture direction, he can described by three (3) mutually
deduce that this direction has a perpendicular vectors Tl, T2 and
direct relatioship with the main T3, which are reffered to as the
regional stress and, therefore, a maximmun, intermediate and minimun
stress elipse can be built. stress, respectivelly (Bell, 1990).

91
 ~eE 23637

Since we know that the minimun and CONCLUSIONS

intermediate stresses are
associated with natural fracturing
at the time of fracturing (in The intention of this paper
geologic units), induced fractures was to provide information
can be related to a minimun stress regarding -fracture identification
orientation at the time of drilling and the possibility of a
and/or fracturing job, which is the statistical quantification using
same direction of wellbore FRACIEW Analysis.
ovalizations.
Two types of induced fractures The Formation MicroScanner
were recognized : is a powerfull tool for fracture
detection and identification.
by hydraulic fracturing
FRACVIEW software gives the
by drilling. best fracture quantification from
FMS4 images fracture
orientation, aperture, hydraulic
In both cases, present the aperture, coverage, planarity
following characteristics index, length, spacing, associated
porosity and fracture density.
- parallel to the major axis Natural and induced
in an ovalized borehole, fractures can be discriminated with
high degree of confidence using
- 180 degrees appart in the FMS4 images.
images (the fracture is seen only
on every other pad) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
associated with hole
breakouts The author wish to thank PDVSA
and its afiliates for allowing
- occurs as vertical events. publication of this study. Special
thanks to SCHLUMBERGER organization
Hydarulic Fractures for the technical support and to P.
Haines, M.A.L. and Tony Suarez for
their constructive comments and
Hydraulic fracturing is corrections.
created when the borehole pressure
exceeds the combined reservoir pore REFERENCES
pressure and rock tensile strength,
producing vertical cracks which are
oriented along the lines of least Bell-, J. S. , "Investigating
principal sterss across the stress regimes in sedimentary
borehole walls (Fig. 8). basins using information from oil
industry wireline logs and drilling
Drilling fractures records": from Hurst, A., Lowell,
M.A. and Morton, A.C., Geological
Applications of Wireline Logs
Fractures enhanced by drilling Geological Society Soecial
correspond to shear fractures Publication 48, 1990,pp.
(Serra, 1989). Although they have 305-325.
the same orientation, they are not
parallel to the principal stress Billings, M.P., "Structural
direction and show different dip Geology" Englewood Cliffs Edt.,
magnitudes (Fig. 5). New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1972.

92
 SPE 2 J 63 .,

Lenhe, K.A., "Fracture

Detection from Logs of North Sea
Chalk": from Hurst, A., Lowell,
M. A . and Morton, A. C . (Eds ) ,
Geological Aplications Of Wireline
Logs Geological Society Special
Publication 48, 1990, pp.
263-271.

Luthi, S., Souhaite, P.,

"Fracture Aperture from Electrical
Borehole Scans" Geophysics,
1990, vol. 55, 7.
Serra, 0., "Formation
MicroScanner Image Interpretation"
Schlumberger Educational
Services, 1989. 117p.

93
 SPE 2363 7

Silo( channels are computed, uSIng all frac'url1S or only those belonging
to a selected list:

FvDA Apparent fracture denSIty.

FYDC Corrected fracture dens i t y.
FVTL Fracture trace length
FVA Mean fracture aperture.
FVAH Hydraul ic fractur~ aperture.
FVPA Apparent fracture porosIty.

'~~~ The parameters required for the computat1ons .ire:

.....h
W_,
...'n....oumcto.....,;
,
53".
.. 18.45"'1
12431tg1
1) The height of the lIIindChi for averagIng.
2) The borehole diameter .
3) The coverage (I of borehole wall sampled):

O..rNfer 5.0," 1'27m"'l

M,nlmum 'KOfT'mended Fig 2.- Different channels' computed in
""'-si,. 6" m 1'&0 "'"'I
M."'mum~'"g
daflme-t., 1S33 """I
FRACTURE LOGS along with the requirements
"'.'-.'''ong ,...,
20.000 ~
for the computations.
LTempel.tur.
...... _ '.""0
QopanCIlfl'lllQIH

0.."""
' .......
3200 ....

Fig. 1 .- FORMATION MICROSCANNER tool and

specifications (from Serra, 1989).

_: S.t~ Den ty (Equal Area t

Creatad ; Mon 15 Oct 1998 @ 87:41 (Upper "_'.p".ra)
Revised : Thu 4 Apr 1991 @ 14;48 Ref : True
.. 19 sample,; -
...-.ar of fracbrealdtps
25.B 1
SUtt.Uce ~to-date YES

Oriental tan True ApparwIt ~OH Rel.tive 2B.B 1

M n Dip 48.7 48.5 / 48.4 48.7
Mean Az imuth 8B.B 79.4 / 111.6 8B.B
15.B 1
Great Circle Dip 99.9 lBB.6 / 96.2 99.9
Great Circle Azimuth 358.8 358.9/ 27.1 358.8
1B.B 1
MaK / Min Depth 5246.57 I 5181 22 (ft)
Mean length 1.86 (ft) s.B 1
M n Spacing 16.B6 (ft)
Mean Aperture B.121 ( ... ) B.B 1
Mean Hydraulic Aperture B.197 (om)

Dml1t}' 1.D. pereut of frettu'es

D18pl.y Colcar: Red 0 Vellow 0 Blue 0 Green 0 Cyan 0 Magenta per ODe per tat &rI&.

D1opl.y Syobol: itO 00 0 X 0 A 0 t> 0 V 0 <l

(Roc,,"puto) (Rostore) ~ ~ ~ Fig.4.- Equal area net plot (upper hemisphere).
Enter .. t description, ComMInts (if any) in the space below : showing FRACTURE DENSITY per 1% area.
Fig. 3.- Screendump showing information
regarding with FRACTURE SETS.
l' PldY 1 ; ~(dlt' 1/~
_: f~
lnterpreht ton :
Created "'un 15 Dct 1'3913 @ eS:32 lJ Boraho 1e Induced
Re .."sed Fr1 ') Jul 1991 @ 11'113
: 191219 [J B."eak.out
Depth 5lt37.33 to 5168.29 (ft)
:1"214
Length ;:.84 ( t t I Caver-.ige 213 t
o Shear fa i 1ure
5115.'
Oriental ton True Apparent IIOlTtVT(tt Relative o TenSIon gash
DIp 5771 57.63 57.71 !i("'atura I
:211219 AZImuth 66 IS 65 71 / 96.B2 66.15 o Filult
: 221213 Qual ity Index .6 o Bed
FMS Aper ture 13.136 (lIle_nj 8.19B (hydr.iullC) (1M!)
o Conduc t I ve bee!

Hole Condttton Sonic: DLl :

o ReSist ive bed

iii! Planar o Normal iii! Strong o Strong \Jer t 1 COl 1

o
DEn echel10n 0 Enl.irged o 'Weal< o 'Weak Vert lea 1
o
5I1C.'
o
o Non-p 1anar go" O\,l.i 11 ,;ed o No response 0 Strong Horlzont.il 0
o Unknown o 'w'a5hout o No data iii!WBak Horizontal 0
o Breakout o No response o
: 11/U7 o No data DNa dah o
~ [Recompute] (Redefine) (Restore] ~ ~ ~

:17/178 Enter carrnents (H any) 11'1 the space belCLI :

5111.1

Fig. 5.- NATURAL OPEN FRACTIJRE in a

siliciclastic environment filled with drilling mud.
The vertical events in pads 2 and 4. were
interpreted as DRILLING INDUCED FRACTIJRES
defining a minimun stress direction NW-SE.
T8:51ii/1ii7
51 . . . . The EDIT FRACTUREJDIP A TIRIBUTES table
shows the information for each individual fracture.

94
 SfE 2363 .,

Isplay 1 ; scale 111H vi ... angle (dog): 2t! l'.play 1 ; Stalt> I/(,H
ORttlfAlION: ToP OF HOL[ display : C devUtld
Top dopth ,\3965.7\ Ft
Bottan dapth: 13967.23 Fl

,I

4133.1 5558.'

14134.' 5561.1

,.
55'2.1

~ 55&4.1

,.
5566.1

55".1

5511.1

Fig. 7 .- CEMENTED OR HEALED FRACTURES

in a thin laminated interval. Core calibration FIG.8.- HYDRAULIC INDUCED FRACTURES in
Fig. 6.- Vertical or near vetical NATURAL OPEN
showed that the fracture is filled with calcite a Siliciclastic formation similar to Fig. 5. Note that
FRACTURES in a producing carboi1atic formation.
cement. the minimun stress direction agrees with the one
3-D presentation gives a better perspective view detected by drilling induced fractures.
over the fracture interval.
As in the Fig. 5, the EDIT FRACTUREIDIP
ATTRIBUTES shows information for this
individual fracture, Note the differences in
aperture,