Field Simulation of Naturally Fractured Reservoirs Using Effective Permeabilities Derived From Realistic Fracture Characterization

Jensen, Clair; Lee, S.H.; Milliken, William J.; Kamath, Jairam; Narr, Wayne; Wu, Haiqing; Davies, John P.

doi:10.2118/48999-ms

Cited by 13 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Moreover, the fractured system behaviour became almost equivalent to a homogeneous system at large times [40], as illustrated in Figure 11, Model P1 as an example. Where the effective drainage area (well or field) depends on the opened fractures [13,41], and when the fracture network is well developed [42].…”

Section: The Variation In Fracture Network Conductivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Fracture Conductivity Effect in DFN Modelling Using Carbonate Outcrop Data

Aljuboori,

Lee,

Elraies

et al. 2023

Unconventional Methods for Geoscience, Shale Gas and Petroleum in the 21st Century

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Synthetic well testing is an important tool which can be utilised to understand the fractures’ influence on flow behaviour. Different fracture sets have been used to identify the well performance and the conductivity of the fracture network. Five models were built using outcrop fracture data sets with similar statistical properties, and their flow performances were analysed using the well-test response to evaluate the outcrop-related uncertainties. The results of the aforementioned scenarios have shown remarkable differences in the pressure responses related to the degrees of fracture conductivity in each fracture set. This variation in the pressure response indicates that the higher fracture density may not necessarily result in a higher fracture conductivity. The fracture conductivity effect was further investigated using a scenario of a producer completed in a matrix block trapped within fractures. The results have referred that the distance to the fracture and the fracture conductivity have a considerable influence on the dual-porosity signature, which may mask the radial flow response of the matrix in the derivative plot when the fractures are very close. The outcome of this work can be used to understand the outcrop-related uncertainties as a pre-work of a full field fracture modelling and to calibrate the fracture conductivity at the well vicinity to improve the history matching. The results can also help in well-test interpretations when a similar pattern of pressure response is obtained from real well-test data.

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Section: The Variation In Fracture Network Conductivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Fracture Conductivity Effect in DFN Modelling Using Carbonate Outcrop Data

Aljuboori,

Lee,

Elraies

et al. 2023

Unconventional Methods for Geoscience, Shale Gas and Petroleum in the 21st Century

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“…It is worth mentioning that outcrop studies provide valuable information about the fracture characteristics and their properties, which can be used as effective input data for fracture modelling [3,16,17,18].…”

Section: Fracture Permeabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Contact Area and Fracture Surface Roughness on Fluid Flow in Fractured Reservoirs

Aljuboori,

Lee,

Elraies

et al. 2023

Unconventional Methods for Geoscience, Shale Gas and Petroleum in the 21st Century

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The estimation of effective fracture permeability depends mainly on the geometry of the void space between the fracture surfaces. Sometimes, these void spaces are closed partially or totally for various reasons, which create a contact area between the fracture surfaces. These contact areas cause the fluid to follow a tortuous path around them, which reduces the permeability magnitude notably. In this study, a digitised fracture network of a carbonate formation has been used to investigate the impact of contact areas and variable aperture width on the effective fracture permeability by using a discrete fracture networks approach. Moreover, a statistical analysis of a fracture width was used to build a stochastic aperture distribution to evaluate the fluid flow behaviour. Where, the properties of the aperture histogram are the only required parameters for the aperture modelling, in addition to several advantages in the current workflow compared with the former modelling approaches. The results were represented by a correction curve plotted based on the 3D simulation results, which can be used to evaluate the reduction factor in fracture permeability by considering the impact of contact areas in fractures. Furthermore, it can also be utilised for the history-matching process by calibrating the fracture permeability, hence fluid flow behaviour at the well region or the reservoir scale.

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