Khuff and Pre-Khuff Reservoir Fracture Characterization using the Cross Dipole Shear Wave Imaging and Borehole Imaging Data Integration

Abstract Increasing demands for gas in UAE have led to increased focus on more tight gas reservoirs like Khuff and pre-Khuff formations, away from the conventional oil-bearing carbonate reservoirs. The case study presented is in an offshore field, Northwest of Abu Dhabi city. The structure, with an area of 50 Sq.km was first identified in 1966 and it is part of the regional N-S extending structural. The multi-discipline approach applied in this study required the integration of a suite of open-hole data over a variety of length scales. Combination of the Borehole Acoustic Reflection Imaging technique and borehole imaging logs (BHI) in 3D, provides a better understanding of the complex fracturing network and the associated formation stress orientation up to 100ft away from the wellbore. The ability to "see" away from wellbore what was previously hidden on seismic, allows unlocking further potential reserves or avoiding certain production hazards. The well has penetrated the highly economical tight clastic Pre-khuff formation and the carbonate Kuff formation, allowing the analysis over a large geological history of offshore Abu Dhabi. The coherency of all data has helped establish for the first time a baseline understanding of the role of the fractures and fault in the petrophysical properties distribution along the wellbore and the 3D structural characterization in an larger area around the wellbore (up to 100ft). The emphasize in this paper is on the Borehole Acoustic Reflection Imaging technique (DSWI), which allows the identification of both intersecting and non-intersecting of geological features with a depth of investigation up to 100 ft away from the borehole. Moreover, the combination of DSWI with BHI have been used for the anisotropy estimation away from wellbore especially in a very tight and fractured reservoir deciphering multiple fault orientation, which potentially, cancel the anisotropy estimation due to destructive interference. In addition to the presence of drilling induced fractures interfering in with the natural fracture as seen on the BHI. The detailed BHI interpretation and the petrophysical data revealed that the fracture densities and orientation vary from bottom to top interval indicating tectonic regimes affecting the field. The lithological variation due to the evolution of the depositional setting has significantly influenced the fracture distribution and their length. The presence of these induced fractures and how deep they propagate into the formation, dominates the behavior acoustic anisotropy by reaching the flexural (dipole shear) investigation zone (3 to 4ft deep). It is also interesting to see the behavior of both natural and induced fractures and their respective strike change over the different formations revealing a geomechanically complex structure.