A Geographic Information System Application in Fracture Prediction for Jurassic Carbonate Reservoirs in Kuwait

By

 Mohammed Dawas Al-Ajmi¹

(1) Kuwait Oil Company, Ahmadi, Kuwait

 The aim of the study was to develop a process for analyzing and integrating fractured reservoir datasets in order to make predictive estimates of fracture density, and to develop it in sufficient detail to allow others to apply the techniques. Geographic Information System (GIS) software applications store, analyze, and display multiple layers of geographic information. GIS is made up from several interrelated and linked components with different functions. GIS have functional capabilities for data capture, input, manipulation, transformation, visualization, spatial query, combination, modeling, and output.

Fractures are the key component for hydrocarbon flow in low-porosity Jurassic carbonate reservoirs in Kuwait, and fracture prediction is therefore a very important process. Rock deformation, such as folding and faulting, are the main causes of fracturing in carbonates. This presentation will explain the process for the prediction of the spatial distribution of fractured reservoirs using GIS tools. The Model of the fracture prediction process was built by assigning the fault system to a fault classification and integrating with the structure map analysis ( slope, curvature etc...).The technique has been used for predicting fracture-prone areas in low-matrix porosity Jurassic carbonate reservoirs.