Print this pageFracture Characterization from Well Logs
R. A. Plumb
New well logging techniques are providing high-resolution fracture
characterization in situ. Quantitative geometric and mechanical data acquired
include fracture plane and bedding plane locations and orientations, relative
fracture aperture, fracture morphology, and contemporary stress directions. The
logging methods and interpretation techniques are presented for mapping
fractures and stress directions. Using these data we construct geologic models
of the near-well-bore reservoir revealing fracture patterns, clusters of high
fracture density, fracture spacing, and fracture connectivity trends. This
information provides a sound geologic basis for estimating the directions of
reservoir 
anisotropy
and for zoning reservoirs into domains of similar
parameters (porosity, perme bility, anisotropy
). Illustrative examples from
fractured reservoirs will be given and implications for fractured reservoir
modeling will be discussed.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91030©1988 AAPG Annual Convention, Houston, Texas, 20-23 March 1988.