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Abstract: Mapping Mesa Verde Fractures with 3-D Seismic Data

FORREST, GARY S.

Five 3-D seismic surveys have been used to successfully map tensional fractures (minor faults) in the Mesa Verde Group of the San Juan Basin. Relatively common methodology was employed to define these fractures: horizon slices through a coherency cube, amplitude maps, time structure maps, and time slices.

When the fracture maps were completed, the exploitation team compared the production histories of several hundred Mesa Verde wells and selected a high production threshold that would represent only those wells that were obviously producing from open fractures. These anomalously high producers were posted on the fracture maps and the correlation between these wells and major fractures is greater than 90%. Production interference observations were also posted on the fracture maps and the correlation was excellent.

In summary, the geophysical mapping of seismic scale fractures within the Mesa Verde Group of the San Juan Basin provides a strong correlation to high production wells and interference phenomena. This methodology is currently being successfully used within Amoco to improve production within our Mesa Verde properties.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90946©1997 AAPG Rocky Mountain Section Meeting, Denver, Colorado