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The 3D shear experiment over the Natih field in Oman. Reservoir geology, data acquisition and anisotropy analysis [Note 1. Paper presented at the 58th EAGE Conference — Geophysical ...]
Author(s) -
Potters,
Groenendaal,
Robert D. Oates,
Hake,
Kalden
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
geophysical prospecting
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.735
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1365-2478
pISSN - 0016-8025
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2478.1999.00155.x
Subject(s) - anisotropy , geology , shear wave splitting , shear (geology) , seismic anisotropy , igneous petrology , economic geology , seismology , environmental geology , engineering geology , gemology , regional geology , petrology , fracture (geology) , mineralogy , geophysics , geotechnical engineering , telmatology , tectonics , physics , quantum mechanics , mantle (geology) , volcanism
This paper describes a large‐scale reservoir characterization experiment carried out in Oman in 1991 which comprised the acquisition, processing and interpretation of a 28.4 km 2 3D multicomponent seismic experiment over the Natih field. The objective of the survey was to obtain information on the fracture network present in the Natih carbonates from shear‐wave anisotropy. Shear‐wave anisotropy in excess of 20% time splitting was encountered over a large part of the survey. The seismic results are confirmed by geological and well data but provide additional qualitative information on fracturing where this was not available before. Regions of stronger and weaker shear‐wave anisotropy appear to be fault‐bounded. The average well flow rates (which are fracture‐dominated) within such blocks correlate with the average anisotropy of the blocks. The further observation that the anisotropy is largest in the fracture gas cap of the reservoir suggests that shear waves can provide a direct hydrocarbon indicator for fractured rock.