SPE 88478

Characterizing Permeability for the Fractured Basement Reservoirs

Bingjian Li, Schlumberger, Joel Guttormsen, CuuLong JOC, Tran V. Hoi, Nguyen V. Duc, VietSovPetro
Copyright 2004, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc.
This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Conference
and Exhibition held in Perth, Australia, 1820 October 2004.
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Abstract
Permeability is one of the major controls for production in
fractured basement. It is critical to be able to identify and
characterize permeable zones in the basement reservoirs not
only for evaluating well producing potential but also for
designing perforation, well completion and injection. Even
though geoscientists and reservoir engineers have made
considerable effort over the years to better characterize the
permeability profile in fractured basement, it is still very
challenging to achieve this objective.
This paper presents a newly developed approach aimed at
better understanding the permeability profile. The technique
was developed based on case studies from wells in two
different basement fields located offshore in the south of
Vietnam. Traditionally, fractures have been characterized
using core and borehole image data. In this study, borehole
image data were integrated with other open-hole logs to
derive a permeability curve. The result was calibrated with
core data and then validated with dynamic data i.e.
production log data, well testing data, mud losses, gas
shows. As demonstrated in the case studies, it is believed
that the permeability in the basement could be reasonably
evaluated using this method. However, in a zone where
fractures are cemented or partially cemented with
conductive minerals, the log-derived permeability needs to
be calibrated with the degree of cementation.
Introduction
Permeability is one of the most difficult parameters to assess
in a reservoir and it is even more challenging when the
reservoir is fractured. There is no proved mean for directly
measuring the permeability in fractured basement except for
well testing and coring, which imply high cost. In addition,
well testing only provides permeability height product KH
based on many best guess assumptions and can lead to

unclear range of contacted hydrocarbon volumes. Core

analysis usually focuses on the worse portion of the
reservoir due to the fact that core recovery has rarely been
good in a highly fractured zone. Therefore the permeability
measured from the core sample is often not representative.
Reservoir modeling could provide critical insights to the
permeability system in fractured basement. However, the
model is stochastic or based on fault line objects, and is
grossly constrained by dynamic pressure data but rarely by
well data. This paper focuses on new techniques that allow
multiple sources of information to be incorporated into the
estimation of permeability along the path of a wellbore in
the reservoir. These permeability properties can then be
incorporated and upscaled into reservoir models to provide
more accurate representations of the fractured reservoir.
Fracture Basement Reservoir of the CuuLong
Basin
The fractured basement reservoirs of CuuLong Basin are
prolific hydrocarbon bearing and naturally fractured.
Individual wells in these fractured basement reservoirs are
capable of sustained production in excess of 20,000 bbls/d.
The fracture systems are present in 4-way dip closed
structures and have been reviewed by Long(1), Guttormsen(2),
Schmidt(3), Cuong(4), and Olson(5). The productive CuuLong
basement structures are oriented NE-SW with range of
structural styles from large flat horst blocks to half horst
structures (Figure 1, map of CuuLong Basin). These
structures are typically bounded by strike slip faults that
exhibit positive and negative elements along their strike.
The largest structural complex in the block is the Bach Ho
(White Tiger) structural complex and particularly its prolific
central dome (Figure 2, Map of major producers in
CuuLong Basin). The individual structures exhibit a variety
of internal structural complexities as they accommodated
stress during the complex structural history of the basin. The
horst reservoir is a granitiod body with a history of polyphased intrusives. Post emplacement tectonic events related
to the intrusives can be summarized into seven episodes(3).
These are from oldest to youngest:
1) Pre-Rift Magmatic upwelling and Paleozoic
metasediments deformation
2) Pre-Rift active poly-phased intrusive and cooling
phase
3) Pre-Rift
Pre-basin
compressional
phase
(deformation cycle 1 - D1, D2)

4) Syn-Rift or extensional phase (D3, basin creation)

oriented NW-SE
5) Post-rift 2nd-compressional phase (D4) oriented
NW-SE
6) Post-Rift 3rd-compressional phase (D5) (dilatational
movement or structural twisting) oriented NNWSSE
7) Syn-rift passive basin fill
Most of the productive structures contain fracture systems
dominated by NE-SW, NW-SE, and EW orientations. The
development of fractures in the CuuLong Basin reservoirs is
the result of the Syn-Rift extensional phase and two post-rift
compressional events.
The CuuLong petroleum province is a single petroleum
system. The fractured basement fields contain related
structural, reservoir, migration, and seal containment
histories. The fields discovered to date in the CuuLong
Basin are analogs for one another.
Productive structural complexes in the CuuLong Basin
are typically aligned in a Northeasterly orientation. Crestal
portions of the reservoirs contain the most intense
fracturing. Five of the most critical phases in the CuuLong
reservoir development were:
Creation of early fracture fabrics with three
dominate orientations (NW-SE, NE-SW, E-W)
Multiple structural domains
Partial to complete cataclastic barriers
Late stage compressional events re-reactivating and
opening the fracture networks
Final connection of fracture pore space through late
stage dilation and fluid enhancement of the
fractures.
As a result, porosity and permeability decrease with depth
and the best portions of the reservoir are in areas of highest
tectonic accommodation.
The felsic basement rock neither contains significant
original porosity nor other maymarolictic cavities but minor
cooling joints. No matrix porosity existed in the primary
process of intrusion. Orientations and density of cooling
joints may have provided an early mosaic of joint networks
that were incorporated into the later tectonic fabrics. These
cooling joints were also subject to early hydrothermal fluids.
Hydrothermal events associated with late magmatic
differentiation and late stage basalts and andesitic intrusives
(extensional) resulted in hydrothermal precipitation of
quartz, calcite, and zeolitic clay(2,4). The hydrothermal
events followed zones of pre-existing weakness such as
early-developed shear zones and cooling joint systems.
These hydrothermal systems resulted in clay filled and
mineral pillar propped open fractures, which were reopened
by later tectonic events.
Fracture Classification
In the Nelson (7,8,9) classification scheme, the CuuLong basin
basement reservoirs are type 1 systems where the fractures
provide the porosity and permeability for the system.

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Fracture systems are classified into two major categories

(Figure 3) in this study. The first of these is the bounding
and solution enhanced fractures. They represent the
permeability streets and avenues and could have Darcies
of permeability. Obviously they give the major contribution
to the reservoir permeability. A bounding fracture is defined
as a fracture against which other fractures are terminated.
Bounding fractures are sub-grouped into two classes, which
are solution enhanced and straight walled (Figure 3). The
bounding system if not filled by clays, calcite and zeolites
then represent significant porosity storage and permeability
to the fracture system. Their apertures could vary from a few
millimeters to more than a meter. Enhanced fractures with
width greater than 1.5 m exist in the reservoir. The bounding
features represent less than 10% of the fracture population.
The discrete fractures are defined as the other major
category of fractures. These short length, straight walled
with narrow aperture fractures are the storage to the
bounding system. They are the reservoir alley ways and
have low permeability. Fracture apertures from electric
images would range from 0.01 mm to 0.1 mm. These
fractures with narrow aperture and straight walls are likely
to be subject to principle stress closure issues.
Reservoir porosity in the basement varies aerially along
structures depending on structural domain and impact of
hydrothermal and meteoric plugging of the reservoir. It is in
the range of a few p.u. and usually gets better in the upper
few hundred meters of the basement. Porosity decreases
with depth. The effectively connected reservoir results in the
appearance of a series of teeth that taper with depth (Figure
5).
Methodology of Permeability Estimation for
Fractured Basement
Permeability determines reservoir and well performance.
Therefore it is a very important reservoir property.
Estimating permeability in fractured reservoirs has always
been difficult. The oil industry has a long history of deriving
permeability from well logs(10). When successful, such
methods provide considerable cost savings in reduced coring
and well testing and, more importantly, populate reservoir
simulators with detailed and extensive permeability data. In
recent years, image logs have been applied for secondary
porosity determination(11) and permeability prediction in
vuggy carbonate reservoirs(12). In fractured reservoirs,
dipmeter and image logs have been used for fracture
identification and characterization for some time. However,
estimating permeability for fractured reservoirs using image
data remains relatively unexplored.
The methodology for predicting permeability in the
fractured basement proposed in this paper includes the use
of BorTex* a GeoFrame* module for textual analysis of
formation heterogeneity using electrical image data to derive
a relative permeability indicator (RPI). The RPI is then
scaled into permeability using the aperture derived fracture
permeability and subsequently validated by dynamic data
i.e. well testing, production log, gas shows, mud losses, as
well as core permeability data. FMS/FMI* provide valuable

SPE 88478

high resolution continuous images of the wellbore that allow

quantifying small scale conductive anomalies like fractures,
faults and associated vuggy porosity. BorTex provides a
useful tool in mapping the connectivity between those
conductive anomalies printing on the high resistive granite
matrix. The connectivity is measured by one of the outputs
from BorTex analysis called connectedness coefficient,
which is used as the relative permeability indicator called
RPI in this paper. Figure 6 provides a short interval of
scaled FMI images with well-connected fractures and
associated vuggy porosity along the fractures as well as the
derived RPI. It is clear that the RPI increases its value in the
zone with intensively inter-connected fractures and vuggy
pore space if present, and decreases in the relatively fresh
granite (highly resistive and less fractured, i.e. 4056.54056.7m) or the altered zone (lower resistivity) but less
fractured with reduced inter-connectivity crossing the
wellbore (i.e. 4057.5-4057.65m, Figure 6). The RPI can be
presented as a continuous curve over the logged interval.
Fracture aperture provides valuable information for
characterizing fractured reservoirs. Quantitative estimation
of fracture apertures from electrical borehole images has
been conducted in GeoFrame since the methods were
originally described in Luthi and Souahite(13). The method
has since been used in numerous image evaluation studies.
In this study, aperture calculation was performed for all the
conductive fractures excluding the drilling induced
fractures. The output (see Figure 7) is the aperture in
centimeter unit for each individual fracture hand-picked
during the interpretation process on workstation. The
fracture permeability can be estimated using the following
equation:
Kf = a Fd Fa3
Kf :
fracture permeability;
hydraulic fracture aperture output from images;
Fa :
Fd :
wellbore bias corrected fracture density;
a:
constant
determined
by
calibrating
the
permeability from core, dynamic well testing and production
log data in the studied wells.
Figure 7 shows an example of fracture aperture derived
permeability (Kf) and the Kr which is the scaled RPI using
the Kf. Kr is the reservoir permeability. After proper
scaling, the Kr matches the Kf well in the zones where
permeability comes from fractures only. However, Kr can be
slightly different from Kf if there is other sources of
permeability e.g. inter-connected vuggy porosity associated
with the fractures or mis-picked fractures. As RPI is an
automatically processed permeability indicator honoring the
connectivity between any sort of pore space including
fractures, faults, pores existing in the faulted zones and
vuggy porosity, if present. Therefore, Kr is a total
permeability. Kr is also a more objectively estimated
parameter particularly in the zone with massive fractures
where it is almost physically not possible to manually pick
all the existing fractures individually. The interval between
3970.5 and 3973m in Figure 7 shows a good example.

The calibration of the FMI image derived permeability

with core data and dynamic data i.e. well testing and
production log data discussed in the case studies presented
in this paper. Validation of Kr is also shown in Figure 8.
This is one of the few most permeable zones from a well
with about 11,000 bbls/d of production in one of the
CuuLong Basin fields. The interval has extremely good
permeability i.e. the middle 30-m zone in Figure 8, which is
supported by the DSI* data with clear Chevron-pattern
(fracture zone indicator) in the intensively fractured zones.
A 4-m section of FMI images in expanded scale from a
highly permeable zone are also presented on the right of
Figure 8.
Figure 9 provides a few examples from another field with
validation of the Kr using the CMR* data and drilling data
such as gas shows and mud losses. Example A shows a large
fracture with some smaller fractures associated within the 4m section. The high permeability is backed up by increased
gas shows in the short interval. Example B presents a
sharply defined single large fracture with very good
permeability (Kr>2 Darcies). The increased gas shows and
mud losses indicate a permeable zone. The example D
shows some small scale fractures in the 4-5 m of interval
with permeability Kr estimated and supported by the gas
show anomaly and mud losses in the zone. The example C
shows an interesting zone without clearly definable fractures
but conductive anomalies inter-connected on FMI images.
Kr indicated permeable zone, which is fully supported by the
mud losses in the peak permeable one-meter interval (37643765m). The CMR data logged in this interval has also
shown permeability from 3764 to 3766m. What caused the
zone permeable without visible fractures remains unclear.
One explanation could be the possible intensively microfracture or micro-pore system existing over the small
interval causing the conductive anomalies subtly imaged on
FMI but each single fracture is not clearly visualized due to
the resolution limitation of the tool. In other words, a single
micro-fracture might not give much contribution to the
reservoir permeability, but an intensively fractured zone
though all micro-fractures yet inter-connected with each
other, could still potentially generate some reasonable
permeability. Another possible explanation could be
fractures existing behind the wellbore. The FMI tool reads a
few inches deep into the formation. The image in the
example C of Figure 9 could be an image of the solutionenhanced zone with enhanced porosity along the fracture but
not the actual fracture planes itself.
Case Study 1
A well was drilled in field X located in the CuuLong Basin.
The well penetrated the fractured basement about 300m with
top of the basement at around 3900m. The lithology for the
basement is granite. Fractures are present over the entire
logged interval. Conventional open-hole log data, FMI and
limited 3 m of core were acquired in the basement section.
Dynamic data including well testing and production logging
were also acquired twice - 1st time just after the well was
drilled and 2nd time after 17 months of production. The FMI
data was processed with all the fractures interpreted and

typed. The FMI images were scaled with shallow resistivity

LLS and then fracture aperture for each individual fracture
was calculated. The RPI was derived from BorTex over the
interval and hence scaled into Kr using Kf. The result for the
permeability evaluation for the interest zone is presented in
Figure 10A.
Production logging and well testing jobs were run the first
time just after the well was completed. Testing and
production logging data are presented in 2nd and 3rd tracks
from the right in Figure 10A. The production contribution
was mainly from the three zones with producing rates at
1254 bbls/d, 783.7 bbls/d and 1058 bbls/d from bottom to
top with exact production intervals marked in red bars. The
production intervals are more or less lined up with better
permeable zones estimated by FMI images (see Kr in the 7th
track). The rates themselves roughly correlate to the average
permeability over the individual producing zones. The
question is why other permeable zones were not producing
in the 1st test, for example, the zones from 4090m to 4120m
and from 4140m to 4160m, etc. One of the reasons could be
related to the partial formation damage during the drilling
and mud loss stopping process. This is supported at least in
the zone from 4090 to 4100m. Mud loss was detected at 88
bbls/h in the interval during drilling and LCM (Loss
Circulation Material) was used to stop the mud loss in order
to continue drilling to the projected TD as per the well
drilling report. The good rate of mud loss obviously
indicates a highly permeable zone, which is consistent with
the relative high Kr estimated by FMI images. The LCM
used to stop the loss created a longer-term barrier present
during the initial production logging and well testing.
The 2nd well testing and production logging were run after
the well was produced for 17 months. There were more
zones showing contribution of oil production as marked by
red bars with rates for each individual zone in the rightmost
track in Figure 10A. This supports that most of the intervals
are permeable as indicated by FMI derived Kr. In addition,
the LCM contaminated zone contributed to the overall
production after extended period of time, probably as a
result of partial clean up of the formation damage. Other
newly producing zones could possibly be recovered
formation damage or benefited from pressure drop in those
initial production zones. During the well testing period, it is
also noted that there was some water production coming
from certain zones in the well. The water producing
intervals are marked by blue bars with rates posted next to
the bars in the right most track of Figure 10A.
A 3-m core permeability data from a tight zone was used
to calibrate the permeability derived from FMI images as
shown in Figure 10B (left), where Kf (white dot) and Kr
(blue curve) matched the core permeability (green dot).
Also, an average permeability over the producing zones was
estimated at 69 md with maximum permeability at 108 md
depending on the parameters chosen for the calculation
based on the dynamic well testing and production log data.
The mean Kr permeability over the same producing zones is
92 md, which falls into the bulk range of the permeability

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estimated on dynamic data. Should more accurate

dynamically measured permeability data i.e. from DualPacker MDT* or selective zoned DST/PLT data be
available, Kr can be fine tuned into permeability with better
accuracy.
Case Study 2
The second case study was from a well drilled in field Y
with a long basement penetration of over 850m. The well
was logged with conventional open-hole logs plus FMI/DSI
and CMR tools. The FMI data has good quality in the entire
basement section. The CMR data, however, is of mixed
quality due to hole condition as well as certain level of
noise. In addition, special care needs to be taken in
processing the CMR data from the unconventional fractured
basement. The CMR data provide value to validate the FMI
estimated permeability in the zones where the tool was not
affected by hole condition allowing the tool to read the
formation. Figure 11 shows an example of FMI image with
a clearly defined large fracture in the bottom zone (3217m).
The estimated Kr is over one Darcy, which is close to the
CMR derived permeability (slightly over one Darcy) in the
same fractured interval. This is also well supported by
significantly increased gas shows and mud losses recorded
in the zone.
Figure 12 presents another large interval (340m) from the
bottom zone of the same well. Again, the FMI estimated Kr
indicates certain relatively high streaks in places even
though the permeability is mostly in the low range. It can be
observed that the majority of those relatively high Kr streaks
are well evidenced by either gas show peaks or recorded
mud losses or both. This means that the static log-derived
permeability data is supported by the dynamic data from
drilling. Additionally, it is observed that there is
permeability trend from relatively medium (i.e. 36803700m) to low (3710-3720m) and increasing to high (37303763m) which correlate to a similar trend in mud loss in the
same interval as indicated by red and blue arrows.
Case Study 3
The third case study was from an injection well in field X,
which is shown in Figure 13. The interpreted flow rate from
injection testing in the upper zone was 5338 bbls/d, which is
almost double of the rate in the lower zone of 2826 bbls/d.
This can be well understood from the reservoir quality
estimated from FMI data. First of all, the upper zone is
much more intensively fractured with larger fracture
aperture than the lower zone (see tracks 4 and 5). Secondly,
permeability Kr looks much better in the upper zone. The
reservoir property evaluation based on FMI and other log
data is supported by the injection test results. Understanding
Kr would help reservoir engineers to select the injection
zones to optimize the efficiency in future wells.
Case Study 4
The forth example is from an exploration well in Field Y.
The basement portion of this well was drilled vertically.
Figure 14 is a composite diagram with a fracture density
(solution enhanced and discrete fracture curves), total gas,

SPE 88478

and log derived porosity from resistivity and the FMI

permeability Kr plot on the right. The well was tested at
4600 bbls/d of oil from the zone with strong total gas peak,
mostly solution enhanced fractures and strong FMI
permeability response. Where fractures are present, the Kr
permeability, fracture density and porosity agree. The
logged interval contains a large section of generally less
fractured granite from 3250 3850m. Gas response through
the interval might be dominated by trip gas or connection
gas responses. The operator reduced mud weight resulting in
a significant gas spike at 3550 m. Fracture density is low in
this section with drilling induced fractures existing in places.
It represents a large block of less-effective granite, and FMI
permeability generally demonstrates a less productive
response. A core was taken from 3208-3211 m in the fresh
granite (no hydrocarbon shows) with zeolitic filled fractures
dominated in the cored interval. It should be noted that the
core was taken above the solution-enhanced zone that was
tested. The pervasive zeolitization of the core suggests that
hydrothermal alteration is a factor affecting the effectiveness
of the fractures in this section of granite. Typically, areas of
hydrothermal alteration have a lower resistivity response.
Drilling induced fractures also exist and a combination of
factors are likely to attribute to the anomalous petrophysical
responses in the low fracture density and less effective
reservoir. The important lessons learned from this example
are two folds: 1) use non-fractured reservoir to fine-tune the
log-based permeability estimation technique, and 2) drilling
induced fractures should be eliminated when the reservoir
permeability evaluation is performed because they provide
limited impact on the reservoir permeability.
Discussion
Fractured basement reservoir evaluation is petrophysically
challenging.
Secondary
mineralization
or
partial
cementation has negative impact on reservoir permeability.
The Kr estimation technique used in this study has shed light
on identifying permeable fractures by eliminating the impact
of resistive mineral-filled fractures. It provides a continuous
permeability curve for log upscaling in reservoir modeling.
There are limitations such as the impact from conductive
secondary mineral fill, which cannot be properly calibrated
yet due to limited data, particularly the unknown clay
content in the formation i.e. the deeply weathered zone from
3000m to 3080m in the top basement in Figure 14.
Calibration against drilling gas curves and mud losses may
provide an indication of effective fractures versus noneffective clay mineralized fractures, and further refine the
results. Caution needs to be taken in the zone with drilling
induced fractures where Kr needs to be calibrated with Kf in
a finer detailed scale to minimize the effect from drilling
induced fracture.
Conclusion
Reservoir permeability for fractured basements can be
quantitatively evaluated based on image logs with the
integration of other open-hole logs, mud gas data, drilling
data, dynamic well testing and production logging data.
Comprehensive data integration is the key to understanding
the reservoirs and their parameters. FMI derived

permeability provides critical information related to fracture

borehole intersections where conventional interpretation
techniques fail to resolve. The image-based permeability Kr
successfully identified open fractures capable of sustained
flow as well as drilling damaged permeable zones. The
results should be used to more fully integrate borehole
information into reservoir simulation studies. It does have
limitations as mentioned in the discussion above but
provides a reasonable picture of the wellbore permeability.
The technique also has potential applications in wellbore
stimulation, testing decision and injection design.
Acknowledgements
CuuLong JOC and VietSovPetro Oil Companies are
acknowledged for permission to publish this paper. Thanks go
to colleagues, F. Bennett who helped the interpretation of the
well testing and production logging data, L. Jiang and S. Lee
for various discussions on basement reservoirs. The authors are
very grateful to P. Montaggioni, B. Newberry, T. Lorlertratna
and R. Dube for their assistance in reviewing the paper.
References
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2.

3.
4.

5.

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13.

Nguyen T. L., Guttormsen, J.J., Dung, T.H., Li, B.: DSI-FMI

interpretation report for well 15-1-SC-1X (unpublished)
(2002).
Guttormsen, J.J., Long N.T., Jonklass P., Cho I., Dung T. H.,
Li, B.: Fracture Characterization of the Su Tu Den and Su Tu
Vang Fields, CuuLong Basin, Vietnam, CuuLong Basin
Production, CuuLong Technical Forum pp 101-138 (2003).
Schmidt, W.J.: Field work in Southern Vietnam, Personnel
communication (2002).
Cuong, T. X.: Reservoir Characterization of Naturally
Fractured and Weathered Basement in Bach Ho Field, Key
symposium (2001).
Olson C.C.: Timing and Tectonic Implications of Basin
Inversion in the Nam con Son Basin and Adjacent Areas,
Southern South China Sea. MSC Thesis, Texas A&M (2003).
Tham, D.: Proceedings Vietnam Petroleum Institute: 25 years
of Development and Achievements, Vietnam Oil and Gas
Corporation -Vietnam Petroleum Institute p. 155-159 (2003).
Nelson, R.A.: Natural Fracture Systems: Description and
Classification. AAPG Bull., Vol.63, No.12, pp.2214-2221
(1979).
Nelson, R.A.: An Approach to Evaluating Fractured
Reservoirs. J. Pet. Tech. Sep., pp.167-2170 (1982).
Nelson, R.A.: Geologic Analysis of Naturally Fractured
Reservoirs. Gulf Publishing Co. Book Division, pp.1-3
(1985).
Sibbit, A.M.: Quantifying Porosity and Estimating
Permeability from well Logs in Fractured Basement
Reservoirs, SPE 30157 (1993).
Newberry, N.M., Grace, L.M., and Stief, D.D.: Analysis of
carbonate dual porosity systems from borehole electrical
images: SPE 35185, presented at the Permian Basin Oil &
Gas Recovery Conference in Midland, Texas (1996).
Russell, S. D., Akbar, M., Vissapragada, B. and Walkden,
G.m.: Small-scale heterogeneity and permeability estimation
from dipmeter and image logs for reservoir rock typing:
Aptian Shuaiba Reservoir of Bu Hasa Field, Abu Dhabi:
AAPG Bulletin, v.86, No. 10, PP. 1709-1732 (2002).
Luthi, S.M. and P.Souhaite: Fracture Aperture from Electrical
Borehole Scans. Geophysics, v. 55, n. 7, 821-833 (1992).

* Mark of Schlumberger

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Figure 1. Major oil fields of the CuuLong Basin with block outlines.

Figure 2. Structural Top Basement with contour interval 100 m for major Fields in the CuuLong Basin. Source is from various publications and
databases.

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Fracture Flow System Relationships

Drilling induced
fracture
Drilling induced

Second order
Fractures
Partially Solution Enhanced
Huge Aperture
Moderate Length
Straight

Secondary
Discrete Fracture System
Tectonic only
Low Permeability
Short Length
Short (Height)
Fine aperture subject to principle stress
Highly Tortuous Flow Paths
Secondary production conduits
(work Like a Matrix Porosity System)
Primary
Solution Enhanced System
Tectonic modified by hydrothermal
and meteoric processes
High Permeability
Long length
Tall (Height)
Large Aperture
Linear to Radial Flow paths
Primary Production conduits
Fracture Aperture (FMI): Well A

Solution Enhanced
Huge Aperture
Long Length
Straight

Primary
Fractures

Solution -Enhanced
Fractures

FMI
Aperture

Discrete fracture

Number of fractures

Figure 3. Fracture classification system used in this study.

Figure 4. Vietnam fractured granite of fracture swarm along Long Hai Beach. Swarms run parallel to the beach
for 300 400 m.

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Oligocene

Oil
Charged
Oligocene

Oligocene

Oligocene

PreTertiary

Figure 5. Schematic Drawing of the damage oil-bearing fractures with associated fracture enhanced halos for the CuuLong
Basin basement structures.

RPI
K

Fig.6. Example showing inter-connected fractures and associated

solution-enhanced vuggy porosity on scaled FMI* images (track
2) from the granite basement. A relative permeability indicator
(RPI, also called Connectedness Coefficient in GeoFrame code)
was derived based on BorTex software as showed in Track 3.

Kr

Figure 7. Fracture aperture (track 5) estimated on scaled FMI* images

(track 4), fracture permeability (Kf, blue dot in track 6) derived from
aperture data and RPI (orange curve in track 6) as well as reservoir
permeability Kr (track 7). Open hole logs, i.e. GR, Calipers (C1 & C2),
Resistivity (LLS &LLD) are also presented in tracks 1 and 2. The
interval covers about 22m.

SPE 88478

Kr

5m

Figure 8. Example from a highly permeable zone in a very productive well (around 11,000 bbls/d) with Kf (blue dot in track 1), RPI
(brown curve in track 1) and Kr (track 2) estimated based on images logs, which is well supported by strong Chevron-Pattern on DSI
rd
images (3 track). A detailed FMI* images from a 5-m interval is presented. Excellent fractures with solution enhanced aperture as
well as massive permeability network visible on the image logs.

Fig.9. Examples of estimated Kr validated by drilling data, i.e.

increased gas show in a permeable fracture or fracture sets
(A), mud losses & gas show in a highly permeable single
fracture (B), sets of smaller scale fractures with medium
permeability supported by gas shows (D) and Kr anomaly in a
zone without clearly definable fractures, which is supported by
mud losses and CMR measurements.

Fig.11. A short interval shows a large fracture at depth

rd
3217m (see 3 track on FMI*) with Kr permeability
th
estimated at slightly over 1 Darcy (5 track), which is
th
consistent with the CMR measurement (8 track). The
fracture is also obviously indicated on calipers (track 1). Kr
estimation is fully supported by significantly increased gas
shows and mud losses in the depth.

10

SPE88478

Kf

Flowrate

Kr

(
M
ud
los
s

RPI

0 (bbls/d

Oil Rate
bbls/d

Water
Rate(
bbbls/
d)

Oil
Rate
(bbls/
d)

4400

1058

169
860

483

784

452

119

132

Mud
loss
88bbls/h

301

106
106

232
854
276

Fig.10A (above). Shows a case example from a well drilled in

Field X with about 300m of basement penetration with main
production zones showed. Conventional open hole logs, i.e. GR
(green), NPOR, C1/C2 (blue/ red dash), RHOB (track 1),
LLS/LLD (track 2) is displayed. Scaled FMI images and
interpreted fracture aperture are on tracks 3 & 4. Estimated RPI
& Kf on track 5 and Kr are showed in track 6. Track 7 showing
the mud loss and tracks 8 & 9 the interpreted PLT results in the
st
1 well testing job after the well was drilled. The final track
presents the interpreted PLT rate and contribution zones marked
nd
by blue (water) and red bars (oil) from the 2 well testing/PLT
job done after the well had been on production for 17 months.

Fig.10B (right). Expanded scale showing 3-m of tight core with core
permeability data (green dots) used for Kr baseline calibration/
validation. The Kf is in white dots and Kr blue curve. The right track
shows the average permeability estimated for the three major
contribution zones at 69md with maximum at 108md based on well
testing/PLT data. The FMI* log derived reservoir permeability Kr has
averaged at 92 md over the same contribution zones.

Kf

Kr

Estimated
average K
for the
contribution
zones at 69md.

1m

SPE 88478

11

5338
bbls/d

2826
bbls/d

th

Fig.12. Permeability profile (track 5) with drilling data (gas show in 6 track
th
and mud loss in the 7 track from a well drilled in Field Y. The section
showed is the bottom 340m of the well. The image log derived Kr peaks in
the entire interval are confirmed by either gas shows peaks or mud losses
or both.

Fig.13. A case study from an injection well in field X. PLT

was run to know two zones were taking fluids as marked by
blue bars with the interpreted rates showed. That can be
well understood by the permeability analysis presented in
track 6. The overall Kr in the upper zone looks obviously
better than the lower zone, explaining why the upper zone
gets much better injection rate (5338bbls/d) than the lower.

Solution Enhanced

Flow Zone
4600 BOPD

Zone of
very low
Fracture
Density

Porosity from Resistivity

Influenced by hydrothermal clays

Solution Enhanced

Figure 14. High permeability properly predicted the flow zone associated with solution-enhanced fractures. Fracture density, Kr and porosity are
consistent with the exception of the interval in the middle of the well where residual permeabilities and porosities are expressed in a very low
fracture density environment. Anomalies are interpreted as associated with intrusive related hydrothermal alteration, drilling induced fractures,
and sub-image scale micro-fractures (less-effective).