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Faults/fractures characterization to improve well planning and reduce drilling risks – A case study from a tight carbonate reservoir in Pakistan

MARYAM TALIB,  MUHAMMAD ZAHID AFZAL DURRANI,  GHULAM SUBHANI,  BAKHTAWER SAROSH,  SYED ATIF RAHMAN
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Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), 3rd floor, PIDC House, Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed Road, Karachi, Pakistan,
JSE 2023, 32(1), 21–38;
Submitted: 9 June 2025 | Revised: 9 June 2025 | Accepted: 9 June 2025 | Published: 9 June 2025
© 2025 by the Authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Talib, M., Durrani, M.Z.A., Subhani, G., Sarosh, B. and Rahman, S.A., 2023. Faults/fractures characterization to improve well planning and reduce drilling risks - A case study from a tight carbonate reservoir in Pakistan. Journal of Seismic Exploration, 32: 21-38. Fracture characterization in tight carbonate reservoirs in terms of fracture’s relative geometries, orientation, density, and the probability of occurrence has become very important in the exploration and development phase. The future field development plans and production operations in carbonate reservoirs entirely depend on accurate characterization and prediction of the faults and fractures information. In this paper, we synergistically integrated post-stack 3D seismic data, geological background, and drilling history to successfully develop a faults/fractures model of the tight carbonate field in terms of their intensity and direction/orientation information. The workflow involved the removal of the coherent and random noise from the seismic data, calculation of dip compensated edge detection attribute, and improvement in fault/fractures imaging with an advanced automated fault extraction (AFE) algorithm. Finally, discontinuity attributes are used to automatically extract faults/fractures planes information. Markers interpreted from the borehole formation micro-imaging (FMI) helped to calibrate the faults/fractures presence. The studied reservoir consists of Eocene and Paleocene fractured tight carbonate reservoirs in Potwar Basin, onshore Pakistan. The post-stack faults/fractures characterization results proved to be consistent with the geology of the area and validated with the wells data, and the 3D model helped to accurately predict the “sweet spot” within the reservoirs for future drilling of exploration or appraisal wells and improve drilling success.

Keywords
carbonate reservoir
fracture characterization
faults/fracture imaging
edge detection attribute
micro-imaging logs
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Journal of Seismic Exploration, Electronic ISSN: 0963-0651 Print ISSN: 0963-0651, Published by AccScience Publishing
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