Characterization and Modeling of Natural Fractures in a Tight Najmah-Sargelu Formation, Dharif-Abduliyah Field, Kuwait

This paper presents an overview of efforts in building a fracture model for reservoir characterization of Najmah-Sargelu Formation in Dharif-Abduliyah Field in FracaFlowTM. The impact of lithology on fracture occurrence was quantified based on rock-typing and distributed in a 3D geological model using a high resolution sequence stratigraphic framework. It was found that diffuse fractures are generally associated with cleaner limestone units and thin limestone beds were found to be more fractured than thick beds. Altogether, four sets of diffuse fractures were identified: NNE-SSW and NW-SE, E-W and NNW-SSE; fracture densities range from 1.08 frac/ft to 0.13 frac/ft. Breakout analysis evidenced local variation of the stress field orientation probably due to the local effect of faults. Stress analysis revealed that fractures are not at critically stress state (hence are not in the point of being re-activated). Dharif field most of fractured lineaments are parallel to the main N-S oriented seismic fault, on the contrary, in Abduliyah field, lineaments are less frequent, and mainly oriented E-W. The fracture model has then been calibrated using the dynamic data set and these data were then used to propagate 3D fracture properties in the upscaled geological model for constructing a full reservoir simulation model.