POTENTIAL FRACTURABLE FACIES IDENTIFICATION USING SEISMIC ATTRIBUTES AND SEISMIC INVERSION

A 100 sq mi three dimensional seismic survey was acquired in the North East side of the Barnett Shale core area. The seismic information and vertical well control data were essential to create synthetic seismograms in order to get good quality results. The Barnett Shale reservoir is characterized by low permeability and a variety of depositional facies. Based on petrophysical properties it can be divided into two zones, Upper Barnett Shale and Lower Barnett Shale, divided by a limestone horizon which is a fracture barrier during hydraulic fracturing.

The Barnett Shale thickens from NNE to SSW, increasing by 700 ft thick close to the Muenster Arch. This thickness represents 0.100 sec in seismic time. With poor frequency spectrum and 0.002 samples/trace it is difficult resolve internal reflections less than 70 ft thick. Seismic Inversion algorithm results were evaluated in effort to improve the vertical seismic resolution and these results were tied to detailed facies core descriptions. Several seismic attributes, such as seismic curvature and coherency, were evaluated to identify faults and fracture lineaments in the horizons as well as other features contained in the seismic data that could prove useful to improving the facies model.

Finally, mapping microseismic event locations and integrating all the information extracted from the seismic data with core description, allows for the identification of facies that are potentially most fracturable.