Integrated Outcrop and Subsurface Studies of the Interwell Environment of Carbonate Reservoirs: Clear Fork (Leonaradian Age) Reservoirs, West Texas and New Mexico

摘要

A major goal of this project is to evaluate the impact of fracture porosity on performance of the South Wasson Clear Fork reservoir. Our approach is to use subcritical crack (SCC) index measurements and a crack-growth simulator to model potential fracture geometries in this reservoir. We have measured the SCC index on representative rock samples and are proceeding with other pertinent rock measurements. An approach for modeling coupled matrix and fracture flow using nonneighbor connections in a traditional finite-difference simulator has been tested and found to be feasible. Accuracies within 10% of an analytical solution for a test problem are obtained if there are four grid cells between parallel fractures. We are proceeding with estimating the effective permeabilities of different fracture patterns obtained from the crack-growth simulator.