Flow Around Fault zones in Siliciclastic Reservoirs Based on Limited Available Data During Hydrocarbon Exploration

The sealing capacity of faults is one of the main controlling factors determining column heights of hydrocarbons in structural traps and potentially bypassed gas in undrained reservoir compartments. Limited available data in early exploration phases often hampers full incorporation of fault seal analysis and fault zone permeability in exploration efforts. In this study, an analytical model has been derived that constrains flow around fault zones in siliclastic reservoirs, including effects of non-isotropic permeability in fault core, damage zone and intact reservoir. It is shown how limited site-specific data can be combined with data from literature to constrain the model parameters. Once model parameters are constrained for a specific compartmentalized reservoir, the model can be used to determine the interplay between matrix, damage zone and fault core permeability in determining flow around fault zones and optimize well planning.