Transformation

of Tethys

he origins of oilfields in the

Turkey to Oman
mountain belt started
long before the Gondwana supercontinent began to break up
50 million years ago. To capture a true
understanding of how these oilfields
were created we must go back 250 M
years, to the break-up of Pangea - the
earths sole land mass at that time.
Pangea was splitting apart, forming
Laurasia in the north and Gondwana in
the south.
In the late Permian and Triassic, rifting occurred in Iran, Turkey and Oman
which eventually led to the formation
of very small fragments of crust, microplates, and the creation of two seaways, the northern Palaeo-Tethys and
the southern Neo-Tethys (figure 2.2).
These early rifts produced ideal depositional sites for carbonates, clastic reservoirs and sometimes organic-rich
sediments in intracratonic basins,
marginal basins, shelf and platform
margins.
The last remnants of these Tethys
seaways had virtually disappeared
when subsequent crustal movements
led to the ocean areas being over-ridden by continental crust. In addition,
intense deformation occurred in collision or crush zones where tectonic
forces thrust the plates together.
It is extremely difficult to reconstruct how Laurasia was interlocked
with Gondwana some 250 M years ago.
In southern Laurasia, a number of
small crustal plates joined to form a
complex region running from northern
Turkey along northern Iran to
Afghanistan, including the Moslem
states of the former Soviet Union. Piecing these together is a headache and
the problem is compounded by subduction of crust and the additional
intense deformation which created the
main mountain belts from the Black Sea
to the Indian Ocean. Fortunately, the
deformation in these frontal edges of
the mountain belts has been less
extreme.
However, there is a major incentive
to understand what has happened
along this folded belt as some of the
worlds richest oil and gas provinces lie
under the foothills. The micro-plates of
Turkey, northern Iran and the Moslem
states of the former Soviet Union lay
along the northern edge of the Tethys

12

Europe
North
America

Tethys
Sea

South
America

Africa
Arabia

India

Fig. 2.1: THE LOST OCEAN: The vast Tethys Sea was formed when the giant Pangea
supercontinent broke up 250 million years ago, forming Gondwana to the south and Laurasia in
the north. The Black Sea and Caspian Sea are the only remnants of this sea.

Sea. And hydrocarbon reservoirs in

these areas have similarities with those
along other margins of the Tethys Sea
where compressional subsidence
occurred.
The oil and gas in the Caucasian-Dag
and Zagros-Bitlis-Oman regions are
found in gently folded rocks which
formed on both the northern and southern sides of the Tethys. The southern
mountain belt (Zagros), which resulted
from the closing of the Neo-Tethys,
extends from south east Turkey through
north east Syria, northern Iraq and
southern Iran and reaches as far as the
eastern UAE and northern Oman. Oil
and gas is mainly of Cretaceous age in
the northern (Turkey and Syria) and
southern (UAE and Oman) ends of the
Arabian/Iranian foreland folded zone.
In contrast, both Cretaceous and
younger reservoirs are found in Iraq
and Iran.
The northern Caucasian-Dag mountain belt extends from the Black Sea to
Afghanistan and includes the states of
Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan to the
west and Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and
Tadzhikistan to the east. This fold belt
was also created when the PalaeoTethys Sea closed.

To the east of the Caspian Sea, in the

Dag fold belt, the reservoirs are primarily gas prone. The great oilfields which
made Russia pre-eminent as an oil producer in the last century were found in
the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains,
generally on the northern flank. The
southern states of the former Soviet
Union can be considered geologically
as part of the Middle East. There are
over 180 gas and gas condensate fields,
including six giants with reserves more
than 3 tcf. Close to the north east Iranian border (east of Serakhs, Iran) is
the
giant
Dauletabad-Donmez
(Sovetabad) Field which could be Turkmenistans largest gas field with 38 tcf of
initial reserves.
Here, the main reservoirs are Jurassic carbonates making them similar in
age and lithology to the major reservoirs found on the Arabian platform. As
with the Arab reservoirs, these are
sealed by overlying Jurassic evaporites. However, some deltaic sandstone
reservoirs are also present in the Jurassic. Older and more deeply buried Triassic and Middle Jurassic gas-prone,
organic-rich rocks are the likely source
rocks in this region.

Middle East Well Evaluation Review

Arabia

Africa

Pangea

Iran

Shallow seas

Crust
Mantle

Africa

Gondwana

Permian

Eurasia

Iran

Arabia

Neo-Tethys Sea

Palaeo-Tethys Sea

Crust
Marine deposits

Clastics

Triassic

Ocean crust

Mantle
Rifting
Foreland
folding
African Plate

Arabian Plate

Iranian
micro-plates

Zagros Crush
Mts
zone

Eurasia

Arabian Plate

The Gulf

Caspian Sea

Red Sea

TurkmeniaKazakhstan

Ocean crust

Today

Fig. 2.2: (Top): The giant supercontinent of Pangea began to split up during the Permian. By the Triassic,
Gondwana was separated from Laurasia by the Tethys seaways (centre). The subsequent collision of the Arabian
and Asian crustal plates destroyed, or eliminated most of, the Tethys Sea and produced a highly deformed
mountain belt from Turkey to Oman.

Indian sub-plate

Bitlis suture

id
yr n
m rsio
l
Panve
i
Levant
fault

Za
gro
s
an
df
old
ing

Fo

rel

Makran

ns

tio

s
os

Red Sea

ne

Li

of

se

Oman
mountains

cr

an

bi
e

at

Pl

Number 13, 1992.

Eurasia

a
Ar

The Asmari carbonates which were

deposited in the Zagros basinal trough
are the last open marine deposits of the
Neo-Tethys seaway - a body of water
that extended from the Indian Ocean
across the Middle East into southern
Europe. The larger foraminifera found
in the Asmari carbonates indicate to
paleontologists that the Tethys became
divided about 4.5 M years ago. After
this, organisms in the Indian Ocean and
the Mediterranean Sea were isolated
from one another and evolved separately. The disconnection of the
Mediterranean resulted in drastically
reduced diversity and character in the
marine faunas. Later, the Mediterranean
Sea became connected to the Atlantic
Ocean which resulted in the separation
of the African and European land
masses. However, the connection of
Eurasia and Africa through the Middle
East allowed African elephants, bovids,
pigs and eventually homids to migrate
to Europe (See Middle East Well Evaluation Review, Number 11, 1991).
With a lowering of world sea level
(from 40 m to 70 m) during the Miocene,
these last seaways which covered the
new Eurasian continent became

Fig. 2.3: FROM

TURKEY TO OMAN:
Oil and gas reservoirs
are found along the
length of the intensely
deformed crush zone
which runs from
Turkey, through Iran
and the UAE into
Oman. The most
prolific fields are
found along the edge
of Iran's Zagros
Mountains.

Owen fz

The end of the Tethys

Gulf of Aden

restricted and isolated, and eventually

dessicated after the deposition of vast
evaporite deposits. In Iran, these
Miocene evaporites serve as an effective seal for oil and gas generated in
more deeply buried Cretaceous rocks.
The oil and gas migrates upwards

through faults and interconnected fracture systems into the prolific Miocene
Asmari reservoirs.

13

Ophiolites
outcrops in
Oman

Hawasina Ocean

Oman margin

Continental crust

Semail Ophiolite
Hawasina sediments
Oman margin
Continental crust

Volcanic
belt

Mantle

N
Oc

Water

an

i c cr
u st

Volcanic
belt

O c e nic c
a
r

t
us

Many of the oilfields

along the Oman fold
belt produce from fractured Cretaceous carbonates - from the Bukha Field in the
north to Natih Field in the south 1.
The growth of the Natih structural
high was triggered by movements of the
deeply buried Eo-Cambrian Salt. Compressional tectonics subsequently
affected the region in the Late Cretaceous (figure 2.4). The thrusting or
obduction of the ocean floor slab and
ophiolites onto North Omans continental margin occurred during this period
(figure 2.5). During Tertiary times, further compressive movements generated localised structures such as the
Salakh Arch jebels.
Production from the Natih Formation
is almost entirely fracture-related and
Petroleum Devlopment Oman (PDO) is
developing the field using Gas-Oil Gravity Drainage (GOGD). During the next
10 years, the fracture oil rim (ie the
reservoir interval with oil-filled fractures) will be lowered by 70 m using
continuous gas injection at the field
crest, and additional down-dip water
production. The gas rapidly invades the
fracture system at the top of the field,
completely surrounding the oil-filled,
less permeable matrix blocks (Middle
East Well Evaluation Review, Number
12, 1992).
During the drainage process, gravity
causes gas to be drawn (or imbibed)
from the fractures into the oil-filled
matrix. The matrix oil displaced by this
gas moves into the fracture system,
where it is partially reabsorbed into
adjacent matrix blocks. Eventually it
drains down to contribute to the fracture oil rim, where it is produced. By
lowering the fracture oil rim, the
amount of STOIIP exposed to GOGD is
greatly increased, resulting in improved
oil recovery - an approach which has
been successfully applied in the nearby
Fahud Field 2.

Hawasina sediments
st
Oce anic cru
Oce
ani
cc
rus
t

Fahud/Natih
area
S

Hamrat
Duru
Range

Mantle

Jebel Akhdar
Semail Ophiolite

N
Water

Continental crust

Volcanic
belt

Oceanic crust

Mantle

Fig. 2.4: SUFFERING FROM COMPRESSION: During the Late Cretaceous, ocean floor slab and
ophiolites (see also figure 2.5 below) were thrust onto North Oman's continental margin. During
Tertiary times, further compressive movements generated localised structures such as the Salakh
Arch jebels. (From Oman's Geological Heritage, by PDO).

References:
1 Mercadier, C.G.L. and Makel, G.H., 1991. Fracture

patterns of Natih Formation Outcrops and their

implications for Reservoir Modelling of the Natih
Field, North Oman. Proc. 7th SPE Middle East Oil
Show Tech. Conf. & Exhib., 16-19 November 1991,
Manama, Bahrain, SPE Paper 21377, p. 357-368).
2 ONeill, N., 1987. Fahud Field Review: a switch

from Water to Gas Injection. Proc. 5th SPE Middle

East Oil Tech. Conf. & Exhibit., 7-10 March 1987,
Manama, Bahrain, SPE Paper 15691, p. 51-66.

14

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Fig. 2.5: AUTHORITIVE EVIDENCE: The end of the Tethys Sea occurred when crustal
movements led to the ocean areas being over-ridden by continental crust. Various deposits
were left in these crush zones, including these ophiolites which are remnants of the earth's
mantle. Here, author Roy Nurmi examines a very fractured ophiolite overlying the top of
the Mesozoic (Jurassic) carbonates in Oman.

Middle East Well Evaluation Review

Zendan

3 0 00

Bat

Oma

inah

2000

tem
fault sys

4000

M
Prousand
mo a m
nto
ry

Zagros fold belt

Mak

ran
Accr
et
prisiomnary

Gulf of Oman

pas

sive

mar
gin
Saih
ain Hatat
s
Jebel
Qusaybah
Jebel Salakh
nt
ou

500

100 0

Fig. 2.6: LANDSAT photograph of North Oman showing the main structures formed by the compressive plate movements
and the main jebels (mountains) in the region.

Number 13, 1992.

15

FRACTIOUS RELATIONSHIPS
Glass

0.001m

Crack

Fig. 2.7: The

geometry of
overlapping
cracks is
similar for
different
materials,
independent of
scale (Pollard
and Aydin,
1984).

Granitic crust rock

0.1m
Quartz - feldspar
vein

Mancos shale

100m

Minette dike

Ocean basalt

Ridge

1000m

Fig. 2.8:
Log-log plot of
normalized
length
frequency in
the Gulf of
Suez. (Heffer
and Bevan,
1990, SPE
Paper No
20981).

Increasing frequency

If recent studies are to be believed

there is much more order to reservoir faulting and fracturing than people first realised. The wealth of
structural information gained through
3-D seismic surveys and borehole
electrical imagery is helping scientists piece together what seem to be
fractal relationships between faults
and fractures.
Fractal relationships can be seen
in many features, independently of
scale. For example, if you look at a
rocky coastline from the air, it will
appear to have a jagged edge. Even if
you land and take a walk along the
sea shore, it will still have a jagged
edge. And, if you put the sea shore
under a magnifying glass, what do
you see? - youve guessed it - a
jagged edge.
Some of the first indications of
fractal relationships in faults and fractures were discovered by comparing
laboratory-scale rock cracking experiments with studies of earthquake
characteristics. More recently a
group in England has found a relationship between fault length and
vertical displacement which varies
with the material properties of the
rock.
Such studies inspired geologists in
California and Japan to look at the
characteristics of other faults. This
proved fruitful. It showed the widthto-length ratio of wrench faults on
either side of pull-apart basins
(grabens) is independent of scale.
The geometrical arrangements of
overlapping faults are also similar at
various orders of magnitude. Statistical comparisons have been made to
identify relationships between characteristics such as fault frequency
and vertical displacement.
More recently, geologists have
begun to realise that the relationship
between fault length (ie lateral extent
in the strike direction) and vertical
displacement (or throw) differs
according to the material properties
of the rock.
An intriguing comparison between
the lateral extent and frequency of fractures and faults has been drawn up

Increasing fracture/fault length (m)

16

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Middle East Well Evaluation Review

Increasing frequency

Boso Peninsula,
Japan
2

Onjoko, Japan
Gulf of
Mexico,
USA
Kodels Canyon, UK

0
-4

-3

-2

-1

Increasing fault displacement (m)

Number 13, 1992.

Fig 2.10: Log

length versus
log width for 70
pull-apart basins
around the
world. (Aydin
and Nur, 1986).

10000

1000

Length (m)

100

10

10

100

1000 10000 100000

Width (m)

100km
10km

s
ock
rd r

ft ro

Ha

10m

cks

1km
100m

So

after studies of Egypts Ras Budran Field

in the Gulf of Suez and outcrops in Sinai.
Similar work in other parts of the world
appears to support this work but not all
geologists are convinced. Some believe
that extensional fractures do not exhibit
the same kind of fractal nature that
appear to be common in shear fracture
studies.
Further work on fractal relationships
may pave the way for modelling reservoir faults and fractures from small-scale
borehole imagery combined with 3-D
seismic data. This may prove to be a
particularly useful combination of data recent work in the North Sea has shown
that faults which are too small to be
detected by the highest resolution 3-D
seismic surveys may still have a major
influence on reservoir behaviour.
Already in Egypt, fractal relationships
between fracture apertures at the large,
medium and small scales have been
seen in borehole electrical imagery.

100000

Displacement

Fig. 2.9: Log of fault displacement

versus fault frequency for various
basins around the world. Note the
similar ratios in each of the plots.

1m

Fig. 2.11:
Summary of
observations
showing the
relationship
between fault
strike-length and
displacement
(after Walsh and
Watterson, 1988).

10cm
1cm
1m 10m100m1km10km100km1000km
Mapped fault length (width)

17

Head for the

hills

Fig.2.12: (Right): Typical Dip Trend output.

The original dip recording, made using the
SHDT Tool, is shown in the left track. The
dip tadpoles have been coloured according
to their initial structural classification. In this
processing stage, the Dip Trend analysis
defines the structural dips of intervals which
have consistent magnitude and azimuth.
The right-hand track shows the final
processing stage. This time, groups of
tadpoles which belong to the same structural
trend and fold patterns have been linked by
coloured bands. These dip clusters can be
projected on a polar plot as shown in figure
2.13 (far right). Each of the structural trends
and folds is assigned an identification
number.

Dip trends and structural analysis

100 ft

Recent hydrocarbon
discoveries in areas
such as Abu Dhabi
and Sharjah, UAE are
encouraging explorationists to search for
other targets in the mountain fold belt
which runs along the Musandam Peninsula.
Amocos new discovery in Sharjahs
Lower Cretaceous Thamama carbonates
was found after reinterpretation of 3-D
seismic data originally acquired in 1984.
The discovery well (Amoco, Kahaif-2),
located 18 km south of the Sajaa and
Moveyeid fields, flowed 73 million cubic
feet per day of gas and 1,615 barrels per
day of condensate from a 700ft-thick pay
zone.
The seismic re-interpretation had
additional spin-offs as it led to a better
definition of both the Sajaa and
Moveyeid fields, which in turn guided
the drilling of additional producers. Success in this region has prompted Amoco
to increase its acreage by 50% and carry
out new seismic surveys during 1993.
The structures of the fields along the
northern end of the Emirates/Oman fold
belt are more complicated than those
being drilled in Oman. The dip patterns
seen in figure 2.12 were created by drag
deformation along two thrust faults
which pass through the flank of a major
field in the UAE. Computer analysis of
dip data, using the recently introduced
Dip Trend* software, enables the geometry of the thrust faults to be defined precisely (Middle East Well Evaluation
Review, Number 8, 1990). The first dip
track in the Dip Trend output shows the
original dip recordings made and processed using a Stratigraphic High Resolution Dipmeter Tool (SHDT*). The Dip
Trend software groups and colours the
dips according to their initial structural
classification. During this early stage, the
program defines the structural dips of

Original dips and classification

Structural dip

401

Dips indicate folding

323

Dips indicate folding

303

312

303

Structural dip

301

18

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Middle East Well Evaluation Review

The Gulf
W
Fateh Field

Oman mountains
E

Margham Field

0 ft
Semail ophiolite 20 000
Pre-Permian

Salt

40 000

Fig 2.14: Cross section through the UAE showing the structural complexity of the major exploration target, Cretaceous
Thamama carbonates.

intervals which have consistent magnitude and azimuth.

In the final Dip Trend analysis, the
program produces a second output track
with coloured bands linking the dips of
each structural trend and each fold pattern. An identification number is also
assigned to each of these trends and is
printed at the base of the dip pattern on
a log plot and near the cluster (or circle)
of dips when projected onto a polar plot.
In this example, the structural dip
zones fall in the centre of the polar plot,
as they have low dip angles, whereas the
dips of the folds fall on a circle. The Dip
Trend software adds identification numbers to dip populations that define individual folds on both polar and log plots.
A cross section showing the precise
geometry of the folding is drawn by the
StrucView* software program which is
currently under test in the Middle East.
In this case, the angle of the thrust fault
was estimated since the survey was
undertaken using a Dipmeter. Had borehole imagery been used, it would have
been possible to measure the exact dip
and strike angles of the fault planes.
Well-to-well correlations in this area
show that parts of the formation are
repeated which confirms the interpretation of thrust faulting. (See Charismatique, Issue 1 and WER Structural Geology
Supplement, 1990).

Northwest
Depth
m 0

6450
6500
6550

6600
6650
6700
6750
6800
6850
6900
6950

StrucView
Duadip

Southeast
90 0

Duadip

90

Fig. 2.15: This

cross section
shows the
precise
structural
geometry of the
example shown
in figure 2.12,
based on Dip
Trend analysis
of dipmeter data.
However, the
angle of the
thrust fault must
be estimated.
Had borehole
imagery been
used, it would
have been
possible to
measure the
exact dip and
strike angles of
the fault plane.
The orientation
and vertical
scales can be
changed to
match other
cross sections,
such as a seismic
section.

7000
7050
7100
7150
7200

340

350

330

10

20
30

320

40

310

50

300

60

Small circle defining a fold

(#303)

290

70

Structural dip trends (301 & 401) 80

401

280
270 Small circle defining a fold
(#323)
260

90

301

100
110

250

120

240
230

130
220

140
210
200

Number 13, 1992.

190 180 170 160

150

19

Peering into
Turkeys
fractures
Borehole imagery, Dip
Trend analysis and land
3-D seismic surveys are
giving a new insight into
the complexity of the reservoirs
housed in the fold belt which runs from
Oman to Turkey. Structural and fracture analysis of borehole images have
revealed that Turkeys reservoirs have
been put through a complex mixture of
normal, thrust, reverse and wrench
faulting.
Rift faulting first affected southeastern Turkey along the northern edge of
the Arabian Plate. Later, the closure of
the Tethys Sea caused thrust faulting
which reactivated some of the normal
faults within these rift blocks. Subsequent interaction of the Arabian and
Eurasian plates during the Miocene produced widespread wrench faulting and
reactivated both normal and thrust
faults along the Zagros-Bitlis Mountain
belt forming the East Anatolian fault
zone.
The dominant structural influence
on the Turkish Petroleum Company's
(TPAO) fields in south east Turkey is
the NE-SW Adiyaman wrench-fault system. This has a left-lateral displacement
and has formed structures with imbricated and faulted anticlines which are
overthrust from north to south. The
region has also suffered at least two
phases of major tectonic deformation,
one in the Late Cretaceous and the
other during Miocene times.
Studies by TPAO in three fields,
Ozan Sungurlu, Karakus and Cendere,
give some idea of the complicated geological history of south east Turkey and
the structural geometry of its reservoirs. Analysis of borehole imagery
from three wells in Ozan Sungurlu Field
has revealed faults, unconformities and
fractures. A Dip Trend structural inter-

Fig. 2.16: STRETCHING

THE IMAGINATION:
The dominant
structural influence in
the TPAO fields has
been the Adiyaman
wrench-fault system.
This has produced a
left-lateral
displacement and has
formed complex
structures, with faulted
anticlines, which are
overthrust from north
to south. Dip Trend
structural analysis of
dipmeter and FMS data
has helped to unravel
some of the
complexities of these
structures.

Fig. 2.17: How the

Adiyaman wrenchfault system has
displaced many of
the imbricated and
faulted structures in
TPAO's fields.

pretation of one of these wells is shown

in figure 2.19. A 3-D structural model of
the field has since been made and
incorporates the various fault movements over time.
Similar reservoir complexities and
fault types have been highlighted by 3D seismic surveys of N V Turkse Shells
Mardin reservoirs. The seismic data

shows that the thrust faults later developed a lateral shear component. It also
indicated that there was a previously
undiscovered reservoir fault block to
the south which is separated from Kastel Field by a normal fault. (Details of
the complexity of Shells Beykan Field
can be found in Middle East Well Evaluation Review Structural Geology Supple-

Bitlis extension of the Zagros fold belt

Melange Nappe

Ophiolite Nappe

+2
Tertiary
+1
0
-1
-2

Upper
Cretaceous
Paleozoic
Mardin Limestone

km
Fig. 2.18: Typical cross section through TPAO's fields showing the complex faulting that has taken place. (WER Structural Geology
Supplement, 1990).

20

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Middle East Well Evaluation Review

ment, 1990).
Borehole electrical imagery provides
more detailed structural information on
a smaller scale than 3-D seismic surveys. Using these images, it has been
possible to investigate the fracture systems and unconformities which separate the main units in the Cretaceous
Mardin Group (the Areban, Sabunsuyu,
Derdere and Karababa formations).
The porosity of the Mardin Group
rocks is associated with unconformities
and fracture-related dolomitization. In
fact, fracturing is often critical to the viability of these reservoirs which normally have a matrix porosity of less than
five percent. In these fields, Dip Trend
analysis is proving to be invaluable to
both structural and fracture analysis as
it highlights changes in dip associated
with faults and folds. It also reveals the
slight dip changes which are related to
the Mardin reservoir unconformities
which house different fracture types.
In Mardin reservoirs, FMS data has
given a clear indication of fracture orientation. It has shown that there are
numerous changes in direction and
density of fracturing intersected by the
wells. There is also a wide variation in
fracture porosity and permeability with
depth.
Fig. 2.19: (Left): This structural interpretation
of one of the wells in the Ozan Sungurlu
Field have revealed a complex mixture of
faults, unconformities and fractures. The
analysis was made using Dip Trend computer
software and dip data derived from borehole
electrical imagery (above). Polar projections
(below) of this data have helped in the
identification of structural trends and this
information is now being used to make a 3-D
structural model of the field. This will also
incorporate the various fault movements
over time.

Number 13, 1992.

21

The Dip Trend analysis revealed

that the various fracture orientations
seen in each well can be related to specific structural events. In addition, plots
derived from Dip Trend analysis were
correlated with well logs which proved
that the highest fracture densities were
linked to some major faults, certain
lithologic units and unconformities.
Changes in fracture orientations and
fracture porosity seem to go hand-inhand with increased fracture density
and proximity to unconformities. The
fracture widths increase in zones below
the unconformities in the Mardin reservoirs and this could be due to stress
relief and leaching along cracks.
In general, the tectonic fractures are
indicative of tensional stresses and
show that the rocks probably failed
during uplift or due to deformation
close to faults. The widths of these fractures normally decrease with increased
fracture density - the reverse of what is
seen in the cracking associated with
unconformities.
A close look at drilling-induced fractures, coupled with an investigation of
borehole shape, has given a good indication of the principal horizontal stress
direction across the field. Variations in
the stress direction often occurred near
major faults.
The Ozan Sungurlu 1 well to the
north east of the study area contains
the greatest density and widest range of
fracture orientations. The strike histograms in figure 2.22 show that the orientations vary from NW to ENE but
they remain sub-parallel to the major
faults. The predominant NW fracture
set is influenced by the principal
regional stress - and this is also reflected in the drilling-induced fractures. The
fracture orientation shows a sharp
change across the fault zone at 2,680 m
suggesting that a different, more localized, stress regime exits on either side
of some of the main faults.

22

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Fig. 2.20: These

FMS images
clearly reveal the
fractured nature of
the Mardin
reservoirs. There
are numerous
changes in
direction and a
wide variety of
fracture types and
size with depth.
The various
fracture
orientations can be
related to specific
structural events.

Fig. 2.21: A study of

these drillinginduced fractures
coupled with an
investigation of
borehole shape has
given a good
indication of the
principal horizontal
stress across the
Ozan Sungurlu
Field.

Middle East Well Evaluation Review

Fig 2.22:
(Immediate left):
Strike histograms
show that the
orientations vary
from NW to ENE
but they remain
sub-parallel to the
major faults. The
predominant NW
fracture set is
influenced by the
main regional
stress. The fracture
orientation shows a
sharp change
across the fault
zone at 2,680 m
(far left) and this
indicates that a
more localised
stress regime exists
on either side of the
main faults.

Fig 2.23: This FMS

shows an
unconformity where
the Karababa 'B'
meets the Karababa
'A' Formation.

A potential unconformity can be

seen at 3,192 m where the Areban
meets the Sabunsuyu Formation, producing a clear change in bedding orientation. The FMS images reveal a lack of
faults at this depth but show a high density of fractures beneath the unconformity. The wide apertures of the
fractures indicate that they may have
been leached.

Number 13, 1992.

23

Some of the worlds

largest reservoirs are
contained in the gentle
fold belt that lies on the
south western side of
Irans Zagros Mountains. The biggest
reservoir is the Oligocene-Miocene
Asmari Formation which is made of carbonate rocks which were deposited just
before the Tethys Sea closed.
An indication of the highly fractured
nature of the carbonate Asmari fields
came at the turn of the century when
oil was first discovered in Iran. Numerous gushers were found and all the
wells had high production rates. By
1920, pressure measurements at Masjidi-Sulaiman Field indicated that reservoir
communication could only be
explained by fracturing - an important
observation that radically changed the
field development strategy. Instead of
drilling many closely-spaced wells,
fewer more widely spaced wells were
put down. Without knowing it, the engineers were sowing the seeds of modern
reservoir management.
Rock fractures in the younger
Asmari reservoirs also provide the
route for fluid and pressure communication with the older and deeper Cretaceous (Bangestan Group) rocks. This
explains why Cretaceous oils are found
in the Asmari rocks.
The fracture systems in many of
these reservoirs are complex. However,
recent studies of a supergiant field,
which lies further away from the Zagros
range, have revealed a surprisingly
orderly fracture distribution. Most of
the fractures that occur are in the crestal portions of the carbonate layers
and it is thought that the interlayered
and highly porous reservoir sandstones
have a dampening effect on the stresses
in the anticline.
The distribution of fracture characteristics in the same field is neither uniform, chaotic nor random. However,
the distribution can be investigated
using FMS/FracView summary logs,
and lithology and porosity details can

Photo: BP.

Irans fractured
formations

be obtained from log analysis. Most of

the fractures are of tectonic origin but a
few are karstic. As would be expected,
the tectonic fractures are congregated
along the crest and their orientation is
parallel to the axis. There is a systematic decrease in fracture characteristics
(aperture, width, density and length)
from the crest to the flanks.
The uppermost carbonate unit contains the most fractures. However, in
this and lower layers, the fracture patterns do not conform a 3-D fracture
block network that is traditionally
assumed during reservoir simulation
and production analysis. Instead, they
have a preferred orientation but rarely
intersect. This means that they increase
the vertical permeability of these tight
rocks and provide a permeability
anisotropy which runs parallel to the
fields structural axis. Using todays horizontal drilling technology, it is now possible to intersect such fractured zones
and significantly improve well production.

Fig. 2.24: Studies of Asmari outcrops

reveal similar fracture characteristics to
those seen in the studied supergiant
fields. (WER Iran
Special Supplement, 1991).

Recent FMS imagery has provided

quantitative information about the
fields fracture distribution. The flanks
of the field contain between 50 % and
70 % fewer fractures than the crest and
there seems to be a gradual decrease
from crest to flank. This suggests that
most of the fractures occurred at the
same time rather than over a prolonged
period.

Fig. 2.25: Geological cross section across

south east Iran.

SW

Supergiant Asmari reservoir

Masjid-i-Sulaiman oilfield

Agha Jari Fm

Gachsaran Fm

24

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Asmari Fm

Bangestan Group

Khami Group

Middle East Well Evaluation Review

Tectonic
180

360

Karst
180

360

0.2 ms

0.2 ms

Fig. 2.26: To the right is a text

book example of simple
extensional fracturing which
resulted from the gentle folding of
a supergiant Asmari reservoir. The
fractures are only present in the
limestone zones interlayered with
highly-porous sandstone zones.
The tectonic fracture lengths,
density and apertures decrease
systematically from the crest
towards the flanks. Karstic
fracturing is also present
immediately below
uncomformities (top right) formed
during times of low sea level of the
Neo-Tethys Sea.

Crest

Top carbonate

Porous sandstone
155/0.96 mm
Second carbonate
94/0.80 mm
60/0.49 mm

Total number of fractures

and their aperture

42/0.37 mm

Asmari formation outcrops

Intensely deformed core

NW

Number 13, 1992.

25