Interpreting Dual Laterolog Fracture Data in Fractured Carbonate Formation

The estimation of fractures is key to evaluating fractured carbonate reservoirs. It is difficult to evaluate this kind of reservoir because of its heterogeneously distributed fractures and anisotropy. A three-dimensional numerical model was used to simulate the responses of the dual laterolog (DLL) in a fractured formation based on a macro-isotropic anisotropic model. Accordingly, a fast fracture- computing method was developed. First, the apparent conductivity of the DLL is linearly related to the porosity of the fracture and the conductivity of pore fluid. Second, the amplitude difference of the deep and shallow apparent resistivity logs is mainly dependent on the dip angle of the fracture. Then the response of the DLL to a formation with dip angle fractures is approximately depicted as a function of the bulk resistivity of the rock, the porosity of the fractures and the conductivity of fracture fluid. This function can be used to compute the porosity of fracture quickly. The actual data show that the fracture parameters determined by the DLL closely coincide with the formation micro imager log.