Applied Concepts in Fractured Reservoirs
Understanding the influence of fractures on the storage and movement of fluids in the subsurface is a key component of resource exploitation and management. This includes oil, gas, water and geothermal energy as well as waste disposal. This book addresses the geological analysis of fractures and, although ‘concepts’ appears in the title, it includes a great deal of practical information that can be applied in working practice.
The book is divided into three sections that can be summarised by the first word of each section title; Understanding, Measuring and Effects. The first section covers the theoretical and observational background to fractures in terms of their nomenclature, characteristics and mechanics of formation. These concepts are clearly described and form a good basis for the observational techniques described in the next section.
The second section describes the practical description of fractures in core and includes advice on the equipment to use as well as logging techniques and the type of data to record. This is the most useful section of the book and provides an excellent guide to dealing with fractures in core, something that requires a different approach from field-based analysis. Outcrop analogues studies to complement the core observations are also described.
The third, briefer, section covers the effects of natural fractures and discusses their influence on permeability and anisotropy of reservoirs. The geomechanical response to pressure drawdown and fluid injection is also covered. The interaction of natural fractures with induced hydraulic fractures also gets a mention.
Covering every aspect of fractured reservoirs in a single volume would be impossible; a OnePetro search returning over 28000 results. The book distils useful information for the geologist but also shows where geophysical and engineering disciplines are linked, as successful fractured reservoir analysis requires. The strength of the book is that it provides practical advice for anyone seeking to study fractured core. It is very clearly illustrated throughout with plenty of examples of different fracture types, both in the field and the core store.
The book is an excellent companion to the authors’ ‘Atlas of Natural and Induced Fractures in Core’; together they make a valuable resource for anyone venturing into the core store. As someone who has spent many years describing fracture systems in core I can thoroughly recommend this book as an excellent primer, regardless of the type of study being undertaken, be it commercial or driven by scientific curiosity.
Reviewed by Tim Needham
APPLIED CONCEPTS IN FRACTURED RESERVOIRS by JOHN C. LORENZ & SCOTT P. COOPER, 2020. Published by: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 211pp (hbk) ISBN: 9781119055860 List Price £100.00 W: https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/Applied+Concepts+in+Fractured+Reservoirs-p-9781119055983