A case study of prestack orthotropic AVAz inversion for fracture characterization of a tight deep carbonate reservoir of Kuwait

Summary In this paper we discuss a case study of inversion of fullazimuth data for fracture characterization of the limestone member of one of the deep carbonate reservoirs of Kuwait. The inversion methodology assumes an orthotropic system of symmetry that is appropriate for analysis of VTI (vertical transverse isotropy) anisotropic rock layers containing swarms of aligned vertical fractures. Measured seismic amplitudes show good agreement with synthetic models created at different well locations, indicating reliable representation of fractures in amplitude data. Rock physics modeling shows a relationship between elastic properties and seismic anisotropy, and reservoir properties like porosity and fracture density.