Numerical simulation and fracture evaluation method of dual laterolog in organic shale

Fracture identification and parameter evaluation are important for logging interpretation of organic shale, especially fracture evaluation from conventional logs in case the imaging log is not available. It is helpful to study dual laterolog responses of the fractured shale reservoir. First, a physical model is set up according to the property of organic shale, and three-dimensional finite element method (FEM) based on the principle of dual laterolog is introduced and applied to simulate dual laterolog responses in various shale models, which can help identify the fractures in shale formations. Then, through a number of numerical simulations of dual laterolog for various shale models with different base rock resistivities and fracture openings, the corresponding equations of various cases are constructed respectively, and the fracture porosity can be calculated consequently. Finally, we apply this methodology proposed above to a case study of organic shale, and the fracture porosity and fracture opening are calculated. The results are consistent with the fracture parameters processed from Full borehole Micro-resistivity Imaging (FMI). It indicates that the method is applicable for fracture evaluation of organic shale.