Geophysical Research Abstracts

Vol. 17, EGU2015-13175, 2015

EGU General Assembly 2015
© Author(s) 2015. CC Attribution 3.0 License.

Fracture analysis of an Eocene reservoir in Eastern Tunisia by coupling

Terrestrial Laser Scanning with GigaPan Technology and seismic attribute
MASTOURI R.*, GUERIN A.*, MARCHANT R.**, DERRON M-H.*, BOULARES A.***, LAZZEZ M.***,
MARILLIER F.*, JABOYEDOFF M.*, BOUAZIZ S.****

*- Institute of Earth Science, University of Lausanne

**- Museum of geology, University of Lausanne, Switzerland,
***- ETAP, Tunisian company of oil activity,
****- Engineering School of Sfax, R. L. “Water- Energy- Environmen”, University of

1. INTRODUCTION

Field analogues are used for understanding the fracture system of reservoir petroleum. In
the last years, 3D high-resolution technology such as Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) and
GigaPan allowed to acquire precise 3D high resolution data about the terrain and open new
prospects for structural studies. The TLS outcrop data can be used as a means to improve
reservoir characterization, for integration of LiDAR datasets with other filed data (Buckley et
al., 2008;2010; Hodgetts, 2013;Agada et al., 2014).

In this study, we have coupled TLS with GigaPan technology and seismic attributes to analyze
the density, size and orientation of fractures characterizing the Eocene oil reservoir of
Eastern Tunisia. Moreover, the statistical distributions of joints spacing provide clear
information on fracture geometry distribution, connectivity and joint orientation. These
results were then compared to structures observed in depth with 3D seismic data.

2. LOCATION AND GEOLOGY OF THE STUDY AREA

The Eocene oil reservoir of Eastern Tunisia is made of the El Garia Formation (site of
Ousselat cliff) and Reineche Formation (site of Damous quarry). These two sites are made of
marine limestone rich in large foraminifers, gastropods and nummulites (Beavington-Penney
et al., 2005; Ben Ismail-Lattrache et al., 2014).
The cliff of Ousselat is located in front of the village of Oueslettia to the west of Kairoun.
This outcrop survey is a 130m thick vertical cliff and consists of massive limestone. The
Ousselat cliff is composed mostly of nummulitic packistone and grainstone with Operculina
and Discocyclina, small benthic foraminifera, fragment of planktonic foraminifera, and
copious echinoderm (Jorry et al., 2003). The Damous Quarry is located on the Cap Bon
peninsula in northern Tunisia. This quarry is 20m high and located in the western flank of the
Jebel Abderrahman anticline which is situated on the roadcross joining the villages of Menzel
Bouzelfa and Oum Dhouil. The Damous Quarry is the unique outcropping shallow-marine
unit from Lower Bartonian Reineche Limestone member in Tunisia (Ben Ismail- Lattrache,
2014). The lower Bartonian Reineche Limestone member represents oil and gas reservoir in
Eastern Tunisia.
The fieldwork was carried out in Tunisia, using the TLS and GigaPan devices. In total, we have
taken 3 scans at different survey positions for each of both sites.

Figure 1: Location map showing the main structural features of the study area. (Bedir,
1995).

Figure 2: Stratigraphy of the Eastern Tunisia, based on data of the oil wells affected by
ETAP, 2010
3. WORKFLOWS

Data processing is carried out in several stages by using specific softwares in order to
characterize the fractures and discontinuities. These tools and various steps of the workflow
are developed below .

4. RESULTS

4.1. Outcrop description

Figure 3: A) nice plumose structures or

Hackle marks can be observed in the field.
They show the direction of fracture
propagation (sinistral shear and extension in
Damous quarry, Reineche Formation). B)
Fringe shoulder zone represented by en
echelon extension gashes.
 J1

J1

Figure 4: Comparison of the structures observed in the field and the result interpreted
with Coltop3D. The analysis of data shows that J1 corresponds to shear extension
fractures. This group has NW-SE strike direction.

Figure 5: A) Panoramic view of the EL Garia Formation outcrop showing normal faults (in
red and in blue) and the lithological boundaries (in yellow). The normal faults are maybe
post depositional because the layer keep the same thickness. B) Zoom view showing the
frequent deep water nummulites facies deposit of Eocene age.
4.2. Creating of a photorealitic model and detailed fracturation analysis

Figure 6: A) Intensity of the TLS point cloud. Blue points: low intensity; red points: high
intensity (scaled 8 bits: 0 to 255). B) Triangular mesh created to complete the relief
shading and used to improve the structural analysis. C) photorealistic model by texturing
the triangular mesh obtained with a digital panorama from GigaPan

Figure7: Structural data of the Damous quarry. A) 3D view of TLS data showing the
orientation fractures detected with Coltop3D software. B) Lower-hemisphere, equal-
area stereonet showing the fractures orientation.
Table 1: Orientation data of set fractures detected by Coltop3D at Damous quarry (Reineche
formation).
Dip/Dip direction
Strike
(Tolerance)

81/041 (15) NW-SE

J1
J2 73/123 (13) NNE-SSW
J3 80/315 (15) NE-SW
J4 70/215 (12) NW-SE
J5 76/144 (10) NE-SW
J6 78/165 (10) ENE-WSW
J7 58/348 (10) ENE-WSW
J8 80/259 (10) NNW-SSE
SO 22/202 (10) WNW-ESE

.
Figure 8: Cumulative frequency of distribution spacing for the Damous quarry (Reineche
Formation) .
Table 2: Statistic results of all fractures detected with Coltop3D for the Damous quarry
(Reineche formation).

Coefficient
Number Mean Standard Minimum Maximum
Orientation of
spacing spacing deviation spacing spacing
variation

J1 NW-SE 73 0.333 0.23 0.050 2 0.909

J2 NNE-SSW 18 0.388 0.31 0.10 0.82 0.577
J5 NE-SW 20 0.514 0.5 0.10 0.97 0.531
J3 NE-SW 17 0.531 0.54 0.11 1.24 0.650
SO WNW-ESE 42 0.206 0.20 0.03 0.42 0.507

Figure 9: Comparison of the different texturing of Ousselat cliff; A) Triangular mesh

draped with a picture taken with a normal digital camera. B) The same mesh draped with
a high-resolution GigaPan panorama.

Figure 10: Structural data of the Ousselat cliff. A) 3D view of TLS data showing the
orientation fractures detected with Coltop3D software. B) Lower-hemisphere, equal-area
stereonet showing the orientation fractures.
Table 3: Orientation data of all fractures detected with Coltop3D at Ousselat cliff (Garia
formation).

Dip/Dip direction/ (Tolerance) Strike

J3 73/315 / (15) NE-SW
J4 74/203/ (15) NW-SE
J5 76/134/ (15) NE-SW
J8 74/251/ (15) NNW-SSE
SO 28/085/ (15) NNW-SSE

Figure 11: Cumulative frequency of distribution spacing for the Ousselat cliff (Garia
Formation).

Table 4: Statistic results data of all fractures detected with Coltop3D for the Ousselat cliff.
Orientation Number Mean Median Standard Minimum Maximum Coefficient
spacing spacing spacing deviation spacing spacing of variation
(m) (m)
J3 NE-SW 81 4.23 3.24 2.889 0.52 11.91 0.681
J4 NW-SE 40 9.60 8.43 6.560 1.40 28.21 0.682

SO N-S 40 2.93 2.71 1.449 1.06 7.81 0.493

A) B)

Faults striking NW-SE to NNW-SSE

Faults striking NE-SW to NNE-SSW

Figure 11: A) Time-structure horizon surface of level Reineche (faults orientation is

indicated by white arrows). B) Most positive curvature attribute shows horizon surface of
Reineche level with interpreted faults surfaces that show normal faults explained by a
combination of extension and shear.
5. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The structural analysis of the Ousselat cliff shows 5 sets of joints and fractures, with different
dips and dip directions. They all strike in directions NW-SE, NNE-SSW, NE-SW and ENE-WSW.
Using a photorealistic model, we measured approximately 120 fracture spacings ranging
from 1.75m to 10m. The results for spacing distribution are shown the majority of spacing is
characterized by log-normal, except the group J1 which is characterized by a negative
exponential distribution. The J1 occurrence is random. Moreover, coefficient of variation Cv
(after Odling et al., 1999) in Ousselat ranges from 0.507 to 1. These results show the
fractures J1 is distributed randomly and the others (J2, J3, J5, J8) are roughly evenly
distributed.
For Reineche formation outcrop, the structural analog indicates 8 sets of joints and
fractures. In Total, we measured 150 fracture spacings. Most of fracture spacings range from
0.05m to 1m. The results show that many joints of the quarry rocks are interconnected with
other small-scale fractures. The statistical distribution of spacings measured along a Damous
quarry shows the majority of fractures are characterized by a log-normal distribution, except
the fractures J3 which follows a negative exponential distribution. The Cv of this fracture
ranges from 0.493 to 0.682; therefore we can say this fracture is roughly evenly distributed.
The comparison between the stereonets obtained by structural analysis at outcrop level and
the seismic attribute indicates that fractures striking NW-SE to NNW-SSE and NE-SW to NNE-
SSW are represented in all surveys position. The majority of the faults and fractures
observed in TLS data and 3D seismic data can be explained by a combination of extension
and shear. Moreover, in this study, we found that there is no correlation between fractures
density or fracture distribution and lithology. Finally, the density and the geometry of the
fractures have been also interpreted at the outcrop level and in depth. This comparison
allows to better characterize the relationship between permeability, secondary porosity and
fracture density of the Eocene reservoir.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the National Tunisia Company of Petroleum Activities
(ETAP), Exploration Directorate, for organizing the Fieldwork to apply the TLS and GigaPan in
particular Mr. SMAOUI Jalel and Mr. GHARIANI Houcin, and for providing the seismic and
well data as well, The authors are also grateful to dGB Earth Sciences who provided us with
all the plug-ins of the OpendTect seismic interpretation software and Kingdom SMT
software.
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