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1 Roxar, Inc., 14701 St Mary's Lane, Houston, TX 77079 USA (e-mail: karen.hoffman{at}roxar.com)
2 Roxar, Inc., 2201 Walnut Ave, Suite 240, Fremont, CA 94538 USA
Fault network modelling of complex faulted structures, those containing hundreds or even thousands of faults, can be an extremely difficult and time-consuming process. Although techniques for mapping and modelling faulted structures have been in existence for nearly forty years, asset teams still struggle to create correct portrayals of such complex faulted reservoirs due to the limitations of the commonly used techniques. We have developed a new approach to fault network modelling, using a new concept of ‘fused’ fault blocks. The identification of fault–fault intersections is based not on a manually drawn fault network or table of relationships, but rather is derived from the fault surfaces themselves. The calculated intersection lines are then used to truncate faults against each other. Because the truncation information can be stored with the fault model, this process yields a repeatable and easily updatable fault model. The name of our technique ‘fused fault blocks’ refers to the fact that when a section of a fault is removed, the two fault blocks that had been created by the fault are then fused together, forming a single fault block. The resultant fault model can then be used to create a 3D reservoir grid, one in which the fault geometry has not been compromised, and therefore better reflects the actual structure. The speed of the fault-building process ‘seconds or minutes, even for models with hundreds of faults’ also allows multiple interpretations, placing the emphasis of the fault network building on the evaluation of the interpretation and the effects of compartmentalization, and not on the manipulation of software.
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  Q. J. Fisher and S. J. Jolley Treatment of faults in production simulation models Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 2007; 292: 219 - 233. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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