English abstract
Early water breakthrough has occurred in the Lower Cretaceous carbonate reservoirs (Aptian Shu'aiba Formation) in Yibal and Lekhwair fields, north Oman. Borehole Image logs were run in more than 10 horizontal wells in each field to investigate the role of faults and fracture systems, as well as facies variations and sedimentary features. These logs indicated the presence of highly-fractured zones with both open and cemented fractures. The fractures have orientations consistent with fault patterns interpreted from 3-D seismic data. High density fractured zones, in most cases, correspond to faults, some of which are below seismic resolution. The presence of fractures and/or fracture zones is the primary cause of early water breakthrough. Improved production performance was achieved by perforating non-fractured intervals to avoid early high water cuts.
