High-resolution analysis of 3D fracture networks from Digital Outcrop Models, correlation to plate-tectonic events and calibration of subsurface models (Jurassic, Arabian Plate)

The performance of different reservoirs, both hydrocarbon and gas storage, is significantly influenced by the presence of natural fracture networks mainly originated in response to tectonic deformation. However, adequate characterization of fracture networks in the subsurface is often difficult since most of the used techniques are either spatially sparse (well and log data) or have limited resolution (seismic and well tests). In this study, we use UAV-based digital photogrammetry to reconstruct a 3D Digital Outcrop Model and characterize natural fracture sets of the late Jurassic Hanifa Formation (Tuwaiq Escarpment, Saudi Arabia). We analyzed the exposed fracture patterns in terms of fracture distribution, intensity, and lateral variability. The fracture dataset was collected using manual sampling approaches since the automatic sampling techniques are highly influenced by outcrop morphology thus not yet reliable to quantify and interpret fracture networks along reservoir outcrop analogues. The well-exposed late Jurassic outcrops in Wadi Birk, southern central Saudi Arabia, are considered analogous in depositional facies to subsurface reservoirs in the region. The observed fracture patterns are congruent with patterns reported from same-age formations in other parts of the Arabian Plate and hence can be related to platewide tectonic events that impacted Arabia during the Late Cretaceous (Alpine I) and the late Tertiary Period (Alpine II). This association provides support for using outcrop-based fracture studies as analogue scenarios for the orientation, distribution and intensity of fractures in subsurface reservoirs. The applied methodology for fracture network characterization have potential implications for hydrocarbon development, gas storage (H2) and Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS).