Estimation of anisotropy parameters for shale based on an improved rock physics model, part 1: theory

Abstract

Shale is observed to have strong transverse isotropy due to its complex intrinsic properties on a small scale. An improved rock physics model has been developed to effectively model this intrinsic anisotropy. Several effective medium theories (Backus averaging, differential effective medium theory and self-consistent approximation) are validated and used in different steps of the workflow to simulate the effects of clay minerals, crack-like pores, kerogen and their preferred orientation on the elastic anisotropy. Anisotropic solid clay is constructed by using different clay mineral constituents instead of assuming it to be an equivalent isotropic or transversely isotropic medium. We differentiate between the voids associated with clay and the voids associated with other minerals based on their varied geometries and their different contributions to the anisotropy. The degree of alignment of clay particles, interconnected pore fluid and kerogen has a great influence on the elastic properties of shale. Therefore, in addition to the pore aspect ratio (asp), a new parameter called the lamination index (LI) related to the distribution of clay particle orientation is proposed and needs to be estimated during the modeling. We then present a practical inversion scheme to enable the prediction of anisotropy parameters for both vertical and horizontal well logs by estimating the lamination index and the pore aspect ratio simultaneously. The predicted elastic constants are demonstrated by using the published laboratory measurements of some Greenhorn shale, and they show better accuracy than the estimations in the existing literature. This model takes different rock properties into consideration and is thus generalized for shale formations from different areas. The application of this model to the well logs of some Upper Triassic shale in the Sichuan basin, and the analyzed results, are presented in part 2 of this paper.