Shale Anisotropy Estimation From Logs in Vertical Wells

Abstract

Abstract Anisotropic elastic parameters for shales are widely needed in seismic imaging, reservoir characterization, and carbon sequestration monitoring. Unlike other elastic parameters such as vertical P and S wave velocities, anisotropy parameters are not measured directly from the acoustic well logs due to the single‐directional nature of a well. We assume that shale anisotropy is induced by thin cracks that are filled with liquid in a background isotropic medium, whose bulk and shear moduli are obtained from the vertically measured P and S wave velocities, density, and porosity from corresponding well logs through a formalized inversion scheme. We show that the estimated anisotropy using the proposed method is consistent with the mineralogy and agrees with the published laboratory measurements. This framework allows us to quantify the uncertainties in the anisotropy parameters estimated from the inversion, which can be used as a measure to evaluate the validity of the chosen rock physics model.