Quantifying the Widths of Fault Damage Zones Based on the Fault Likelihood: A Case Study of Faults in the Fuji Syncline of the Luzhou Block, Sichuan Basin, China

Abstract

Faults are critical to the preservation or destruction of shale gas concentration. The Lower Silurian Longmaxi Formation in the southern Sichuan Basin hosts relatively developed faults, which pose a huge challenge to the exploration and exploitation of shale gas. An urgent need to quickly determine the widths of fault damage zones (FDZs) arises in locating horizontal shale gas wells. In this study, FDZs were estimated using the fault likelihood. The results are as follows: (1) It is rational to constrain the FDZ width using a fault likelihood greater than 0.2. The six major NEE-trending faults in the Fuji syncline of the Luzhou block have complex structures and varying FDZ widths from about 240–1220 m. (2) The degree of influence of FDZs is negatively correlated with their distance from the faults. In other words, a greater distance from a fault is associated with a weaker influence and a smaller fault likelihood. (3) Based on the ratio of the fault throw to the FDZ width, we propose that the width of seismic-scale fault damages can be directly constrained using a ratio value of 3.5. This method is fast and accurate and can provide support for the evaluation of the shale gas preservation conditions and well placement in the Longmaxi Formation of the southern Sichuan Basin.