The Shaikan Field is a large producing oil field in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. It consists of multiple fractured reservoirs consisting of limestones, calcareous sandstones and mudstones. The surrounding tectonic terrane is situated in the seismically active Zagros–Taurus orogenic zone, where present-day stresses are high. The regional stresses are found to impose conditions that satisfy failure along reservoir-bound fractures, suggesting that a significant proportion of fractures are likely to be critically stressed. The in situ maximum principal stress magnitudes are estimated using three methods, namely, the tensile and compressive strengths of reservoir rock, and leak-off test (LOT) data. Stress-field orientations are determined from wellbore image log data, which are used to interpret wellbore breakouts and the associated induced tensile fractures. Reservoir pressure has declined since production started and poroelastic responses have been assessed and used to estimate the present-day stress-state and the criticality of those fractures that are most likely to fail or slip. Although a conventional approach has been used the present authors argue that a new approach to stress response with changing pore pressure should be taken. Unlike the previous theory of criticality in which a reduction in pore pressure is considered to lead to a stabilization of the fracture network, the present study suggests that a system may remain critically stressed regardless of pressure decline.Thematic collection: This article is part of the The Geology of Fractured Reservoirs collection available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/the-geology-of-fractured-reservoirs

The hydraulic behaviour of the fractures in a fractured carbonate reservoir is a function of fracture intensity, aperture, intrinsic permeability, length, height and orientation, all of which influence the scale of connectivity and ultimately storage, productivity and reserves. If a geologically realistic fracture model is not appropriately incorporated into upscaled fracture properties for a dynamic simulation, it may still be possible to match a short production history, but calculations of field-wide fracture pore volumes and forecasts of future reservoir development may be poor and uncertain. To accurately represent the fractures, discrete fracture network (DFN) models were built and used to constrain fracture geometries and their hydraulic properties for use in forecasting, field development options and uncertainty characterization. The workflow illustrated in this paper shows how a DFN may be validated and calibrated through the simulation of transient bottom hole pressures from individual drill stem tests and pressure interference data, followed by upscaling to a full-field dynamic simulation model. This DFN-to-simulation workflow, applicable to most conventional fractured reservoirs, successfully matched reservoir pressure history for the field as a whole and for individual wells without having to locally modify any of the upscaled fracture properties around the wells. Sensitivity analysis identified key fracture drivers having the greatest impact upon the history match, and these were combined to produce history matched Low and High Case models. Production forecasts for the Low, Base and High Cases were used to predict reserves, manage risk and optimize the field development plan.Supplementary material: Supplementary figures are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5001203Thematic collection: This article is part of the The Geology of Fractured Reservoirs collection available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/the-geology-of-fractured-reservoirs