A novel deep learning method based on 2-D CNNs and GRUs for permeability prediction of tight sandstone

The accurate calculation of tight sandstone reservoir permeability is crucial for optimizing production and maximizing natural gas recovery. Traditional physical model-based permeability calculation methods heavily rely on core experimental parameters. However, petrophysical experiments are costly, prompting the development of fast and reliable reservoir permeability prediction methods. In this paper, a novel deep learning model that combines two-dimensional convolutional neural network (2-D CNN) model and gated recurrent neural network is proposed to predict tight sandstone reservoir permeability. The 1-D conventional well logs data is converted into the 2-D geological feature map to fit the model's input dimension. The TimeDistributed layer wrapping technology is used to couple the 2-D CNN and GRU to extract comprehensive features of geological feature maps. By training the model, a depth nonlinear mapping between the spatial and temporal features in the well logs data and permeability is established. The model is divided into two subnetworks, 2-D CNNs and GRUs, which are used to compare and analyze the functions of different modules in the proposed model. Additionally, two traditional machine learning algorithms, SVM and XGBoost, are also introduced as comparison models. Four regression evaluation metrics are used to quantify the predictive performance of different models. The test results in a blind well demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the comparison models in predicting permeability, with a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.9305, a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.0895, a mean squared error (MSE) of 0.0080, and a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.0725. This model can provide insight into the petrophysical characteristics of reaction reservoirs based on conventional well logs data and can accurately estimate reservoir permeability under limited core data, which has great application potential in improving the exploration accuracy of unconventional oil and gas resources.