Detection of fracture orientation using azimuthal variation of P-wave AVO responses

Azimuthally dependent P-wave amplitude variation with offset (AVO) responses can be related theoretically to open fracture orientation and have been suggested as a geophysical tool to identify fracture orientation in fractured oil and gas reservoirs. A field experiment conducted recently over a fractured reservoir in the Barinas Basin, Venezuela provides data for an excellent test of this approach. Three lines of data were collected in three different azimuths, and three component receivers were used. The distribution of fractures in this reservoir was obtained previously using measurements of shear-wave splitting from P-S converted waves from the same data set. In this work, we use P-wave data to see if the data can yield the same information using azimuthal variation of P-wave AVO responses. Results obtained from the azimuthal P-wave AVO analysis corroborate the fracture orientation obtained previously using P-S converted waves. This analysis with field data is an example of the high potential of P-waves to detect fracture effects on seismic wave propagation.