AccScience Publishing / JSE / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/JSE026280137
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Development and application of a high-precision seismic fracture prediction method for deep shale reservoirs: A case study of the southern Sichuan Basin, China

Ruhua Zhang1,2* ,  Cheng Yin1 ,  Xuewen Shi2,3 ,  Jianping Huang4 ,  Dongjun Zhang2,3 ,  Tao Wu2,3
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1 School of Geoscience and Technology, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu, Sichuan , China
2 Shale Gas Research Institute, PetroChina Southwest Oil & Gasfield Company, Chengdu, Sichuan , China
3 Shale Gas Evaluation and Exploitation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu, Sichuan , China
4 Department of Geophysics, School of Geosciences, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao, Shandong , China
Received: 12 July 2026 | Revised: 12 September 2026 | Accepted: 24 September 2026 | Published online: 22 October 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

The deep Longmaxi Formation in the southern Sichuan Basin exhibits intricate fracture networks resulting from multiple tectonic episodes, rendering high-resolution fracture characterization crucial for effective deep shale gas exploration and production. Current approaches to fracture prediction in deep shale face two fundamental challenges: (i) the deep target formation necessitates high-fidelity velocity models, yet conventional seismic imaging fails to meet the stringent requirements for refined fracture delineation; (ii) existing prediction methodologies predominantly employ conventional seismic attributes such as coherence and curvature. Single-scale curvature analysis proves inadequate for multi-scale fracture characterization, while curvature attributes remain highly susceptible to noise contamination. To address these limitations, this study first introduces an integrated high-precision velocity modeling workflow incorporating geological constraints, grid tomography, and full-waveform inversion (FWI), representing the inaugural application of FWI to deep shale gas exploration in the Sichuan Basin. Second, based on scale-space analysis theory and seismic curvature analysis, this article proposes a method using a Gaussian filter calibrated based on actual drilling breakpoints to characterize seismic fractures at different scales. Using the high-precision imaging results as input, the proposed method predicts fractures at multiple scales. Field trials in a deep shale gas block of southern Sichuan demonstrate: (i) substantial improvements in imaging accuracy and subtle structure delineation compared to conventional processing; and (ii) superior fracture prediction capabilities relative to conventional curvature-based methods, with enhanced resolution of multi-scale fracture systems, thereby providing critical technical support for deep shale gas development.

Keywords
Deep shale gas
Fracture prediction
Seismic velocity model building
Seismic imaging
Curvature analysis
Funding
This research is funded by PetroChina Science and Technology Project “Shale Gas Scale Reserves Increase and Production Technology Research” (Project No.: 2023ZZ21).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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Journal of Seismic Exploration, Print ISSN: 0963-0651, Published by AccScience Publishing