ABSTRACT The Silurian Longmaxi Formation shale in the central Luzhou area exhibits significant development potential, making it a priority target for deep shale gas resource exploitation. The Longmaxi Formation shale in this area exhibits well‐developed fractures, with the intensity of fracture development demonstrating a close relationship with shale gas production capacity. Based on post‐stack seismic data, seismic attribute analysis techniques are utilized to predict large‐scale fractures, while ant‐tracking (Ant‐Tracking Algorithm) methods are adopted to characterize small‐scale fractures in detail. Employing seismic inversion, seismic waveforms, elastic parameters, and engineering mechanical parameters are integrated to predict engineering pressure parameters—breakdown pressure and collapse pressure—thereby characterizing multi‐scale fracture distribution features. The results indicate that structural controls govern fracture development and distribution. In the northern study area, NW‐SE‐oriented fractures predominate, while near‐N‐S trending fractures prevail in the central sector. Fracture development in the southern sector is less extensive than in the north but exhibits greater directional complexity, with NW‐SE, near‐N‐S, and NE‐SW‐oriented fractures all present. Within the studied area, small‐scale fractures in the basal shale of the Longmaxi Formation are primarily distributed near large‐scale fractures and exhibit correspondence with structural distribution. In the northern part of the study area, they manifest as narrow band‐shaped distributions, while from central to southern regions, locally clustered distribution characteristics prevail. Breakdown pressure closely correlates with large‐scale fractures, while collapse pressure primarily characterizes the development of small‐scale fractures. The integration of seismic data with dual‐pressure parameters (breakdown pressure and collapse pressure) holds significant importance for multi‐scale fracture prediction.
Liu et al. (Wed,) studied this question.