METHOD FOR PREDICTING FLUID FLOW

A method for predicting fluid flow is provided. An exemplary embodiment of the method comprises obtaining data describing a stratigraphy, the stratigraphy comprising a fault, predicting a volume of shale in the fault and calculating a thickness of the fault. The exemplary method may also comprise calculating a permeability of the fault based on the volume of shale, the thickness, an estimated shale smear continuity factor and an estimated cataclastic reduction factor. The exemplary method may additionally comprise predicting fluid flow in a subsurface region based on the fault permeability.