CGE 674

FORMATION EVALUATION

NUR SHUHADAH BT JAPPERI

FACULTY OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

UiTM, SHAH ALAM
2 Rock & Fluid Properties
Outline

2.1 Porosity

2.2 Permeability

2.3 Saturation
Objectives
After completing this chapter, you should
be able to:
- Describe different types of porosity
- Determine the factors affecting porosity
- Define absolute, effective and relative
permeability
- Construct the relative permeability curve
- Illustrate and analyze capillary pressure curve
- Define fluid saturation and water salinity
- Determine fluid properties as well as formation
pressure and temperature.
 Overview

The response to measurements made with petrophysical logging

tools will depend on the formation being investigated.
Evaluation of reservoir rocks or potential reservoir rocks requires
basically three pieces of data:
Porosity capacity of the rock to contain fluids;
Saturation the relative amounts of these fluids;
Permeability ability of fluids to flow through the rock to the well bore.

Vshale Description
> 40 % Shale formation (useless)
10 40 % Shaly formation
< 10 % Clean formation
 Rock Classification System
This classification system uses a pseudo-rock chemistry classification. The
method is very useful since many log responses reflect physical and chemical
properties of the rock.
The classification is used extensively in the evaluation of logs and in
particular in the charts used for interpretation.
Based on the following categories of rocks:
Sandstones SiO2
Limestones CaCO3 Most common reservoir rocks
Dolomites CaCO3Mg CO3
NaCl, Anhydrite, Gypsum, Clay
E.g. silt and chert are classified as sandstone, chalk is classified as
limestone as it results in the same response on log as calcium carbonate.
Dolomite differs strongly from limestone on well log readings (differs
significantly in density, hardness and other properties.
NaCl, Anhydrite, Gypsum and Clay are common rock, but differ significantly
from sandstone, limestone and dolomite.
However, fractured igneous and metamorphic rocks are also possible as
reservoir
 2.1 Porosity
Percentage of rock gross volume that is not made up of matrix material.
Primary and Secondary porosity
Non-solid part of the rock, filled with fluids
Is referred to in terms of percentages or a number less than 1
Definition : volume of the non-solid part of the rock (that filled with fluids)
divided by the bulk volume
Porosity (cont)

Column stacking of rock grains Close packing of rock grains

phi = 47.6% phi = 25.9%
Porosity (cont)

Example
4 cm 4 cm

4 cm 4 cm

Compare the porosity for both cases

Porosity is same or different???
Porosity (cont)

Total Porosity
Ratio of the volume of all the pores to the bulk volume of a material,
regardless of whether or not all of the pores are interconnected.

Effective Porosity
Ratio of the interconnected pore volume to the bulk volume of a
material, i.e. it does not include dead-end pore space.

Primary Porosity
Porosity developed by the original sedimentation process by which the
rock was created.
Varies with grain size distribution, grain shape, packing arrangement,
cementation, and clay content.
Porosity (cont)

Effective, isolated and total porosity

Porosity (cont)

Impact of isolated pore???

The impact of isolated

pore space clearly
cannot contribute to
recoverable reserves
Effective, isolated and total porosity of fluid and also to
permeable pore space
Porosity (cont)

Factors affecting porosity:

Porosity is influenced mainly by these

depositional parameters:
Particles shape Three different but related properties
determine particle shape: form,
Sorting roundness, and surface texture.
Particle form is the overall shape of
Packing particles, typically defined in terms of the
relative lengths of the longest, shortest,
Compaction and intermediate axes. Particles can be
spherical, prismatic, or bladelike.
Cementation Roundness or angularity is a measure
of the smoothness of particles.
Porosity (cont)
Sorting

Reduction in porosity due to a range of particle sizes

Porosity (cont)
Sorting.

Compare the differences???

Porosity (cont)
Sorting.

well sorted
Well Sorted Rock
-Grains are generally of the same size and shape.
-Porosity in a well sorted rock is generally high.
Porosity (cont)

Poorly sorted

Poorly Sorted Rock

- Composed of a wide variety of grain sizes and shapes.
- Porosity can be reduced. How??
Porosity (cont)

Grain packing.

The spacing or density patterns of grains in a

sedimentary rock and is a function mainly of grain
size, grain shape, and the degree of compaction of
the sediment.

Packing strongly affects the bulk density of the rocks as

well as their porosity and permeability.

Cubic packing can yield a porosity of 47.6%.

Rhombohedral packing yields approximately 26.0%.
Porosity (cont)

Grain packing and its effect on porosity

Porosity (cont)

What are the relationship between sorting and packing to porosity????

Porosity (cont)
Compaction.
A decrease in the volume of a stratum due to pressure
exerted by overlying strata, evaporation of water or
other causes.
The weight of the overlying sediments squeezes the
particles together into the tightest arrangement possible.
The load pressure also squeezes out the water that
occupies the pore spaces between the particles, thus
reducing the bulk volume of the formation.
Compaction is
dependent not only on overburden pressure but also on the
different types of clastic materials present in the formation.
affects porosity and permeability by reducing the amount of
interconnected pore space.
Porosity (cont)

Cementation.

The crystallization or precipitation of soluble

minerals in the pore spaces between clastic
particles.

The process of lithification (the conversion of

unconsolidated deposits into solid rock) is completed by
cementation.
Common cementing agents include calcite (CaCO3),
silica (SiO2), and iron oxide.
Porosity (cont)

Porosity and permeability can be reduced

significantly due to cementation

Effect of cementation on porosity

 Porosity (cont)
Secondary Porosity
Created by process which occur after deposition (diagenesis: usually
solution, compaction, cementation and fracturing)
E.g. in limestones or dolomites which has been dissolved by ground waters,
a process which creates vugs or caverns
Fracturing and dolomitization:
Dolomitization: the result of the shrinking of solid volume as the material
transforms from limestone to dolomite
In most cases, secondary porosity results in much higher permeability than
primary granular porosity.

2o porosity in limestone
Porosity (cont)

Fracture porosity

Results from the presence of openings produced by

the breaking or shattering of a rock.
All rock types are affected by fracturing
The two basic types of fractures include:
natural tectonically related fractures
hydraulically induced fractures.
Porosity (cont)

Vuggy porosity

Form of secondary porosity resulting from

the dissolution of the more soluble portions
of rock or solution enlargement of pores or
fractures.
Porosity (cont)

Vuggy porosity in carbonates

Porosity determination from logs
1. Acoustic Log
tlog tma

t f tma

2. Density Log
ma b

ma f

Fresh mud;
tf = 189 sec/ft, f = 1.0 g/cm3

Salt mud:
tf = 185 sec/ft, f = 1.1 g/cm3
 2.2 Permeability
A measure of the ability of a porous material to transmit fluid unit Darcy
Is measured by flowing fluids through the rock under known conditions.
Several factors must be known:
Size and shape of the formation;
The fluid properties: pressure exerted on the fluid;
The amount of fluid flow
P greater, the higher the flow rate; while more viscous the fluid, more
difficult to push it through rock.
 Permeability (cont)
Darcys Law

One darcy is defined as that permeability that will permit a fluid of one
centipoise viscosity to flow at a rate of one cubic centimeter per second
through a cross-sectional area of 1 square centimeter when the pressure
gradient is one atmospheric per centimeter.
Q = flow rate of fluid (cm3/sec)
k = permeability (Darcy)
A = cross-sectional area (cm3)
P = pressure change (atmosphere)
l = length (cm)
 Permeability (cont)

Darcys Law is used to determine permeability constant when the

following boundary conditions are met:
Linear-laminar flow
No reaction between fluid and rock
One phase present at 100% pore-space saturation
Incompressible

Permeability is a term used to link flowrate through the pressure difference

across a section of porous rock.

At one extreme, permeability of many rocks is so low as to be considered

zero even though they may be porous. Such rocks may constitute the cap
rock above a porous and permeable reservoir, e.g. shales, chalk, anhydrite,
etc.
Permeability (cont)

Effect of Turbulent
Flow on measured
permeability
 Permeability (cont)
milidarcy (mD) is commonly used in reservoir description.
Darcy has a SI equivalent in the m2.
Normally reservoir rocks have k from less than 1mD to about 50,000mD
Good HC reservoir : k > 100mD
Permeability range Description
k < 1 mD Negligible
1 mD < k < 10 mD Low
10 mD < k < 100 mD Average
100 mD < k < 1000 mD Good
k > 1000 mD (1 D) Excellent
In sandstones, controlling factors on permeability:
Percentage of clay
Grain size
Sorting
Presence of cements
fractures
Permeability (cont)

Permeability along the flat surfaces will be higher than permeability in a direction
perpendicular to the flat surfaces of the grains. Why???
In a reservoir, permeability horizontally along the bed is usually higher than
permeability vertically across the bed because the process of sedimentation causes
the grains to be laid down with their flattest sides in horizontal position.
Clean Sandstone Carbonate
Permeability (cont)

Typically, in SS
reservoirs, increased k is
accompanied by
increased porosity.
Constant k with increased
porosity presence of
more numerous but
smaller pores.
Compaction &
cementation:
Dolomitization of
limestone:
Permeability (cont)

Absolute permeability
permeability of the formation when only 1 fluid is present in the pores

Effective Permeability
Permeability when more than 1 fluid is present in the rock.
keff < kabs. Why???
E.g. oil and water are present and the oil is flowing: keff oil < kabs

Relative Permeability
Ratio of effective permeability of a specific fluid to absolute permeability.
Figure shows relative permeability curve as a function of saturation
Reflect the capacity of the rock to produce given fluids
Typical relative permeability curve shows at lower Sw, only oil will flow
Permeability (cont)

Sw increase, kro decrease until

reach some critical level, at
which point both oil & water flow
Oil flow continue to decrease &
water flow increase as Sw
increase.
At some level of Sw, oil no longer
flows & only water flows.
Beyond this point, as Sw
increase, water flow within the
core continue to increase.

What happen to oil & gas with

equal relative permeability???
Which one do you think will flow
in higher amount. Why????
 Capillary Pressure

Capillary pressure exists

whenever two immiscible
phases are present.
Difference in masses &
distances between molecules
of different phases produces
an initially unbalanced force
across the interface.
Interfacial tension deforms the
outer surface of immiscible
liquids to produce droplets.
If the two liquids are present
on a surface, the interfacial
tension deforms the liquids to
Representation of an oil water boundary produce a characteristic
contact angle (next figure)
Capillary Pressure (cont)

Interfacial tension between oil,

water and a solid

Contact angle describes the

nature of interaction of the
fluids on the surface.
From fig, an angle < 90o
indicates surface is water wet,
if angle > 90o the surface
would be oil wet.

A wetting phase
is one which spreads over the solid surface and preferentially wets the solid.
The contact angle approaches zero (and will always be less than 90).
A non-wetting phase
has little or no affinity for a solid and the contact angle will be greater than 90
Capillary Pressure (cont)

Reservoir rocks are composed of varying sizes of

grains, pores, and capillaries (channels between grains
which connect pores together, sometimes called pore
throats).
As the size of the pores and channels decrease, the
surface tension of fluids in the rock increases.
When there are several fluids in the rock, each fluid has
a different surface tension and adhesion that causes a
pressure variation between those fluids.
This pressure is called capillary pressure and is often
sufficient to prevent the flow of one fluid in the
presence of another.
Capillary Pressure (cont)

Capillary pressure effects in reservoirs

Capillary Pressure (cont)

Large pore throat diameters

Generally yield a lower capillary pressure because of

the decrease in the amount of surface tension.

Large pores that are often associated with large pore

throat diameters will also contain lesser amounts of
adsorbed (adhered) water because the surface-to-
volume ratio of the pore is low.
Capillary Pressure (cont)

Small pore throat diameters

Generally yield higher capillary pressures because of

the greater amount of surface tension.

Small pores that are often associated with small pore

throat diameters will have a high surface-to-volume
ratio, and therefore may contain greater amounts of
adsorbed (adhered) water.
Capillary Pressure (cont)
If a container of oil and water is
considered as in figure, the
denser water lies below the oil.
Under equilibrium conditions,
Adhesion tension around
periphery (2r) of the tube can
be summed to give total force
upwards.
Since interface is static, this
forced must be balanced by
forces in the column of water
drawn up the tube and
equivalent column of oil outside
the tube.
At point C, the force (or
pressure) must be the same in
the tube as outside, therefore
excess force produced by the
column of water is balanced by
the adhesion tension.
Capillary Pressure (cont)
The capillary pressure is the difference in pressure across an interface,
therefore in terms of pressure (The Pc, is force acting on area r2),

Therefore,
 Capillary Pressure (cont)

Capillary pressure
curve

Transition zone???

Formation containing
irreducible water will
produce only HC,
whereas the transition
zone of varying Sw will
produce water and HC.

It is important to note five aspects:

The FWL: the position of zero capillary pressure
The OWC
The 100% water saturation at a distance above FWL due to the capillary action of the largest tube
The irreducible level representing the limit of mobile water saturation
The different radii segregate the capillary pressure & therefore the height to which the water is drawn into the
oil zone.
Capillary Pressure (cont)

100% water saturation

continues some distance
above FWL corresponding
to largest pores of the
rock, hp.
Above this level (WOC),
both oil & water are
present: Sw decreases
with increased height,
since the larger pores can
no longer support the
water by capillary action &
Sw falls.
Transition zone: between
100% WOC & the
irreducible saturation level.

Capillary pressure curve

for porous media
2.3 Saturation
Saturation of any given fluid in a pore space is the ratio of the volume
of the fluid to the total pore space volume.
What it means by water saturation of 10%?????
Where porosity is the capacity to hold fluids, saturation is the
percentage or fraction of this total capacity that actually holds any
particular fluid.
Sw is concerned in FE: phase that carries electrical current from the
logging tools.
(1 Sw) is the HC saturation of the pore-space.
A major goal of FE is to define & use reservoir saturation-height
relationships: determined through developing relationships between
porosity, permeability, lithology & saturation, as a function of height
above FWL.
Most water saturations are determined from the formations electrical
properties.
Sw = pores occupied by formation water
total pore spaces in the rock
Saturation (cont)

(oil and water) (oil, water and gas)

Reservoir rock saturation with different fluids

Porosity, Shc, thickness of reservoir rock & the areal extent of reservoir rock all
contribute to the total HC in place establish economic potential of any given reservoir
Fluid Properties

In oil business, oil & gas are referred to as if they are

separate and distinguishable items. They are produced
either as liquid or gas at surface temperature and
pressure.
The cut between liquid and gas often depends on the
method of separation used at the well site.
In the reservoir, oil & gas are not distinguishable as
separate entities but are a system.
This system is defined using pressure-temperature (P,T)
diagram describe conditions of material in the reservoir
at any given pressure and temperature.
Water Salinity

The waters in reservoirs vary from fresh to salt

saturated solutions.
Near surface: generally very fresh with low NaCl
concentrations
Deeper: saltier until some maximum concentration occurs
& the water often becomes fresher.
Salinity: parts per million by weight (ppm)
At normal room temperature: 250,000 ppm is a
saturated solution.
At higher temperature: saturation point for waters is
higher.
E.g. at 300oC, 300,000 ppm NaCl solution is saturated.
 Formation Pressure
The force per unit area acting on a surface

is caused by the rock pressure The pressure acting

which is transmitted through upon the fluids in
the sub-surface by grain to the pore space of
grain contacts. the formation.

Overburden pressure (OP)

= Grain pressure (GP) + Fluid pressure (FP)

Column of freshwater = 0.43 psi/ft : normal

Abnormal (overpressured) = >0.43 psi/ft
Abnormal (underpressured) = <0.43 psi/ft
Formation Pressure
Formation Pressure

Water pressure at any depth in a normal situation:

Reservoir whose water pressure gradient when

extrapolated to zero depth give an absolute pressure
equivalent to atmospheric pressure are called normal
pressured reservoirs.
Formation Pressure

Abnormal pressure

Overpressured reservoirs - those where the

hydrostatic pressure is greater than the normal pressure
Underpressured reservoirs below normal pressure
Formation Pressure

Pressure gradients in HC systems are different from

those of water system and are determined by oil and gas
phase specific gravities, o and g of each fluid.
Formation Pressure
Formation Temperature

A mean surface temperature can be obtained or

estimated for any given location.
The temperature between the surface and the depth at
which the maximum temperature is recorded is assumed
to change linearly.
The assumption that the geothermal gradient, GG (the
rate at which temperature increases with increased
depth) is linear is a good approximation.
GG = 100 x (FT ST) / D
FT = Formation Temperature (assume FT is equal to BHT normal approach)
ST = Surface Temperature, F
D = Formation Depth, ft

FT = ST + GG (D / 100)
Formation Pressure

Example

An OWC is found at 10,000 ft TVD. Water gradient =

0.45 psi/ft, oil gradient 0.35 psi/ft. What is the pressure
at 9,000 ft?
End of Lecture