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ABSTRACT Nonmiscible fluid displacement without salt exchange takes place when oil-base mud (OBM) invades connate water-saturated rocks. This is a favorable condition for the estimation of dynamic petrophysical properties, including saturation-dependent capillary pressure. We developed and successfully tested a new method to estimate porosity, fluid saturation, permeability, capillary pressure, and relative permeability of water-bearing sands invaded with OBM from multiple borehole geophysical measurements. The estimation method simulates the process of mud-filtrate invasion to calculate the corresponding radial distribution of water saturation. Porosity, permeability, capillary pressure, and relative permeability are iteratively adjusted in the simulation of invasion until density, photoelectric factor, neutron porosity, and apparent resistivity logs are accurately reproduced with numerical simulations that honor the postinvasion radial distribution of water saturation. Examples of application include oil- and gas-bearing reservoirs that exhibit a complete capillary fluid transition between water at the bottom and hydrocarbon at irreducible water saturation at the top. We show that the estimated dynamic petrophysical properties in the water-bearing portion of the reservoir are in agreement with vertical variations of water saturation above the free water-hydrocarbon contact, thereby validating our estimation method. Additionally, it is shown that the radial distribution of water saturation inferred from apparent resistivity and nuclear logs can be used for fluid-substitution analysis of acoustic compressional and shear logs.
- Europe (1.00)
- North America > United States > Texas (0.93)
- Geology > Geological Subdiscipline (1.00)
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Rock > Sandstone (0.69)
- Geology > Mineral > Silicate (0.68)
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Rock > Mudrock > Shale (0.33)
- Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea > North Sea > Northern North Sea > South Viking Graben > Block 16/28 > Andrew Field (0.99)
- Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea > North Sea > Northern North Sea > South Viking Graben > Block 16/27a > Andrew Field (0.99)
- Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea > Central North Sea > Northern North Sea > South Viking Graben > Block 16/28 > Andrew Field (0.99)
- Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea > Central North Sea > Northern North Sea > South Viking Graben > Block 16/27a > Andrew Field (0.99)
- Well Drilling > Drilling Fluids and Materials > Drilling fluid selection and formulation (chemistry, properties) (1.00)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Reservoir Fluid Dynamics > Flow in porous media (1.00)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Reservoir Characterization > Seismic processing and interpretation (1.00)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Formation Evaluation & Management > Open hole/cased hole log analysis (1.00)
Abstract This paper introduces a rock typing method for application in hydrocarbon-bearing shale (specifically source rock) reservoirs using conventional well logs and core data. Source rock reservoirs are known to be highly heterogeneous and often require new or specialized petrophysical techniques for accurate reservoir evaluation. In the past, petrophysical description of source rock reservoirs with well logs has been focused to quantifying rock composition and organic-matter concentration. These solutions often require many assumptions and ad-hoc correlations where the interpretation becomes a core matching exercise. Scale effects on measurements are typically neglected in core matching. Rock typing in hydrocarbon-bearing shale provides an alternative description by segmenting the reservoir into petrophysically-similar groups with k-means cluster analysis, which can then be used for ranking and detailed analysis of depth zones favorable for production. A synthetic example illustrates the rock typing method for an idealized sequence of beds penetrated by a vertical well. Results and analysis from the synthetic example show that rock types from inverted log properties correctly identify the most organic-rich sections better than rock types detected from well logs in thin beds. Also, estimated kerogen concentration is shown to be the most reliable property in an under-determined inversion solution. Field cases in the Barnett and Haynesville shale gas plays show the importance of core data for supplementing well logs and identifying correlations for desirable reservoir properties (kerogen/TOC concentration, fluid saturations, and porosity). Qualitative rock classes are formed and verified using inverted estimates of kerogen concentration as a rock-quality metric. Inverted log properties identify 40% more of a high-kerogen rock type over well-log based rock types in the Barnett formation. A case in the Haynesville formation suggests the possibility of identifying depositional environments as a result of rock attributes that produce distinct groupings from k-means cluster analysis with well logs. Core data and inversion results indicate homogeneity in the Haynesville formation case. However, the distributions of rock types show a 50% occurrence between two rock types over 90 ft vertical-extent of reservoir. Rock types suggest vertical distributions that exhibit similar rock attributes with characteristic properties (porosity, organic concentration and maturity, and gas saturation). The interpretation method considered in this paper does not directly quantify reservoir parameters and would not serve the purpose of quantifying gas-in-place. Rock typing in hydrocarbon-bearing shale with conventional well logs forms qualitative rock classes which can be used to calculate net-to-gross, validate conventional interpretation methods, perform well-to-well correlations, and establish facies distributions for integrated reservoir modeling in hydrocarbon-bearing shale.
- North America > United States > Texas > Fort Worth Basin > Barnett Shale Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > East Texas Salt Basin > Cotton Valley Group Formation > Bossier Shale Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > Ardmore - Marieta Basin > Newark East Field > Barnett Shale Formation (0.99)
- (6 more...)
Abstract Petrophysical interpretation of well logs acquired in organic shales and carbonates is challenging because of the presence of thin beds and spatially complex lithology; conventional interpretation techniques often fail in such cases. Recently introduced methods for thin-bed interpretation enable corrections for shoulder-bed effects on well logs but remain sensitive to incorrectly picked bed boundaries. We introduce a new inversion-based method to detect bed boundaries and to estimate petrophysical and compositional properties of multi-layer formations from conventional well logs in the presence of thin beds, complex lithology/fluids, and kerogen. Bed boundaries and bed properties are updated in two serial inversion loops. Numerical simulation of well logs within both inversion loops explicitly takes into account differences in the volume of investigation of all well logs involved in the estimation, thereby enabling corrections for shoulder-bed effects. The successful application of the new interpretation method is documented with synthetic cases and field data acquired in thinly bedded carbonates and in the Haynesville shale-gas formation. Estimates of petrophysical/compositional properties obtained with the new interpretation method are compared to those obtained with (a) nonlinear inversion of well logs with inaccurate bed boundaries, (b) depth-by-depth inversion of well logs, and (c) core/X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) measurements. Results indicate that the new method improves the estimation of porosity of thin beds by more than 200% in the carbonate field example and by more than 40% in the shale-gas example, compared to depth-by-depth interpretation results obtained with commercial software. This improvement in the assessment of petrophysical/compositional properties reduces uncertainty in hydrocarbon reserves and aids in the selection of hydraulic fracture locations in organic shale.
- North America > United States > Texas > Haynesville Shale Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Louisiana > Haynesville Shale Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Louisiana > Haynesville Formation (0.99)
- (2 more...)
Abstract Rock typing in carbonate reservoirs is challenging due to high spatial heterogeneity and complex pore structure. In extreme cases, conventional rock typing methods such as Leverett's J-function, Winland's R35, and flow zone indicator are inadequate to capture the heterogeneity and complexity of carbonate petrofacies. Furthermore, these methods are based on core measurements, hence are not applicable to uncored reservoir zones. This paper introduces a new method for petrophysical rock classification in carbonate reservoirs that honors multiple well logs and emphasizes the signature of mud-filtrate invasion. The method classifies rocks based on both static and dynamic petrophysical properties. An inversion-based algorithm is implemented to simultaneously estimate mineralogy, porosity, and water saturation from well logs. We numerically simulate the process of mud-filtrate invasion in each rock type and quantify the corresponding effects on nuclear and resistivity measurements to derive invasion-induced well-log attributes, which are subsequently integrated into the rock classification. Under favorable conditions, the interpretation method advanced in this paper can distinguish bimodal from uni-modal behavior in saturation-dependent capillary pressure otherwise only possible with special core analysis. We successfully apply the new method to a mixed clastic-carbonate sequence in the Hugoton gas field, Kansas. Rock types derived with the new method are in good agreement with lithofacies described from core samples. The distribution of permeability and saturation estimated from well-log-derived rock types agrees with routine core measurements, with the corresponding uncertainty significantly reduced when compared to results obtained with conventional porosity-permeability correlations.
- North America > United States > Texas (1.00)
- North America > United States > Kansas > Finney County (0.49)
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Rock (1.00)
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate Rock (1.00)
- North America > United States > California > Sacramento Basin > 2 Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Kansas > Panoma Field (0.94)
Improved Estimation Of Pore Connectivity And Permeability In Deepwater Carbonates With The Construction Of Multi-Layer Static And Dynamic Petrophysical Models
Diniz-Ferreira, Elton Luiz (Schlumberger) | Torres-Verdín, Carlos (PETROBRAS – Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. and The University of Texas at Austin)
Due to sea-level variations, cycles of sedimentation can often be recognized from well logs. It is possible to differentiate rock types based on such geological cyclicity; for petrophysical purposes we will refer to those rock types as fluid flow units. In the presence of thin layers, flow units can only be detected with core data. The cause of sea-level variation in this field is not well understood and remains a subject of study by geologists. Wells were drilled with both oil-base mud (OBM) and water-base mud (WBM). The oil bearing-zone of wells drilled with WBM gave rise to a conspicuous invasion profile on resistivity logs. It is possible to simulate this invasion profile in different layers and estimate their permeability. Conversely, wells drilled with OBM did not show a conclusive invasion profile in the oilbearing zone because of the lack of electrical resistivity contrast between oil and mud filtrate. Due to the complexity of the pore space and the spatial heterogeneity of the reservoir under consideration, conventional well-log evaluation seldom reproduces petrophysical properties consistent with core data. It is necessary to construct multi-layer petrophysical models based on geological information to improve the interpretation. A model that combined well logs and geological properties was key to select bed boundaries and to construct an earth model. The latter model was used to perform static and dynamic simulations - matching simulated resistivity, nuclear, and NMR logs with field measurements. Petrophysical properties estimated with those simulations were in agreement with core laboratory measurements. Interpretation was performed in the oil-bearing zone of three wells: two of them-Wells Η and Γ – were drilled with OBM, the remaining well-Well Χ – drilled with WBM (Table 1). It is not possible to perform a correlation between the evaluated wells using well-logs.
- South America (0.93)
- North America > United States > Texas (0.29)
ABSTRACT: Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is widely used to assess petrophysical and fluid properties of porous rocks. In the case of fluid typing, two-dimensional (2D) NMR interpretation techniques have advantages over conventional one-dimensional (1D) interpretation as they provide additional discriminatory information about saturating fluids. However, often there is ambiguity as to whether fluids appraised with NMR measurements are mobile or residual. In some instances, high vertical heterogeneity of rock properties (e.g. across thinlybedded formations) can make it difficult to separate NMR fluid signatures from those due to pore-size distributions and fluids. There are also cases where conventional fluid identification methods based on resistivity and nuclear logs indicate dominant presence of water while NMR measurements indicate presence of water, hydrocarbon, and mud filtrate. Depending on drilling mud being used, and the radial extent of mud-filtrate invasion, the NMR response of virgin reservoir fluids can be masked by that of mud filtrate. In order to separate those effects, it is important to reconcile NMR measurements with electrical and nuclear logs for improved assessment of porosity and mobile hydrocarbon saturation. We quantify the exact radial zone of response of NMR measurements and corresponding fluid saturations with studies of mud-filtrate invasion that honor resistivity and nuclear logs. Examples of application examine field data acquired in thinly-bedded gas formations of the Wamsutter basin invaded with water-base mud, wherein residual hydrocarbon saturation is relatively high. Additionally, fluid identification and partial porosity calculations obtained from a T1-T2 map indicate that NMR measurements originate from a radial annulus approximately 5 inches into the formation where the pore space is predominantly saturated with water but in which gas saturation is still higher than residual saturation. It was also found that the uncertainty of total NMR porosity could be as high as 3 pu because of noise and thin-bed effects.
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock (0.94)
- Geology > Geological Subdiscipline (0.88)
- North America > United States > Wyoming > Sand Wash Basin (0.99)
- North America > United States > Wyoming > Greater Green River Basin > Wamsutter Basin > Wamsutter Field (0.99)
- North America > United States > Wyoming > Greater Green River Basin > Almond Formation (0.99)
- (2 more...)
- North America > United States > Texas (0.30)
- North America > United States > Colorado (0.30)
- North America > United States > California (0.29)
- Geology > Geological Subdiscipline > Geomechanics (1.00)
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Rock > Sandstone (0.31)
- Geophysics > Borehole Geophysics (1.00)
- Geophysics > Seismic Surveying > Seismic Modeling > Velocity Modeling (0.48)
ABSTRACT Calculation of mineral and fluid volumetric concentrations from well logs is one of the most important outcomes of formation evaluation. Conventional estimation methods assume linear or quasi-linear relationships between volumetric concentrations of solid/fluid constituents and well logs. Experience shows, however, that the relationship between neutron porosity logs and mineral concentrations is generally nonlinear. More importantly, linear estimation methods do not explicitly account for shoulder-bed and/or invasion effects on well logs, nor do they account for differences in the volume of investigation of the measurements involved in the estimation. The latter deficiencies of linear estimation methods can cause appreciable errors in the calculation of porosity and hydrocarbon pore volume. We investigated three nonlinear inversion methods for assessment of volumetric concentrations of mineral and fluid constituents of rocks from multiple well logs. All three of these methods accounted for the general nonlinear relationship between well logs, mineral concentrations, and fluid saturations. The first method accounted for the combined effects of invasion and shoulder beds on well logs. The second method also accounted for shoulder-bed effects but was intended for cases where mud-filtrate invasion is negligible or radially deep. Finally, the third method was designed specifically for analysis of thick beds where mud-filtrate invasion is either negligible or radially deep. Numerical synthetic examples of application indicated that nonlinear inversion of multiple well logs is a reliable method to quantify complex mineral and fluid compositions in the presence of thin beds and invasion. Comparison of results against those obtained with conventional multimineral estimation methods confirmed the advantage of nonlinear inversion of multiple well logs in quantifying thinly bedded invaded formations with variable and complex lithology, such as those often encountered in carbonate formations.
- Geology > Mineral (1.00)
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Rock > Mudrock > Shale (0.32)