Fundamentals Of Petroleum Engineering

ROCK AND FLUID PROPERTIES

Mohd Fauzi Hamid
Wan Rosli Wan Sulaiman
Department of Petroleum Engineering
Faculty of Petroleum & Renewable Engineering
Universiti Technologi Malaysia
1

COURSE CONTENTS

Reservoir Rock Characteristics

Porosity
Permeability
Rock and Fluid Interaction
Type of Reservoir
Type of Reservoir Drive Mechanism

Reservoir Rock Characteristics

To form a commercial reservoir of hydrocarbons, any

geological formation must exhibit two essential
characteristics.

These are capacity for storage and a transmissibility to

the fluids concerned.

Storage capacity requires void spaces within the rock

and the transmissibility requires that there should be
continuity of those void spaces.

Porosity

Petroleum is not found in underground rivers or

caverns, but in pore spaces between the grains of
porous sedimentary rocks.
A piece of porous
sedimentary rock. The pore
spaces are the white areas
between the dark grains. It is
within such pore spaces that
fluids such as oil, natural gas,
or water can be found in the
subsurface.

Porosity () is defined as a percentage or fraction of

void to the bulk volume of a material.

Porosity of commercial reservoirs may range from

about 5% to about 30% of bulk volume.

Vp
Vb

x100% =

Vb Vg
Vb

x100% =

Vp
Vp + Vg

x100%

where:
Vp = pore or void volume
Vg = grain volume

Vb = bulk volume of rock

Factors Affecting Porosity

Grain size: grain size has no effect on porosity. Well

rounded sediments that are packed into the same
arrangement generally have porosities from 26% to
48% depending on the packing.

Sorting: Well sorted sediments generally have higher

porosities than poorly sorted sediments for the simple
reason that if a sediment is a range of particle sizes
then the smaller particles may fill in the voids between
the larger particles.

Grain shape: Irregularly shaped particles tend not to

pack as neatly as rounded particles, resulting in higher
proportions of voidspace.

Total and Effective Porosity

Total porosity is defined as the

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

Effective porosity is defined as the

ratio of the interconnected pore
volume to the bulk volume.

Isolated pores

Primary and Secondary Porosity

Primary porosity is defined as a porosity in a rock due

to sedimentation process.

Secondary porosity is defined as a porosity in a rock

which happen after sedimentation process, for
example fracturing and re-crystallization.

Porosity Measurement

Boyles Law porosimeter.

Wet and dry weight method.
Summation of fluids.

Permeability

The permeability of a rock is a measure of the ease

with which fluids can flow through a rock. This depends
on how well the pore spaces within that rock are
interconnected.

Good Permeability

Poor Permeability

Permeability is a measure of the ability of a porous

material to transmit fluid under a potential gradient.

The unit for permeability (k) is darcy named after a

French scientist, Henry Philibert Gaspard Darcy who
investigated flow of water through filter beds in 1856.

1 Darcy = 0.987 x 10-12 m2.

The general darcys equation is:

L
Q

A
P1

Q
k dP
=
A
dL

P2

where: Q = flowrate (cm3/sec)

K = permeability (darcy)
A = cross section area (cm2)
= fluid viscosity (cp)
P = pressure (atm)
L = length (cm)

L
Q

Q = 1cm3/sec
A

A = 1cm2
= 1 cp

P1

P2

Find k ?

P = 1atm
L = 1cm

1 darcy is defined as the permeability that will permit a

fluid of 1 centipoise viscosity to flow at a rate of 1 cubic
centimeter per second through a cross sectional area of
1 square centimeter when the pressure gradient is 1
atmosphere per centimeter.

There are four conditions that are required for this

equation to be valid:

Laminar flow.
No accumulation.
Single-phase liquid flow.
The porous media is not reactive with the flowing fluid.

Plot of Q/A against dP/dL

should yield a single straight
line as shown below where
the slope = k/ = fluid
mobility

Q/A

k/

dP/dL

Linear Flow
L
Q
P2

P1

kA P1 P2
Q=

L
kA P1 P2

Q=
g sin

kA P1 P2

Q=
+

g
sin

Radial Flow
kA dP
Q=

dR
Pe

Pwf

h
re

rw

k 2H dP
Q=
R

dR
dR 2kH
dP
=
R
Q
dR
2kH
=

r R p Q dP
e
e

rw

ln

p wf

rw 2kH
(Pwf Pe )
=
re
Q

2kH(Pe Pwf )
Q=
ln(re rw )

Averaging Permeability (Parallel Sand)

L
k1, h1, Q1
k2, h2, Q2
kn, hn, Qn

A1
A2
An

P1
i=n

k A i
i =1

i=n

Q = Q i = Q1 + Q 2 + Q n
i =1

P2

P
P
P
P
= k 1A1
+ k 2A2
+ knAn
L
L
L
L

k A i = k i A i
kA

k=
A
i

kh

or
h
i

Arithmetic averages

Averaging Permeability (Series Sand)

i=n

k1

k2

kn

L1

L2

Ln

P = Pi = P1 + P2 + Pn
i =1

P1 P2 Pn

Harmonic averages
i=n

k=

L
i =1
i=n

Li

i =1 k i

Prove it ?

Exercise 1
Given:
Porosity
=
0.19
Effective horizontal permeability, md =
8.2
Pay zone thickness, ft =
53
Reservoir pressure (Pavg), psi =
5,651
=
Flowing Bottomhole pressure (Pwf), psi
Bubble point pressure, psi =
5,651
Oil formation volume factor, bbl/STB =
1.1
Oil viscosity, cp
=
1.7
Drainage area, acres =
640
Wellbore radius, ft =
0.328
Calculate the flow rate.

1,000

Permeability Measurement

Permeability of core sample can be measured by liquid

permeameter and gas permeameter.

Liquid permeameter:

Non reactive liquid (paraffin oil) is forced to flow through

a core sample in a core holder.

A flow rate is measured, and permeability is calculated

using general Darcy equation.

Gas permeameter:

Non reactive gas (typically helium) is used in the

measurement of permeability.

The gas is flow through the sample, and the flow rate of
gas is measured.

Figure below illustrates the schematic diagram of the

Hassler-type permeability measurement under steady
state flow conditions.

The permeability is calculated using following modified

form of darcy equation which takes into account the gas
compressibility during flow.

Q k g P12 P22
=
A
2Pa L
where:

)
Q
kg
A

P1
P2
Pa
L

2QPa L
kg =
A P12 P22

=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=

gas flowrate (cm3/sec)

gas permeability (darcy)
cross section area (cm2)
fluid viscosity (cp)
inlet pressure (atm)
outlet pressure (atm)
atmospheric pressure (atm)
length (cm)

Slippage Phenomenon during Gas Permeability

Measurements
liquid

v (wall) = 0

gas

finite velocity at wall

Gas permeability dependent on the mean pressure of the

gas existing at the time of measurement.
At low mean gas pressure, gas permeability exceeds liquid
permeability.
At high mean gas pressure, gas permeability approaches
liquid permeability.
Slippage effect is a laboratory phenomenon due to low
flowing gas pressure, but negligible for gas flow at
reservoir conditions.

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Klinkenberg correction

Plot of kg versus the inverse of

mean flow pressure (1/Pm)
yields a straight line with
slope k b and an intercept of
k. b is klinkenberg slippage
function.
Slope is a function of
molecular weight and
molecular size.

b
k g = k 1 +

P
m

kg

Pm =

P1 + P2
2

1/Pm

23

kkLL

The klinkenberg effect plot

Rock and Fluid Interaction

Interfacial tension.
Capillary pressure.
Wettability.
Relative permeability.
Stock tank oil initially in place (STOIIP).

Interfacial Tension

Interfacial tension is a force at the interface that acts to

decrease the area of the interface.

A drop of water can hang down from the edge of a

glass tube using the force at the interface.

However, when the interfacial tension is weaker, only a

smaller (lighter) drop can hang down from the edge of
the glass.

The interfacial tension can be measured using this

phenomenon.

The reason why surface tension is decreased when

something is adsorbed on the surface.

The attractive force between water molecules is greater

than that between other molecules because of the
hydrogen bonding.

At the surface, the attractive force works only from

inside since there is no water on the outside (air side), so
a water molecule on the surface is strongly attracted
toward the inside.

This force is called surface tension. However, when

something is adsorbed on the water surface, interactions
between the adsorbed molecules themselves and also
the adsorbed molecules and the water occur at the
surface, so that the surface tension decreases.

28

Wettability

The wettability of a liquid is defined as the contact

angle between a droplet of the liquid in thermal
equilibrium on a horizontal surface.
Water wet

Oil

Oil wet

The wetting angle is given by the angle between the

interface of the droplet and the horizontal surface.

The liquid is seemed wetting when 90<<180 and nonwetting when 0<<90.

The wetting phase will tend to spread on the solid

surface and a porous solid will tend to imbibe the
wetting phase.

Rocks can be water wet, oil wet or intermediate wet.

The intermediate state between water wet and oil wet
can be caused by a mixed-wet system, in which the
surfaces are not strongly wet by either water or oil.

Capillary Pressure

Capillary pressure is the pressure difference existing

across the interface separating two immiscible fluids.

It is defined as the difference between the pressures in

the non-wetting and wetting phases. That is:

Pc = Pnw Pw

For an oil-water system (water wet): Pc = Po Pw

Pc = Pg Pw
For a gas-oil system (oil-wet):

Oil-water system.
Pa 2 = Pw 2
Pw 2= Pw1 + hw g
Po2 = Po1 + ho g
Since, Pw 2 = Po2
Then, Pw1 + hw g= Po1 + ho g

Therefore, Po1 Pw1 = ( w 0 ) hg

That is, Pc = ( w o ) hg

Relative Permeability

Relative permeability measurements are made

routinely on core samples, to define the relative
amounts of fluids that will flow through the rocks when
more than one fluid phase is flowing.

Definitions are:
ko
k ro =
ka
where:

k rw
o, w, g
kr
k
ka

kw
=
ka

k rg =

kg
ka

= oil, water, gas

= relative permeability
= permeability to a specific fluid, o, w, or g
= theoretical air permeability

STOIIP

In place volumes of oil is always quoted at surface

conditions.

=
STOIIP
where:
STOIIP
BV

So
Bo

1
7758 x BV x x So x
Bo
= Stock tank oil initially in place, barrels
= Bulk volume of rock, acre-ft
= Porosity
= Oil saturation
= Oil formation volume factor, reservoir bbl/STB

Exercise 2
An oil well has been drilled and completed. The
production zone has been encountered at depth 5,220
5,354 ft. The log analysis showed that:
Average porosity
Water saturation
Formation volume factor
Area
Calculate the STOIIP.

=
=
=
=

21%
24%
1.476 bbl/STB
93 acres

Type of Reservoir

Oil Reservoir.

Contain mainly oil with or without free gas (gas cap).

Can be divided into two:

Undersaturated Oil Reservoir (Pres > Pb) - no free gas exists

until the reservoir pressure falls below the bubblepoint
pressure.

Saturated Oil Reservoir (Pres < Pb) free gas (gas cap)
exists in the reservoir.

Gas Reservoir

Recovery
Recovery of hydrocarbons from an oil reservoir is
commonly recognised to occur in several recovery stages.
These are:

Primary Recovery.

the recovery of hydrocarbons from the reservoir using

the natural energy of the reservoir as a drive.

Secondary Recovery.

the recovery aided or driven by the injection of water or

gas from the surface.

Tertiary Recovery (Enhance Oil Recovery EOR).

A range of techniques broadly labelled Enhanced Oil

Recovery that are applied to reservoirs in order to
improve flagging production.

Infill Recovery.

Carried out when recovery from the previous three

phases have been completed. It involves drilling cheap
production holes between existing boreholes to ensure
that the whole reservoir has been fully depleted of its
oil.

Drive Mechanism

The natural energy of the reservoir used to transport

hydrocarbons towards and out of the production wells.

There are five important drive mechanisms (or

combinations).

Solution Gas Drive.

Gas Cap Drive.
Water Drive.
Gravity Drainage.
Combination or Mixed Drive

A combination or mixed drive occurs when any of the first

three drives operate together or when any of the first
three drives operate with the aid of gravity drainage.

Solution Gas Drive

This mechanism (also known as depletion drive) depends

on the associated gas of the oil.

The virgin reservoir may be entirely liquid, but will be

expected to have gaseous hydrocarbons in solution due
to the pressure.

As the reservoir depletes (due to production), the

pressure falls below the bubble point, and the gas comes
out of solution to form a gas cap at the top. This gas cap
pushes down on the liquid helping to maintain pressure.

The exsolution and expansion of the dissolved gases in

the oil and water provide most of the reservoirs drive
energy.

41

Gas Cap Drive

In reservoirs already having a

gas cap (the virgin pressure is
already below bubble point),
the gas cap expands with the
depletion of the reservoir,
pushing down on the liquid
sections applying extra
pressure.

The presence of the expanding

gas cap limits the pressure
decrease experienced by the
reservoir during production.

Water Drive

The drive energy is provided by an aquifer that

interfaces with the oil in the reservoir at the oil-water
contact (OWC).

As the hydrocarbons depleted (production continues),

and oil is extracted from the reservoir, the aquifer
expands slightly. If the aquifer is large enough, this will
translate into a large increase in volume, which will
push up on the hydrocarbons, and thus maintaining the
reservoir pressure.

Two types of water drive are commonly recognised:

Bottom water drive and Edge water drive.

Type of Water Drive

Gravity Drainage

The density differences

between oil and gas and
water result in their natural
segregation in the reservoir.
This process can be used as
a drive mechanism, but is
relatively weak, and in
practice is only used in
combination with other
drive mechanisms.

Combination

In practice a reservoir
usually incorporates at
least two main drive
mechanisms.

Secondary Recovery

Secondary recovery is the result of human intervention

in the reservoir to improve recovery when the natural
drives have diminished to unreasonably low
efficiencies.

Two techniques are commonly used:

Waterflooding involve injection of water at the base of

a reservoir to:

Maintain the reservoir pressure, and

Displace oil towards production wells.

Gas Injection - This method is similar to waterflooding in

principal, and is used to maintain gas cap pressure even
if oil displacement is not required

Tertiary Recovery (EOR)

Primary and secondary recovery methods usually only

extract about 35% of the original oil in place. Clearly it
is extremely important to increase this figure.

Many enhanced oil recovery methods have been

designed to do this, and a few will be reviewed here.
They fall into three broad categories:

Thermal EOR
Chemical EOR
Miscible Gas

All are extremely expensive, are only used when

economical.

Thermal EOR

These processes use heat to improve oil recovery by

reducing the viscosity of heavy oils and vaporising
lighter oils, and hence improving their mobility.

The techniques include:

Steam Injection.
In-situ combustion (injection of a hot gas that combusts
with the oil in place.
Increasing the relative permeability to oil (micellar and
alkaline floods).

Thermal EOR is probably the most efficient EOR

approach.

Chemical EOR

These processes use chemicals added to water in the

injected fluid of a waterflood to alter the flood
efficiency in such a way as to improve oil recovery.

This can be done in many ways, examples are listed

below:

Increasing water viscosity (polymer floods).

Decreasing the relative permeability to water (crosslinked polymer floods).
Microwave heating downhole.
Hot water injection.

51

Miscible Gas Flooding

This method uses a fluid that is miscible with the oil.

Such a fluid has a zero interfacial tension with the oil
and can in principal flush out all of the oil remaining in
place.

In practice a gas is used since gases have high mobilities

and can easily enter all the pores in the rock providing
the gas is miscible in the oil.

Three types of gas are commonly used:

CO2
N2
Hydrocarbon gases.