Sandstone reservoir quality AUTHORS

Joanna M. Ajdukiewicz  ExxonMobil

prediction: The state of the art International Limited, ExxonMobil House, MP45,
Ermyn Way, Leatherhead, Surrey KT22 8UX,
Joanna M. Ajdukiewicz and Robert H. Lander United Kingdom;
[email protected]
Joanna Ajdukiewicz joined Exxon Production
Research Company in 1980. She was Reservoir
INTRODUCTION Quality Assessment and Prediction team lead
there from 1991 to 1995 and at Imperial Oil
To guess is cheap; to guess wrongly is expensive (Chinese Research Centre in Calgary from 1995 to 1997.
proverb). Subsequently, she has worked a variety of Ex-
Reservoir-quality predictive models will be a useful element ploration Company assignments in the North
of risk analysis until remote-sensing tools are invented that ac- Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Middle East. Her
current interests are in predicting the distribu-
curately measure effective porosity and permeability ahead of tion of early diagenetic controls on deep
the bit. This issue of the AAPG Bulletin highlights recent ad- reservoir quality.
vances in a new generation of reservoir quality models that
have successfully predicted porosity and permeability in diverse Robert H. Lander  Geocosm LLC, 3311
San Mateo Drive, Austin, Texas 78738;
siliclastic reservoirs under many different burial conditions. [email protected]
Most previous attempts at predrill reservoir quality predic-
Rob Lander develops diagenetic models for
tion have relied on empirical correlations or on first-principle Geocosm LLC. He obtained his Ph.D. in geology
geochemical simulations that incorporate laboratory-derived from the University of Illinois in 1991, was a
input parameters (Wood and Byrnes, 1994). The new reser- research geologist at Exxon Production Research
voir quality models differ from previous approaches in that, from 1991 to 1993, and worked for Rogaland
although incorporating theory-inspired algorithms, they include Research and Geologica AS from 1993 to 2000.
terms with values that are explicitly designed to be calibrated He is also a research fellow at the Bureau of
Economic Geology.
by, and tested against, data sets of high-quality petrographic
analyses that are linked to thermal and effective-stress histo-
ries. Petrographic observations therefore provide essential con- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
straints in these models on the types, timing, and rates of key We thank David Awwiller, Linda Bonnell, Steve
geologic processes affecting sandstone pore systems. This ap- Laubach, and Rick Vierbuchen for reviews that
proach avoids the pitfalls inherent in predictions based on helped us improve this article. We also thank
statistical correlations devoid of process interpretation (e.g., Gretchen Gillis, the editor of the AAPG Bulletin
porosity-versus-depth trends) or on first-principle geochem- at the time this volume was prepared, for her
enthusiasm, patience, and tireless efforts, with-
ical models that rely exclusively on laboratory-derived data to
out which this issue would not exist.
constrain the nature and rates of geochemical reactions.
Statistical correlations commonly fail to accurately predict
reservoir quality in areas away from the observation data set
because of changes in the relative significance of the controlling
geologic processes. These changes reflect inevitable differences
in sandstone compositions, textures, and burial histories that
occur between the observation data set and the area of interest.
For example, a porosity-depth trend driven by mechanical

Copyright ©2010. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.
Manuscript received June 1, 2010.
DOI:10.1306/intro060110

AAPG Bulletin, v. 94, no. 8 (August 2010), pp. 1083–1091 1083

Figure 1. Porosity-depth trends vary with dominant burial process and lithology. Shown is a modeled porosity evolution with burial
for a well-sorted, fine-grained, quartzo-feldspathic (rigid-grained) eolian sandstone with variable grain coats formed near the surface.
In this hypothetical example, the recently deposited sand (A) undergoes simple subsidence over more than 155 m.y., with no uplift or
overpressure development, to burial depths of 6500 m (21,300 ft). Intergranular porosity evolves from 42% near the surface to a wide
range of possible values depending on grain coat coverage at depth (e.g., C to D). During burial, porosity decreases, initially by mechanical
compaction under increasing effective stress, to about 26% at 2 km (1.2 mi) depth (B). Below this point, compaction in rigid-grained sands
stabilizes to very low rates (red curve). At 80°C, significant quartz cement begins to form. Below this point, as in many rigid-grained sands,
most further intergranular porosity loss results from quartz cement filling pores. The amount of cement formed can be calculated as a
function of time, temperature, grain size, and quartz-grain surface area available for cement precipitation. Quartz cement can be inhibited
and porosity preserved by early formed grain coats, commonly of clays, that reduce available quartz surface area. With higher coat
coverage, less quartz cement forms. Highest porosities are preserved at depth where compaction and cement are minimized (D), in this
case, by rigid grains and well-developed grain coats.

compaction in shallow parts of a basin will not compaction is the dominant control on porosity
extrapolate successfully to deeper regions where decline.
high-temperature quartz cement begins to reduce Most current first-principle geochemical mod-
porosity at very different rates from those associated els have limited predictive capabilities because they
with compaction. In addition, differences in tex- rely on laboratory-derived kinetic parameters and
tural and compositional attributes, some of them do not account for important changes in rock tex-
subtle, can significantly affect porosity-depth trends ture and pore-system surface area during the course
(Figure 1). Taylor et al. (2010, this issue) show geo- of diagenetic alteration. These models sometimes
logic data sets with high-quality petrographic data, ignore mechanical compaction, although that pro-
in which trends from shallow intervals break down cess is responsible for the greatest amount of porosity
with increasing burial depth. They also document loss in most sandstones (Lundegard, 1991) and may
how porosity-depth trends may vary significantly significantly reduce reactive surface areas. In addition,
between basins even in shallow intervals, where such models do not consider the important impact

1084 Sandstone Reservoir Quality Prediction: The State of the Art

that progressive development of overgrowth crystals These data are integrated to simulate compaction
can have on overall rates of reaction. For example, and cementation effects on pore systems under
the results of Lander et al. (2008) imply that, other changing effective stress and temperature condi-
factors being constant, the average rate of quartz tions through time. Model output includes single-
precipitation per surface area will decline by nearly site or mapped distributions of subsurface porosity
an order of magnitude for quartzose sandstones as and permeability for a given input lithology at any
the cement reduces intergranular porosity (IGP) location or over any surface within the burial his-
from 25 to 5%. This reduction in average rate arises tory model and can be linked to paleogeographic
because the proportion of nucleation area that is maps or facies models to integrate depositional
made up of slow-growing euhedral faces progressively variability with burial effects. Models have been
increases as the overgrowth cementation proceeds. applied to numerous reservoir-quality predictive
Purely thermodynamic models are an inade- studies (Bjørkum et al., 1998; Bonnell et al., 1998,
quate basis for sandstone reservoir quality predic- 2000; Lander and Walderhaug, 1999; de Souza
tion because of the clear kinetic control on many and McBride, 2000; Walderhaug et al., 2000;
important diagenetic processes such as quartz ce- Bloch et al., 2002; Taylor et al., 2004; Thomas et al.,
mentation (e.g., Walderhaug, 2000; Ajdukiewicz 2005), have been used inversely to help constrain
et al., 2010, this issue; Taylor et al., 2010, this thermal histories (Awwiller and Summa, 1997,
issue; Tobin et al., 2010, this issue), plagioclase al- 1998; Lander et al., 1997a, b), and have proven
bitization (Perez and Boles, 2006), and fibrous il- useful for understanding the interactions between
lite formation (Franks and Zwingmann, 2010, this diagenesis and structural deformation (e.g., Lander
issue; Lander and Bonnell, 2010, this issue). Lab- et al., 2002; Fisher et al., 2003; Laubach et al.,
oratory experiments that examine the kinetics of 2004; Perez and Boles, 2005; Laubach and Ward,
such geochemical reactions are an essential means 2006; Makowitz et al., 2006, in press; Solano et al.,
for understanding the underlying processes. How- 2008; Laubach and Diaz-Tushman, 2009; Olson
ever, to our knowledge, geochemical models that et al., 2009; Becker et al., 2010). Taylor et al. (2010,
rely on silicate reaction kinetics derived from labo- this issue) provide examples of single-site predrill
ratory experiments have yet to yield accurate pre- reservoir quality predictions, and Tobin et al. (2010,
drill predictions for cement abundances. Compared this issue) provide map-based predictions.
with natural reactions in sandstone reservoirs, labo- Although these new models are a significant
ratory experiments typically occur at substantially improvement on previous predictive methods, they
higher temperatures during much shorter time in- are still evolving as research addresses current lim-
tervals, involve conditions that are far from equi- itations. At present, the models work best in sand-
librium, are undertaken on artificially cleaned ma- stones in which reservoir quality is dominantly con-
terials, do not consider interactions among the full trolled by some combination of compaction, quartz
complement of phases typically present in reservoir cementation, or fibrous illite formation. However,
sandstones, and ignore differences in euhedral and some sandstone reservoirs are strongly affected by
noneuhedral growth rates for overgrowth phases. other processes that are not yet well constrained.
These differences in conditions may profoundly For example, early diagenetic features such as grain
alter experimental reaction kinetics compared with coats, carbonate cements, and secondary porosity
natural systems, resulting in reaction rates that are are accounted for in the current reservoir quality
up to five orders of magnitude faster than those models through observations or analogs, rather than
implied by constraints from geologic data sets, as by a priori predictions. Improved models for early
discussed by Lander and Bonnell (2010, this issue). diagenetic attributes will allow more accurate res-
Input to the new reservoir quality prediction ervoir quality predictions ahead of the bit in ex-
models includes petrographic data describing sedi- ploration settings where few calibration data are
ment texture, composition, and early cement at- available and more detailed field-scale predictions
tributes, as well as burial history reconstructions. of reservoir quality distribution that will be useful

Ajdukiewicz and Lander 1085

for geologic models and development plans. Re- be substantial: deeply buried, well-sorted quartz-
search on this front is underway. For example, ose sandstones in the Norphlet Formation with
Ajdukiewicz et al. (2010, this issue) propose a model very continuous early grain coats may have inter-
for controls on grain-coat coverage and resulting granular porosities of more than 20%; whereas
deep reservoir quality distribution in the Norphlet, depositionally comparable samples with less con-
and Morad et al. (2010, this issue) review known tinuous coatings have porosities of less than 2%
links between reservoir quality and mappable geo- (Ajdukiewicz et al., 2010, this issue). In another
logic features. example, the extent of early feldspar dissolution to
form kaolinite has a direct control on late fibrous
illite occurrence. High-temperature fibrous illite
RESERVOIR QUALITY CONTROLS: may reduce the permeability of a deeply buried
INTERACTION OF DEPOSITIONAL, sand by several orders of magnitude. Because fi-
EARLY DIAGENETIC, AND LATE brous illite typically forms by the reaction of kao-
DIAGENETIC PROCESSES linite with K-feldspar, illite will tend not to form in
(1) sandstones lacking feldspar at the time of de-
Deep reservoir quality in sandstones is the cumu- position, (2) settings where no early feldspar al-
lative product of depositional, shallow diagenetic, teration occurs, or (3) settings where all feldspar
and deep-burial diagenetic processes. Lithologic is altered during early diagenesis (Chuhan et al.,
attributes created at each stage strongly influence 2000, 2001; Franks and Zwingmann, 2010, this
subsequent pore-system evolution. Provenance, issue; Ajdukiewicz et al., 2010, this issue; Lander
transport, and depositional environment determine and Bonnell, 2010, this issue). Morad et al. (2010,
initial sediment texture, composition, porosity, and this issue) provide a comprehensive review of how
permeability. These depositional characteristics initial sediment composition, depositional environ-
evolve with early compaction and interact with ment, and sequence-stratigraphic setting influence
shallow groundwater systems to control fluid flux the early diagenesis of sandstones and subsequent
and geochemical reactions, influencing the type late diagenetic pathways.
and abundance of early diagenetic attributes. Early
diagenesis may be fluid dominated and open sys-
tem, resulting in the dissolution of unstable grains CURRENT RESERVOIR QUALITY
to form secondary porosity and the precipitation of MODEL CONCEPTS
early cements such as grain-coating clays and car-
bonates (e.g., Bjørlykke 1993; Morad et al., 2010, The new generation of reservoir quality models are
this issue). Vadose zone processes such as clay in- based on burial diagenesis concepts developed since
filtration also can be an important part of early dia- 1990. As discussed by Taylor et al. (2010, this is-
genesis, as can biologically related processes includ- sue), earlier concepts prevalent in the 1980s held
ing bioturbation or microbially driven chemical that (1) the extent of porosity loss with depth is
reactions (Worden et al., 2006). controlled by the influence of compaction, with
Combined depositional and early diagenetic intergranular quartz pressure solution linked to
attributes can significantly affect deep-burial dia- quartz cementation at depth; and (2) deep porosity,
genetic pathways. For example, deep porosity pres- where it occurs, mainly results from the dissolution
ervation may be critically linked to early clay or of unstable grains or early nonquartz cements as a
microquartz grain coats. Because almost all quartz result of interaction with migrating organic acids.
cement nucleates syntaxially on a quartz-grain sub- By contrast, the current paradigm, built on
strate, both infiltrated and diagenetic grain coats thousands of petrographic observations from res-
inhibit later quartz cement in proportion to the ervoirs around the world is that (1) most deep
amount of grain surface they cover. The effect of porosity in conventional sandstone reservoirs is pre-
such early diagenesis on deep reservoir quality can served primary, with maximum porosity preserved

1086 Sandstone Reservoir Quality Prediction: The State of the Art

where compaction and quartz cementation are most cement overcomes kinetic inhibitions and begins
limited; and (2) most deep quartz cement forms in to precipitate on available quartz grain surfaces as
a slow continuous process related to burial temper- a predictable function of time, temperature, quartz
ature rather than to in situ grain-to-grain pressure grain surface area (Walderhaug, 1994a, b; 1996;
solution or to episodic fluid flux. Two sets of con- 2000), and nucleation domain size (Heald and
ceptual breakthroughs, one related to compaction Renton, 1966; Makowitz and Sibley, 2001; Lander
and the other to quartz cementation, led to the et al., 2008). Various factors can inhibit quartz
development of this new view, as discussed below. cement growth. The most widespread of these are
early formed grain coats, most commonly of infil-
Compaction trated or diagenetic clays (Heald and Larese, 1974;
Pittman et al., 1992), as previously discussed.
Grain size, sorting, shape, and matrix content de- These two concepts lie at the core of the new
termine the initial space among the sand grains, reservoir quality–predictive tools. Intergranular po-
measured as the intergranular volume (IGV) of rosity is predicted as a function of calculated IGV
the sediment (Weller, 1959; Houseknecht, 1987; minus calculated cement abundance (Lander and
Paxton et al., 1990, 2002). In clean sands with no Walderhaug, 1999). Over the years, the applica-
matrix or cement, IGV equals IGP. With burial, tion of these tools to a range of lithologies and
IGV and IGP decrease, initially as a function of burial conditions has allowed the concepts under-
mechanical compaction under overburden, during lying the models to be tested against alternative
which grains become more closely packed. A break- hypotheses for deep reservoir quality controls (e.g.,
through concept for current models was derived Aase and Walderhaug, 2005; Bonnell et al., 2006;
from the observation that in clean, well-sorted, Makowitz and Sibley, 2001). Myths and realities
quartz-rich sandstones with little early cement, me- associated with various proposed deep porosity
chanical compaction does not lead necessarily to controls, such as late dissolution of early cements
chemical compaction but can stabilize at values and cement inhibition by early emplaced hydro-
approximating closest packing (26% IGV), com- carbons, framework grain dissolution, decreased
monly achieved by 2 km (1.2 mi) burial depth thermal exposure, and grain coatings are discussed
(Szabo and Paxton, 1991; Lander and Walderhaug, by Taylor et al. (2010, this issue).
1999; Paxton et al., 2002). Sandstones with ductile
grains such as shale clasts or lithic fragments ex-
perience more extensive compaction and lower FUTURE DIRECTIONS
IGVs and IGPs than their rigid-grained counterparts
under the same burial conditions (Rittenhouse, In the future, we expect that reservoir quality
1971). The influence of ductile grains on compac- models may be extended to consider the impact of
tion is a function of their mechanical properties additional diagenetic processes, linked to deposi-
and abundances, as well as effective stress (e.g., tional models, integrated with petrophysical and
Pittman and Larese, 1991). Overpressure can in- geophysical formation characterization and geo-
hibit compaction by reducing effective stress, but mechanical models, and applied to the exploration
only if introduced before extensive mechanical and production of tight gas sandstones.
compaction has occurred (Paxton et al., 2002; Bloch
et al., 2002). Continued Model Improvements

Cementation An important extension of the new reservoir qual-

ity modeling approach will be the incorporation
The second major conceptual breakthrough for of reaction transfer models (Taylor et al., 2010, this
the new paradigm was the idea that in sandstones issue). Key differences compared with existing re-
at temperatures in excess of 60 to 80°C, quartz action transport models will be (1) the integration

Ajdukiewicz and Lander 1087

of the more sophisticated compaction, quartz ce- trol lithologic character at deposition. Forward
mentation, fibrous illite formation, microporosity, depositional models provide a rigorous means for
and permeability models from reservoir quality predicting the spatial distributions and textures
models; (2) the use of geologic data sets rather than of sandstones (e.g., Granjeon and Joseph, 1999;
laboratory data to constrain reaction kinetics; and Griffiths et al., 2001; Sømme et al., 2009). A short-
(3) the greater emphasis on predicting not only bulk coming in the current generation of such models,
mineralogical composition, but also sandstone tex- however, is that they do not predict framework
ture and the impact that this texture has on reactive grain compositions and textures at the level of de-
surfaces and bulk rock properties. This combined tail required for diagenetic modeling. One poten-
approach will improve predictive capabilities in tial means of addressing this problem would be
geologic settings with significant material fluxes. the incorporation of a promising new approach
Such settings include shallow groundwater, soil, developed by Heins and Kairo (2007) for predict-
and vadose zones (e.g., Ajdukiewicz et al., 2010, ing framework grain compositions based on sedi-
this issue); regimes with substantial topographic ment provenance, climate, transport distance, and
drive for flow; fault-related flow (as discussed by other factors into depositional models.
Taylor et al., 2010, this issue); diffusive transfer
associated with interbedded lithologies (e.g., Thyne Use of Reservoir Quality Model
et al., 2001); and thermohaline circulation near salt Predictions As Input for Rock Physics and
structures (e.g., Hanor, 1987). This modeling ap- Petrophysics Models
proach may be augmented by incorporation of
models of biogeochemical processes for use in pre- Integrated reservoir quality/rock property models
dicting the occurrence and distribution of early grain may provide an important means for improving
coats, carbonate cementation and dissolution, sec- reservoir characterization by predicting log and
ondary porosity development, and the occurrence seismic properties. In addition, such models could
of some types of diagenetic kaolinite and chlorite. provide a unique method for reconstructing geo-
Several kinetically controlled silicate reactions mechanical properties through geologic time. The
have yet to be accounted for in reservoir quality present-day characteristics of sandstone reservoirs
prediction models. Although a model has recently may differ substantially from the rock character-
been published describing the kinetics of plagio- istics during the time of reservoir deformation.
clase albitization in natural sandstones (Perez and Thus, integrated reservoir quality and rock prop-
Boles, 2006), no comparable model has been de- erty models could constrain input for geomechan-
veloped for the albitization of K-feldspar. In ad- ical models that aim to predict fault or natural
dition, predictive kinetic models are still lacking fracture characteristics (Laubach et al., 2009).
for the occurrence of zeolites such as clinoptilolite,
analcime, and laumontite in sandstones and the Application of Reservoir Quality Models to
extent of compaction associated with illitic grain Unconventional Reservoirs
coatings (e.g., Bjørkum, 1996).
The methods and tools developed for conven-
Improvements to Models That Predict the tional reservoir quality prediction can be extended
Spatial Distribution, Texture, and Framework to prediction of sweet spots related to porosity in,
Grain Composition of Sandstones and hydraulic fracture behavior of, unconventional
reservoirs as discussed by Tobin et al. (2010, this
Sandstone depositional composition and texture issue). In addition, this modeling approach pro-
are essential input for the current generation of vides a means to improve the understanding of the
diagenesis/reservoir quality models. Reservoir qual- origin of petroleum systems in tight gas plays by re-
ity prediction models in the broader sense, there- constructing reservoir properties at the time of hy-
fore, should encompass those processes that con- drocarbon incursion (Tobin et al., 2010, this issue).

1088 Sandstone Reservoir Quality Prediction: The State of the Art

CONCLUSIONS Tobin, R. C., T. McClain, R. B. Lieber, A. Ozkan, L. A. Banfield,
A. M. E. Marchand, and L. E. McRae, 2010, Reservoir quality
modeling of tight gas sands in Wamsutter field: Integration of
Advances in the understanding of diagenetic pro- diagenesis, petroleum systems and production data: AAPG
cesses have led to substantial improvements in the Bulletin, v. 94, p. 1229–1266, doi:10.1306/04211009140.
prediction of sandstone reservoir quality. The in-
tegration of high-quality petrographic data with
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