“This excellent text book provides much-needed reference on reservoir

rock properties. Prof. Nayef Alyafei has based this work on his own popular
lecture courses and his extensive research in multiphase flow in porous media.
A wide range of topics is presented clearly with excellent illustrations and
explanations throughout. The approach follows an easy-to-follow coherent
progression of ideas and is pedagogical in its presentation, making this work ideal
as a textbook for undergraduate or post-graduate studies in petroleum
engineering, hydrology or related disciplines. The book provides a much

Fundamentals
needed reference on petrophysics which is also valuable for researchers and
professionals working in the oil industry. It is also of interest to the growing
body of students, researchers, scientists and engineers working on flow in

Nayef Alyafei
of Reservoir Rock
porous media with a variety of applications from hydrocarbon recovery to
carbon dioxide storage. I will certainly recommend this work to my own students
and colleagues, and use it in my teaching.”

Martin Blunt, Professor of Reservoir Engineering, Imperial College London Properties Nayef Alyafei

Fundamentals of Reservoir Rock Properties

This book covers the essential concepts of rock properties aiding students,
petroleum geoscientists, and engineers to understand petroleum reservoirs.

Key Features:
• Explains the fundamental concepts with great clarity and a step-by-step
approach.
• Provides numerous examples and problems on each covered topic.
• Written in clear English language to appeal to global students.
• Summary highlighting the main points of each chapter.
• Numerous illustrative figures to solidify the understanding of the concepts.

www.hbkupress.com
Fundamentals
of Reservoir Rock
Properties
Nayef Alyafei
 First Edition 2019

Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press

P O Box 5825 Fundamentals
Doha, Qatar

www.hbkupress.com
www.qscience.com
of Reservoir Rock
Copyright © Nayef Alyafei, 2019
Cover image © Nayef Alyafei
Properties
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
Nayef Alyafei
including photocopying, recording, or any information
storage or retrieval system, without prior permission
in writing from the publishers.

All figures and images by author

ISBN: 9789927137273
Printed and bound in Doha, Qatar

Qatar National Library Cataloging-in-Publication (CIP)

Alyafei, Nayef, author.

Fundamentals of reservoir rock properties / Nayef Alyafei. First English edition. – Doha :
Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press, 2019.

pages ; cm

ISBN 978-992-713-727-3

1. Oil reservoir engineering. 2. Petroleum reserves -- Mechanical properties. 3. Geophysics.

I. Title.

TN870.57 .A42 2019

622.3382– dc 23 201927338009
 Conversion of Units
Length: Area:
1 ft = 0.3048 m = 12 in 1 ft2 = 0.092903 m2 = 144 in2
1 m = 3.281 ft = 39.37 in = 100 cm 1 m2 = 10.7649 ft2 = 10000 cm2

Mass: Force:
1 lbm = 0.45359 kg 1 lbf = 4.44822 N = 32.2 lbm.ft/s2
1 kg = 2.2046 lbm = 1000 g 1 N = 0.2248 lbf = 1 kg.m/s2

Interfacial Tension: Permeability:

1 N/m = 1000 mN/m = 1000 dyne/cm 1 D = 1000 mD = 9.869233 x 10-13 m2
Volume:
1 ft3 = 0.02831 m3 = 28.3168 L = 0.178 bbl = 0.178 RB
1 m3 = 35.29 ft3 = 1000 L
Pressure:
1 atm = 101.3 kPa = 1.013 bar = 14.696 lbf/in2 (psia)
1 psia = 6.89 kPa = atm/14.696
1 Pa = 1 N/m2 = 1 kg/m.s2 = 10-5 bar = 1.450 x 10-4 lbf/in2 = 10 dyne/cm2
psia = psig +14.7

Density:
1 g/cc = 1000 kg/m3 = 62.427 lb/ft3 = 8.345 lb/gal = 0.03361 lb/in3

Viscosity:
1 cP = 0.01 poise = 0.01 g/cm.s = 0.001 kg/m.s = 0.001 n.s/m2 = 0.001 Pa.s
= 0.01 dyne.s/cm2 = 6.72 x 10-4 lbm/ft.s = 2.09 x 10-5 lbf.s/ft2

Metric Prefixes:

Prefix Symbol Multiplication Factor

giga G 109

mega M 106

kilo k 103

centi c 10-2

milli m 10-3

micro µ 10-6

nano n 10-9

Oilfield Prefixes:

Prefix Symbol Multiplication Factor

Thousand M 103

Million MM 106

Billion MMM or B 109

Trillion T 1012
 Index Chapter 4 Permeability 55

Chapter 1 Introduction 11
4.1 Applications of Permeability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

4.2 Validity of Darcy’s Law for Single-Phase Permeability . . . . . . . . 56

1.1 What is Petroleum? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.3 Darcy’s Law Under Different Boundary Conditions . . . . . . . . . . 57
1.2 Origin of Petroleum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 4.3.1 Case 1: Linear Solution of Darcy’s Law for
1.3 Petroleum System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Incompressible Fluid
4.3.2 Case 2: Radial Solution of Darcy’s Law for
1.4 What is a Reservoir?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Incompressible Fluid
1.5 Lithology of Petroleum Reservoirs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 4.4 Laboratory Measurements of Absolute Permeability . . . . . . . . 64
4.4.1 Liquid Permeability
1.6 What is Petrophysics? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.4.2 Gas Permeability
1.6.1 Routine Core Analysis (RCAL)
1.6.2 Special Core Analysis (SCAL) 4.5 Pressure Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
4.5.1 Pressure Profile: Liquid Flow
1.7 Why Do We Need to Understand Petrophysics? . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.5.2 Pressure Profile: Gas Flow

4.6 Flow in Layered Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Chapter 2 Porosity 17
4.6.1 Case 1: Linear Flow in Parallel
4.6.2 Case 2: Linear Flow in Series
2.1 Classification of Porosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 4.6.3 Case 3: Radial Flow in Parallel
2.1.1 Geological Classification of Porosity 4.6.4 Case 4: Radial Flow in Series
2.1.2 Engineering Classification of Porosity
4.7 Flow in Channels and Fractures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
2.2 Calculation of Porosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 4.7.1 Flow in Channels
4.7.2 Flow in Fractures
2.3 Factors Affecting Porosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.7.3 Average Permeability with Channels and Fractures
2.3.1 Primary Factors
2.3.2 Secondary Factors 4.8 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

2.4 Measuring Porosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 End of Chapter Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

2.4.1 Laboratory Measurements
2.4.2 Wireline Logging

2.5 Grain/Matrix Density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Chapter 5 Fluid Saturation 97

2.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 5.1 Measuring Fluid Saturation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

5.1.1 Extraction Method: Retort Distillation
End of Chapter Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
5.1.2 Extraction Method: Dean-Stark

5.2 Limitations of Using Extraction Methods

Chapter 3 Rock Compressibility 43

to Evaluate Reservoir’s Saturation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
5.2.1 Drilling Muds
3.1 Types of Rock Compressibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 5.2.2 Fluid Properties
3.1.1 Matrix Compressibility
5.3 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
3.1.2 Bulk Compressibility
3.1.3 Pore Compressibility End of Chapter Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

3.2 Laboratory Determination of Rock Compressibility . . . . . . . . . . 49

3.3 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

End of Chapter Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Chapter 6 Electrical Properties 113
8.7 Hydrostatic Pressure and Repeat Formation Tester (RFT). . . . . 173

8.8 Applications of Capillary Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

6.1 Understanding Archie’s Law. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
8.9 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
6.1.1 Introduction to Ohm's Law
6.1.2 Formation Factor End of Chapter Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
6.1.3 Resistivity Index
6.1.4 Archie’s Equation

6.2 Factors Affecting Resistivity of Reservoir Rocks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Chapter 9 Relative Permeability 183
6.3 Measuring Electrical Properties of Reservoir Rocks. . . . . . . . . . 126 9.1 Relative permeability Curves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
6.3.1 Measuring the Formation Factor
6.3.2 Measuring the Resistivity Index 9.2 Recovery Factor Estimation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
9.2.1 Displacement Efficiency (ED)
6.4 Applications of Electrical Properties of Reservoir Rocks . . . . . . 128 9.2.2 Volumetric Sweep Efficiency (EV)
6.5 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 9.2.3 Recovery Factor (RF)

End of Chapter Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 9.3 Laboratory Measurement of Relative Permeability . . . . . . . . . . 192
9.3.1 Steady State (SS)
9.3.2 Unsteady State (USS)

Chapter 7
9.4 Three-Phase Relative Permeability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Wettability 135
9.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
7.1 Understanding Wettability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 End of Chapter Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
7.1.1 Surface and Interfacial Tension
7.1.2 Adhesion Tension

7.2 Classification of Wettability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

7.3 Flow Sequence/cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Chapter 10 Data Integration and Volumetric Estimation of
209
Hydrocarbons
7.4 Measuring Wettability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
7.4.1 Contact Angle 10.1 Estimation of Hydrocarbons in Place. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
7.4.2 Amott Index 10.1.1 Net to Gross
10.1.2 Fluid Properties
7.5 Applications of Wettability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 10.1.3 Layered Systems
7.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 10.1.4 Unit Systems

10.2 Data Integration and Uncertainty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Chapter 8 Capillary Pressure 149

10.3 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

End of Chapter Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

8.1 Capillary Rise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
8.1.1 Water/Air System
8.1.2 Water/Oil System
References 232
8.2 Capillary Pressure Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
8.2.1 Drainage
8.2.2 Water Re-saturation

8.3 Laboratory Measurements of Capillary Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

8.3.1 Porous Plate Technique (PP)
8.3.2 Mercury Injection Capillary Pressure (MICP)
8.3.3 Centrifuge

8.4 Capillary Pressure Conversion and Throat Radius Distribution.164

8.5 Leverett J-Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

8.6 Water Saturation Distribution in a Layered System . . . . . . . . . . 172

 Chapter 1

Introduction
Prior to the discovery of petroleum, mankind used coal as the main source of
energy to operate their machines. Since the first commercial well drilled in the
United States in 1859, the dependence on petroleum as a source of energy has
increased tremendously. From that point onwards, petroleum has been and
will continue to be the main source of energy for decades ahead due to
its availability, efficiency, and low price. In addition, hydrocarbons are not only
used as fuel for our machines, but also as lubricants and raw materials for many
modern industrial products such as plastics, paints, and rubber.

1.1 What is Petroleum?

Petroleum is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon (composed of hydrogen and

carbon atoms) that can exist as a solid, liquid, or gas. The physical state of the
hydrocarbon is a function of the pressure and temperature to which it is exposed
as well as the structure (chain length/molecular weight). However, most of the
hydrocarbons found within the ground are either liquid or gas, and are referred
to as crude oil and natural gas, respectively.

1.2 Origin of Petroleum

There are two theories for the origin of petroleum. They are the organic and
inorganic theories, as stated in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1: Theories for the origin of petroleum.

Organic Inorganic
(derived from living matter, (not derived from living matter)
usually carbon atoms)

States that petroleum evolved States that petroleum was formed

from the decomposition of through chemical reactions
animals and plants that lived between water, carbon dioxide,
during previous geological times. and several inorganic substances
such as carbonates in the earth.

The organic theory is the commonly accepted theory.

10 11
1.3 Petroleum System reservoirs, as shown in Figure 1.2. Natural gas, if present in a reservoir, is always
on top because it has the lowest density, while water is always at the bottom
A petroleum system consists of different geological components needed to because it has the highest density among the three reservoir fluids (gas, oil, and
generate and store hydrocarbons. These components are source rock, migration water).
path, reservoir rock, trap, and seal. Source rock is the rock containing organic
matter in sufficient quantity, and is under suitable conditions for the formation Oil Well
of hydrocarbons. Migration path is the pathway that the hydrocarbons take to Oil Well Gas Well
move away from the source rock to the point where they can find a suitable trap. Impermeable
Rock
The forces driving the movement of hydrocarbons out of the source rock come Impermeable
Rock
Impermeable
Rock
from tectonic stresses, which are coupled with capillarity (this topic is explained Gas

further in Chapter 8) and buoyancy (density difference); since hydrocarbons are Oil Gas Oil

lighter than water, they move upward. Reservoir rock is the rock that is able Water Water Water

to store hydrocarbons in its pores. The hydrocarbons will continue migrating

upward until they reach a seal. This is an impermeable layer of rock that blocks (a) (b) (c)
the hydrocarbons from further migration. Finally, a trap is a configuration of Figure 1.2: Schematic showing typical hydrocarbon distributions in (a) an oil reservoir, (b) a gas
rocks, ensuring that the hydrocarbons are stored in it. Traps can be structural, reservoir and (c) a gas–oil reservoir.
stratigraphic, or a combination of both. Figure 1.1 shows the components and
processes in a petroleum system.
1.5 Lithology of Petroleum Reservoirs

Lithology is the general physical characteristics of a rock. Reservoir rocks can

be divided into two types: sandstone and carbonates. Sandstones are formed
from grains that have undergone sedimentation, compaction, and cementation.
Carbonates are principally formed on carbonate platforms by a combination of
biogenic and abiogenic processes.

The major characteristics of both sandstone and carbonate rocks are shown in
Seal Table 1.2.
Reservoir

Land Plants Aquatic Plants Structural

and Animals and Animals Trap
Table 1.2: Geological comparison between sandstone and carbonate rocks.
Burial

Sand Oil and Gas Sandstone Carbonate

Migration

Effective
Potential
Source Rock
Mud
Source Rock • Usually composed of silica grains • Two major types are
(mainly quartz and some feldspar). limestone (CaCO3) and dolomite
Heat (CaMg(CO3)2).
• Consolidated (the rock is
(a) (b)
combined as one unit) or loosely • Pore space consists of inter- or
Figure 1.1: Schematic showing (a) the process of hydrocarbon formation and (b) the migration of consolidated. intragranular porosity as well as
matured hydrocarbon until it reaches an impermeable seal and attains static equilibrium.
areas of dissolution (vugs) and
• May contain swelling clays (clays fractures.
1.4 What is a Reservoir? have negative impact on reservoir
quality).
In petroleum engineering, a reservoir is the place where the hydrocarbons
reside. Our job as petroleum engineers is to access reservoirs and extract the
hydrocarbons (natural gas and/or crude oil) in an economical and environmentally
safe manner. Reservoirs can be classified into three types: oil, gas, and gas-oil

12 13
1.6 What is Petrophysics? 1.7 Why Do We Need to Understand Petrophysics?

Petrophysics is the study of rock properties and rock-fluid properties. These Petrophysics is a fundamental science for petroleum engineers. Most of the
properties, which we will study extensively in the following chapters, include: petroleum engineering topics branch out from petrophysical concepts. An
porosity, rock compressibility, single-phase permeability, fluid saturation, understanding of petrophysical properties helps us in:
electrical properties of reservoir rocks, wettability, capillary pressure,
and relative permeability. Petrophysics can be divided into core and wireline • Estimating the quantity of hydrocarbons present in the reservoirs
petrophysics. In this book, we will mainly cover core petrophysics that requires (e.g. porosity and fluid saturation).
conducting laboratory experiments on core samples brought from the reservoir
to the surface. Wireline petrophysics, which involves using logs to determine • Understanding how the hydrocarbons will flow from the reservoir to
properties, will also be briefly covered in this book. the well during production (e.g. permeability, wettability, and relative
permeability).
Rock samples are extracted from the reservoir through coring and can be
subjected to two categories of laboratory analysis: routine core analysis and In this book, we will study each petrophysical property extensively.
special core analysis.

1.6.1 Routine Core Analysis (RCAL)

Routine core analysis attempts to find the basic properties of the reservoir rock
such as porosity, grain density, permeability, and fluid saturation, as shown
below:

Routine Core Analysis

(RCAL)

Porosity Grain Density Permeability Fluid Saturation

1.6.2 Special Core Analysis (SCAL)

Special core analysis is an extension of RCAL, and attempts to measure data that
is more representative of the reservoir conditions. These measurements include
electrical properties of reservoir rocks, wettability, capillary pressure, and relative
permeability, as shown below:

Special Core Analysis

(SCAL)

Electrical Capillary Relative

Properties Wettability Pressure Permeability

14 15
 Chapter 2

Porosity
Porosity is the ratio of void volume in a porous medium to the total volume of
that medium. Let us assume that we have an empty 350 ml glass, and we fill the
glass to the brim with water to cover the entire volume. Now consider another
identical glass with four ice cubes in it, with each ice cube having a volume of 50
ml. The total volume of ice in the glass will be 200 ml, given that it is not melting.
If we now want to pour water to the glass, we know that there will be room for
just 150 ml of water, since the rest of the volume is occupied by ice. Hence, the
porosity of the glass with the ice cubes will be 150 ml (pore volume, the volume
of water filling the pore space) divided by 350 ml (total volume) and the resulting
porosity will be 0.43. This scenario is shown in Figure 2.1. Basically, porosity
means storage capacity that can indicate the amount of fluid that the porous
medium can store. Porosity can be calculated using the following equation:

Vp
φ= (2.1)
Vt

where ф is the porosity [dimensionless since we are dividing two volumes], Vp is

the pore volume [cm3], and Vt is the total volume [cm3].

Alternatively, we can subtract the matrix volume (in this case, the ice cubes)
from the total volume and divide it by the total volume to obtain the porosity, as
shown in the following equation:

Vt − Vm
φ= (2.2)
Vt

where Vm is the matrix volume [cm3].

Overall, we can say that:

Vp V t − Vm
φ= = (2.3)
Vt Vt

Vt = Vp + Vm (2.4)

Therefore, if we know any two of the volumes, we can calculate the porosity.

16 17
 350 ml 150 ml
of of
water water

(a) (b)

Figure 2.1: Schematic showing (a) a glass filled with 350 ml of water and (b) a glass filled with
water and four ice cubes. As shown, the volume of water in the glass with ice cubes is less since
a matrix volume is present.

Example 2.1
0.5 mm
A core sample has a total volume of 24.5 cm3 and a matrix volume
of 18.9 cm3. Figure 2.2: Schematic showing the pore spaces in a reservoir rock at a micro-scale from a giant
reservoir field. The blue color in the figure represents the water while the black color represents
(a) What is the pore volume of this sample? the matrix.

(b) What is the porosity of this sample?

In addition, when dealing with rocks, we often refer to the matrix volume as the
Solution grain volume (Vg) and the total volume as the bulk volume (Vb). Note that the
fractional porosity value is often multiplied by 100 to make it a percentage;
(a) Equation 2.4 can be used to find the pore volume: however, it should always be a fraction when used in calculations. The
porosity of reservoir rocks usually ranges from 5% to 40%. Table 2.1 shows
Vt = Vp + Vm
typical porosity values for different reservoir rocks. The porosity of rocks within a
24.5 = Vp + 18.9 reservoir indicates how much oil and/or gas is stored in that reservoir. Therefore,
Vp = 5.6 cm3 finding the porosity of the reservoir beforehand is important for engineers
because it helps them estimate how economically viable that reservoir is and
(b) Equation 2.1 can be used to find the porosity: how many resources should be invested in it.

φ=

Vp
Vt
=
5.6
24.5
= 0.229 or 22.9%
Table 2.1: Typical porosity values in reservoir rocks.

Rock Type Range

Reservoir rocks are porous and contain fluids in their pores, as shown in Figure
2.2. Porosity measurement from a core is part of RCAL. When we use the term
Loosely consolidated sands 35–40%
"core," we usually refer to a cylindrical rock sample with a width and length of a
few centimeters.
Sandstones 20–35%

Well-cemented sandstones 15–20%

Limestones 5–20%

18 19