Heriot-Watt University

INSTITUTE OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERING

Fundamental Properties
of
Reservoir Rocks
Introduction
• Properties of rocks with respect to the fluids contained and injected
are important characterisation parameters.
• Influence reserves and mobility.
• Reservoir engineer concerned with:
 The quantities of fluids contained

 The transmissivity of fluids through the rocks and related

properties
Chartacteristics of Reservoir Rocks
• Factors which effect capacity and flow of fluids are:
 porosity
 permeability
 capillary pressure
 compressibility
 fluid saturation
Chartacteristics of Reservoir Rocks

• For economic viability for oil & gas production reservoir rock must
exceed a:
 minimum porosity
 minimum thickness
 minimum permeability
 minimum area
Chartacteristics of Reservoir Rocks
• For fluid production the rock must be permeable.
• Sufficient large and interconnecting pores.
• A permeable rock is porous.
• Porous does not necessarily imply permeable.
• Volcanic rocks, porous BUT pores not interconnecting.
• Shale, porous BUT pores very small.
Physical Characteristics of Reservoir Rocks

• A typical reservoir rock - sandstone.

• The shape and size and size distribution reflect:
 source

 physical and chemical processes exposed to:

 crushing & grinding

 tumbling action in streams or on dunes.
Physical Characteristics of Reservoir Rocks
• Pore spaces in the reservoir rock provide the container for
accumulation of fluids.
• Most commercial reservoirs occur in :
 sandstones
 limestone
 dolomite.
 Some occur in fractured shale

 basement rocks.

Porosity is one of the most important rock properties.

Measure of the space available for accumulation of fluids
Porosity
• Complex
• Space between grains or limestone caves
• sometimes good estimates from laboratory studies
• sometimes such measurement irrelevant
Porosity
• Complicated nature illustrated by metal cast of pores
Porosity
• One classification based on pores space.
• whether original or formed subsequently
Porosity

Isolated
pores cannot
contribute to
recoverable
reserves
 Pore volume
Porosity  x 100%
Porosity Bulk volume

Bulk volume  Grain volume

Porosity  x 100%
Bulk volume
Pore volume
Porosity  x 100%
Pore volume+Grain volume
Void volume
Porosity  x 100%
Bulk volume
 • Total Porosity
Porosity  is the ratio of volumes of ALL pores
to the bulk material
 regardless of pore
interconnectivity
• Effective Porosity
 is the ratio of interconnected pore
volume to bulk material volume
Porosity-Range of values
Consider a assembly of mono size spheres

Minimum packing
gives porosity of
47.6%

Maximum packing
gives porosity of
26%
Porosity-Range of values
• Packing & size of grains
 Absolute size does not have a large impact.
• Particle size distribution
 Wide size distribution leads to low porosity
• Particle shape
 Strong impact in sedimentary process
• Cementing material
 Clays and minerals
Porosity-Range of values
• Size distribution of grains effects porosity
 Porosity-Range of can
Reservoir Porosity values
range from 50% to
1.5%

Typical values are:
35 - 45% Unconsolidated (young) Sands
20 - 35% Consolidated Sandstone
15 - 20% Strong (low permeability)
Sandstone
5 - 20% Limestone
10 - 30% Dolomites
5 - 40% Chalk
Subsurface Measurement
• Surface measurements made on recovered core.
• Down hole measurements very sophisticated.
• Downhole porosity related to acoustic and radioactive properties of
the rock.
Average Porosity
• Porosity normally distributed
• An arithmetic mean can be used for averaging.

 i
a  i 1
n
a is the mean porosity
i is the porosity of the
i th core measurement
n the number of measurements
Permeability
• The permeability of a rock is the description of the
ease with which fluid can pass through the pore
structure
• Can be so low to be considered impermeable.
• Such rocks may constitute a cap rock above
permeable reservoir.
• Also include some clays,shales, chalk, anhydrite
and some highly cemented sandstones.
Permeability
• Term is used to link flowrate and pressure difference across a
section of porous rock.
• In a rock the pore space , size and interconnection is very
complex.
• The application of energy equations developed for flow in pipes is
difficult.
• The parameter used for this flow behaviour is termed
‘permeability”
• The unit of permeability is the Darcy, named after a French
scientist investigating flow through filter beds.
Permeability
• Darcy’s Law kAP
Q
L
Q  flowrate in cm3 /sec
A  cross sectional area of flow in cm 2
P  pressure difference across ther sample, atmos.
  viscosity in centipoise
L  length of sample in cm.
k  permeability in Darcy
Permeability
• Darcy’s Law
 The rate of flow of fluid through a given rock varies directly with
the pressure applied, the area open to flow and varies inversely
with the viscosity of the fluid flowing and the length of the porous
rock.
 The constant of proportionality is termed
 Permeability
Permeability
• Unit of permeability - Darcy
• Permeability which will permit flow of one centipoise fluid
to flow at linear velocity of one cm per second under a
pressure gradient of one atmosphere per centimetre.
Permeability
• Darcy’s Experiment
• A sandpack through which water flowed

1 A  h1  h 2 
Q  A, h, Qk
L L
 Permeability

Taking viscosity as a variable A  h1  h 2 

Qk
L
Poiseuille equation for laminar pipe flow
r 4 P
r = radius of pipe of length L Q
8L
Carmen Kozeny equation
for flow in packed beds  d 2 3  1 dP
u  ' 
k’ = shape factor  k 1      dL
2

d = particle size  

There is a very strong relationship between porosity and

permeability
•Permeability
Comparing equations.

Q P
Darcy k
A L

Q  d 2 3  1 dP
Carmen Kozeny u  ' 
A  k 1      dL
2
 
It is not surprising therefore that there is a strong
relationship between permeability and porosity

d 2 3
k
k 1   
' 2
Permeability
• Practical unit-millidarcy, mD, 10-3 Darcy
• Formations vary from a fraction of a millidarcy to more than 10,000
millidarcy.
• Clays and shales have permeabilities of 10-2 to 10-6 mD.
• These very low permeabilities make them act as seals between
layers.
Factors Affecting Permeability

• Permeability is anisotropic
• Horizontal permeabilities in a reservoir are generally higher than
vertical permeabilities.
• Due to reservoir stresses
• Particle shape as influenced by depositional process.
Anisotropic permeability
Impact of ordered deposition
Anisotropic permeability

Horizontal
permeabilities
can be affected
by the
deposition
process
Assumptions in Darcy’s Law
• Darcy’s Law assumes
 Steady State Flow
 Laminar Flow
 Single phase only occupying 100% of porosity
 No reaction between fluid & rock
 Homogenous rock
Steady State Flow

• No transient flow regimes

• Unrealistic in reservoir flow
• OK for laboratory tests
• Cores are small enough for transients to only last for a few minutes.
Single phase only
• Achieved in the laboratory through cleaning cores
• In the reservoir except for aquifer water flow there is more than
one phase present.
• Concept of relative permeability used to describe more complex
flow regime.
 No reaction between fluid & rock
• Some cases when this will not happen
• Hydraulic fracturing
• Acidising.
• Water flooding sometimes generates fines from clays etc.
Klinkenberg
• Darcy’s law shouldEffect
be the same irrespective of transmitted fluids.
• Since viscosity is in the equation
• Measurements on gas compared to liquid give higher values than
the liquid for some conditions.
• The phenomena is attributed to Klinkenberg.
•Klinkenberg
Considered due to Effect
the effect of slippage of gas molecules
along grain surfaces.
• Occurs when the diameter of the pore throat approaches
mean free path of the gas.
• Darcy’s law assumes laminar flow and viscous theory
specifies zero velocity at the boundary.
• Not valid when mean free path approaches diameter of
pore.
• Result there is insufficient gas molecules to form a zero
velocity.
 Klinkenberg Effect
• Mean free path function of
size of molecule.
• Smaller the molecule , the
larger the effect
• Gas permeabilty is plotted
versus reciprocal mean
pressure
 Klinkenberg Effect
Measurements made in gas permeability set
up

Liquid permeabilty
0 reciprocal mean pressure
mean pressure infinity
Klinkenberg equation

kG b =Slope of line
kL 
b
1
Pm Effect greatest for low permeabilty rock at low mean
pressures.
Reactive Fluids
• Darcy’s law assumes no reaction with the formation.
• Many formation with clays react with water to give lower
permeability.
• Lower permeability in formation than gas based measurements in
the laboratory.
• Water injected into the formation may severely reduce permeability
due to clay swelling.
Average Permeability
• Permeability is not normally distributed but has an exponential
function.
• Geometric mean is used to obtain average reservoir permeability.

k avg  n
 k1x k 2 x...k n 
 • AWettability
wetting phase is one which spreads over the solid and
preferentially wets the solid.
• The contact angle approaches zero and will always be less than
90o.

A non-wetting
phase has little
affinity for the
surface

The contact
angle will be
greater than
90o.
 Wettability
• The composition of
the surface affects
the interfacial
tension.
 Wetting on Reservoir Rocks
Water droplets on silica grains and clays

Non wetting
Wetting

Clays
Silica
 Relative Permeability
• Relative permeability provides an extension of Darcy’s Law to the
presence of more than a single fluid within the pore space.

A P qo
Oil
o
qw
Water
L w
kk ro A dP kk rw A dP
qo  qw 
 o dl  w dl

kro,krw - relative permeability k - absolute permeability

•Relative
PermeabilityPermeability
to a particular phase is reduced when a second or
third phase is present
Relative Permeability =
phase permeability when more than one phase is present
permeability to that phase alone
• Relative permeability is normally reported as a fraction or
percentage.
• It equals 1.0 or 100% when the phase is present on its own

ke
k e  k.k r kr 
k
Relative permeability water -oil system
Residual oil saturation

Irreducible water saturation

Relative permeability gas -oil system
Relative Permeability Curves for Water-wet and Oil -wet systems
Shape of rel perm
curves characteristic of
wetting qualities.

Shape of rel. perm

curves different for
water wet and oil wet
phases.

Drainage curves
and imbibition curves
Relative Permeability Curves for Water-wet and Oil -wet systems
kro’ -end point relative
permeability to oil
Relative perm. to oil in
presence of irreducible water

krw’ -end point relative

permeability to water
Relative perm. to water in
presence of irreducible oil
 Relative permeability
• Imbibition relative permeability
Is displacement where the wetting phase saturation is increasing.

For example in a water flood of a water wet rock.

• Drainage relative permeability.

 Is where the non wetting phase saturation is increasing
 For example gas expulsion during primary depletion.
 The condition existing in the transition zone at discovery.
• PriorWater displacement
to water displacement of
water exists oil
as film around grain or in dead end
pores.
• Presence of water has little effect on oil flow.
• Relative perm approaches 100%.
• Water invasion results in water invasion into small and large pores.
• Imbibition relative permeability influences flow behaviour
• Oil saturation decreases with decrease in oil relative permeability.
• Oil remaining after flood out is termed residual oil
Oil remaining immobile after waterflood

• Oil remaining is influenced by capillary pressure and interfacial

tension.
• High residual oil saturation is a result of oil ganglia retained in large
pores as a result of capillary forces.
• Explained by Pore Doublet Model
Oil remaining immobile after waterflood
Pore Doublet Model
Pore Doublet Model
Caplillary forces
have drawn water
into narrower pore
 Pore Doublet Model
Capilliary forces have
now isolated oil in large
pore
Oil trapped by
following equation
2Cos

2Cos
Pc 
r

Pc 
r

Oil can be moved by

enhanced oil
recovery methods
 Enhanced oil recovery
methods:
Surfactant flooding
reduces IFT to reduce Pc
Miscible flooding -there is
no interfacial tension
enabling oil ganglia to be
pushed out
• An important perspective in oil displacement.
Mobility Ratio
• Relates mobility of displacing fluid to that of displaced fluid.
• A ratio of Darcy’s law for each fluid.
• At residual saturation of the other fluid.

k 'rw /  w
Mobility Ratio, M  '
k ro / o

krw’ is the relative permeability at residual oil saturation

kro’ is the relative permeability at irreducible water saturation
End point relative permeabilities
Mobility Ratio
M  1 Stable displacement

Water Oil

M  1 Unstable displacement

Water Oil

Water Oil
Water displacement of oil '
k ro  k ro
k rw  0
Sw  Swc
'
0 k rw k rw
'
0 k ro k ro
Swc Sw 1  Sor
As water table rises
'
k rw  k rw
k ro  0
Sw  1  Sor
Gas Displacement of Oil
• Gas is a non-wetting
phase.
• Gas permeability is zero
until a ‘critical’ gas
saturation is reached.
•
Gas Displacement of Oil
 Gas Displacement of Oil
• Important in understanding solution gas drive