Reservoir Rock

INTRODUCTION
Rock and fluid properties are the building blocks in any reservoir
engineering study that lead to the formulation of a successful reservoir
management strategy. Regardless of the study and related complexity, the
reservoir engineer must have a sound understanding of the rock properties
involved. What is more important is the knowledge of the variability of
rock properties throughout the reservoir and how heterogeneous reservoirs
perform in the real world.
It is a common observation that rock properties vary from one location
to another in the reservoir, often impacting reservoir performance. Some
reservoir analyses are based on the assumption that a reservoir is
homogeneous and isotropic, implying that the rock properties are
nonvariant and uniform in all directions. However, such idealized
conditions are seldom encountered in the field. Various geologic and
geochemical processes leave imprints on a reservoir over millions of years,
leading to the occurrence of reservoir heterogeneities that are largely
unknown prior to oil & gas production.
INTRODUCTION
Worldwide studies of rock properties indicate that all reservoirs
are basically heterogeneous as well as unique in character. In a
heterogeneous geologic formation, rock properties vary from one
location to another, sometimes drastically, within a short vertical or
horizontal interval. Petroleum reservoirs are unique, and patterns and
trends related to the rock characteristics observed in one reservoir
cannot be readily assumed to be the same as another. This is true even
when the two reservoirs are situated in the same geographical region
and geologic setting. In most cases, a large number of wells must be
drilled and produced in order to gain adequate knowledge of rock
properties and their influence on overall reservoir behavior. In the
early stages of field development, very few wells have been drilled,
and information regarding vital rock characteristics is very limited. It
is interesting to note that critical rock heterogeneities may become
apparent only at the time water or gas injection is initiated in the
reservoir to augment oil recovery.
INTRODUCTION
The basic properties of rocks can be classified as the following:
1. Skeletal. The “skeleton” of the rocks is influenced by the
depositional environment and various earth processes following
deposition.
2. Dynamic. This relates to the interaction of the rocks and fluids in
the reservoir. Skeletal properties of interest to reservoir engineers
include porosity, pore size distribution, compressibility, and absolute
permeability of the rock. Dynamic or interaction properties of rock
are influenced by the nature and interaction between fluids, as well as
between the fluid and the rock surface. These include wettability,
capillary pressure, saturation, and relative permeability.
INTRODUCTION
This chapter is devoted to learning about the following:
Reservoir rock types
Skeletal rock properties
• Porosity
• Permeability
• Formation compressibility
• Reservoir fluid saturation
• Interfacial tension
• Wettability
• Capillary pressure
Leverett J function
• Capillary number
• Relative permeability
• Formation transmissibility
and storavity
Dynamic rock properties
Measures of rock heterogeneity
Reservoir characterization
Oil and gas in place estimation
Petroleum reserves
Sources of rock properties data
• Core analysis
• Log analysis
• Well test analysis
• Geosciences data
• Emerging technology
Examples
Applications
Class problems
Reservoir Rock Types
Rocks are naturally occurring aggregates of one or more minerals. In
the case of porosity or fracturing, they also contain fluid phases. With
respect to their geological genesis and processes, rocks are divided
into three major groups:
igneous rocks (magmatites),
metamorphic rocks (metamorphites), and
sedimentary rocks (sediments).
Igneous rocks
Igneous rocks are formed by crystallization from a molten magma.
Three types are characterized by their occurrence and position in the
crust:
plutonic rocks crystallized in great depth and forming large rock
bodies,
volcanic rocks reaching the surface, in many cases forming layers of
rocks like a pillow or blanket, and
dikes with dominant vertical extension and a horizontal extension in
one direction. They frequently separate geological units.
Igneous rocks
Igneous rocks can be classified according to their chemical or
mineralogical composition. Chemical classification distinguishes
acid, intermediate, basic, and ultrabasic rocks. Mineralogical
classification uses the types
felsic or silicic rocks, examples are granite, rhyolite,
intermediate rocks, examples are granodiorite, diorite, dacite,
andesite,
mafic rocks, examples are basalt, gabbro,
ultramafic rocks, example is peridotite.
Igneous rocks

Mineralogical classification of common magmatic rock types

Igneous rocks

Approximate Average Mineral Composition (Volume Percent) of

the Earth’s (Upper) Crust and of Major Intrusive Rocks
Metamorphic rocks
Metamorphic rocks are the result of metamorphism. Metamorphism is the
solid-state conversion of igneous and sedimentary rocks under the
pressure–temperature regime of the crust” (Huckenholz, 1982). During this
process, the original mineral assemblages (magmatic or sedimentary) are
converted into new assemblages corresponding to the thermodynamic
conditions over a geologic time.
Through the different metamorphic processes (regional metamorphism,
contact metamorphism, cataclastic metamorphism, etc.), the great variety of
original rocks and their composition results in a broad spectrum of
metamorphic rock types. Typical members of these metamorphic rock types
are phyllites, schists, gneisses, skarns, marbles, felses, quartzites,
serpentinites, and amphibolites.
As a result of the metamorphic process, many rocks show a typical
structure with parallel-oriented elements like mineral axes, fractures, and
fissures. This results in anisotropy of certain physical properties.
Sedimentary rocks
Sedimentary rocks are highly important for hydrocarbon
exploration; most commercial reservoirs occur in this rock type
characterized by its porosity and permeability. Sedimentary rocks
cover more than 50% of the earth’s surface and are therefore also of
fundamental importance in many aspects of our lives, from
agriculture to the foundations of buildings, and from groundwater
resources to the whole environment.
Sedimentary rocks are formed by a sequence of physical, chemical,
and biological processes:
Magmatic, sedimentary, and metamorphic source rocks are
disaggregated by weathering to:
resistant residual particles (e.g. silicate minerals, lithic fragments),
secondary minerals (e.g. clays),
water-soluble ions of calcium, sodium, potassium, silica, etc.
Sedimentary rocks
Weathered material is transported via water, ice, or wind to sites
and deposited:
•mineral grains drop to the depositional surface,
•dissolved matter precipitates either inorganically, where sufficiently
concentrated, or by organic processes,
•decaying plant and animal residues may also be introduced into the
depositional environment.
Sedimentary rocks
Lithification (consolidation) occurs when the sedimentary material
becomes compacted; aqueous pore solutions interact with the
deposited particles to form new, cementing diagenetic (authigenic)
minerals (Best, 1995).
We distinguish three major rock classes of sedimentary rocks:
(1) clastic: broken from a pre-existing rock (e.g. sandstone),
(2) chemical: formed by chemical precipitation as carbonates
(limestone, dolomite) or as evaporates (e.g. gypsum, anhydrite, salt),
(3) organic: formed by biological precipitation and by accumulation
of organic material (peat, coal, limestone, diatomite).
Sedimentary rocks
Sandstones and carbonates are the most common reservoir rocks.
Siliciclastics are composed of various silicate grains. Carbonates
consist mainly of only the two minerals dolomite and calcite. Clastic
sediments have been transported over long distances, whereas
carbonates are formed on-site (mostly marine). Clastic sediments are
relatively chemically stable; they form an intergranular pore space.
Carbonates, on the other hand, are chemically instable; their pore
space is very complex and controlled by a variety of influences.
Classification
Clastic rocks are formed by:
erosion, reworking, and transportation of rock components,
deposition and sedimentation of the material, and
compaction and diagenetic processes.
Typical members of this important group of rocks are conglomerate,
sandstone, siltstone, shale, and claystone.
Classification
Sandstone is composed of >50% sand-sized particles. The mineral
composition is dominated by quartz and feldspar.
Siltstone is composed of >50% silt-sized particles; they are generally
less rich in quartz than is sandstone (Jorden and Campbell, 1984).
Claystone is composed of >50% clay-sized particles; they are
generally formed by clay minerals.
Classification
Many properties of shale are controlled by the clay components (for
example gamma radiation, electrical properties, cation exchange
capacity, neutron response).
For understanding physical properties of sedimentary rocks, it is
important to distinguish the different terms referred to as shale and
clay
clay describes a group of minerals (hydrous aluminium silicates),
clay also defines a particle size (<0.002 mm), and
shale describes a rock type as defined above (“claystone” also refers
to a rock type).
Classification
The physical properties of clastic sediments are strongly controlled
by:
textural properties (particle dimensions, size, shape, spatial
orientation), and
mineral composition, mainly the presence and effect of clay minerals.

Clay and shale: (a) authigenic kaolinite, Carter sandstone Black Warrior basin,
Alabama (Kugler and Pashin, 1994); (b) Posidonia shale, SouthernGermany
Carbonate and Evaporate Rocks
The non-clastic carbonate and evaporate rocks are formed mainly
by chemical and biochemical precipitation in special environments
(typically warm, shallow, clear marine water in low latitudes). In
carbonates, secondary porosity is usually more important than
primary porosity. The major sources of secondary porosity are
fracturing, solution, and chemical replacement.
The most abundant carbonate minerals are calcite (CaCO3) and
dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2). Secondary minerals are anhydrite, chert,
and quartz. Accessory minerals are phosphates, glauconite, ankerite,
siderite, feldspars, clay minerals, pyrite, etc., depending on the
environment of deposition and diagenetic history.
Carbonate and Evaporate Rocks
The two main rock types are:
(1) Limestone: composed of more than 50% carbonates, of which
more than half is calcite.
(2) Dolomite: composed of more than 50% carbonates, of which
more than half is dolomite. Dolomite can precipitate directly from a
solution containing Mg, Ca, and carbonate ions or by chemical
alteration of limestone or calcareous mud (dolomitization). Dolomite
frequently forms larger crystals than the calcite it replaces (Al-Awadi
et al., 2009) and forms good reservoir properties.
Carbonate and Evaporate Rocks
Carbonates are modified by various post-depositional processes such
as dissolution, cementation, recrystallization, dolomitization, and
replacement by other minerals. Dolomitization is associated with an
increase of porosity.
The interaction with meteoric pore fluids can result in a leaching of
grains and can influence reservoir quality in both directions (new
pore space, cementation).
Fracturing as a result of stress and stylolithification are diagenetic
processes in carbonates; they can create high-permeability zones and
permeability barriers or baffles.
Evaporate sediments are a special type of sedimentary rock that is
formed from the concentration of dissolved salts through evaporation
(for example rock salt/halite).
Carbonate and Evaporate Rocks
Carbonates are deposited biologically and contain fossil fragments
and other particles with complicated morphology and shape. This
results in complex pore structures in general. Dissolution,
precipitation, recrystallization, dolomitization, and other processes
increase this complexity over scales.
Different types of porosity and complex pore size distributions also
result in wide permeability variations for the same total porosity,
making it difficult to predict their producibility. Therefore, the
analysis of carbonate pore geometries is the key to characterize the
reservoir properties of this group of rocks.
Carbonate and Evaporate Rocks
For carbonates, two main types of classification have been
developed:
(1) Textural classification (Dunham, 1962) based on the presence or
absence of lime mud and grain support and ranges from:
grain-supported grainstones, mudstones and packstones to
mud-supported wackestones and mudstones, and
crystalline or boundstones.
(2) Fabric selective and non-fabric selective pore-type classification
(Choquette and Pray, 1970) including:
fabric selective (interparticle, intraparticle, intercrystal, moldic,
fenestral, shelter, and framework), and
non-fabric selective (vug and channel, cavern, and fracture)
porosity.
Carbonate and Evaporate Rocks
The complex pore system of carbonate reservoirs ranges from
microcrystalline pores to large vugs or caverns. The petrophysical
characteristics are controlled by connected networks of interparticle
pores (matrix), vuggy pore space, and fractures,
Carbonate and Evaporate Rocks
Comparison of Siliciclastic and Carbonate Sediments
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF ROCKS—SOME GENERAL
CHARACTERISTICS
Rocks in most cases are heterogeneous composites; only
monomineralic rocks like rock salt or anhydrite contain only one
mineral type. Heterogeneity becomes more contrasted if pores and
fractures, filled with fluids, are present. Mineral composition,
porosity/fracturing, and internal rock structure therefore influence the
physical rock properties
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF ROCKS—SOME GENERAL
CHARACTERISTICS
On the other hand, physical rock properties (for example elastic,
electrical, nuclear properties) can be used to characterize rocks with
respect to properties and parameters of interest (for example reservoir
properties, geomechanical properties). This leads to a classification of
rock properties into the following two main groups or types:
(1) properties of direct interest for application: reservoir properties
(porosity, saturation, permeability), geomechanical properties
(deformation, strength), mineralogical characteristics (shale content,
fractional mineral composition), content of substances of interest (ore
content), and
(2) properties relevant to the various geophysical methods
(elastic/seismic properties, density, electrical properties, nuclear
properties, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) response).
MEASUREMENTS OF ROCK SAMPLES AND CORE
ANALYSIS
Empirical fundamentals of rock physics are generated from
measurements of rock samples under defined conditions (pressure
and temperature). Laboratory measurements determine physical
properties (for example pore spaces, or electrical, elastic, thermal
properties) for different groups of rocks.
Core analysis is a special discipline of experimental rock evaluation.
It is based on the direct determination of reservoir rock properties on
samples.
There are two types of core acquisition from wells:
(1) conventional (or rotary) cores, and
(2) sidewall core (percussion and rotary sidewall coring).
MEASUREMENTS OF ROCK SAMPLES AND CORE
ANALYSIS
The limitations and problems of core measurements are:
The core is only a small piece of rock and therefore not always
representative for a reservoir or a large section. This is a question
of homogeneity.
Coring and recovery change stress and temperature and may
change the rock structure.
Plugging, cleaning, and drying process may change wettability of
plugs.