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Saturation-Height Model of Omani deep tight gas reservoir

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Saturation-Height Model of Omani deep tight gas reservoir

Svetlana Rudyk a, *, Amal Al-Lamki b
a
Oil & Gas Research Centre, Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 17, P.C. 123, Al-Khoud, Muscat, Oman
b
Petroleum Development of Oman, Oman

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The focus of this study was on developing a Saturation-Height Model (SHM) based on mercury injection
Received 16 September 2015 capillary pressure (MICP) analysis and core data of three wells drilled in a deep tight gas reservoir of the
Received in revised form Amin formation, Oman, that can best fit to the water saturation calculated by logging data. The suggested
4 November 2015
SHM is a porosity dependent natural logarithmic function. The SHM indicated homogeneous transition
Accepted 6 November 2015
Available online 12 November 2015
zone with a deep fluid contact similar to all three wells.
The calibration with logging data allowed for obtaining the GWC and more precise coefficients in the
SHM equation for specific wells. The SHM closely simulated log-derived water saturation for entire Amin
Keywords:
Tight gas
formation unaffected by rock type, which makes it useful for complex lithologies and un-cored intervals.
Saturation-Height Model The developed SHM can be used as a tool for water saturation evaluation independent from electrical
Capillary pressure rock properties obtained by logging.
© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction permeabilities do not intersect.

1.1. Fluid flows in tight gas reservoirs
As gas demand rises, the interest to the development of deep
and tight gas-condensate reservoirs with high temperature, high
pressure, low porosity and low permeability grows in many coun-
tries (Ding et al., 2014; Tobin et al., 2010; Baziar et al., 2014;
Behmanesh et al., 2015; Song et al., 2015; Wood, 2013; Lai and
Wang, 2015). The tight gas reservoirs can be composed of carbon-
ate rocks or sandstone of significant thickness with the source rock
close to the reservoir rock. They differ from the conventional res-
ervoirs by the impact that the low-permeability structure has on
effective permeability relationships under conditions of multiphase
saturation (Shanley et al., 2004). These relationships are investi-
gated by capillary pressure and relative permeability derived from
core analysis, which represent the vertical distribution and
mobility of the fluids in the reservoir. In traditional reservoirs, both
water and gas flow in a wide range of saturations, which can be
determined by the interval where the curves of relative perme-
ability of water and gas intersect and overlay. In tight reservoirs,
there is a broad range of saturations in which neither gas nor water
can flow. Respectively, the curves of gas and water relative
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: snr@squ.edu.om (S. Rudyk).
In both, conventional and tight reservoirs, the water-free pro-
duction of gas occurs in the upper part. In the middle part of the
conventional reservoir (transition zone), both gas and water are
produced with water production extending downdip to a free-
water level (FWL). In tight reservoirs, a wide region of little to no
fluid flow exists above the FWL because of insufficient perme-
ability, which restricts the flow of either gas or water over a wide
range of saturations (Shanley et al., 2004). Water production can
occur near the FWL in the case of sufficient permeability.
At very low permeability an entire reservoir can be a continuous
transition zone with gas and water. Dependent on the geological
complexity, a reservoir may have one transition zone described by a
single capillary curve (homogeneous reservoir) or several transition
zones existing within each layer of constant porosity and perme-
ability (heterogeneous reservoir). In the latter case, a thick tight
formation may presumably contain several reservoirs separated by
flow barriers (Verlaan and Boerrigter, 2006). The difficulties in
recognizing some gas layers and evaluating of the gas saturation in
un-cored wells or in the flanks of fields are often encountered.
Therefore, determination of gas-water contact (GWC) is of impor-
tance for the estimation of gas volume-in-place, production,
perforation and hydrofracturing operations. The gas-water contacts
can be unclear or vary from well to well because of a variation in the
height above the FWL caused by the difference in rock properties.
The FWL may not be seen in any well in a field with poor rock
properties either. It can be much deeper than the GWC or below a

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jngse.2015.11.015
1875-5100/© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1822 S. Rudyk, A. Al-Lamki / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 27 (2015) 1821e1833
drilled interval of the well (Cuddy et al., 1993). In addition, tight gas
reservoirs are often isolated, each having its own FWL with no
downdip water leg (Shanley et al., 2004).
1.2. Overview of Saturation-Height Models
Saturation-Height Models (SHM) are developed using core
capillary pressure curves to represent fluid distribution in the
reservoir. In addition to electrical logging methods, SHM predicts
water saturation above fluid contact in the formation using log-
derived rock properties. The fluid contact must be known to carry
out the calculations.
Initially, the capillary pressure over mercury saturation is
recalculated to reservoir conditions (Leverett, 1940):
s $cos qRes
ðPc ÞRes ¼ ðPc ÞLab $ Res ; (1)
sLab $cos qLab
where Pc, s and q are capillary pressure in psi, interfacial tension in
mN/m and contact angle in dynes/cm at reservoir and laboratory
conditions, respectively.
.
Further, capillary pressure is converted to height above free-
water level:
½Pc ðSw ÞRes
HðSw Þ ¼
;
g$k$ rw  rg
where rw and rg are densities of brine and gas, respectively, g is a
gravity force, k is feet to meters conversion coefficient.
The water saturation is plotted versus capillary pressure or
height to determine a function, which can be used to predict it at
any height above free water level. The capillary pressure curves of
many samples plotted together do not coincide because of the
difference in rock properties. Therefore, they should also be intro-
duced in the capillary pressureewater saturation equation.
About fifty models (Cuddy et al., 1993; Fredlund and Xing, 1994,
Vereecken et al., 2010; Amabeoku et al., 2006; Lalicata et al., 2012;
Kamalyar et al., 2013; Amiri et al., 2015) mathematically describe
the relationships between water saturation and capillary pressure
or height dependent on porosity, permeability or both. The function
has taken many forms over the years. Once a Saturation-Height
Model (SHM) is established for the specific rock type, it can be
used in the field to relate water saturation with height above fluid
contact using log-derived porosity and/or permeability. Porosity is
determined by logging methods while permeability can only be
found as a function of porosity. The permeability effect on capil-
larity dominates in the sandstones while porosity effect is more
pronounced in the carbonate rocks (Lucia, 2007).
Leverett (1940) suggested J-function for rock types with similar
pore geometries to relate permeability and porosity with capillarity
properties by:
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
JðSw Þ ¼ ðPc ÞRes $ K=4;
where K e permeability, mD, f e porosity (as fraction).
The water saturation is plotted versus corresponding J-function,
and the equation describing their relationships is found by
regression analysis.
Several authors developed models (Johnson, 1987; Skelt and
Harrison, 1995) based on the observation that, for a given rock
type, capillary pressure measurements on core samples of different
permeability form a family of curves. The “permeability averaging”
method of Johnson (1987) gives an empirical function that relates
capillary pressure (or height) to water saturation and permeability.
Constants of the equations were derived from capillary pressure
data or by the curve fitting procedure of core and logging data.
Brooks and Corey (1966) developed a correlation to estimate the
capillary pressure for drainage processes, which utilizes the
concept of effective saturation to generate data as:

  1
Pce N
Sw ¼ Swir þ ð1  Swir Þ$ (4)
Dr$g$h
where Pce is entry capillary pressure, Sw and Swir are water satu-
ration and irreducible water saturation, respectively, in fraction of
pore volume, Dr is density difference of phases in g/cm3, N is a
coefficient.
Several Saturation-Height Models are porosity dependent.
Because permeability is not measured by logging methods and
requires correlation with porosity to be calculated, the advantage of
such models is obvious.
For the Southern North Sea gas reservoir, which was deposited
in a desert by aeolian, fluvial, and lacustrine processes, Cuddy et al.
(1993) developed a function of the following form for the Sw:
Sw ¼ 1  M$H B 4; (5)
where f is porosity, H is height above FWL, and constants
M ¼ 0.01619, B ¼ 0.85771.
(2)
As this function described the gas column well, it was used as a
predictor of the free water level in wells where the contact is un-
clear, or where the contact is below the total depth of the well.
Lucia (2007) suggested equation for carbonate rocks:
Swi ¼ a$Hb $4c ; (6)
where Swi is the initial fractional water saturation, H is reservoir
height in feet, f is fractional porosity (mostly interparticle), b < 1,
c ¼ 1e2.
Similar function was used for Saudi Arabia gas field in sandstone
with the constants as follows: a ¼ 0e3: b, c < ±1 (Amabeoku et al.,
2006).
2. Geological description of Khulud cluster
The depth at which the reservoirs in Oman are often located e
typically in excess of 5 km e is far deeper than tight gas found
elsewhere in the world. Reservoir pressure is 70e90 MPa while
reservoir temperature is 160e190  C. The cluster consists of three
main faulted blocks that formed in direct response to the move-
ment of a thick salt section underneath. It is likely that some degree
of strike-slip movement also occurred as the individual fault blocks
wobbled above the underlying salt during the salt movement
(Lamers et al., 2013). The drilled wells targeted the Middle
Cambrian Amin sandstone, which occurred at the depth of
4700e5200 m, and the underlying Early Cambrian Haradh For-
(3) mation of the Nimr Group. The very muddy cap rocks of Miqrat
Formation were deposited in a persistent muddy sabkha environ-
ment with very little input of sand by alluvial sheetfloods (Moss
and Harwood, 2012).
The entire Amin Formation has a relatively layered facies ar-
chitecture. The cycles between the different facies present in the
core reflect changes in climate, water table level and/or subsidence
rate. The thickness of 150e200 m has been split into three units
with different depositional characteristics, namely the Upper (UA),
Middle (MA) and Lower Amin (LA). The depositional environments
are characterized by aeolian, alluvial, fluvial (braided river) and
sabkha types. The core is strongly dominated by waterlain sedi-
ments that have compositions ranging from quartz to lithic
 S. Rudyk, A. Al-Lamki / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 27 (2015) 1821e1833
arenites, deposited either by unconfined alluvial sheetfloods or by
confined fluvial channels. Waterlain sandstones exhibit a relatively
large degree of textural variability and have massive as well as
laminated fabrics. Reservoir quality in massive samples is largely
degraded by quartz cementation whereas compaction as well as
quartz cementation have a negative impact on the pore system in
laminated samples (Moss and Harwood, 2012).
In response to the large depths of burial, the porosity and
permeability are typically very low due to compaction and intense
development of quartz overgrowths. Better quality samples are
observed where secondary porosity after chert dissolution is
prevalent and where the precipitation of quartz has been retarded
by the thin tangential grain-coating detrital clay and rare localized
authigenic chlorite and illite.
Generally, waterlain and aeolian sandstone contain less than 5%
detrital clay while sabkha sandstone the most (3e7%). No natural
fractures were encountered within the cored interval.
The Well 1 is located towards the Northern edge, Well 2 towards
the Southern end, and Well 3 towards the Western edge of the
Khulud structure in crestal positions. The details can be found in
Lamers et al. (2013). Data of mercury injection capillary pressure
(MICP) analysis were acquired for Well 1 and Well 2 only while core
and logging data of Amin formation were acquired for all three
wells. 53 samples from Well 1, 40 samples from Well 2 and 32
samples from Well 3 were selected for core analyses. In addition,
the thin-section descriptions of the offcuts of some core plugs were
made (Moss and Harwood, 2012).
The plots of Klinkenberg permeability versus helium porosity,
Fig. 1. Plots of Klinkenberg permeability/helium porosity coded by stratification type. The thin-sections of the selected samples are shown in color in the plots. Blue color in thin-
sections represents porous space. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
1823
variations of both parameters with depth, and thin-sections
(magnification of 1000 mm) of representative samples are shown
in Figs. 1e3 for three wells. The abundance of blue color in thin-
sections displays porous space.
The core of Well 1 captures the entire sequence of the Amin
Formation and therefore forms a 'type' well of the Khulud Field.
The geological section of Well 1 represents the variety of facies.
Aeolian avalanches deposits observed in the upper interval sus-
tain primary macropore-dominated pore systems. Good reservoir
quality has been preserved by the presence of thin grain-coating
clay material that has retarded quartz cementation. The perme-
ability of aeolian avalanches sandstone is the greatest, reaching
10 mD. The interval of 4800e4860 m is dominated by poor
quality sandstone of wind-ripple and sabkha facies. The reservoir
quality of waterlain sandstones ranges from very poor to mod-
erate. The greatest porosity of 10e15% is observed in channel-fill
sandstone in the lower part.
The abundance of blue color in a thin-section of channel-fill
sandstone in Fig. 1 illustrates good quality compared to other facies.
Core samples of Well 2 cover part of the MA and all of the LA.
The cored interval is composed of only waterlain sandstone. The
porosity and permeability do not exceed 7.3% and 0.145 mD,
respectively.
The core in Well 3 captures the upper half of the UA Formation.
Compaction as well as the precipitation of quartz during burial
significantly worsened reservoir quality of wind-ripple deposits in
this well. The permeability of waterlain sandstone samples with the
porosity above 7% is greater than 0.45 mD in this well.
1824 S. Rudyk, A. Al-Lamki / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 27 (2015) 1821e1833

Fig. 2. Klinkenberg permeability/helium porosity plots of Well 2. The coring interval is composed of only waterlain sandstone. The thin-sections of the selected samples are shown
in color. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Fig. 3. Klinkenberg permeability/helium porosity plots of Well 3 coded by stratification type: e aeolian wind-ripple, e waterlain, e sabkha.

Typically subfeldspathic to sublithic clay-rich microporous
samples of sabkha sandstones generally present the worst reservoir
quality. The grains of sabkha sandstone are strongly compacted as
can be seen in a thin-section.
3. Methodology
The focus of this study was on developing a Saturation-Height
Model using MICP analysis and core data of three wells of the
Amin formation. The fluid contact GWC was evaluated by a
curve-fitting procedure between water saturations calculated by
the SHM and by logging data, taken as criteria. Several
permeability-porosity correlations were established applying
HFU method and visual examination in order to calculate the J-
function. We have finally developed a natural logarithmic
porosity dependent SHM for the entire Amin formation.
 S. Rudyk, A. Al-Lamki / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 27 (2015) 1821e1833
3.1. Modeling of saturation-height function
Applying Equation (1), the capillary pressure at corresponding
mercury saturation was recalculated from laboratory conditions to
the gas-brine reservoir conditions using the contact angles and
interfacial tensions given in Table 1. Using Equation (2), the capil-
lary pressure at a specific water saturation was recalculated into
height above FWL using rw ¼ 1.1 g/cm3, rg ¼ 0.32 g/cm3, g ¼ 0.433
psi/ft, and k ¼ 3.28. The rock properties were introduced applying J-
function:
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
½Pc ðSw ÞRes $ K=4
HðSw Þ ¼
 ;
g$k$ rw  rg
and a simple power function of porosity raised to a negative power
b ¼ 0.28, which is a coefficient, similar to Lucia (2007) and
Amabeoku et al. (2006):
½Pc ðSw ÞRes $4b
HðSw Þ ¼

g$k$ rw  rg
The results of calculations for Well 1 and Well 2 by Equation (7)
are plotted as Sw versus H in Fig. 4a and by Equation (8) in Fig. 4b.
The MICP curves in Fig. 4 can be approximated by any appropriate
type of equations by regression analysis to match empirical data.
The function is reduced to mean values because the capillary
pressure curves of many core samples scatter due to the difference
in their properties. The pressure or height at unit water saturation
signifies displacement pressure h. Because applicability of MICP
analysis to reservoir conditions is often questioned, the Sw calcu-
lations starts from h, to reduce uncertainties.
The mean natural logarithmic functions in Fig. 4 are calculated
as:
Sw ¼ A$lnðH  hÞ þ C;
where A and C are curve fitting parameters, H is a height above
FWL ¼ 0, h is a height corresponding to displacement pressure
(position is shown in Fig. 4 with arrows).
Because the data scatter reduced for the J-function, the mean
function was found for all curves as a Graph M shown in red (in the
web version) in Fig. 4a. Similar Graph M in Fig. 4b is a mean
function for entire family of curves. Graph N (black) in Fig. 4b is a
mean function for the family of curves with the outliers being
removed. The coefficients A, C and b were found by statistical
analysis using Statgraphics software, and those which provided
greater regression coefficients were chosen. The respective co-
efficients for Graph M: (A; C)¼(0.13; 1.2), for Graph N: (A; C)¼(0.18;
1.7). Although some difference in h exists between Graph M in
Fig. 4a and Graph M in Fig. 4b, it does not affect the Sw calculations
because they begin from the h. The Sw > 1 should be disregarded.
3.2. Permeabilityeporosity relationships
A permeability-porosity dependency can be established
applying a method of hydraulic flow units (HFU). It requires cal-
culations of three parameters: reservoir quality index (RQI), pore-
volume/grain-volume ratio 4z, and flow zone indicator (FZI)
Table 1
Conversion factors for laboratory Hg/air system to reservoir gas/brine equivalent.
System s, dyne/cm q, degree cos (q)
Hg/air 485 130 0.643
gas/brine 72 0 1
1825
(Amaefule et al., 1993).
Reservoir quality index (RQI) is calculated as follows:
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
RQI ¼ 0:314$ K=4; (10)
where, RQIdreservoir quality index, mm; KdKlinkenberg perme-
ability, mD; 4 d helium porosity, fr.
The 4z represents the ratio of the void space to the space
occupied by matrix:
4e
4Z ¼ ; (11)
1  4e
(7)
Flow Zone Indicator (FZI) is calculated by:
FZI ¼ RQI=4z ; (12)
If to take the logarithm of both sides of Equation (12) the
resulting equation indicates that a straight line with unity slope will
be achieved by plotting log (RQI) versus log (fz). The value of the FZI
(8)
is determined from the intercept of the straight line with a unit
slope at fz ¼ 1. (Amaefule et al., 1993) Samples which lie on the
same straight line have similar pore throat attributes and similar
FZI, thereby constituting hydraulic unit. The FZI do not necessary
depend on facies and different facies can be located in a single
hydraulic flow unit (Aggoun et al., 2006).
RQI and 4z were calculated by Equations (12) and (13), respec-
tively, and plotted for each well. The lines determining different
HFUs are drawn at a unit slope across the largest accumulations of
the points in Fig. 5a. These lines should also define the character of
the relations between permeability and porosity. Therefore, similar
lines were added in Fig. 5b onto the plots of permeability vs
porosity, both in logarithmic scale. As can be seen in Fig. 5b, the
parallel lines pass through the same points as on the plots of RQI vs
4z in Fig. 5a. The similarity of the lines in both figures allows the
(9)
calculation of permeability using porosity based on the HFU
method. In order to develop the equations which could be applied
to entire field in un-cored intervals, similar lines were added on the
Klinkenberg permeability-helium porosity plot in Fig. 6a, which
combines data of all three wells.
The correlation lines were described by:
Log K ¼ m$4  n; (13)
where 4 is porosity, fr., the m-coefficient determines position of
correlation line relatively y-axe, and n-coefficient is the line slope.
The resulting equations for the Lines A, B, C in Fig. 6a are as
follows:
Line A : LogK ¼ 16$4  1:6 ; (14)
Line B : LogK ¼ 16$4  2:05 ; (15)
Line C : LogK ¼ 16$4  2:36; (16)
At visual examination the trends of the data distribution on the
plot of Klinkenberg permeability vs helium porosity differ from the
trends of Lines A, B, C. Considering location and facies of the data,
the Line D and Line F were drawn through the upper and lower
boundary of the data area with the Line E between following the
direction of data distribution.
The following equations were obtained:
s$cos (q)
312
72 Line D : LogK ¼ 37$4  2:7 ; (17)
1826 S. Rudyk, A. Al-Lamki / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 27 (2015) 1821e1833
Fig. 4. Plot of Sw vs H. Blues dots represent MICP analysis data: a) by Equation (8) (J-function); b) by Equation (9) (power function). Graphs M are mean functions for entire family of
curves; black lines show the conditions of the best match with the log-derived Sw calculated by Equation (25). Arrows indicate displacement pressure h, m.
Line E : LogK ¼ 32$4  2:8 ;
Line F : LogK ¼ 27$4  2:9 ;
In total, six equations were developed for the permeability-
porosity calculations.
3.3. Stress-corrections of core derived porosity and permeability
Because the core samples are extracted from great depths, their
properties measured in laboratory conditions can change, which
may require a correction for stress. Helium porosity and Klinken-
berg permeability were corrected using the following equations:
4str ¼ 0:9999$4amb  0:0083$4amb ;
1:3865
Kstr ¼ 0:3726$Kamb ; (21)
where Kstr and Kamb are stressed and ambient permeability,
respectively, and 4str and 4amb are stressed and ambient porosity.
3.4. Saturation-height function
Updating Equation (9) to the reservoir scale, the height H is
replaced by the well depth D. The displacement pressure de-
termines the position of the GWC in the reservoir although the
convention is required regarding the water saturation, at which
GWC is taken. To avoid confusion, the term h in Equation (9) is
replaced with the GWC, from which the computation of Sw begins.
The signs are oppose because the depth changes from down to up
in decreasing order starting from GWC. Combining Equations (9)
and (7), the following SHM based on J-function is obtained:
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Sw ¼ A$ K=4$lnðGWC  DÞ þ C
The correlation of water saturation with porosity is negative
(Lucia, 2007). However, Sw correlates positively with the porosity
raised to the negative power. To eliminate this discrepancy the
oppose signs were taken in Equation (9) to be combined with the
Equation (8).
The resulting SHM based on power function of porosity:
(18)
Sw ¼ A$4b $lnðGWC  DÞ  C (23)
(19)
In Equations (22) and (23), 4 is log-derived porosity, fr., K is
permeability, mD, calculated by any of Equations (14)e(19), D is
depth, m; GWC is to be found by curve-fitting procedure with
logging data. Two variants of coefficients (A; C)¼(0.13; 1.2) or (A;
C)¼(0.18; 1.7) were applied to compare results obtained by using
different curve trends.
4. Discussion
4.1. Saturation-height functions derived from MICP data
(20) The Saturation-height functions derived from MICP data
demonstrate the tendency of fluid distribution in the given rock
samples managed by the capillary forces. It is used as a model to
evaluate fluid distribution in the reservoir. In order to obtain a SHM
and find a match with log-derived Sw, at least two dependencies
must be numerically described: the Sw as a function of height using
measurements of MICP analysis and the effect of rock properties.
The mean function of the family of capillary pressure curves de-
termines the general trend of Sw changes with the depth while the
rock properties modify the general trend line.
The data scatter can be reduced by the introduction of perme-
ability and/or porosity in the Equation (2). The various combina-
tions of power functions of porosity, permeability or their ratios
were tried but the J-function calculated by Equation (7) demon-
strated the greatest reduction of data scatter with the regression
coefficient above 85%. This can be seen as more close overlay of
capillary pressure curves in Fig. 4a compared to Fig. 4b. The power
function of porosity was also tried by Equation (8) to avoid use of
permeability.
The intermediate values of Sw in the MICP curves are of a more
(22)
interest, because they are related to the transition zone, where the
gas and water are both movable. The shape of MICP curves can be
best described by a logistic function. However, attempted mean
functions significantly deviated at the Sw close to 0 and 1. Instead of
logistic function, the MICP curves are approximated by Equation (9)
using natural logarithmic function.
 S. Rudyk, A. Al-Lamki / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 27 (2015) 1821e1833 1827

Fig. 5. Positions of correlation lines determined by HFU method: a) RQI vs 4z, and b) Klinkenberg permeability vs helium porosity.

The shape of capillary pressure curve characterizes the smaller
pore sizes and is dependent on interparticle porosity while
displacement pressure is known to characterize the largest pores
sizes (Lucia, 2007). Displacement pressure is a distinctive charac-
teristic of the Omani low permeable core samples (Boukadi et al.,
1998).
The displacement pressure converted to the heights h above the
FWL ¼ 0 in Fig. 4 vary from 10 to 234 m. The wide variation in
height may not however be solely related to the problems associ-
ated with the capillary pressure or the core water saturation data
(Miller et al., 2007). Simple extrapolations of capillary pressure data
to hydrocarbon-column heights and saturations could be
misleading (Shanley et al., 2004).
In order to reduce the uncertainties regarding position of the
FWL, the h is deduced in Equation (9), and the Sw calculations start
from GWC according to Equations (22) and (23).
The MICP curves in Fig. 4 differ mainly by displacement pressure
caused by the differences in rock properties; the effect of depth Pd
was not observed. The MICP curves which demonstrated higher Pd
were related to the samples of worse reservoir quality with
1828 S. Rudyk, A. Al-Lamki / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 27 (2015) 1821e1833
Fig. 6. Plots of Klinkenberg permeability versus helium porosity obtained by core analysis from Amin formation in three wells; a) the Lines A, B, C are calculated by Equations
(14)e(16); b) the Lines D, E, F by Equations (17)e(19) (Table 2).
4 < 0.04. The shape of MICP curves of such samples were close to
linear. The shape of the MICP curves of better quality samples with
4 > 0.04 were more concave. The Graphs M shown in red (in the
web version) in Fig. 4 closely mimic capillary pressure curves of
better quality samples over a large interval of lower water satura-
tions but slightly deviate at the water saturations near a unit. The
Graphs N are representative for the majority of MICP curves which
are related to the worse quality samples.
In order to find a match with log-derived Sw, two SHMs calcu-
lated by the Equations (22) and (23) are investigated in this study
applying the functions for better or worse reservoir quality
samples.
4.2. Porosityepermeability relationships
Permeability is required to calculate J-function. In addition,
permeability is the most important petrophysical property in tight
gas reservoirs. However, permeability is not measured by logging
methods and requires correlation with porosity, which can be
established using core measurements. Many researchers have
worked on permeability calculations, but there is no universal
method yet, which can predict permeability in the whole field and
in all intervals of the wells (Baziar et al., 2014).
Previous investigators of Amin formation attempted to calculate
permeability as polynomial functions of porosity by statistical
software for entire reservoir and for each of Amin unit separately.
Therefore, we used different approaches. The per-
meabilityeporosity relationships in this study were described by
applying HFU method (Figs. 5 and 6a) and by correlation lines
drawn after visual examination (Fig. 6b).
Applying the HFU method, the FZI lines were found in Fig. 5a. In
order to transfer those lines on the permeabilityeporosity plots, the
x-axe was changed to a logarithmic scale in Fig. 5b. The similar
transformations were also made by Izadi and Ghalambor (2013).
This allowed us obtaining Equations (14)e(16) for Lines A, B, C
(Fig. 6a). The m- and n-coefficients are close to the coefficients for
Southern North Sea tight gas field (Cuddy et al., 1993):
LogK ¼ 16.931,4  2.022.
Because the trends of the data distribution on the plots in
Figs. 1e3 differ from the trends of the Lines A, B, C on visual ex-
amination, three more lines were drawn in Fig. 6b. The entire Amin
formation was cored in Well 1 only. The core data for upper and
lower intervals of Amin were also obtained from Well 3 and Well 2,
respectively, while the core data for the large middle interval of
depths were not duplicated in any other well. The data of all three
wells in the range of lower porosity 4 < 0.07 closely overlay in
Fig. 6b. The porosity 4 > 0.07 of channel-fill samples is similar or
greater than of the aeoilian avalanche but the permeability is lower.
Because of that the data of better quality samples of the Well 1 split
into two directions in Figs. 1 and 6. Considering that the layers of
better quality, belonging to different facies, may occur in un-cored
wells, the Line D has been drawn to comprise the samples of aeolian
facies of Well 1 and better quality waterlain samples of Well 3. The
Line F follows the main trend of the data of Well 2 and includes
channel-fill sandstone samples of Well 1. The Line E is average for
the data of Well 3. The m-coefficients in the Equations (17)e(19) are
higher while n-coefficients are close to the coefficients for Montney
tight gas field (Crain, 2015): LogK ¼ 20,4  2.75.
The Lines D, E, F (Fig. 6b) have different slopes while Lines A, B, C
(Fig. 6a) are parallel. Respectively, b-coefficient is constant
(b ¼ 0.16) for Lines A, B, C, while b-coefficients vary from 0.27 to
0.37 for Lines D, E, F. In addition, the slopes of the Lines D, E, F are
sharper than of the Lines A, B, C, which can be due to the presence
of clay in the samples. Hatampour et al. (2015) noted that the lines
on the RQI vs 4z plots with unity slope belong to clean sandstone
formation whereas slopes greater than a unit are expected for shaly
formations which alter the equations to some extent.
Totally six Equations (14)e(19) summarized in Table 2 were
developed to calculate permeability for J-function and find out
which of them would better match to the logging data.
In order to compare and calibrate SHM obtained from capillary
curves analysis with the log derived porosity and permeability, the
core porosity and permeability measurements have to be converted
to reservoir conditions. The correction for stress of core porosity
and permeability measured at ambient conditions can be done by
Equations (21) and (22), respectively.
4.3. Comparison of porosity and permeability calculations with log
derived data
Log-derived porosity was calculated by density log at a mean
grain density 2.65 g/cm3. Log-derived porosity and helium porosity
are plotted together in Fig. 7. Although a lot of core data match to
the log-derived data of Well 1, the helium porosity is greater than
 S. Rudyk, A. Al-Lamki / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 27 (2015) 1821e1833 1829

Table 2
Equations developed in the present study.

Eq. number Equation Notes

14 LogK ¼ 16,4  1.6 Line A in Fig. 6a

15 LogK ¼ 16,4  2.05 Line B in Fig. 6a
16 LogK ¼ 16,4  2.36 Line C in Fig. 6a
17 LogK ¼ 37,4  2.7 Line D in Fig. 6b
18 LogK ¼ 32,4  2.8 Line E in Fig. 6b
19 LogK ¼ 27,4  2.9 Line F in Fig. 6b
24 Sw ¼ 0.13,4b,ln(5170  D)  1.2 SHM: b ¼ 0.27 for Well 1, b ¼ 0.32 for Well 2, b ¼ 0.39 for Well 3 (Fig. 8)

Fig. 7. a), c), d): Porosity changes with depth. Black curve: log-derived porosity; core porosity: e helium porosity, e samples used for MICP analysis. b) The gray and green
curves are permeabilities for Well 1 calculated by Equations (14) and (19), respectively; e Klinkenberg permeability. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure
legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

that calculated by logging at some depths. For a few exceptions, the of core samples is greater than log-derived porosity in Well 3. The
logging data match to the core data in Well 2. The porosity of most stress-correction did not improve match.
1830 S. Rudyk, A. Al-Lamki / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 27 (2015) 1821e1833
Several factors could have caused the mismatch of core- and
logging data. The core-derived porosity is considered as a total
porosity while the log-derived porosity as an effective porosity. The
helium porosity was obtained by a forced process in the laboratory
tests and may not fully represent the fluid distribution within the
porous space at reservoir conditions. Gas and water may differently
occupy intergrain pores and micropores between clay particles
depending on their size in the formation, which can influence
logging measurements. Quartz overgrowth, and secondary porosity
may also affect the distribution of fluids, openness and connectivity
of pores at laboratory and reservoir conditions, which can lead to
the difference in core- and log-derived porosity. Stress-tests may
not accurately simulate changes of reservoir rock properties either.
The concerns have also been arisen regarding the accuracy of the
logging measurements at very harsh conditions of Amin formation.
Wireline tools fail due to high temperatures down hole have often
been reported (Lamers et al., 2013).
Permeability was calculated by six different equations using log-
derived porosity (Table 2). Stress correction made either to Klin-
kenberg permeability or to permeability obtained using any of six
above mentioned correlations reduced permeability to unrealisti-
cally low values. Because of that, the stress-correction was
considered unnecessary. The resulting six permeability curves were
close and generally overlaid the core data of Well 2. The results are
shown for Well 1 only in Fig. 7b because the core data are available
for this well in entire Amin formation. All permeability curves fall
between two curves: calculated by Equation (19) to the left (Line F)
and by Equation (14) to the right (Line A). The other curves differ
mainly by a small shift of the baseline and the width of the curve
amplitude (not shown). The predicted permeability curves derived
by using the HFU method are shifted to the higher permeability
range, and the amplitude of the curves becomes shorter at
increasing a-coefficient.
It can be observed in Fig. 7b that the Klinkenberg permeability is
close to the permeability calculated by Equation (19) in the Upper
Amin while it is close to the permeability calculated by Equation
(14) in the MA and LA. This indicates that different correlations
could be used for each of the Amin units. In order to cover all core
data, the amplitude of permeability curve must be even more wide.
This can be achieved if permeability-porosity correlation lines are
drawn much higher in Fig. 6, but this would not correspond to
actual data.
The permeability calculations were made based on the
assumption of positive correlation between permeability and
porosity, while some factors can play against that. For example, clay
may reduce permeability but at the same time it can contribute to
the increase of helium porosity due to the presence of micropores
between clay particles. This means that a negative dependency
between permeability and porosity can also exist. For example, the
permeability of the samples belonging to wind-ripple face in Fig. 1
increases at almost constant porosity. The permeabilityeporosity
relationships may require complex equations in the case when
many factors such as cement, clay, quartz overgrowth, grain size
and etc. are involved and to a different extent affect reservoir
quality of rocks within various layers or facies. However, the thor-
ough investigation of such factors is a matter of other study and
therefore is not covered here.
In general, the core data matched to the calculated permeabil-
ities in the low-permeable intervals. The deviations of the core data
from calculated permeabilities have occurred for the high-
permeability core samples which mainly belong to aeolian
avalanche and channel-fill facies in Well 1. The calculated perme-
ability was lower than Klinkenberg permeability because it was
derived from the log-derived porosity, which was lower than the
helium porosity of core samples. Thus, the mismatch of core and
calculated permeability at some depths was not the result of the
drawback of equations.
4.4. Fluid contact
The depth from which the calculations of water saturation start
using SHMs must be known. The GWC is often determined as the
depth where the water saturation in logging curves sharply in-
creases to near 1. The FWL is the depth where this sharp increase
would occur if the formation had very high poroperm character-
istics (Cuddy et al., 1993). However, in low-permeable reservoirs,
where the entire gas column can be considered as a continuous
transition zone, both, GWC and FWL, can be unclear. In addition, the
GWC needs an agreed convention about at which Sw it has to be
taken, while the FWL is determined at Sw ¼ 1.
Clear GWC can be determined in Well 2 where the gas was
produced from the higher permeability layer in UA formation fol-
lowed by the water production from 4930 to 4940 m (Fig. 8). Water
samples were also taken from interval of 4879e4900 m in Well 3. In
adjacent wells, however, gas of the similar composition flowed
from the depth well below the assumed GWC. Gas and water were
also produced from the underlying Nimr formation in a few wells.
High salinity formation water was produced after clean-up in
several wells from the depths below 5000 m, including Well 2. This
suggests that the GWC should be at 5000 m maximum.
However, the phenomenon of high gas saturation below FWL is
known. Seth et al. (2013) reported a clear gas bearing zone in some
wells immediately present below FWL, which was established by
extensive pressure test in all wells in the Ichthys field. The authors
made conclusion that the field was in imbibition state probably
caused by the past tectonic activity. They established the Paleo
Free-Water Level which shifted GWC deeper.
If it is not possible to establish fluid contact from both logs and
pressure test, it can be found as a depth at which a best match
between log-derived Sw, taken as a criterion, and core-derived SHM
is achieved by a curve-fitting procedure. To avoid biases, the focus
of the investigation will be only on the achievement of match rather
than on the analysis of the logging and well test data.
4.5. Comparison of J-function with the log-derived water saturation
The Sw calculated by Equation (22) using log-derived porosity,
and permeability calculated by any of six earlier mentioned equa-
tions were compared with the log-derived water saturation. Similar
to the permeability curves, the calculated Sw curves differed by the
shift of a baselines and slight variations of the curve amplitudes.
The Sw curves calculated using permeability derived from the HFU
method were more shifted to the area of negative values (to the
right).
The Sw calculated for Well 1 using (A; C)¼(0.13; 1.2) was
significantly shifted to the lower values with the long peaks
extending to the area of negative values. The fitting of Sw baseline
with the baseline of logging curve was only obtained using (A;
C)¼(0.18; 1.7). The respective function calculated by Equation (9) is
shown in black as Graph N in Fig. 4a.
Using permeability calculated by Equation (19) (Line F), the
baseline of Sw curve was closer and curve amplitude better matched
to the log-derived Sw, which could be expected because the
mentioned line comprised samples of Well 1. Presuming a higher
GWC, it was set at 5050 m. The calculated Sw in the lower part of
Amin matched to logging data but the Sw in a gas layer in the upper
part did not match at any GWC, deviating to great negative values.
In addition, many fake peaks appeared where they were not pre-
sent in the log-derived Sw curve (Fig. 8a). The negative numbers and
division by null were removed.
 S. Rudyk, A. Al-Lamki / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 27 (2015) 1821e1833 1831

Fig. 8. Water saturation vs depth: black line is log-derived Sw; red line is Sw calculated: a) by Equation (22) for Well 1; b), c), d) by Equation (24) at b ¼ 0.27 for Well 1, b ¼ 0.32 for
Well 2, and b ¼ 0.39 for Well 3. Green color indicates gas production, blue rectangles indicate depths where the water samples were obtained. (For interpretation of the references
to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

There was no substantial difference between Sw curves when
either (A; C)¼(0.13; 1.2) or (A; C)¼(0.18; 1.7) were used for Well 2.
Better match of the Sw baselines was achieved using K calculated by
Equation (17) for Line D. However, the match of the Sw curves in gas
layer in Upper Amin was not obtained at any coefficients. The
decrease of GWC shifted the Sw curve to more negative values. The
increase of GWC improved match in lower part but the match was
not achieved for the upper layer of UA in all wells. The match ob-
tained for the lower section of Amin formation by applying specific
permeability-porosity correlations for each well shows that they
adequately represent relationships between the rock properties.
The mismatch in the upper layers is probably caused by the shift of
some MICP curves to higher values of H at Sw ¼ 0 in Fig. 4a. On a
comparison, MICP curves in Fig. 4b approach each other at Sw ¼ 0.
The J-function only applies if the porous rock have similar pore size
distributions or pore geometry. In these types of rocks, the pore size
and permeability increase as the grain size increases. The averaging
nature of the J-function gives poorer results at a large range of
permeability of several orders of magnitude (Harrison and Jing,
2001).
4.6. Best match of log- and core-derived water saturation curves
Other types of SHM can be investigated in order to find match
with log-derived water saturation. Brooks and Corey method was
earlier tried because in Omani rocks entry pressure depends on
porosity, permeability and Swir (Boukadi et al., 1998; Abu-Shiekah
et al., 2008). Although such SHM demonstrated a good match in
1832 S. Rudyk, A. Al-Lamki / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 27 (2015) 1821e1833
better reservoir rock quality interval of the Amin formation, it did
not match to the log-derived saturations in many low-permeability
intervals when tried by previous investigators (unpublished).
The most challenging is that the log-derived Sw is not a
continuous curve. It consists of series of interrupted peaks. The
baseline of the SHM based on a positive power function of porosity
matches to the logging Sw but the Sw is highly overestimated in such
case and forms a continuous curve in the entire Amin formation if
calculated by Equation (23). The peaks can be eliminated if the
baseline is shifted outside of the curve to Sw > 1. The amplitude of
the curve can be extended by using a negative power function of
porosity.
The sensitivity of the coefficients A, C, b and GWC in Equation
(23) on the match between SHM and logging data were evaluated
changing them individually or together simultaneously in all three
wells. It was found that the water saturation in the upper intervals
of about 50e100 m from the top are most sensitive to changes of all
coefficients. The slight changes of C-coefficient lead to significant
shifts of entire water saturation curve. The changes of A- and b-
coefficients cause stretching or compressing of Sw curve. The
presence of various combinations of b and GWC could be indicative
that several transition zones exist within the thickness of the Amin
formation.
To be consistent with the Equation (9), the coefficients A and C
were fixed for all three wells while the b-coefficient and GWC were
varied at the same time to find a match.
Because match for J-function for Well 1 in the middle and lower
intervals of Amin formation was achieved applying GWC ¼ 5050 m
and (A; C)¼(0.18; 1.7), this combination of parameters was suc-
cessfully tried first. However in the Well 2, the gas layer appeared in
the area of negative values. The trials to establish GWC above
5050 m for Well 2 were not successful either. The variations of b-
coefficient either shifted entire curve to the area of negative values
or significantly stretched the curve.
In the same manner, fitting procedure was repeated for Well 3
but the match was not achieved for any combinations of all pa-
rameters. Because the log-derived Sw is close to 1 on the top of the
formation, any decrease of GWC led to the substantial shift of the Sw
curve to lower values. Therefore, the match with log-derived Sw at
the GWC ¼ 5050 m or higher was not found.
The best match for all three wells for entire Amin formation was
obtained at GWC ¼ 5170 m and (A; C)¼(0.13; 1.2), although it was
not significantly affected if coefficients (A; C)¼(0.18; 1.7) were used.
The uplifting of GWC above 5170 m caused significant decrease of
water saturation in the upper interval and big mismatch with
logging data in both, Well 2 and Well 3. The tops of the Amin for-
mation in Well 2 and Well 3 are at similar depths. Therefore, it is
more probable that both wells have similar GWCs.
The match was adjusted using b-coefficients: b ¼ 0.27 for Well 1,
b ¼ 0.32 for Well 2 and b ¼ 0.39 for Well 3. The match between log-
derived Sw and calculated using SHM as follows are presented in
Fig. 8:
Sw ¼ 0:13$4b $lnð5170  DÞ  1:2
To assume equal constants for all three wells such as
GWC ¼ 5170 m, A ¼ 0.13, C ¼ 1.2, the b-coefficient must reflect the
rock quality. Data from other wells are needed in order to systemize
b-coefficients and their variations across the field. The convenience
of the suggested model is that it allows evaluation of Sw for entire
Amin section largely unaffected by rock types.
The obtained GWC was much deeper than expected indicating
the homogeneous formation with a single transition zone. One
reason for that can be that the SHM is based on the available core
samples of the worse quality. The capillary pressure curves of the
better quality samples could have been approximated by different
functions. The Upper Amin formation in Well 2 was not cored, and
MICP analysis for the UA samples in Well 3 was not performed. On
the other side, if to presume that the process of imbibition con-
tinues in the field (Seth et al., 2013), it can explain the presence of
water on the very top of Upper Amin in some wells, which is
transported from high depths by strong capillary forces through
low-permeable rocks. The top of Upper Amin is found at 5150 m in
the wells away from the cluster area (Lamers et al., 2013). Consid-
ering the GWC ¼ 5170 m on the average, the gas column height in
the Wells 2 and 3 is about 290 m. As a comparison, gas column
heights from 90 to 300 m are observed in low-permeability gas
reservoirs in the Greater Green River Basin of USA (Cluff, 2002). In
such case, fluid contact at 5170 m seems not to be completely
unrealistic.
5. Conclusions
1. The Saturation-Height Model proposed for tight gas reservoir of
the Amin formation is a porosity dependent natural logarithmic
function. It closely simulated log-derived water saturation
curves for the three examined wells. The SHM calculations
indicated a homogeneous transition zone within the entire
Amin formation with deep GWC at 5170 m approximately.
2. The SHM was based on the MICP analysis data of worse quality
sandstone samples. The MICP analysis data of better quality
samples are required in order to investigate their effect on the
evaluation of GWC.
3. The J-function showed poor match with log-derived water
saturation for better quality layers probably because of a dif-
ference in lithology and large range of permeability variations.
Probably the match can be improved if other factors such as
grains size, clay-cement ratio, microporosity and etc. will be
considered in permeability/porosity relationships.
Acknowledgment
We gratefully thank the Ministry of Oil and Gas and to the
management of Petroleum Development Oman for their permis-
sion to publish this work.
Nomenclature
Pc, capillary pressure in psi
(Pc)Res capillary pressure at reservoir condition in psi
(Pc)Lab capillary pressure at laboratory condition in psi
sLab interfacial tension at reservoir conditions, dyne/cm
sRes interfacial tension at reservoir conditions, dyne/cm
qRes contact angle at reservoir conditions, degrees
qLab contact angle at laboratory conditions, degrees
H height above FWL, ft or m
FWL free-water level, m
rw brine density, g/cm3
rg gas density, g/cm3
(24)
K permeability, mD
4 porosity (% or fraction)
Sw water saturation, fraction
Swir irreducible water saturation, fraction
4z pore-volume/grain-volume ratio
g gravity constant, psi/ft
Dr density difference of water and gas phases, g/cm3
N coefficient in Eq. 4
Pce entry capillary pressure, psi
Pd displacement pressure, psi
J Leverett J-function
 S. Rudyk, A. Al-Lamki / Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering 27 (2015) 1821e1833
h height, m, corresponding to displacement pressure
B coefficient in Eq. 5
M coefficient in Eq. 5
A fitting parameter in saturationeheight relationships
C fitting parameter in saturationeheight relationships
b fitting parameter in saturationeheight relationships
RQI reservoir quality index, mm
HFU hydraulic flow unit
FZI Flow Zone Indicator
m fitting parameter in permeabilityeporosity relationships
n fitting parameter in permeabilityeporosity relationships
D Depth, m
h height, m
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