Fundamentals of Rock Properties: Akhilome .E. Christian

FUNDAMENTALS OF ROCK
PROPERTIES
AKHILOME .E. CHRISTIAN

SIWES/PED/81002
PRESENTATION OVERVIEW
Introduction
Porosity
Permeability
Saturation
Wettability
Surface
and Interfacial tension

Capillary pressure
Rock Compressibility
Reservoir rock properties
WHAT IS A RESERVOIR ROCK

Oil created by the source rock wont be useful unless it
winds up being stored in an easily accessible container, a
rock that has room to suck it up
A reservoir rock is a place that oil migrates to and is held
underground.
Reservoir rocks are dominantly sedimentary (sandstones,
carbonates); however, highly fractured igneous and
metamorphic rocks have been known to produce
hydrocarbons, but on a much smaller scale.
Properties of Reservoir Rocks
A good reservoir rock must have porosity

in which petroleum can exist.
Other properties include:
Another characteristics of reservoir

rock is that it must be permeable.
Fluid Saturation, Saturation, Wettability, Surface and Interfacial tension, Capillary pressure
Rock Compressibility, Overburden pressure etc.
POROSITY
Porosity
Even though a reservoir rock looks solid to the naked

eye, a microscopic examination reveals the existence
of tiny openings in the rock, called pores. These spaces
or voids are the one in which reservoir fluids are present.
Porosity() : Porosity is the capability of a rock to hold fluids

in pore. It is the ratio of the pore volume in a rock
to the bulk volume of that rock. Expressed in per cent.
Mathematical form is:
= Vp/Vb
Porosity
Porosity is a measure of the void space in
rock, hence, measures how much HC in rock
Porosity = Vp/Vb = (Vb-Vm)/Vb; Vb = Vp + Vm

theoretically, varies from 0% - 47.6%
In practice, varies between 3% and 37%
Porosity is a function of particle size distribution:

Framework materials (sandstone) high
Interstitial materials (shaly-sand) low
Rock matrix
Water
Oil and/or gas
Classification of Porosity
Porosity
can be classified into;
1. Original porosity
2. Induced porosity
Original porosity (primary) is formed during the deposition

of rock materials, e.g. porosity between granular in sandstone,
porosity among crystal and oolitic in limestone
Induced porosity (secondary) is developed by some geological process on the

deposited rock material.
E.g; Fractures, or vugs cavity usual occur in limestone
(chemical reaction b/w CaCO 3 and MgCl2)
Types of Porosity
Sand grain
Cement
material
Effective /
connected porosity
(25%)
Ineffective
Porosity (5%)
Total Porosity
(30%)
FACTORS THAT AFFECT POROSITY

PRIMARY
Particle sphericity and angularity
Packing
Sorting (variable grain sizes)
SECONDARY
(DIAGENETIC)
Cementing materials
Overburden stress (compaction)
Vugs, dissolution, and fractures
FACTORS THAT AFFECT POROSITY
Spherical size variation

influences
type &
volume of solid porosity
cubic packing of Rhombohedral

spheres resulting packing
of
in a least-compact spheres resulting
arrangement with in
a
mosta porosity of
compact
47.64%
arrangement with
a porosity of 26%
Porosity
Porosity
36%
20%
Effect of cement
material
PERMEABILITY
Permeability
Permeability is a property of the porous medium that

measures the ability of the formation to transmit fluids. Its
the a measure of the ease with which the rock will permit the
passage of fluids.
Unlike porosity, permeability cannot be defined apart from

fluid flow. For a rock to be Permeable, it must contain interconnected pores
Reservoir
permeability is usually quoted in millidarcies, (md).

Three types of permeability
Absolute permeability - the permeability of a porous

medium with only one fluid present (single-phase flow).
When two or more fluids are present permeability of the

rock to a flowing fluid is called effective permeability
(ko, kg, kw).
Relative permeability is the ratio of absolute and effective

permeabilities kro=ko/k, krg=kg/k, krw=kw/k.
Permeability
Darcys law helps us to measure the degree of permeability.
dp
dL
Darcys K was determined to be a combination of
k, permeability of the sand pack (porous medium,

e.g. reservoir rock)
K is a constant of proportionality
, viscosity of the liquid
dp, Pressure gradient

Q KA
K constant may be written as;
k
K
Permeability
The unit of permeability in the empirical equation is the Darcy
and the dimension is (L2). It is usually too large to be convenient
in hydrocarbon reservoirs. The millidarcy (10-3 Darcy) is
therefore used.
Generally the permeability is termed as :
Poor if; k<1,
Fair if; 1<k<10,
Moderate if; 10<k<50,
Good if; 50<k<250,
Very good if; k>250.

Permeability
Permeability is a very important rock property because it controls
the
directional movement and flowrate of the reservoir fluid in the
formation.
The factors affecting the magnitude of Permeability are:
Shape and size of grain sizes,

cementation
overburden pressure
fracturing and Dissolution
Fluid Saturation
Saturation is defined as that fraction, or percent, of the pore volume
occupied by a particular fluid (oil, gas, or water). This property is
expressed mathematically by the following relationship:
Applying the above mathematical concept of saturation to each

reservoir fluid gives
Fluid Saturation
Where
So = Oil saturation
Sg = Gas saturation
Sw = Water saturation
The saturation of each individual phase range from 0-100%.
By definition, the sum of saturation is 100% therefore,
Sg+So+Sw=1.0
Saturation types
The major saturation types of interest in a Reservoir
are;
Critical Oil saturation, Soc
Movable oil saturation, Som
Residual Oil Saturation, Sor
Connate water Saturation, Swc
WETTABILITY
This is the tendency of a fluid to spread on or adhere to a solid

surface in the presence of other immiscible fluid. The angles
made by the fluid with the surface with which it is in contact is
known as the contact angle.
Depending on the type of fluid in contact with a solid surface, a

reservoir could be; water-wet or oil-wet. Because of the attractive
force, the wetting phase tends to occupy the smaller pores of the
rock and the nonwetting phase occupies the more channels.
Wettability
Knowledge of the wettability of reservoir rocks is

essential in determining the appropriate drive
mechanism for a particular reservoir. It is an important
control on the amount of recovery.
Hydrocarbon wet system retard hydrocarbon mobility

while water wet systems promotes hydrocarbon mobility.
Surface and Interfacial

Tension
Petroleum reservoirs commonly have 2 3 fluids (multiphase systems)
It is necessary to consider the effect of the forces at the interface

when two immiscible fluids are in contact.
When these two fluids are liquid and gas, the term surface tension is
used to describe the forces acting at the interface. When the interface
is between two liquids, the acting forces are called interfacial tension.
When 2 or more fluids are present, there are at least 3 sets of forces
acting on the fluids and affecting HC recovery
Surface and Interfacial

Tension
Immiscible fluids: when you bring them into contact they do not mix
Two fluids are separated by an interface
The molecules are attracted more to their own kind
Rock
Oil
water
Capillary Pressure
When two immiscible fluids are in contact, a discontinuity

in pressure exits between the two fluids, which depends
upon the curvature of the interface separating the fluids.
We call this pressure difference the capillary pressure, Pc.
Similarly, it can be defined as the pressure differential

between two immiscible fluid phases occupying the same
pores caused by interfacial tension between the two
phases that must be overcome to initiate flow.
Rock Compressibility
Reservoir rocks are subjected to the internal stress exerted by fluids

contained in the pores, and to external stress which is in part
exerted by the overlying rocks.
The weight of the overburden simply applies a compressive force to

the reservoir rock. Compressibility typically decreases with
increasing porosity and effective overburden pressure.
Porosity is a function of compaction. It is generally reduced by

increase in compaction. Compaction is a function of depth of burial.
Rock compressibility is the fractional change in Volume per unit change in
pressure
Expressed as
cp
1 v
=
V p P
Three types of compressibility
Rock- matrix (grain) compressibility, C s

Rock-bulk compressibility, Cb
Pore-volume compressibility, Cp
Formation Compressibility is important to Reservoir engineers. It plays a role
in depletion of fluid from pore spaces, internal rock stress changes which
results in change in Vp, Vm, Vb
CONCLUSION
Knowledge of reservoir rock properties is very essential to
evaluating Reservoir Performance and understanding
reservoir behavior.
The aforementioned rock properties are essential for
reservoir engineering calculations as they directly affect
both the quantity and the distribution of hydrocarbons and,
when combined with fluid properties, control the flow of the
existing phases (i.e., gas, oil and water) within the reservoir.
THANK
YOU
FOR
VIEWING.

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FUNDAMENTALS OF ROCK

AKHILOME .E. CHRISTIAN

and Interfacial tension

WHAT IS A RESERVOIR ROCK

Reservoir rock properties

Reservoir rock properties

Properties of Reservoir Rocks

A good reservoir rock must have porosity

Another characteristics of reservoir

Reservoir rock properties

Reservoir rock properties

Even though a reservoir rock looks solid to the naked

Porosity() : Porosity is the capability of a rock to hold fluids

Porosity is a measure of the void space in

rock, hence, measures how much HC in rock

Porosity = Vp/Vb = (Vb-Vm)/Vb; Vb = Vp + Vm

Porosity is a function of particle size distribution:

Reservoir rock properties

can be classified into;

Original porosity (primary) is formed during the deposition

Induced porosity (secondary) is developed by some geological process on the

Reservoir rock properties

FACTORS THAT AFFECT POROSITY

Reservoir rock properties

FACTORS THAT AFFECT POROSITY

Spherical size variation

cubic packing of Rhombohedral

Reservoir rock properties

Reservoir rock properties

Permeability is a property of the porous medium that

Unlike porosity, permeability cannot be defined apart from

permeability is usually quoted in millidarcies, (md).

Three types of permeability

Absolute permeability - the permeability of a porous

When two or more fluids are present permeability of the

Relative permeability is the ratio of absolute and effective

Reservoir rock properties

k, permeability of the sand pack (porous medium,

, viscosity of the liquid

dp, Pressure gradient

K constant may be written as;

Reservoir rock properties

Poor if; k<1,

Fair if; 1<k<10,

Moderate if; 10<k<50,

Good if; 50<k<250,

Very good if; k>250.

The factors affecting the magnitude of Permeability are:

Shape and size of grain sizes,

Applying the above mathematical concept of saturation to each

Reservoir rock properties

Reservoir rock properties

Reservoir rock properties

This is the tendency of a fluid to spread on or adhere to a solid

Depending on the type of fluid in contact with a solid surface, a

Knowledge of the wettability of reservoir rocks is

Hydrocarbon wet system retard hydrocarbon mobility

Reservoir rock properties

Surface and Interfacial

Petroleum reservoirs commonly have 2 3 fluids (multiphase systems)

It is necessary to consider the effect of the forces at the interface

Reservoir rock properties