CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

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CONTENTS : CHAPTER 1

1.

RESERVOIR EVALUATION DATA SOURCES

1.1 Core Analysis Input to Reserves Determination 1.2 Core Analysis Data Input to Recovery Prediction 1.3 Core Analysis Data Input to Enhanced Recovery and Production Engineering

1
4 5 7

2.

VALUE OF CORE ANALYSIS

2.1 Planning a Core Analysis Programme 2.2 Core Analysis Considerations for Different Lithologies 2.2.1 Clean Consolidated Sandstones 2.2.2 Unconsolidated Sandstones 2.2.3 Shaly Sands 2.2.4 Carbonates 2.2.5 Vuggy Carbonates 2.2.6 Low Permeability Reservoirs 2.2.7 Fractured Reservoirs

8
10 12 12 12 12 12 13 13 13

3. 4. 5.

ROUTINE AND SPECIAL CORE ANALYSIS COURSE PHILOSOPHY REFERENCES

14 18 19

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1.

Reservoir Evaluation Data Sources

It is perhaps the primary goal of geologists and petrophysicists to estimate the volume of hydrocarbons initially in place in a reservoir. The primary goal of the reservoir engineer is to understand the physics of the reservoir-fluid system so that the ultimate recovery of hydrocarbons is maximised in the most economic matter. Both require a detailed knowledge of the reservoir geometry, structure and the interaction between the reservoir and the fluids, either in place, or which may be introduced into the reservoir. The data required to describe the reservoir and predict its behaviour on production is derived from a number of sources, such as: regional geology, drilling, PVT data, welltest data, seismic data, mud returns data, wireline log data, and core analysis data. Data changes dramatically in both quantity and quality through the lifetime of a field. Probably by the time that enough data has been acquired to describe the field and evaluate its ultimate productivity, it has probably reached abandonment! This means that it is important to constantly review data quality to minimise uncertainties, and it is critical to include data quality assessment in reservoir modelling. Data quantity and quality must always match the study objectives. Some fundamental questions must be asked about data input in reservoir evaluation: How complete is the data set? How much will more/better data cost? Does the dataset describe the reservoir characteristics that you want to study? Are the data derivative? What bias may have been introduced? Are the interpretations unique solutions? Where do uncertainties remain? In an oil reservoir, for example, the ultimate recovery can be expressed, in terms of the stock tank volume at surface conditions, as: V(1-Swi) RF Boi The reservoir volume is the product of the area of the reservoir, A, and the net height of the reservoir, h. is the average reservoir porosity, Swi is the initial, irreducible or connate water saturation, and Boi is the oil formation volume factor. As Dake 1points out: "determination of the recovery factor is the most important single task of the reservoir engineer". Recovery factors may be determined on purely technical criteria, but, more probably, on economic or environmental terms. STOIIP = Data used in hydrocarbons in place equations and recovery predictions come from a variety of sources, yet reliable and representative core analysis data are essential to calibrate and validate the other, remotely-sensed, data. No remote data source can be viewed in isolation from core analysis data. The data sources and typical accuracy of the data that can be input to reserves estimations (static rock properties) are given in Table 1.1 below:

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Table 1.1 Data Sources and Accuracy - Static Reservoir Properties

Parameter Area

Source Drill Holes Geophysical Data Regional Geology Cores

Expected Accuracy 10 - 20 % 10 - 20 % 50 - 80 % 5 - 10 % 10 - 20 % 20 - 40 % 40 - 60 % 5 - 10 % 10 - 20 % 10 - 20 % 20 - 40 % 30 - 50 % 5 - 15 % 5 - 15 % 10 - 25 % 25 - 50 % 25 - 60 % 5 - 10 % 10 - 30 %

Pay Thickness

Logs Drilling Records Regional Geology

Porosity

Cores Logs Production Data Drill Cuttings Correlations

Water Saturation

Capillary Pressure OBM Cores Logs Routine Cores Correlations

Formation Volume Factor

PVT Analysis Correlations

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Both reservoir area and height parameters require a detailed knowledge of the reservoir structure and the location of fluid contacts. The reservoir height is determined on the basis of net pay or net sand - the thickness of formation above a certain permeability (or porosity) cutoff. The determination of net pay from reservoir permeability should accommodate both welltest and core data as input. Welltests sense reservoir permeability under reservoirappropriate conditions, but tend to be averaged over wider intervals. Core permeabilities can be measured on a more localised level but conventionally, and for purely historical reasons, core permeabilities are measured to a non-reservoir fluid at non-reservoir conditions, whereas the engineer requires reservoir-appropriate data. Average reservoir porosity is determined from wireline logs (typically density logs) and from core analysis. Again, core porosity is typically measured at room conditions, yet wireline logs (which are run at reservoir conditions) require accurate core measurements (grain density) to calibrate the response of the tool. Connate water saturation can be estimated from capillary pressure data, measured on core samples, provided the fluid contacts can be reliably identified; or by direct measurement of total water content of cores cut in oil based mud, and with careful interpretation, on cores cut with water based mud. Again, these measurements tend to be made at ambient conditions. In-situ estimates of water saturation are determined by analysing the response of wireline resistivity logs. These must be calibrated by electrical property measurements made on core samples. In the analysis of data of varying vintage and quality, from a number of disparate and usually remote sources, a reliable comparative baseline is required. Core data not only provides potentially the most accurate data source, they are essential to calibrate and tune other data sources, especially wireline logs. However when comparing core data with other data it is important to bear in mind the scale of the measurements, especially in relation to the scale of the heterogeneities in the reservoir (Table 1.2). Table 1.2: Scale of Different Data Sources Data Source Core Plug Core Log Data Simulation Cell Well Test Area 5 Spot Element Reservoir Volume (m ) 8.6 x10-5 1.8 x 10-2 per metre 0.2 per m 4.0 per m 4.5 x104 per m 2.8 x10 per m 1.1 x 10 per m 5.4 x 107 per m
6 5

Comments

Density logs, etc Deep Resistivity 300 x 150 m 300 m radius of investigation 1500 m well spacing Statfjord-Brent Reservoir

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Consequently, core data integration involves scaling up the measurements by several orders of magnitude to reconcile the data with logs and welltests. The methodology behind upscaling will be discussed in a later section of this course. 1.1 Core Analysis Input to Reserves Determination The typical core analysis tests used as data input to the reservoir volumetrics calculation, are summarised in Table 1.3. Table 1.3: Core Analysis Data Input to Reservoir Volumetrics Calculations Parameter Area (A) Data Required Fluid Contacts Data Source Capillary Pressure Test Methods Air/brine restored state; oil/brine restored state; air/mercury injection; air/brine and oil/brine centrifuge air permeability (steady-state and unsteady-state); probe permeability Helium expansion; summation of fluids; resaturation porosities Dean-Stark extraction; retort distillation; vacuum distillation; Air/brine restored state; oil/brine restored state; air/mercury; air/brine and oil/brine centrifuge Core electrical properties (Archie parameter determinations)

Thickness (h)

Net pay

Permeability Distributions Porosity Measurements Direct Measurements Capillary Pressures

Porosity

Total Reservoir Pore Volume Water Saturation

Swi

Indirect (Log Analysis)

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1.2 Core Analysis Data Input to Recovery Prediction Hydrocarbons are recovered by primary (fluid expansion on controlled pressure depletion) or secondary (by adding energy to an energy-depleted fluid-reservoir system) methods. In primary recovery, the reservoir fluids expand by reducing the reservoir pressure. The skill in reservoir engineering is to ensure that the product (dV) is the most commercially valuable fluid. The prediction of recovery factors on primary depletion demands a knowledge of both PVT and core analysis data in particular. The primary core analysis data should investigate the rock's response to a reduction in pressure (and increase in net effective pressure) - pore volume compressibility and permeability sensitivity. The principal technique in secondary recovery is waterflooding. waterflood is governed by the end-point mobility ratio: The efficiency of a

k / M = rw w kro / o The terms, krw and kro, are the end-point relative permeabilities to water and oil, respectively. w and o are the water and oil viscosities. If M 1 then, under an imposed pressure gradient, oil can travel in the reservoir with a velocity equal to or greater than water. Since water pushes oil there is no tendency for the oil to be bypassed by water, and the flood front will be "piston-like". Thus, the amount of oil that can be recovered (moveable oil volume - MOV) from a linear reservoir block will be obtained by the injection of the same volume of water. That is:

1 (MOV) = PV(1- Sro - Swc )

However in anything other than an ideal reservoir, M is usually greater than 1. Thus, water travels faster than oil, bypassing moveable oil, and leading to an unfavourable saturation profile. Ahead of the water front, oil is flowing at irreducible water saturation Swc (or Swirr), followed by a water front in which there is a discontinuity in water saturation. There is a gradual transition zone between the waterflood front and flood-out ( water flowing at Sro). The plane of Sw = 1 - Sro will move slowly through the reservoir until it reaches the producing well at which time 1 MOV will have been recovered. It may take several MOV's of water to recover 1 MOV of oil. It is the goal of the reservoir engineer to predict the nature and movement of the waterfront Sw = 1 - Sro plane through the various layers in the reservoir. To do this, the engineer needs access to a wealth of reservoir and fluid data. The data that should be derived from core analysis will include: end-point (and if truly desperate, intermediate) relative permeability data, initial (Swirr) and final (Sro) saturation data, and capillary pressure data. Table 1.4 provides a summary of the principal core tests that are required to estimate hydrocarbon recovery.

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Table 1.4 Core Analysis Data Input to Recovery Predictions Parameter Recovery Factor (Primary) Data Required Rock Compressibility Core Analysis Data Pore volume compressibility tests; rock mechanical properties; absolute permeability as a function of stress. Air/brine and oil/brine restored state; air/mercury injection; centrifuge tests Brine and oil permeability tests. Unsteady-state waterflood tests. Unsteady-state and steady-state oil/water, water/oil, gas/water and gas/oil relative permeability tests. Particle plugging tests; fluid-fluid incompatibility (scale) tests; clay/fines-water sensitivity tests.

Recovery Factor (Secondary)

Capillary Pressure

Absolute Permeability End-Point Permeabilities and Saturations Relative Permeability

Productivity and Injectivity

Formation Damage

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1.3 Core Analysis Data Input to Enhanced Recovery and Production Engineering Tertiary recovery methods generally involve introducing fluids into the reservoir or increasing the energy of the reservoir fluids to either reduce the interfacial tension (capillary forces trapping oil in the pores); or to increase the viscosity of the drive water, or to reduce the viscosity of the oil to promote a more efficient mobility ratio. Whilst research into the application of these techniques has suffered as a result of the fall in the real price of oil, core analysis data, under appropriate conditions, are required to assess the performance of the treatment and the compatibility of the treatment fluids with the reservoir formation (formation damage). Formation damage data on cores are also required to assess damage to productivity or injectivity due to drilling and completion fluids. Many hydrocarbon reservoirs are encountered in unconsolidated or poorly consolidated sands which are weak and prone to sand production. Even in better consolidated rocks, maximising production may cause significant changes in reservoir pressures as a result of depletion and high drawdowns (especially in over-pressured reservoirs) which can lead to rock failure and sand production. Rock strength and elastic moduli data on reservoir core samples are essential to predict rock (wellbore) stability and to identify the potential for sand production. Table 1.5 summarises the principal core analysis tests used as data input to recovery factor and formation damage predictions:

Table 1.5 Core Analysis Data Input to Production Engineering Parameter Productivity and Injectivity Well Stability Data Required Formation Damage Core Analysis Data Particle plugging tests; fluid-fluid incompatibility (scale) tests; clay/fineswater sensitivity tests. Unconfined compressive strength (UCS) tests, Brinnel Hardness (BH) tests, thick wall cylinder (TWC) tests, sonic velocity tests, Elastic Modulus and Poissons ratio tests, triaxial failure (Mohr Circle) tests. Particle size distribution screen/gravel pack selection) (sand

Rock Failure/Sand Production Potential

2.

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Value of Core Analysis

Core analysis provides the only direct and quantitative measurement of the intact reservoir, and should provide the foundation on which formation evaluation rests. However, it has not always been regarded highly. This unfortunate negativity over the value of core data may have arisen from: the lack of understanding amongst commissioning personnel of the practical difficulties faced by core analysis laboratories and the constraints they must work under; often poor inter-laboratory data comparability, arising from the lack of standardisation of test techniques; the lack of thought given to the appropriateness of specified core tests, or the reliability of the data and its applicability, amongst the commissioning personnel; the poor perception by some companies of the value of core and core analysis; the strong market competition amongst service companies which has required the contractors to produce data more reliably, for less money and with faster turnaround times. Applied research in core analysis has increasingly become the responsibility of the commercial service laboratories. However, the competitive pressure which has forced these laboratories to survive on very small margins, has limited their investment in R&D, staff training and high quality equipment. Without this investment, the development of more sophisticated, reliable and appropriate core analysis tests can only proceed slowly. Consider the advances say in logging tools and log analysis over the last 20 years (which, because of its perceived high value - and costs - and excellent marketing, has not been as starved of investment) compared to core analysis. All too often therefore, core analysis fails to get the engineering attention that it deserves. Frequently, core analysis planning and programme design, are done poorly, it at all, and the results of such efforts in terms of data acquired are often confused or contradictory. We conservatively estimate that approximately 50% of special core analysis (SCAL) data are unfit for purpose, due to its unreliability, inapplicability or inappropriateness. Unfortunately this does core analysis a real disservice. It is easy to blame the core service contractor for this - increased competitive pressures, lack of investment in training and equipment and high staff turnaround, all contribute to basic mistakes being made - but the majority of the blame lies with the end user (the client)! Too often core analysis programmes are ill-considered, badly designed, poorly supervised, and only crudely integrated with other well and reservoir data. Too often core analysis is seen as a necessary evil. Despite spending 500,000 to cut and recover a core, many operators are loathe to authorise less than 10% of this amount on a properly designed, supervised and appropriately interpreted core analysis programme. If only half the SCAL data are useable, end-users, rather than thinking they may be reducing costs, may be actually paying twice as much for their data than their accountants thought! However, even in an era of increasingly draconian cost reduction initiatives, construction of reservoir models needs to become more sophisticated, and the demand for acquiring properly measured formation properties using core analysis becomes that much more important.

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Careful multi-disciplinary core analysis planning in the integrated petroleum engineering environment is necessary for acquisition of high quality core analysis data, avoiding suboptimal data acquisition and improving data application However, core analysis projects are subject to the necessity and rigour of economic justification. Each project must be judged on its economic benefit not solely its cost. Core analysis projects have a far greater economic value than their costs. The economics of core analysis are driven by reducing the uncertainty in formation properties, especially hydrocarbon saturation. For example, some of the more aware end users have estimated that a more detailed understanding of their reservoir resistivity index - saturation relations is worth at least US$ 12.5 million annually in effective economic benefit. Other decisions, such as sizing waterflood and produced water handling facilities, are dependent upon core relative permeability tests. VOI (Value Of Information) techniques can be used to evaluate any economic decision, such as core analysis programmes. VOI is defined as the value of the information itself without any regard to the cost of gathering the information. Value of Appraisal (VOA) is the VOI minus the cost of gathering the information. For example, in the Ekofisk field, severe surface subsidence has resulted in considerable costs being spent on remedial measures to jack up the platform. The problem might have been avoided or its impact reduced had sufficient SCAL (especially compaction measurements) been performed to obtain the critical data for field development. In the benefit of hindsight, it is possible to appraise the economic benefits of core analysis. A coring and core analysis programme would have cost $2M, but the repair cost of the platform was about $500M. In this case the VOI is estimated at $125MM and VOA at $123 MM, or a 60:1 return on investment. The VOI for a relative permeability and capillary pressure study for recovery factor predictions costing $200,000 (with coring costs of $300,000) is estimated as $5MM. VOI techniques are also able to assess the economic impact of performing core analysis incorrectly - that is: the application of incorrect procedures that deliver incorrect data. For example, a service contractor incorrectly measured relative permeability curves on which the size of water handling facilities were based. The water relative permeability curves were two orders of magnitude higher than remeasurements made using more appropriate techniques. As a result, many millions of dollars were spent on water handling facilities that were not needed. As discussed earlier at least 50% of SCAL measurements are incorrect or inapplicable, for whatever reason. Proper planning and supervision of a core analysis programme can do much to reduce the failure rate. The value of correctly measuring data results in a significantly large economic impact which results from an identified risk of failure at a contractor laboratory. It therefore pays to have the best data acquisition possible because the net present value of the total project is at risk in direct proportion to the possibility of measured inaccuracy. In other words it is far worse to use wrongly measured data than it is to have insufficient data. It is easy to ignore the risk of measurement inaccuracy, but it is every bit as important as selecting the right core analysis measurements in the first place.

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2.1 Planning a Core Analysis Programme Experience has shown that coring and core analysis is usually poorly planned, is too often left to the last possible moment, and results in under utilisation, poor appreciation and poor application of expensive core material and data. Petrophysicists, geologists, and reservoir engineers (even drilling engineers!) all have a role to play in the planning process. Core analysis planning should include the laboratory that will carry out the work or, in competitive situations or where the performance of the laboratory needs to be more closely supervised, a core specialist (either internal or external consultant) who has a detailed understanding of core analysis test methods and data sensitivities. Planning provides the following benefits: quality improvement through planning and selection of the appropriate measurement suite; consensus-driven identification of core analysis needs obviates the need for later (and more expensive testing); defining time constraints so that the data can best impact on field development; roles and responsibilities of team members are clearly defined; improved sample selection and identification; greater confidence in, and better utilisation, of core data; improved project management; easier and more efficient presentation of core analysis plans and results to partners. It has been customary in some companies that the geologist or petrophysicist is responsible for arranging the coring and core analysis programme. In some companies, reservoir engineers or production engineers are actually responsible for controlling their own core testing (e.g. capillary pressure and relative permeability testing; rock mechanics tests) with all the added complications that such an arrangement involves! In an integrated environment, the petrophysicist remains the focal point for a core analysis programme with the assistance of his team. The key steps in designing, then managing a core analysis programme are: 1. Appoint the focal point for the programme whose responsibility it will be. 2. Review the existing database. In SCAL programmes look at the current data. Is it valid? Are there areas of concern or anomalies or suspicious core data in the database that need to be resolved? How well does the core, log and test data agree for the well in question and reservoir in general. 3. Design and cost the programme, with the assistance of the laboratory or internal/external consultant. 4. Prepare a justification to management. 5. Meet with drilling and wellsite engineers to review core drilling, core recovery and wellsite handling, storage and transportation procedures. 6. Design and specify the test and reporting procedures to be adopted in the scope of work. Detail any modifications that may be required to the test programme (for example, to
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resolve any anomalous or inconsistent results, as the data becomes available). Specify deliverables, milestones and project reporting. 7. Select laboratory contractor. Do not base the selection solely on price unless there is a overriding justification for this. Use the consultant to audit the tendering laboratories and assess their capabilities to perform the work. 8. Review project at regular intervals. Review contractor performance against initially set goals, objective and deliverables. Analyse and check the contractors data as soon as possible after they are received 9. Prepare a final report on the SCAL study which will reconcile SCAL data with other well and reservoir data, and provide appropriately interpreted and reliable core analysis data that can be used for petrophysical and reservoir simulation models. This approach will ensure that the end-user benefits from: appropriate and reliable core analysis data; improved integration of core test data with other well/reservoir data; cost savings through the elimination of wasteful or inappropriate testing.

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2.2 Core Analysis Considerations for Different Lithologies 2.2.1 Clean Consolidated Sandstones Coring is usually straightforward All core analysis methods can be applied Minimal Qv and CEC analyses are required Special core preparation precautions are not required beyond usual care Samples not usually sensitive to fresh water (e.g. core plugging) 2.2.2 Unconsolidated Sandstones Requires special core barrels, liners and core bits. Care required when coring Core stabilisation (freezing or resination) is required for transportation Core sample preparation best done at stress by solvent flushing and air drying Most core analysis tests requires specialist test methods to prevent plug damage Most measurements should be done at stress Core analysis planning is critical 2.2.3 Shaly Sands Coring fluids should not cause clay swelling Core sample preparation should prevent core drying Drill plugs with refined oil or brine Qv and CEC measurements will be required Air-brine and oil-brine capillary pressure measurements recommended to determine effects of clay bound water Mineralogy and clay typing recommended Rock-fluid compatibility tests are recommended Resistivity data may need correction for clay effects Core analysis planning is critical 2.2.4 Carbonates Coring is usually straight forward Heterogeneity is expected between and within plugs Qv and CEC measurements not normally required Carbonates experience variable stress sensitivity
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 Compaction measurements important Not usually fresh-water sensitive 2.2.5 Vuggy Carbonates Coring can be difficult Heterogeneity is expected between and within plugs. Whole core analysis recommended to obtain representative properties Bulk volume measurements suffer from mercury invasion A high degree of mud invasion may occur 2.2.6 Low Permeability Reservoirs Sample properties are often difficult to measure Planning is critical because all procedures take a significantly long time 2.2.7 Fractured Reservoirs Coring is often difficult Heterogeneity is expected between and within plugs. Whole core analysis recommended to obtain representative properties Sampling may be biased due to fragile nature of rock A high degree of mud invasion may occur.

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3.

Routine and Special Core Analysis

There is no strict definition between routine (often referred to as basic or conventional core analysis) and special core analysis. One labs routine core analysis (RCA) capabilities might reflect another labs special core analysis (SCAL) capabilities. Generally, routine core analysis is accepted to be lower cost and faster turnaround time than SCAL. It involves measurements on dry samples whereas most SCAL measurements are made on plugs which have been conditioned to reflect reservoir-appropriate saturations. In general, routine core analysis starts after core recovery and includes the following processes: Coring and core recovery Core shipping Core layout and marking Core gamma ray logging Core plug cutting and trimming Plug cleaning and drying Dean-Stark or retort water saturations Helium porosity Gas and or Klinkenberg permeability Probe permeability (optional) Core slabbing Core photography Core resination and preservation Archiving.

A typical RCA process flowchart is illustrated in Figure 3.1.

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ROUTINE CORE ANALYSIS PROCESSES

Coring Conventional/Liner

Core Recovery & Catching Wellsite Dean-Stark Plug at wellsite Preserve Test in lab

Core Shipping Arrival in Laboratory

Core Removal & Assembly Layout Core Preserve Samples

Gamma Ray Log Depth Matching

Core RCA

Preserved Samples SCAL

Plugs Cut H & V Plug sets

Core

Dean-Stark/Retort Determine Fluid Saturations

Slabbing

Plug Preparation Cleaning and Drying

Probe Permeability

Air Permeability

Core Photography White Light and UV

Helium Porosity

Resination

Well Archive
Figure 3.1: RCA Processes

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Special core analysis normally refers to specialised measurements made on samples which have been selected and/or preserved during the RCA programme. The nature of most SCAL tests make the test programme more costly and with much longer turnaround times than routine core analysis. SCAL programmes are normally divided into static and dynamic tests. Static tests are often specified by petrophysicists and include: Capillary pressures (drainage and imbibition) Electrical properties (Archie and shale sand models) Overburden porosity measurements and pore volume compressibility. Effective and relative permeability Permeability at overburden Other tests (e.g. critical fines velocity, formation damage).

Dynamic tests are normally the remit of the reservoir engineer and include:

Typical processes associated with an example SCAL programme are shown in Figure 3.2.

Sample Selection CT Scan/Plug Mercury Injection PSD (plug/offcut) SEM (offcut)

Plug Preparation Solvent Flush/HOD Base Poroperm Brine Saturation

Fresh-State Wettability Flush to Sro Amott/USBM (Extend Pc to 50 psi)

Petrophysical Properties FF, , kw at overburden RI at ambient

Pc/Relative Permeability Primary Drainage Pc Primary Imbibition Pc Imbibition Relative Permeability

Dean-Stark Verify Sro

Dean-Stark Verify Swi

Gas-Water Centrifuge Pc Primary Drainage 6 pressures

Result Amott Wetting Index USBM Wetting Index

Result Archie 'm' at overburden Archie 'n' and k overburden transform

Oil Saturation/Restoration Saturate in STO or mineral oil ko at Swi (STO) Age 500 hours in STO (Option)

Primary Imbibition Pc

Relative Permeability

Water-Oil Centrifuge Spontaneous imbibition Forced imbibition (6 pressures) kw at Sro

Steady-State Waterflood ko at Swi 5 injection ratios kw at Sro

Unsteady-State Waterflood ko at Swi High rate flood kw at Sro

Centrifuge Oil Rel Perm ko at Swi kro vs Sw kw at Sro

Dean-Stark Verify Sro

Dean-Stark Verify Sro

Dean-Stark Verify Sro

Dean-Stark Verify Sro

Result Drainage and Imbibition Pc ko at Swi kw at ultimate Sro

Result Imbiition kro & krw vs Sw End-point ko and kw

Result End-point ko and kw

Result Imbibition kro "tail" End-point ko and kw

Figure 3.2 Example SCAL Process Flowchart

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Petrographical analysis techniques such as SEM, XRD, thin section allow a much more detailed description of the rock textural and cement properties that control petrophysical properties and are normally included in the RCA programme.

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4.

Course Philosophy

This course is not a log analysis or reservoir engineering course. Rather it describes the application of critically selected core analysis data in reservoir rock properties description and the relationship between rock properties measured in the laboratory and estimated in the field. Objectives for Course The objectives and goals of this course are to provide participants with: an understanding of the principal type of core analysis and how they relate to reservoir properties; an understanding of the errors involved in, and data sensitivities of, core analysis an understanding of the processes involved (and damage that can be caused) by taking the core to the surface and re-imposing reservoir conditions; an understanding the limitations of core analysis in relation to in-situ measurements (wireline log and reservoir test responses); an understanding of the interrelationship between core analysis properties and rock properties estimated from logs and reservoir tests; an understanding of the importance of the role of quality core analysis in reservoir characterisation. This course will provide an overview review of the principal core analysis tests, the test methods and procedures, error sources, and quality control of core analysis techniques, and will provide the participant with the essential data to be able to judge the quality and reliability of core analysis data that are used in data integration and reservoir evaluation. The course will hopefully provide a route to a better understanding of the limitations and the critical selection application of core analysis and ensure that participants can make a more authoritative utilisation of core data in reservoir production and management strategies. Users of core analysis data will therefore be better placed to interpret its value against other, and perhaps conflicting information. Where appropriate, the application of core analysis data in petrophysics and reservoir engineering will be illustrated and reinforced by practical tutorials and field case studies where the problems can be examined in more detail and possible solutions identified.

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5.

References

Dake, L.P.: " Fundamentals of Reservoir Engineering", Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsrerdam, 1st. Edition, 1991.

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