SPE # 53379

Wettability and Saturation in Abu Dhabi Carbonate Reservoirs

By I. Marzouk, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), United Arab Emirates

Copyright 1999, Society of Petroleum Engineers, Inc.

against gravity and capillary forces. The higher the P the
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 11th SPE Middle East Oil Show to be smaller pores invaded with oil.
held in Bahrain, 2023 February 1999.
This paper was selected for presentation by the SPE Program Committee following review
of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author. Contents of the paper as
presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject
Oil/grain surface interaction in oil filled pores will last for
to correction by the author. The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any several million years which will change their wettability
position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers or its members. Papers presented at SPE
meetings are subject to publication review by Editorial Committee of the Society of from water to oil wet, whereas pore spaces unfilled with oil
Petroleum Engineers. Electronic reporduction, distribution or storage of any part of this
paper for commercial purposes without written consent of the Society of Petroleum
remain as they were water wet.
Engineers is prohibited. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than
300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicous
acnowledgment of where and by whom the paper was presented. Write Librarian, SPE, Depending on the magnitude of P (Po-Pw), the thicker the oil
column thickness, the higher the P, the smaller the pore
P.O. Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836 U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435.

Abstract
Wettability of carbonate rocks is a subject of increasing
interest in the oil industry in general and in Abu Dhabi in
particular. Wettability measurements were carried out for
the two major oil reservoirs in Abu Dhabi, namely:
Thamama and Arab reservoirs. They represent a wide range
of carbonate rocks covering several types of limestones and
dolomites. Study of the available wettability measurements
has revealed the following observations:
Measured wettability shows a remarkable trend when
plotted versus depth, indicating oil wet character in the
oil zone, mixed wet in the transition zone and water wet
in the water zone.
Plotting wettability versus Swi for different rock types
indicate oil wet character at low Swi, mixed wet at
intermediate Swi and water wet at high Swi.
Fresh core resistivity measurements showed variable
saturation exponent n with changing Swi of the same
sample.
Cleaning oil wet samples change their wettability to
water wet.
Aging the cleaned samples with oil change their
wettability to oil wet.
All these observations have encouraged us to study, the
relation between wettability and saturation and the evolution
of rock wettability throughout the geologic history.
After marine sedimentation of carbonate rocks, initial
wettability was strong water wet for all the pore types.
During oil migration, oil replace formation water in a
drainage process. Replacement of formation water by oil
started by buoyancy, then followed by thin oil column and
an oil/water interface. The differential pressure between oil
and water at the interface is the main driving mechanism
spaces that will be filled with oil and accordingly change their
wettability to oil wet. This may explain the gradual change of
wettability by depth from top of the oil zone to the water zone,
similar to Sw change with depth. On the other hand,
wettability change from one rock type to the other, at the same
level afwl, due to variable pore size which reflects Swi.
Therefore, wettability in carbonate rocks is a function of
rock type (pore size) and oil column thickness i.e. hafwl.
These two parameters are exactly the main parameters
controlling Sw in carbonate reservoirs.
Plotting wettability versus Sw indicate that high oil saturations
are usually associated with strong oil wet character,
intermediate So is associated with mixed wet character and
low So is associated with strong water wet character.
When oil enters the pore spaces of carbonate rocks, it
changes both saturation and wettability. Measured
saturation represent the average saturation % of all the pore
types. Similarly, measure wettability represent the
distribution of oil and water at the grain surfaces which is
the same distribution of oil and water in the pore spaces at
the initial conditions. In view of the above, measured
saturation at the initial condition represent wettability of
carbonate rocks throughout the production/ injection history.
Introduction
Approximately 50% of the OOIP of the world is unrecoverable.
One of the main reasons behind this is the wettability of the oil
reservoirs. Accurate estimates of OOIP and recoverable
reserves are very important for field development and reservoir
management. Rock wettability has significant impact on both
the static description and the dynamic performance of the oil
reservoirs, i.e. OOIP and recoverable reserves.
This paper covers the two major oil reservoirs in Abu
Dhabi,. namely: the Thamama and the Arab reservoirs.
2 WETTABILITY AND SATURATION IN ABU DHABI CARBONATE RESERVOIRS
They are composed of several types of carbonate rocks
covering a wide variety of limestones and dolomites. The
Thamama and Arab reservoirs comprises approximately
97% of the OOIP of Abu Dhabi which represent
approximately 10% of the world oil reserves. A broad scope
of investigation was followed in this study across different
disciplines. Wettability is considered in this study as the
latest diagenetic process affected the rocks. The main
objective of this study is to review and discuss the
wettability measurements in the two major carbonate
reservoirs of the Abu Dhabi and compare same with log
derived saturation measurements. The relation between
saturation and wettability is also discussed at different stages
of the rock/fluid interaction throughout the geologic history.
Integrated Studies and Observations:
Rock samples used in this study represent a wide variety of
limestones and dolomites from the Lower Cretaceous
Thamama reservoirs and the Upper Jurassic Arab reservoirs
in Abu Dhabi. Wettability measurements of the
forementioned reservoirs were carried out by different
contractors using mainly the AMOTT method under ambient
conditions. Wettability measurements were studied from
different perspectives i.e. its relation with geologic,
petrographic and petrophysical data.
As a result of these studies, the following observations were
reported:
Preserved or restored samples from the oil zone are
mostly oil wet, whereas cleaned samples from the same
oil zone are mostly water wet.
The higher the permeability of the rock the more oil wet
it is and vice-versa.
Grainstones and dolomites indicate more oil wet
character, whereas wackstones and mudstones shows
more water wet character.
Rock samples having high Swi indicate more water wet
character, compared with samples having low Swi with
more oil wet character.
Rock samples having predominant macropores, more
than 4 microns PTS, are mainly oil wet, whereas
samples having micro/mesopores, less than 1 micron
PTS are mainly water wet.
Similar rock types, having almost similar PTSD
patterns, may have different wettability indices at
different high afwl. In other words, the thicker the oil
column, the more oil wet tendency observed towards the
crestal part of the reservoir.
Saturation exponent n, varies with changing
wettability. Oil wet samples indicate n values more
than 2 and water wet samples indicate n values less
than 2.
All the above observations suggested that the main controls
on wettability are the pore geometry and the hafwl. In order
to understand the relationship between wettability and
SPE # 53379
geological & petrophysical data, the following three areas
needs to be understood:
Detailed rock properties and pore geometry.
Detailed fluid properties and fluid change by time.
History of rock/fluid interaction.
Detailed rock properties and pore geometry were discussed
in several publications (Ref. No. 3&5).
As for the fluid properties, limited work was done in this
study in this regards. However, due to the fact that both
Thamama and Arab reservoirs share the same source of oil
i.e. Diyab/Dukhan Formation, the impact of fluid properties
on wettability will be limited to the variation of source rock
maturity and the distance and direction of the secondary
migration. Rock/fluid interaction history was discussed in
this study.
Evolution of Reservoir Rock Wettability:
The rock/fluid interaction and the evolution of reservoir rock
wettability will be discussed in three stages as follows:
Pre-Oil accumulation; all the rocks were water wet. They
were originally deposited in a marine environment where all
the pore spaces were filled with water and were strongly
water wet. These conditions prevails the Thamama and
Arab reservoirs for approximately 55 and 70 million years
respectively.
Post-Oil accumulation; the main oil migration phase for
both reservoirs started 70 million years ago. The migrated
oil filled the present day reservoirs starting with the crestal
area moving down to the present day fwl. Filling the crestal
part early in the accumulation process will allow more heavy
components of the oil to interact with the grain surfaces
resulting in more oil wet character. Late gas charge may
have replaced the accumulated oil partially or completely.
Oil/grain surface interaction in oil filled pores will last for
several million years which will change their wettability
from water wet to oil wet. On the other hand, pore spaces
unfilled with oil will remain as they were water wet.
The water/oil saturation equilibrium would be changed to
more oil wet by increasing the oil column thickness by time.
After reaching stabilization i.e. no more oil accumulation,
the wettability of the oil filled pores will remain oil wet till
the present day.
SPE # 53379 IBRAHIM MARZOUK
Post production and/or injection; Production/Injection
processes will change the oil/water saturation equilibrium.
However, the rock wettability will remain as they were at the
initial condition i.e. at the pre-production and/or pre-
injection stages.
Wettability and Saturation Modeling:
The differential pressure P between oil and water at the
water/oil interface (Po-Pw) is the main driving force against
gravity and capillarity. The higher the P the thicker the oil
column, the smaller the pores invaded with oil. On the other
hand, wettability changes from one rock type to the other at
the same level afwl i.e. at the same oil column thickness due
to variable pore geometry which is usually reflected as Swi.
Accordingly, both parameters i.e. pore geometry and hafwl
will control both saturation and wettability in Abu Dhabi
carbonate reservoirs. Plotting wettability versus Sw indicate
that high So are usually associated with strong oil wet
character, intermediate So is associated with mixed wet
character and low So is associated with strong water wet
character.
When oil enters the pore spaces of carbonate rocks, it
changes both wettability and saturation. Measured
saturation represent the average saturation % of all the pore
types. Similarly, measured wettability represent the
distribution of oil and water at the grain surfaces which is
the same distribution of oil and water in the pore spaces at
the initial condition i.e. before oil production and/or water
injection.
Therefore, saturation at initial condition represent wettability
of the carbonate rocks throughout the production/injection
history.
A reliable geological model having rock type distribution in
3D based on PTSD and sedimentological/daigenetic models
would be the framework for saturation modeling at initial
condition and accordingly for wettability modeling in 3D.
The following guidelines would help in the modeling
process:
Micropores, less than 0.3 microns PTS, are always
water wet all over the reservoir.
Macropores, more than 4.0 microns PTS, are always oil
wet all over the reservoir (afwl).
3
Mesopores, 0.3-4.0 microns PTS, wettability depends
on the hafwl.
All the pores below the original fwl are water wet.
There is a misconception among young Geoscientists that
water in the TZ was imbibed by Pc from the water zone
below. We should always remember that water in the TZ
was there from day one. On the other hand, oil in the TZ
was pushed down by P (Po-Pw) to the present day fwl.
CONCLUSIONS
Two main parameters controls both saturation and
wettability in carbonate reservoirs i.e. pore geometry
and hafwl.
High So is usually associated with oil wet character and
low So is usually associated with water wet character.
Measured saturation, at initial condition, represent
wettability in Abu Dhabi carbonate reservoirs.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The Author wishes to thank the Management of Abu Dhabi
National Oil Company (ADNOC) for permission to publish
this paper.
REFERENCES
1) Cuiec, L. Rock/Crude Oil Interaction and Wettability:
An attempt to understand their interrelation: SPE No.
13211.
2) Cuiec, L. Wettability and Oil Reservoirs the
Norwegian Institute of Technology, 1987.
3) Marzouk, I, Takezaki & Suzuki, New Classification of
Carbonate Rocks for Reservoir Characterization, SPE
No. 49475.
4) Marzouk, I., Takezaki & Miwa; Geologic Controls on
Wettability of Carbonate Reservoirs SPE No. 29883.
5) Morgan, J. & Gordon, D; Influence of Pore Geometry
on Water/Oil Relative Permeability JPT, October,
1970.