Sandstone as Reservoir Rock Having Economic Value and Energy Sources

Prof. Alexander Winchell from Michigan University in 1960 stated that Sandstone itself has porosity containing petroleum without any cavity. Reservoir is part of earth crust containing earth oil and gas. The elements of a petroleum reservoir are: 1. Reservoir Rock, as a place which is filled by oil and gas. The rock usually has pores and holes. 2. Cap Rock, a non-permeable layer. 3. Reservoir trap is a reservoir-forming component that has current shape so that the layer and the cap are in down-oriented concave and causing petroleum on the reservoir. The shape of this trap is determined by how the petroleum locate, namely its always associated with water whose high specific gravity. Sandstone is one of the most important and abundance petroleum reservoir. 60 % of petroleum reservoirs in the world are sandstone. Clearly, that coarser the grain, the pores are also larger and so the better permeability produced.

Fasies, Shape and Grains Size of Sandstone

Generally, there are 3 types of fasies in Sandstone: 1. Sandstone deposited/sedimented as fluviatil (river sediment). 2. Sandstone deposited/sedimented in mixing environment or near the beaches. 3. Marine Sandstone, sandstone deposited/sedimented in the sea e.g. batupasir paparan, neritik sand lens and turbidit. Size and Shape: Size of a reservoir layer can be expressed in thick and area. The thickness of a reservoir layer in sandstone is about 1.5 till 500 meters. Krynines classification according to comparative of wide or area and thickness or area between volume. This is 2-D form which consists of: 1. 2. 3. 4. Blanket Sand or Sheet Sand, if the proportion of area and volume is about 1000:1. Tabular, if the proportion of area and volume is about 50:1 till 5:1. Prima, if the proportion of area and volume is about 50:1 till 5:1 Shoe-String Sand, if the proportion of area and volume is about 5:1 or smaller.

Another classification according to Rich (1923) and Potter (1962) is: 1. Equilateral sandstone body, e.g. blankets layer or sheet layer, or presently is called lenses. 2. Tabular sandstone body, e.g. prismatic and shoe string. Generally, the sandstone layer has lenses shape or limited tabular, therefore regression transgression process, meander process, and the others processes cause the limited bodies having complex structure. If the density is not perfect, there will be shale intercalation. It means that layer seeming wide; actually it consists of some layers whose lateral and rigid structure and also its inserted by shale layer.