SPE 128825

Rock Typing approach for Reservoir Characterization of Ordovician

Sandstones, Fields Case Study, Concessions NC115/NC186, Murzuq Basin,
Libya
K. Salaheddin, S. Laksana, and M. Schbel / Akakus Oil Operations

Copyright 2010, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE North Africa Technical Conference and Exhibition held in Cairo, Egypt, 1417 February 2010.
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its
officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to
reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.

Abstract
In order to quantify the high vertical and lateral petrophysical variability of the Late Ordovician sandstones of the Mamuniyat
Formation, the GHE methodology (Corbett et al. 2004) has been applied to several fields of the Murzuq Basin in Libya. These
reservoirs are characterized by various facies associations and depositional environments as locally interpreted from core.
The Mamuniyat Formation is a major oil reservoir in the Murzuq Basin of Libya, made up of massive sandstones, representing
a low-stand system track. The formation can be subdivided into Lower (LM), Middle (MM) and Upper Mamuniyat (UM) as
recognized in outcrops and correlated to the sub-surface. LM commonly consists of fine- to medium-grained sands, deposited
in a shelf-shoreface to tidally influenced estuarine setting, whereas heterolithic ripple laminated, dewatered, and slumped
sediments typify the MM. Deposition occurred in a rapidly prograding, unstable braid-delta front system fed by melting ice
sheets. UM represents the most prolific reservoir section with typically (very) coarse-grained to pebbly sands of a braided
system in an active glacial outwash plain.
The complex facies associations entail large internal reservoir variability as reflected by routine core analysis data (poroperm), log data and the petrophysical interpretation. The Global Hydraulic Element (GHE) approach is tested as a rock typing
tool for response and synthesis of all parameters and critical path in the reservoir modeling work flow.
In this study ten (10) GHE have been identified for the Mamuniyat Fm. Detailed quality control of the log and core data
available have been conducted. The methodology involves the analysis of the routine core porosity and permeability and
calculation of the Normalized Porosity (z), Reservoir Quality Index (RQI) and Flow Zone Indicator (FZI). Statistical analysis
on GHE and Facies Associations has been performed to better define their relationship.

Introduction
Observations derive from 24 cored wells across 7 fields in the concessions NC115 and NC186 of the northern Murzuq Basin,
southwestern Libya. The area spans approximately 4250 sq km. Figure 1 provides a base map, showing the outlines of the
concessions, then the zoom-in onto an Upper Mamuniyat (UM) isopach map with maximum thickness of 500 ft. A geological
SW-NE cross-section with the Mamuniyat thickening to the SW follows underneath. The figure includes a column of the
regional stratigraphy with the formation of interest marked. The reservoir is essentially a massive, 160 to 500 ft thick
sandstone formation, the Mamuniyat that was deposited in a peri-glacial environment during Upper Ordovician times. The
study synthesizes Rock Type distributions and Facies Associations as an aid in identifying the best reservoir areas and for
better understanding and delineation of fluid flow.
The literature contains different interpretations of the depositional environments of the Mamuniyat. Rubino et al. (2000)
suggest a complex meandering belt for the lower part of the Mamuniyat while Blanpied et al. (2000) propose a deltaic
complex separated from the ice front by a broad subaerial periglacial terrain. McDougall and Martin (2000) postulate three
sequences for Mamuniyat, a lower proximal shelf facies deposited during glacial advance, followed by a middle shoreface /

SPE 128825

delta plain nearshore sequence, and an upper braided stream fluvial sequence. In the present study, the interpretation of the
depositional setting largely grounds on core descriptions performed by Robertson on single wells in NC115 and NC186.
The method used for rock typing is the Global Hydraulic Elements approach, which has been applied to more than 3000
measurements of porosity and permeability from 24 wells. Corbett et al. (2004) developed this technique of petrotyping by
selecting a systematic series of FZI values that allows the determination of Hydraulic Unit boundaries to define ten Global
Hydraulic Elements that can be universally applied for any reservoir or formation. The definition of these boundaries is
arbitrarily chosen in order to obtain a wide range of possible combinations of porosity and permeability in a manageable
number of Global Hydraulic Elements (Corbett et al., 2003; Corbett and Potter, 2004).

X
NC186
NC115
NC186
NC115

NE

SW

UPPER MAMUNIYAT
MIDDLE MAMUNIYAT
LOWER MAMUNIYAT

Figure 1. Regional base map,stratigraphy, isopach map of the Upper Mamuniyat and geological cross-section over the fields of
NC115/NC186

Methodology
Global Hydraulic Elements have been determined based on core porosity and core permeability provided from 24 selected
wells for Mamuniyat Formation. Quality control on core to log depth matching has been carefully performed and anomalous
core plug measurements have been eliminated from the data base to ensure a clean data set for the analysis. The Reservoir
Quality Index (RQI) and Normalized porosity (z) have been calculated using core porosity and permeability. The Flow Zone
Indicator (FZI) can be obtained from the equation 1.1 in order to determine the Global Hydraulic Elements by using its
boundaries (table 1).

SPE 128825

FZI =

RQI

K
= 0.0314

..................................(1.1)

The units for RQI and FZI are m.

Overall, the Global Hydraulic Elements are a set of ten, ranging from GHE 1 to GHE 10. GHE 10 means best reservoir quality
and is defined by using the lower FZI boundary of 48m whilst GHE 1 represents poor reservoir quality with the lowest FZI
boundary of 0.0938 m. Table-1 shows the lower limit of FZI classifying the ten Global Hydraulic Elements.

FZI
Global Hydraulic
Elements (GHE)

0.0938 0.1875 0.375

1

0.75

1.5

12

24

48

10

Table 1. Lower limit of FZI for the GHE definition (Corbett et al. 2003)

Facies associations are based on core descriptions largely performed by Robertson. Essentially 19 in initially 25 are essential;
13 of which in turn come ultimately into play for data analysis. They broadly characterize Fluvial, Transitional, Shallow
Marine and Offshore depositional environments, which have consequently been mapped. Table 2 summarizes all salient
information, focusing on the initial facies association as a result of combined, genetically related lithofacies; then grouped, and
finally condensed to broad depositional settings to ease mapping.

Table 2. Facies Associations, their constituents and related depositional environments

Analysis
Reservoir Characterization using Global Hydraulic Elements (GHE)
The ten (10) Global Hydraulic Elements relate to more than 3000 core plug data. The analysis on statistical distribution has
been conducted on 7 fields. The GHE trends can be clearly seen in a core permeability and porosity cross-plot and RQI versus
normalized porosity log-log plot (Figure 2). The mean FZI value indicates consistent distribution of the range of FZI
boundaries used for defining the Global Hydraulic Elements.

SPE 128825

Figure 2. Summary poro-perm cross plot illustrating hydraulic flow units, overlain by GHE and their mean trend lines
Table 3 provides the statistical summary of the Global Hydraulic Elements with their property ranges for minimum, maximum
and mean values of porosity and permeability. Poor reservoir quality appears delineated by GHE 1, GHE 2, and GHE 3;
medium quality is characterized by GHE 4 and 5 whereas GHE 6 and GHE 7 point towards good reservoir quality. The
remaining three GHEs 8, 9 and 10 suggest excellent reservoir rocks with permeabilities exceeding 1 Darcy.
This table also indicates that permeability has a large range, used to define the GHE where porosity has a narrow distribution.
Fig. 3 illustrates the linear increase of permeability with ascending GHE (numbers) whilst porosity appears rather fluctuating.
It does reflect that the GHEs correspond to hydraulic flow zones, which discriminate reservoir quality.
Reservoir
Quality

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

POOR
MEDIUM
GOOD
V. GOOD

PERMEABILITY (mD)

FZI (m)
Number
of GHE Minimum Maximum Mean

GHE

34
227
315
270
493
380
745
880
381
16

0.101
0.197
0.376
0.752
1.507
3.007
6.005
12.026
24.004
48.054

0.186
0.374
0.749
1.510
2.995
5.977
11.998
23.987
47.078
76.535

0.151
0.292
0.523
1.081
2.234
4.492
8.955
17.551
29.797
57.773

POROSITY (dec)
Standard
Deviation
0.05
0.20
0.60
2.83
38.26
119.22
357.52
866.58
2222.54
3508

Standard
Minimum Maximum Mean
Deviation
0.024
0.003
0.15
0.08
0.051
0.001
1.23
0.20
0.109
0.001
3.70
0.54
0.206
0.020
24.00
2.62
0.440
0.010
516.00
18.63
0.865
0.001
876.27
111.90
1.666
0.010
2531.25
417.95
3.462
0.020
5143.00 1141.54
5.380
0.480
19486.00 2914.71
9.859
11
10000
4550

Minimum Maximum Mean

0.049
0.026
0.012
0.021
0.016
0.004
0.005
0.004
0.009
0.013

0.191
0.181
0.199
0.201
0.220
0.250
0.256
0.236
0.220
0.230

0.094
0.107
0.101
0.106
0.119
0.140
0.144
0.131
0.138
0.150

Standard
Deviation
0.036
0.037
0.038
0.035
0.039
0.041
0.039
0.032
0.024
0.039

Table 3. Fields case study statistical summary of the Global Hydraulic Elements

GLOBAL HYDRAULIC ELEMENT vs PERMEABILITY

GLOBAL HYDRAULIC ELEMENT vs POROSITY

10000

MEAN POROSITY (Frac)

MEAN PERMEABILITY (mD)

1000

100

10

0.1

0.01

GLOBAL HYDRAULIC ELEMENT (GHE)

10

11

0.2
0.19
0.18
0.17
0.16
0.15
0.14
0.13
0.12
0.11
0.1
0.09
0.08
0.07
0.06
0.05
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0
0

GLOBAL HYDRAULIC ELEMENT (GHE)

Figure 3. Global hydraulic elements related to reservoir properties

10

11

SPE 128825

Global Hydraulic Elements (GHE) versus Grain Size of the Mamuniyat Formation
An example of modal analysis on well B1-NC186 (Fig. 4) suggests that increasing grain size corresponds to increasing GHEs.
GHE 1 to 3 may relate to a very fine-grained siliciclastic sediment (< 0.125 mm) not captured by plugs; GHE 4 and 5 seems to
refer to fine-grained sand (0.177 mm), whereas GHE 6 straddles fine (upper) and medium grain size classes (> 0.177 0.35
mm). GHE 7 to 9 tend to characterize predominantly medium to coarse sand (0.35 1 mm).

Figure 4. Global Hydraulic Element and relationship to Grain Size

Note that GHE 4 anomaly plots in the coarse to very coarse grain size domain. These anomalies are rare and found in very
poorly sorted, coarse-grained Gilbert delta (2x), and very coarse-grained braided channel sands (1x). They, however, illustrate
that the GHE-grain size relationship and thus reservoir quality of the UM as such are locally adversely affected by diagenesis;
in this case by quartz cementation, triggered through fluids from the overlying Tanezzuft Fm.
The grain size domain per se is not diagnostic for a specific environment. It is an indicator of the energy level of a depositional
environment and source-dependant. For implications, reference is made to the integrated reservoir properties paragraph.

Distribution of Global Hydraulic Elements (GHE) in the Mamuniyat Intervals Reservoir Quality Indicators
Histograms of global hydraulic element for the subdivided Mamuniyat (Fig. 5) portray the Upper Mamuniyat (in yellow) as
the most prolific reservoir section being good to very good in quality due to high percentages of GHE 7, 8 and 9. The Middle
Mamuniyat (in green) appears deteriorated by a larger spread, ranging from GHE 2 to GHE 6. The Lower Mamuniyat (in
brown), in turn, tends to be a good reservoir as suggested by high percentages of GHE 6 and 7, ranking nevertheless lower
than UM by comparison.
UPPER MAMUNIYAT

MIDDLE MAMUNIYAT

LOWER MAMUNIYAT

70

900

800

60

150

700
50

500

400

Number of Points

Number of Points

Number of Points

600

40

30

100

300
20
50

200

10

100

1.
i t

0
2237

l tt d

t f 8051

Global Hydraulic Element

10.

10

1.

Global Hydraulic Element

10.

10

10

Global Hydraulic Element

Figure 5. Distribution and abundance of Global Hydraulic Elements for the Mamuniyat

10

SPE 128825

Facies Association and Depositional Environment

During sedimentological studies carried out on core, some 50 facies have in total been recognized in the Upper Ordovician
reservoirs in NC115 and NC186. Those stratal rock units, primarily defined by lithology and primary sedimentary structure
(with continuous numerical coding) by Robertson, can occur in various depositional environments. It is the Facies Association,
a succession of combined genetically meaningful units, lithofacies, which allows and constrains assignment to a sedimentary
environment via interpretation of depositional processes. This resulted in a total of 25 facies (cf. Table 2; in methodology),
which could be further reduced after data analysis. Fig. 6 presents a cartoon to illustrate associated and most salient (sub-)
environments. They principally range from overall Fluvial through Transitional, Shallow, and open Marine, to an Offshore
setting that has been broadly mapped (cf. Fig. 7).

Figure 6. Cartoon of peri-glacial depositional environments (modified from Edwards, in Reading, 1978)
Coming from the land and moving towards the sea, the Fluvial depositional environments comprise Upper Braid Plain and
Delta Plain deposits traversed by Braided Stream and distributary channels. They are filled by mainly medium to coarsegrained, proximally conglomeratic to pebbly cross-stratified sandstones deposited by powerful, sediment-charged, hyperconcentrated flows in a peri-glacial stream or upper braid-delta plain setting, which become finer grained with distance.
The Transitional (fluvio-marine) setting may include pebbly, (very) coarse-grained and very high-angle cross-stratified
Gilbert Delta sandstones, suggesting a high energy realm. High sedimentation rates also result in medium to coarse-grained,
poorly sorted sands forming the proximal part of Mouth Bars in the Braid-Delta front region. Grain sizes diminish to fine to
very fine where wave-influenced before getting distally further reduced, up to clay size.
Shallow Marine deposits consist of Upper Shoreface sands, which are medium to fine-grained, moderately sorted, crossstratified and low-angle laminated. The sands become increasingly fine through very fine-grained to admixed clayey in the
Lower Shoreface / Shelf environment of generally low energy.
Sandy and Muddy slopes, Submarine Channels, and Dropstone / Diamictite facies are grouped as Offshore, predominantly
characterized by mudstones and clayey siltstones. Sandstones are minor constituents, being heterolithic but locally displaying
a medium grain size such as on a Sandy Slope, and/or are fine-grained in Submarine Channels to very fine grained argillaceous
in diamictites (glaciogenic rock). Sorting becomes poor and sedimentary structures increasingly convolute bedded (deformed).
Figure 7 shows a schematic (isopach) map with major settings as an example for the most prolific reservoir section, the Upper
Mamuniyat (UM). From well logs, core information and borehole image data, fan geometries (in yellow) have been mapped
for most of the fields. They delineate fluvial siliciclastics, particularly in the upper section of the UM; i.e. cross-stratified,
coarse to pebbly, locally conglomeratic sands are common with a well-developed northwestern to northeastern down current
vector mode (as inferred from sedimentary dips through borehole imagery).
Those (glacio-) fluvial fans, locally coalescing, occur draped by WSW-ENE/NE striking belts of Transitional (in green),
Shallow Marine (light blue), and Offshore (dark blue) settings. Locally, however, the alluvial fan is built out seawards where a

SPE 128825

high influx of sediment is accompanied by a regression of the shoreline (e.g. M-, H-NC115); and where shallow marine sands
are reworked and aligned parallel to the coast.
The lower section of UM is commonly represented by Lower and Upper Shoreface, Mouth Bar and (Braid-)Delta front sands
marked by coarsening-up (cf. well logs; Fig. 7). Sediment transport is bimodal (e.g. A28-NC115) or bidirectional shorenormal and by secondary unidirectional through long-shore currents and rip currents (e.g. I1-NC186) that means a major
difference concerning fluid flow in shallow marine and fluvial sandstones.
The Middle Mamuniyat, where typically shaley in facies, is mainly composed of an alternation of Muddy and Sandy Slope
deposits displaying a turbiditic character on borehole images. The sequence locally forms a significant barrier to fluid flow. Le
Heron et al. (2004) interpret this a glaciomarine shelf architectural element.
The Lower Mamuniyat, where cored, tends to consist of fine to medium-grained sandstones for which a braid-plain delta
environment may be envisaged.

Fluvial
Transitional
Shallow Marine
NC186
Offshore
NC115

FACIES

Global Hydraulic

Figure 7. Upper Mamuniyat schematic (isopach) map and selected representative well logs with Facies Associations and GHE

Reservoir properties of the Mamuniyat related to Facies Association and Global Hydraulic Element
Table 4 presents a statistical analysis on the distribution of Global Hydraulic Elements (GHE) in relation to the depositional
environment of the Mamuniyat. (Gray-) Shaded cells depict the relative higher GHE distribution percentages. The GHEs have
been grouped to allow a reservoir quality ranking. Ranges of pore throat sizes have been added for further characterization.
Settings such as Braided Stream / Upper Braid Plain and Delta Plain are characterized by fluvial processes and yield good to
very good reservoir properties as indicated by high percentages of GHE 6, 7, 8 and 9. The Transitional environment,
represented by Gilbert Delta, Braid Delta Front, and Proximal Mouth Bar are of similar quality, except for the wave influenced Mouth and distal Mouth Bars where the higher percentages of GHE belong to GHE 6 thru 2, which stand for
mediocre to poor reservoir quality.

SPE 128825

Shallow Marine, shoreface-derived sands rank from good to very good in quality as indicated by GHE 6, 7 and 8. Towards
Offshore, reservoir quality deteriorates, becoming mediocre to poor (cf. GHE 4 to 2) on Sandy and even more so on Muddy
Slopes. However, good to very good reservoir sands may locally be encountered in Submarine Channels (? isolated) and in
Dropstone / Diamictite facies represented by GHE 7, 8 and 9. The high GHEs rather relate to fractured diamictites.

Port Size Range (micron)

< 0.5

0.5 2

2 10

> 10

Reservoir Quality

Table 4. Percentage of GHE per depositional environment for Mamuniyat Formation

In summary, the GHE's statistically respond to depositional environments in terms of reservoir quality.
For complete reservoir characterization the exercise has been applied to the three stratigraphic units, i.e. Upper, Middle, and
Lower Mamuniyat.
The Upper Mamuniyat (UM) portrays the best reservoir, mainly made up of medium to coarse-grained, proximally
conglomeratic to pebbly cross-stratified sandstones, deposited in a braided (glacio-)fluvial outwash plain. They overly lower
(braid-) delta front, mouth bar, upper and lower shoreface sands, which become successively finer-grained with depth.
Nineteen (19) cored wells penetrated the UM and core logging results cover a rather complete range of depositional settings,
straddling Fluvial, Transitional, Shallow Marine, and Offshore (Fig. 8). The sedimentary influx had its source in the SSE
towards NNW. as inferred from dip azimuth rose diagrams through borehole imagery. The Braided Stream / Upper Braid Plain
environment largely characterizes the B-, M-, (A), and R-NC115, as well as B-NC186 fields.
The Transitional setting overall extends belt-shaped, striking SWS-ENE/NW, perpendicular to the Fluvial environments to the
north. Within that realm, the Gilbert Delta is a local phenomenon in the northern part of B-NC115; and mouth bars mark the
border of the R-NC115 to the I-NC186 field, which is largely taken by (braid-)delta front sands. Coastal sands may
schematically bridge the A-, H-NC115, and I-NC186 fields. Shallow Marine, shoreface sands form the northern fringe of the
M-, and A-NC115 fields, as well as of the northern extension of the I-NC186 before shaling out farther offshore. Some sandy
channels are locally present on sandy slopes, and carving into muddy slope sections, or as deeper submarine features.
Figure 8 displays the depositional settings and histograms of the GHE abundance per well of the Upper Mamuniyat. GHE 7, 8,
and 9 prevail and stand for good to very good reservoir quality favored by Fluvial and Transitional environments (Fig. 9). The
presence of Gilbert Delta sands enhance in places the reservoir quality of the B- and M-NC115 fields. The histogram of the RNC115 field and in particular the I-NC186 field signalize the heterogeneity and complexity in reservoir properties through a
low GHE suite (GHE 1 through GHE 5), which is primarily caused by the rather distal sedimentary environment (Fig. 8).
Reservoir properties of the UM are, from fluvial towards marine, generally good. Porosity and permeability have been
analyzed using 2175 core data points. The mean porosity and permeability of Fluvial environments vary from 12% 13% and
850 mD 1200 mD, respectively. Very poor to poor sorting results in moderate porosities. Mouth Bar sands boost the mean

SPE 128825

porosity range for the Transitional environment up to 16% with a mean permeability up to 2350 mD due to early,
quantitatively limited quartz cement providing an early grain fabric support, thus preserving primary intergranular porosity.
Gilbert Delta sands may even exceed 3000 mD on average, mainly favored by grain size (very coarse to pebble) and similar
reasons. The Shallow Marine sands still have 13% porosity whereas the mean permeability drastically decreases from Upper
towards Lower Shoreface from 1000 mD to 300 mD through smaller grain sizes. Offshore settings show mean porosities
ranging from 8% 16% and mean permeability varies from 1 mD 1500 mD. The properties of Offshore environments occur
in places enhanced through the presence of Sandy Slope and Submarine Channels.
DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS AND GHE DISTRIBUTION, UPPER MAMUNIYAT
80

I1
I3
I4

70
60
50

Fluvial
Transitional
Shallow Marine
Offshore

40
30
20
10
0
GHE1

GHE2

GHE3

GHE4

GHE5

GHE6

GHE7

GHE8

GHE9

GHE10

80
70

NC186

60

NC115

B2
B1

50
40
30

80

B21
B31
B34

70
60
50

20
10
0
GHE1

GHE2

GHE3

GHE4

GHE5

GHE6

GHE7

GHE8

GHE9

GHE10

40
30
20
10
0

80

GHE2

GHE3

GHE4

GHE5

GHE6

GHE7

GHE8

GHE9

GHE10

R1
R5
R6
R7
R8

70
60
50
40
30

80

20

80

M1

70
60

70
60

M3

50

50

40

40

30

30

20

20

10

A17
A28
A36i
A37

10
0
GHE1

GHE2

GHE3

GHE4

GHE5

GHE6

GHE7

10

GHE1

GHE2

GHE3

GHE4

GHE5

GHE6

GHE7

GHE8

GHE1

GHE9 GHE10

GHE2

GHE3

GHE4

GHE5

GHE6

GHE7

GHE8

GHE9 GHE10

Figure 8. Depositional environments and well-based GHE distribution of the Upper Mamuniyat
10
9
8
DOMINANT GLOBAL HYDRAULIC ELEMENT

GHE1

7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Braided
Stream /U' Delta Plain
Braid

Gilbert
Delta

(Braid)
Delta
Front

Wave Proximal
Distal
Upper
Lower
Influenced
Mouth Bar
Mouth Bar Shoreface Shoreface
Mouth Bar

GHE UM

GHE MM

GHE LM

8
6

7
6

7
6

Sandy
Slope

Muddy
Slope

Submarin
e Channel

Dropstone
/
Diamictite

DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENT

Figure 9. Dominant GHE per depositional environment of UM, MM and LM

GHE8

GHE9

GHE10

10

SPE 128825

18.0
16.0
14.0
MEAN POROSITY (%)

12.0
10.0
8.0
6.0
4.0
2.0
0.0

Braided
Stream /U' Delta Plain
Braid Plain

Gilbert
Delta

(Braid)
Wave Proximal
Distal
Upper
Lower
Delta Front
Influenced
Mouth Bar
Mouth Bar Shoreface Shoreface
(Channels)
Mouth Bar

Porosity Upper Mamuniyat

11.8

12.7

Porosity Middle Mamuniyat

7.6

12.8

13.9

10.0

16.7
13.0

Porosity Lower Mamuniyat

12.4

13.7

14.0

10.0

12.6

7.0

15.3
14.4

13.0
13.3

Sandy
Slope

Muddy
Slope

Submarine Dropstone
Channel / Diamictite

16.5

7.8

13.0

9.7

8.9

8.5

9.7

5.0

2.0

DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENT

Figure 10. Depositional Environment-related distribution of mean porosity (%) in UM, MM and LM

10000.00

MEAN PERMEABILITY (mD)

1000.00

100.00

10.00

1.00

0.10

Permeability Upper Mamuniyat

Braided
Stream /U' Delta Plain
Braid Plain
1193.00

854.00

Gilbert
Delta
3119.00

(Braid)
Proximal
Delta Front
M outh Bar
(Channels)
211.00

Wave Influenced
Mouth Bar

Distal
Mouth Bar

Upper
Shoreface

Lower
Shoreface

Sandy
Slope

M uddy
Slope

12.00

1061.00

292.00

1036.00

0.73

1552.00

490.00

18.00

4.17

1.14

154.00

12.30

0.01

2349.00

Permeability Middle M amuniyat

0.66

43.00

89.00

Permeability Lower Mamuniyat

485.00

253.00

183.00

222.00
141.00

Submarine Dropstone /
Channel
Diamictite

2.44

DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENT

Figure 11. Depositional Environment-related distribution of mean permeability (mD) in UM, MM and LM
The Middle Mamuniyat (MM) is locally truncated by the Upper Mamuniyat and consists mainly of slumped, dewatered, and
rippled laminated heterolithics, i.e. interstratified and/or admixed muddy and sandy siliciclastics with a turbiditic character.
Deposition likely took place on an unstable slope of a lateral braid-delta system fed by melting retreating ice sheets. Ten (10)
wells penetrated MM. Slivers of Fluvial, Transitional, Shallow Marine and Offshore environments have been encountered by
core studies. The Sandy to Muddy Slopes are major depositional settings in the I-NC186 and R-NC115 fields, as well as
towards the western part of the B-NC115 field. They are chiefly composed of poor to medium quality muddy sands found on
slope and in distal Mouth Bars with higher percentages of GHE 2 through 5 (Fig. 12).
An Upper Shoreface is minor developed in the R-NC115 field with poor to medium reservoir quality (dominant percentages of
GHE 3, 4, 5). The Wave-influenced Mouth Bar in the B-NC186 is of medium to good quality whilst the distal counterpart such
as in the B-NC115 with dominant percentages of GHE 2, 3 suggests poor reservoir quality. Increasing detrital clay content and
reduction in grain size are considered responsible for the deterioriation of rock quality. The Fluvial setting may not always be
promising in terms of quality as shown by Braided Stream / Upper Braid Plain sands, e.g. in the M-NC115 field, where GHE 3
and 4 prevail, implying a diagenetic impact such as quartz cementation or detrital clay involvement. The Delta Plain of the B-

SPE 128825

11

NC115 dominated by GHE 5 and 6 provides medium to good quality (Fig.s 9 and 12).
The porosity and permeability of MM have been analyzed with an input of 372 core data points, covering all depositional
environments. In the MM the Upper shoreface sands yield high permeabilities in the order of 220 mD on average that are
exceeded by those of mouth bars with 490 mD at moderate porosities (15% - 7%, respectively).
Mean porosities and permeabilities of the Fluvial environment vary between 8% and 13% and 0.6 mD 43 mD respectively,
caused by the muddy nature of the rock. Permeability improves towards the Transitional environment fluctuating between
80mD and 490mD where sands are winnowed by increasing wave action. Towards the Offshore, reservoir quality decays
through increasing amounts of detrital clay that resulted in porosity ranging from 2% to 9% with permeabilities from 2 mD to
18 mD (Fig.s 10 and 11).
Depositional Environments and associated GHE's
UPPER MAMUNIYAT
Depositional Environments and associated GHE's
MIDDLE MAMUNIYAT

GHE-1
GHE-2
GHE-3
GHE-4
GHE-5
GHE-6
GHE-7
GHE-8
GHE-9
GHE-10

GHE-1
GHE-2
GHE-3
GHE-4
GHE-5
GHE-6
GHE-7
GHE-8
GHE-9
GHE-10

80
Braided Stream /U' Braid Plain

60

Delta Plain

40

Gilbert Delta

80

GHE Distribution (%) /

Depositional Environment

Braided Stream /U' Braid Plain

20

(Braid) Delta Front (Channels)

Gilbert Delta

GHE-10

Distal Mouth Bar

Wave -Influenced Mouth Bar

GHE-10

GHE-9

Upper Shoreface

Distal Mouth Bar

GHE-8

Lower Shoreface

DEPOSITIONAL
ENVIRONMENT

GHE-7
GHE-6

Sandy Slope

GHE-9

Upper Shoreface

GHE-8

Lower Shoreface

GLOBAL HYDRAULIC
ELEMENT (GHE)

GHE-5

Muddy Slope

GHE Distribution (%) /

Depositional Environment

20

Proximal Mouth Bar

Wave -Influenced Mouth Bar

DEPOSITIONAL
ENVIRONMENT

40

(Braid) Delta Front (Channels)

Proximal Mouth Bar

60

Delta Plain

GHE-7
GHE-6

Sandy Slope
GHE-5

Muddy Slope

GHE-4

Submarine Channel

GHE-4

Submarine Channel

GHE-3

GLOBAL HYDRAULIC
ELEMENT (GHE)

GHE-3

Dropstone / Diamictite

GHE-2

Dropstone / Diamictite

GHE-1

GHE-2
GHE-1

Depositional Environments and associated GHE's

LOWER MAMUNIYAT

GHE-1
GHE-2
GHE-3
GHE-4
GHE-5
GHE-6
GHE-7
GHE-8
GHE-9
GHE-10

80
Braided Stream /U' Braid Plain

60

Delta Plain

40

Gilbert Delta

GHE Distribution (%) /

Depositional Environment

20

(Braid) Delta Front (Channels)

Proximal Mouth Bar

Wave -Influenced Mouth Bar
GHE-10

DEPOSITIONAL
ENVIRONMENT

Distal Mouth Bar

GHE-9

Upper Shoreface

GHE-8

Lower Shoreface

GHE-7
GHE-6

Sandy Slope
GHE-5

Muddy Slope
GHE-4

Submarine Channel
GHE-3

Dropstone / Diamictite

GLOBAL HYDRAULIC
ELEMENT (GHE)

GHE-2
GHE-1

Figure 12. Percentage of GHE per depositional environment of UM, MM and LM.

The Lower Mamuniyat (LM) is largely made up of fine to medium-grained sandstones straddling all settings. Core data refer
to eleven wells penetrating the LM. The Lower Shoreface largely takes the A- and H-NC115, as well as the B-NC186 field,
whereas the Offshore, characterized by Sandy Slope, is encountered in the I-NC186 and R-NC115 fields. The Fluvial
environment is fully developed in the B-NC115 field.
The LM is mainly characterized by abundant GHE 6 and 7 (Fig. 5), which stand for good reservoir quality. They prevail in the
Fluvial environment, gradually decreasing in abundance through the Transitional, and Shallow Marine settings (Fig. 12). From
the latter, decreasing GHEs coincide with reservoir deterioration while moving towards Offshore.
The porosity and permeability of LM has been analyzed for each depositional environment using 546 core data points. The
Fluvial environment appears to have somewhat better reservoir properties in terms of permeability than their Transitional and
Shallow Marine counterparts. Within the Fluvial Environment, mean permeability decreases from the Braided Stream through
the Delta Plain from 485 mD to 253 mD; and from the Mouth Bar with 183 mD to 141 mD in the Upper Shoreface and 154
mD in the Lower Shoreface at overall moderate (narrow) porosities (13%-14%).

12

SPE 128825

Figure 13 illustrates and summarizes for the upper Mamuniyat individual porosity-permeability profiles of the Global
Hydraulic Elements for the major depositional environments, moving from Fluvial (at the bottom of the figure) towards
marine settings (top of figure). Comparison of the GHE portraits allures to the conclusion that the GHEs as a suite may serve
as fingerprints for individual depositional environments.

SPE 128825

13
Sandy Slope

Muddy Slope

100000.00

GHE-2
100000.00

GHE-3

GHE-2

GHE-7
CORE PERMEABILITY (mD)

1000.00

GHE-5

1000.00

CORE PERMEABILITY (mD)

GHE-5
GHE-6

GHE-4

Submarine Channel

GHE-4

10000.00

GHE-3

10000.00

100.00

10.00

GHE-8

100.00

10.00

1.00

1.00

100000.00
0.10

GHE-3
0.10

GHE-7

10000.00

0.01
0.01

GHE-8

0.06

0.11

0.16

0.11

0.16

0.21

Lower Shoreface

Fluvial
Transitional
Shallow Marine
Offshore

100.00

10.00

100000.00

GHE-2
GHE-3

GHE-6
GHE-7
CORE PERMEABILITY (mD)

0.11

0.16

GHE-5

1000.00

0.10

0.06

GHE-4

10000.00

1.00

0.01
0.01

0.21

CORE POROSITY (frac)

0.06

CORE POROSITY (frac)

0.21

CORE POROSITY (frac)

GHE-8

100.00

Upper Shoreface

10.00

1.00

100000.00

GHE-1
GHE-2
GHE-3
GHE-4
GHE-5
GHE-6
GHE-7
GHE-8
GHE-9
GHE-10

10000.00

CORE PERMEABILITY (mD)

1000.00

0.10

0.01
0.01

0.06

0.11

0.16

0.21

CORE POROSITY (frac)

100.00

10.00

1.00

0.10

0.01
0.01

0.06

0.11

0.16

0.21

CORE POROSITY (frac)

Gilbert Delta
100000.00

GHE-4
GHE-5
10000.00

GHE-6
GHE-7
GHE-8
GHE-9

CORE PERMEABILITY (mD)

1000.00

Proximal Mouth Bar

100000.00

GHE-5
GHE-6
10000.00

GHE-7

Distal Mouth Bar

GHE-8

100000.00

CORE PERMEABILITY (mD)

GHE-2
10000.00

GHE-3
GHE-4
GHE-5

1000.00

GHE-7

GHE-10

100.00

10.00

1.00

GHE-9

1000.00

GHE-1

0.10
100.00

0.01
0.01

10.00

0.06

0.11

0.16

0.21

CORE POROSITY (frac)

(Braid) Delta Front (Channels)

100.00

1.00

10.00

0.10

100000.00

GHE-6
10000.00

1.00

0.01
0.01

0.06

0.11

0.16

1000.00

CORE PERMEABILITY (mD)

CORE POROSITY (frac)

0.01
0.01

0.06

0.11

0.16

CORE POROSITY (frac)

GHE-7

GHE-8

0.21

0.10

0.21

Fluvial
Transitional
Shallow Marine
Offshore

100.00

10.00

1.00

0.10

0.01
0.01

Braided Stream / Upper Braid-Plain

0.06

0.11

0.16

0.21

CORE POROSITY (frac)

100000.00

Delta Plain

GHE-4
GHE-5
10000.00

100000.00

GHE-6
GHE-7
GHE-8

1000.00

10000.00

GHE-9

1000.00

100.00

CORE PERMEABILITY (mD)

CORE PERMEABILITY (mD)

CORE PERMEABILITY (mD)

CORE PERMEABILITY (mD)

0.01
0.01

GHE-9

1000.00

10.00

1.00

GHE-2
GHE-3
GHE-4
GHE-5
GHE-6
GHE-7
GHE-8
GHE-9

100.00

10.00

1.00

0.10

0.10

0.01
0.01

0.06

0.11

0.16

CORE POROSITY (frac)

0.21
0.01
0.01

0.06

0.11

0.16

0.21

CORE POROSITY (frac)

Figure 13. Summary of permeability and porosity profile colored by GHE for different depositional environments of the
Upper Mamuniyat (UM).

14

SPE 128825

Figure 14. Permeability / porosity cross-plot of major reservoir depositional environments in UM

(K/phi plot template adopted from D. Hartman)

The poro-perm plot (K/phi ratio plot adopted from D. Hartman) displays the reservoir quality based on major depositional
environments. It shows that several settings own similar rock quality with comparable flow efficiencies, reaching the
maximum in sandstones with mega pore throat sizes; may it be Braided Stream, Gilbert Delta, Upper Shoreface or Mouth Bar
sandstones. The flow quality varies in above mentioned environments through changes in rock quality and pore throat sizes;
i.e. by texture (smaller grain sizes), amount of detrital clay and diagenesis, particularly regionally abundant quartz
cementation, fluid flow would be impaired to various degrees (as seen on above chart).
(The red (and gray) contours trace a constant pore throat radius while porosity increases, whereas vertically, the pore throat
radius increases with constant porosity).

Conclusions
Global Hydraulic Elements (GHE) can serve as permeability tracers due to their adherence to grain size at pore-scale. At
field-scale, they can be employed for fingerprinting reservoir quality, provided there is control on secondary effects such as
diagenesis and fracturing. GHE are only effective when integrated with depositional environments.
The depositional environment is the overriding control on reservoir quality. Within a specific setting, at rock scale, grain size
is the major driver, as well as the presence and amount of detrital clay present.
Differentiating fluvial channel sands from marine ones is critical during field development with an impact on fluid flow
directions / drainage. The former are locally aligned down the (delta) plain / slope, while the latter tend to be perpendicular;
e.g. reworked shallow marine sands are aligned parallel to the coast.

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Exploration and Petroleum Engineering management of Akakus Oil Operations and NOC
Libya for support and permission to publish this paper.

SPE 128825

15

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