10/5/2015

HowtocomputePetrophysicalsCutoffswithGeolOil
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ComputingPetrophysicalCutoffs

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PRODUCTS
CatalogandOS
Softwarereleases
1. LASwelllogs
2. Petrophysic
Upscaling
3. Petrophysics
Scripting
4. Mapdigitizer
5. Mapper
6. Uncertainty
7. Geomechanics
8. Technology
screening
9. Volumetrics
10. Simulation
gridding

RECIPES
COOKBOOK
1. MergingLASfiles
2. ComputingNet
Pay
3. CoreDataImport
4. Petrophysical
Cutoffs
5. VSHfromGR
index
6. VSHfromNeut
Dens
7. WaterSaturation
8. GeomechanicLogs
9. SplitRockVolume
10. GLSScripting

Manytimes,reservoirstudiesuselegacyorformerpetrophysicalcutoffsalreadycomputed.However,youmaywanttovalidatethoseVSH,
PHIEandSWcutoffs,orevenestimateorcomputesuitablecutoffsforanewformationormembersunderstudy.
Thereareseveraltechniquesorcriteriatodefinecutoffsfromaproductionpoint of view. This section illustrates and provides a free GLS
scriptprogramtocomputeorestimatethecutoffsfrominterpretedLASpetrophysicallogs(thatis,withVSH,PHIEandSWcurves),using
theCumulativeHydrocarbonColumntechnique.
The concept of the hydrocarbon column in a formation is simple: HCOL = PHIE * (1SW) * Delta_H, is the equivalent height of pure
hydrocarboncolumncontainedinazoneofthicknessDelta_H>HCOL,whenpouredintoarecipient.
CleanrockswithlowVolumeofShaleVSHusuallyhavefewproblemsorcapabilitytostorehydrocarbons.Asarockbecomesmoreshaly,
itwillbemoredifficulteithertostorehydrocarbons,orthehydrocarbontomigratefromthesourcerocktobetrappedintothereservoir.
ThereisanelbowpointofVSHbeyondwhichtherearenomoresignificantcontributionstostorehydrocarbons.That point could be taken
asaVSHcutoffforpayrocks.ThesameconceptappliesforeffectiveporosityPHIE(andalsopermeability).There is a threshold point of
tightporositywithalowcapabilitytostorehydrocarbons.
Thesequentialalgorithmcanbesummarizedasfollow:
1. STEP1:SeektheelbowpointforVSH
Definethetopandbaseoftheinterestzone.Computethetotalhydrocarboncolumnforalllogstepswithoutanyrestrictions.
ThenapplyregulardecreasingvaluesofVSH_cutoff(thatis,scanfromrighttoleft,likeVSH_cutoff=100%,95%,90%,...,
0%) and compute the total hydrocarbon column, rejecting rocks for which VSH > VSH_cutoff. A plot of pairs {(VSH_cutoff,
HCOL)}wouldshowtheelbowpointtopickaVSHcutoffvalue.
2. STEP2:SeektheelbowpointforPHIE(orevenpermeability)
Keep and freeze the VSH elbow cutoff value VSH_cutoff picked in Step 1. Then compute the total hydrocarbon column while
scanningeffectiveporositycutoffs,acceptingonlythoserocksforwhich(VSH<VSH_cutoff)and(PHIE>PHIE_cutoff).Aplot
ofpairs{(PHIE_cutoff,HCOL)}wouldshowtheelbowpointtopickaPHIEcutoffvalue.
3. STEP3:SeektheelbowpointforSW
Keep and freeze the VSH and PHIE elbow cutoff values picked in Steps 1 and 2. Then compute the total hydrocarbon column
while scanning water saturation cutoffs, accepting only those rocks for which (VSH < VSH_cutoff) and (PHIE > PHIE_cutoff)
and(SW<SW_cutoff).Aplotofpairs{SW_cutoff,HCOL)}wouldshowtheelbowpointtopickaSWcutoffvalue.

GLSManual&API

INTERVIEWS
RadioFreq.
Heating

TRAINING
Reservoir
Modeling

Step1:Thisrealplotshowsatypicalcurvebehaviourtopick
theelbowpointforaVSHcutoff.Notinallcasestheelbow
pointshowsclearlylikeinthisexample.UsualvaluesofVSH
cutoffsforclasticoilreservoirsrangesfrom20%to35%.In
thosecaseswheretheVSHcutoffwascomputedashighas
40%ormore,oddsarethattheVSHmodelwastoo
pessimist,perhapswhenalinearIndexofGammaRayVSH
wasused.

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Step2:Thisrealplotshowsatypicalcurvebehaviourtopick

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10/5/2015

HowtocomputePetrophysicalsCutoffswithGeolOil
FAQ

theelbowpointforaPHIEcutoff.Notinallcasestheelbow
pointshowsclearlylikeinthisexample.UsualvaluesofPHIE
cutoffsforclasticandcarbonatesoilreservoirsrangesfrom
12%to25%.

Step3:Thisrealplotshowsatypicalcurvebehaviourtopick
theelbowpointforaSWcutoff.Notinallcasestheelbow
pointshowsclearlylikeinthisexample.UsualvaluesofSW
cutoffsforclasticandcarbonatesoilreservoirsarearound
50%.

REMARKS:
1. Cutoffsforgasreservoirswillbecompletelydifferent
The computed cutoffs depend on rockfluid interactions (and even pressure and temperatures). While a (VSH > 40%) and a
(PHIE < 15%) could be a barrier for medium and heavy oils, gas might flow easily under those conditions due to its lower
viscosityandwettabilitybehaviour.
2. NeverapplyoruseaSWcutoffintoareservoirsimulationgridmodel
Youmustdeclaretothesimulatoralltheexistingfluids,eventhosezones bearing 100% of water, like aquifers. Use the full
ternary VSH, PHIE and SW cutoffs only for mapping, economic screening, and volumetric purposes. For numerical reservoir
simulation, use only VSH_cutoff and PHIE_cutoff to compute the NetToGross ratio NTG include files. However, if you are
lucky enough and have access to several relative permeability curves, you could arrange several sets for different
combinationsofVSHandPHIEintervals.
3. Differentwells,eveninthesameformation'smembercouldshowdifferentcutoffs
Since rock properties vary for different locations, the petrophysical cutoffs could be easily different for several wells. If a
singlecutoffsystemisrequiredforareservoir,therearetwoapproaches:
1)Takeacompromisedaverage,typicalorrepresentativecutoffsforallthewells.
2)ExtendthealgorithmtocomputethewholeOriginalHydrocarboninPlace,insteadoftheHydrocarbonColumnperwell.The
latterapproachisthepreferredone,butrequiresalotofcomputationaleffort,resources,software,andtime.

Finally we present below a sample GLS script program to estimate petrophysical cutoffs. It looks like a large program, but it's not,
becauseitisstepwiseheavilycommentedtoguideyou.YoudonotneedneithertotypethesourcecodenorloadaspecialinterpretedLAS
logfile.TheGeolOillicensecontainsinitsdemodatasetbothfiles.Don'thesitatetotrythecode:GLSisfree,simpleandspecificforlog
petrophysics (Matlab is not). If you think it is complex, try to achieve the same results using either Petrel, an Excel spreadsheet or a
Matlabscriptprogramtohandledepthloopswithmissed999.25values.TheprogramdisplaysinitsMessageWindow,thepairvaluesthat
canbecopiedandpastedintoothersoftwaretomakethecutoffsplotsandpicktheelbowthresholdpoints.
Thisexampleruns"outofthebox"withyourGeolOillicenseOnatypicalWindowsinstallationjustfollow:[File] > [Open_GLS_Script] >
[Open] > [UserHomeDir] > [GeolOil_DB] > [GLS_examples] > [cutoffs_example.gls] > [Run]. The script will display on the right
windowasetofpairvaluesthatcanbeplottedtopickacutoffvalue.

ThefigurebelowshowsaGLSscriptprogramtoestimateVSH,PHIEandSWCutoffs

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HowtocomputePetrophysicalsCutoffswithGeolOil

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