Porosity

Porosity is defined as the percentage or fraction of void space to bulk volume of rock.
If the sedimentary particles of a rock were of uniform size and packing, as shown in
Figure 1 ,

Figure 1

Figure 2 ,
 Figure 2

and Figure 3 , the calculation of porosity would be a simple exercise in solid

geometry. Of course, actual reservoir rock is a much more complicated mixture of
particles, and its porosity must be measured directly from core samples or estimated
by well log analysis.
 Figure 3

The proportion and distribution of void space in a reservoir rock can be modified by
the processes of cementation, solution, fracturing, and recrystallization. In reservoir
engineering, primary porosity refers to the void spaces remaining after the
sedimentation of particles into the rock matrix. Secondary porosity is caused by
solution channels, fractures, and vugs in the bulk volume of the matrix, and is
developed subsequent to the deposition of the rock. Where both types of porosity
exist, the system is referred to as a dual porosity system. The production sequence
of a dual porosity system may be very different from that of a primary porosity
system. Table 1 (below) gives a general range of reservoir rock matrix porosities.
Generally, reservoir rock martix porosities in the lower ranges are of commercial
interest only when a secondary porosity system is present.

Rock matrix porosities:

Negligible 0-5
Poor 5-10
Fair 10-15
Good 15-20
Very good 20-25+
Table 1 (above; after Levorsen, 1967)

Usually, the porosity enters into our reservoir calculations in estimating hydrocarbon
volume in place in the reservoir. Its fractional value is multiplied by the bulk volume
of the reservoir rock, and by the hydrocarbon fluid saturation (equal to one minus
the water saturation) to determine the hydrocarbon pore volume.

HCPV = V (1-Swc) (1)

We are interested not only in porosity, to determine the oil or gas in place at any given time and
point in the reservoir, but also in any porosity (and corresponding permeability) variation across
the field, which we must consider in selecting the best location for development wells. In some
cases, the porosity may actually decrease as the reservoir pressure drops during production, to a
degree, that can be significant in its effect on recovery. This happens when the formation is
extremely compressible, especially relative to the fluids within the pore space. In some loosely
consolidated oil sands, such as the Bachaquero field, Venezuela, the compaction of the reservoir
as reservoir fluids are removed accounts for more than 50% of total oil recovery (Merle et al.
1976). Porosity changes of this type must be taken into account in our reservoir analysis.
Permeability

Permeability is a measure of the ability of a porous medium to transmit fluids. The

oilfield unit of measurement, the darcy, is named after a nineteenth century French
engineer who established that the velocity of flow through a sand-packed filter was
directly proportional to the difference in pressure across the filter and inversely
proportional to the length of the filter (Darcy 1856). His work was ultimately applied
to linear flow through reservoir rock and to radial flow into a wellbore. One darcy is
defined as the permeability that will permit a fluid of one centipoise viscosity to flow
at a rate of one cubic centimeter per second through a cross-sectional area of one
square centimeter when the pressure gradient is one atmosphere per centimeter
(Muskat 1937). Figure 1 shows a schematic of how this quantity is measured.

Figure 1

Permeability is a property of the porous medium only, and absolute permeability is

its value when the porous medium is saturated with a single phase.

Darcy's definition of permeability was for a porous medium, which was 100%
saturated with the flowing fluid, water. Hydrocarbon reservoirs normally have two
and perhaps three phases present: both water and oil; or water and gas; or water,
oil, and gas sharing the pore space of the rock. It has been found that having more
than one phase present in the pores reduces the ability of the rock to transmit any
one of the fluid phases. For this reason, we define the effective permeability as the
permeability to one phase when there is more than one phase present in the pore
space. Its value decreases as the phases' saturation decreases. There is an effective
permeability value for each phase present. Usually the effective permeability is
expressed as a fraction of the absolute permeability, which is the permeability at
100% saturation of the flowing fluid. This ratio of effective to absolute permeability is
termed the relative permeability, and is normally displayed as a set of curves as
shown in Figure 2 , for an oil and water system.

Figure 2

As would be expected, the relative permeability to oil decreases as the oil saturation
decreases and the water saturation increases above its irreducible or connate value.
Conversely, the relative permeability to water increases, reaching a maximum when
the oil saturation is at its residual saturation. This same general principle applies to
any two- or three-phase system.
We can see how the saturation changes that accompany production can affect the
ability of the fluids to flow within the formation. For example, as the pressure is
drawn down near the wellbore and gas comes out of solution, the relative
permeability to oil can be significantly reduced. Gas bubbles inhibit the flow of oil.
Similarly, the condensation of light oil from a wet gas, as the pressure drops in the
vicinity of the wellbore, will decrease the relative permeability to gas and
subsequently the gas flow rate.

Absolute permeability can also vary throughout the reservoir, depending on the type
of formation and the method of its deposition. The reservoir engineer usually works
with the geologist to define such permeability distributions before beginning major
reservoir studies. It is also important to note that a permeability change can be
imposed through drilling operations. The plugging of the pore spaces in the formation
immediately adjacent to the wellbore can reduce permeability and create a
"damaged" zone. Since we know from Darcy's work that permeability relates flow
rate and pressure drop, such a damaged zone will cause a reduction of flow rate for
a given pressure drop or require a higher pressure drop (lower wellbore pressure) to
maintain a given flow rate. This adversely affects the efficiency of our entire flowing
system.

Just as the formation near a wellbore may be damaged and the permeability
reduced, so too may it be enhanced. We may acidize and/or fracture the formation,
thereby increasing the permeability near the wellbore and reversing the pressure-
flow rate effects of a damaged well.

Table 1 (below) gives some examples of porosity and permeability values for
productive fields around the world.

Reservoir Porosity Permeability

Range % Ave % Range md Ave md

Pennsylvania,

Bradford Sandstone

(Devonian) 2-26 15 0.1-500 50

Southern Arkansas,

Smackover Limestone

(Jurassic) 12.5-21.3 16.9 50-2,000 737

Iran, Massid-i-

Sulaiman field Asmari

Limestone (Jurassic) 2-15 0.0005-0.5

Colorado,
Rangely field Weber

Sandstone (Pennsylvanian) 16 20

Kern Co., California,

Stevens Sand

(Upper Miocene) 15-30 20 10-3,000 140

Oklahoma,

Wilcox Sand (Ordovician) 8-22 16 79-2497 688

Venezuela Cumarebo

field sandstones (Miocene) 3-39 21.7 1-3397 200-300

Colorado, Niobrara

Chalk (Cretaceous) 33-45 0.3-5.0

Indonesia, Arun

Gas field (Miocene) 7-23 16.2 0-1466

Canada, Norman

Wells field-Kee

Scarp Limestone

(Devonian) 9.8 4

North Sea fields:

Forties 27 400

Brent 23 300

Ninian 20 850

Piper 25 1500

Thistle 25 750

France,

Chateaurenard field,
sandstones (Cretaceous) 30 1000

Rumania,

Suplacu De Barcau field,

Unconsolidated sandstones 32 1700

Nigeria, Meren field,

"G" sands (Miocene) ~30 ~1500

Table 1 (see heading under "References")

Reservoir Fluid Behavior

Although the composition of reservoir gas is different for each reservoir, certain
relationships may be applied to all gases. The volume of gas in a reservoir will
expand as its pressure is reduced and contract as its temperature is reduced. The
net effect is given by the gas formation volume factor, which, by definition, is the
volume in the reservoir (measured in barrels) occupied by 1 standard cu ft (i.e.,
standard surface conditions, here 14.7 psia/60 F).

in SI Units:

The Z factor is a dimensionless function of pressure and temperature determined by the gas
composition, which accounts for the compressibility of the gas. This factor is useful because we
are interested in the relationship between pressure in the reservoir and withdrawal of gas in
reservoir volumes, and because our only measurement of that withdrawal is the gas volume
measured at the surface. So, it is useful to know how many reservoir barrels are removed when a
certain number of cubic feet at standard conditions are produced at the surface. For example, 1
barrel of a 0.7 gravity gas in a reservoir at 5000 psia (34,470 kPa) and 200F (366 K), would
3
occupy 1500 cu ft (42.5 m ) at standard conditions of temperature and pressure (60F and 14.7
psia or 289 K and 101 kPa).

Crude oil behavior under varying conditions of pressure and temperature is

(unfortunately) much more complex than the behavior of a dry gas. Gas consists
primarily of methane and perhaps smaller amounts of the lighter hydrocarbons, while
crude oil contains a larger percentage of the heavier hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbons are
grouped into one of several molecular series depending on the relative amounts of
carbon and hydrogen atoms making up their molecules. Paraffins (alkanes),
napthenes, and aromatics are the most common series, with paraffins
predominating. Rather than define a reservoir according to its composition, the
reservoir engineer will often give a broader classification range. Table 1 (below)
gives one such classification, with typical ranges for composition, gravity, and gas-oil
ratio. These categories are not rigidly defined and may vary according to local usage.
Often the only classification given for a crude oil is based on its specific gravity
(density relative to water), which is relatively easy to measure on a small sample.

Classification and composition of reservoir hydrocarbons:

GOR Range API Gravity

1. Dry gas (no liquid)
2. Wet gas 1 bbl/100 MCF 50-70
3. Condensate 5 to 100 MCF/bbl 50-70
4. Volatile oil 3000 CF/bbl 40-50
5. Black oil or dissolved gas systems 100-2500CF/bbl 30-40
6. Heavy oil 0 20-25
7. Tar & bitumen 0

Typical Composition

C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6+
1. Dry gas .90 .05 .03 .01 .01 .01
2. Wet gas
3. Condensate .75 .08 .04 .03 .02 .08
4. Volatile oil .6-.65 .08 .05 .04 .03 .2-.15
5. Black oil or dissolved gas systems .44 .04 .04 .03 .02 .43
6. Heavy oil .20 .03 .02 .02 .02 .75
7. Tar & bitumen - - - - - .90

Table 1 (above)

The API gravity normally used within the oil industry is related to specific gravity by
the following:

API = (141.5/S.G. @ 60 F) - 131.5 (1)

Compared to specific gravity, the API scale is expanded and inverted so that a range of specific
gravities from, say, 0.74 to 0.97 becomes a range of API from 60 (very light) to 15 (very heavy).
Water has an API gravity of 10. Table 2 (below) shows the API gravities of several well known
crudes. Understanding the PVT (pressure, volume, temperature) behavior of a crude oil mixture is
facilitated by developing a phase diagram for a particular mixture (Dake 1978). If we take a
sample of a lighter paraffinic hydrocarbon (ethane for example) at a pressure and temperature
where it is in the liquid state (point A in Figure 1 ) and subject it to decreasing pressures at a
constant temperature (path A-B), the ethane will vaporize at a certain point and become a gas
(molecules are able to escape from liquid to gas phase).
 Figure 1

If we repeat this experiment at many different temperatures, we obtain the vapor pressure line
shown in Figure 1 . Above the vapor pressure line, ethane is in the liquid state and below it is in
the gas state.

Various crude gravities:

Field, Country Depth (ft) Depth (m) API

Safaniyah, Saudi Arabia 5100 1554 27.0
Prudhoe Bay, U.S.A 8210 2502 26.0
Ninian, U.K. 10,000 3048 35.0
Pembina, Canada 3200-5100 975-1554 32-37.0
Forties, U.K. 8000 2438 37.0
Duri, Indonesia 770 235 22.7
Arun, Indonesia 10,600 3231 54.7
Zakum, Abu Dhabi 9100 2774 39.0
Ghawar, Saudi Arabia 6920 2110 34.0
Lagunillas, Venezuela 3000 914 21.5
Eugene Island 330, U.S.A. 5700 1737 26.0
Jay, U.S.A. 15,470 4715 54.0
Cantarell, Mexico 8528 2599 21.3

Table 2 (from International Petroleum Encyclopedia 1983, PennWell Publishing Co.)

If we duplicate the experiment for another, heavier hydrocarbon, say heptane, the
resulting phase diagram and vapor pressure line will shift and look like that of Figure
2.

Figure 2

As we would expect, the heavier heptane has a greater tendency to be a liquid at

lower temperatures and pressures, than ethane. Both curves end at the critical point
where it is no longer possible to distinguish between liquid or gas.

If we now mix these two hydrocarbons in a 50-50 mixture, the phase diagram for
the mixture becomes quite different. It is shown in Figure 3 .
 Figure 3

We see that there is now a two-phase region, where both liquid and gas coexist. This
region exists because with two components present, not all of the molecules change
state at a single pressure along a line of constant temperature. Naturally occurring
hydrocarbon mixtures are, of course, much more complex than this two-hydrocarbon
mixture. However, the phase diagram for each crude oil can be defined in the
laboratory as above.

Such a phase diagram for a crude oil is shown in Figure 4 .

 Figure 4

This diagram can be constructed in a manner similar to what we did above, by

decreasing the pressure at a constant temperature, and measuring the amount of
liquid and gas present at each incremental pressure. If we begin with a system at
point A ( Figure 5 ) and reduce the pressure while keeping the temperature constant,
we will reach the bubble point, that point where the first bubble of gas appears.
 Figure 5

Below the bubble point we are in two-phase region and the relative amount of liquid
present decreases as the pressure is reduced. Continued pressure reduction will
increase the amount of gas coming out of solution until we reach the dew point, that
point where the last drop of liquid exists.

Beyond this point the hydrocarbon mixture is completely in the gas phase. We can,
of course, repeat this procedure at several different temperatures to obtain the
diagram shown in Figure 4 . Similar phase diagrams are shown for other types of
hydrocarbon systems in Figure 6 ,
 Figure 6

Figure 7 , and Figure 8 .

 Figure 7

Note that as we learned for heptane, the two-phase envelope moves down and to
the right as the percentage of higher molecular weight components in the
hydrocarbon mixture increases.
 Figure 8

For a dry gas reservoir, the reservoir temperature is greater than the cricondentherm
(marked as CT in Figure 6 , the maximum temperature at which two phases can
coexist for the hydrocarbon mixture, regardless of pressure. If we follow the
pressure depletion line in Figure 7 we can see how production of a dry gas from
reservoir conditions (A) to separator conditions (B), still does not cross the dew point
and allow the formation of condensate.

Figure 7 shows the phase diagram for a retrograde condensate reservoir. Here, the
behavior of the mixture is such that a reduction in reservoir pressure at reservoir
temperature initially causes liquids to condense in the reservoir. Further pressure
reduction, however, causes some of these liquids to revaporize. The production of
the lighter gaseous hydrocarbons from the reservoir mixture will cause the mixture
to become heavier and the entire phase envelope to shift to the right. This means
that significant amounts of condensate could be left behind in the reservoir.

Figure 8 shows a typical phase diagram for an oil mixture. If the reservoir conditions
of pressure and temperature are at point A, there is only one phase, liquid oil, in the
reservoir. If we follow the isothermal pressure reduction line, we can see that after
we cross the bubble-point line, we enter the region of pressure/temperature
conditions where two phases can exist. Here we have a volume of liquid oil
containing an amount of dissolved gas commensurate with the pressure and a
volume of liberated, or free, gas. The volume of liberated gas increases and that of
dissolved gas decreases as we continue to decrease the pressure. As more and more
light hydrocarbons are liberated from the oil, the density and viscosity of the heavier
oil phase remaining in the reservoir increases. In a parallel manner, as more and
more heavier components are vaporized, the gas phase viscosity and density
increases also. Because the gas is produced more easily than the oil, the increase in
gas-oil ratio as the reservoir pressure is reduced can have severe consequences on
recovery.

There is a formation volume factor for oil just as there is for gas. Oil will shrink in
volume between reservoir and surface conditions primarily as a result of the solution
gas evolved. Figure 9 shows schematically how this occurs for oil and water, and how
the gas volume expands.

Figure 9

Figure 10
 Figure 10

and Figure 11 shows how the formation volume factor expressed in bbl/STB
(m3/Sm3) for oil and bbl/SCF (m3/Sm3) change with decreasing reservoir pressure.
 Figure 11

For example, 1.2 to 2.0 reservoir barrels per stock tank barrel (bbl/STB) is a
common range for oil formation volume factors. As oil is produced from a reservoir
above the bubble point, the formation volume factor will increase slightly as the oil
expands. At this point, no gas is being liberated and the compressed oil is simply
expanding as volumes are removed. However, when the bubble point is reached, gas
begins to come out of solution, and a volume of the remaining reservoir oil will have
less of a difference between it and its surface volume. Consequently the formation
volume factor will decrease as the pressure is decreased and more gas is liberated
from the oil. In addition, the gas, which is liberated from the oil, will begin to form a
free gas phase in the reservoir. This gas volume will react to the change in pressure
with production. When the reservoir pressure is reduced from 5000 psia to 2000 psia
(13,790 kPa), the same reservoir volume of produced gas that expanded to 1500 cu
ft (42.5 m3) will now only expand to 702 cu ft (19.9 m3) at standard conditions.
Consequently, there are less standard cubic feet of gas to each reservoir barrel of
gas produced as the pressure depletes with production.

The phase diagram and PVT properties are different for every mixture of
hydrocarbons found in nature. For a given reservoir fluid, the phase behavior is
usually determined by catching a sample at near reservoir conditions (say, during a
drillstem test), subjecting it to pressure and temperature variations in the
laboratory, and measuring the resulting changes in liquid and gas volumes and their
individual phase properties. Where samples are not present, the reservoir engineer
often uses published correlations.