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The Effect of Overburden Pressure on Relative

Permeability

Article March 1987

DOI: 10.2118/15730-MS

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SE 15730

The Effect of CWerhrden Pressure on Relative Permeability

by HS. Ali, M.A. A1-Marhoun, S.A. Abu-Khamsin, and M.S. Celik, U. of Petroleum & Minerals
SPE Members

Copyngh! 1987. SocmIy of Pelroleum Engineers

Thm paper was prepsred for presentation et Ihe Flflh SPE M,ddle East Oil Show held in Maname, Bahrain, March 7-10, 1987.

This psper wae selected for presemeuon by an SPE Program Commmee followingrewew of Informahonconlained m an abstract subminsd by the
author(s). Contents of lhe PaPar. as presomed. have not been rawewed by Ihe SOClety Of Petroleum Engmaars and are aubjecl 10 correction by the
author(s). The matanal, as presen!ad. does nol necessarily reflect any pOsNlOn of Ihe Society of PetrOleum Engmeera. (la officers, or mambere. Papera
presented at SPE meehngs are subject to publ#c8110n rewew by Ednlor,al Commmees of the Society of Petroleum Engineers Permms#on to copy La
res!rrcted to an abslracl of not more !han 300 worda Illustrations may not be copred. The abstract should corwam Conspicuous acknowledgment of
where and by whom the paper IS presented. Write Publlcsbons Manager, SPE. P.O. Box 833S36. Richardson, TX 760S3.3636. Telex, 730989 SPEDAL.

ABSRACT to the weight per unit area of the vertical over-

In routine core analyeis, porosity
ability, both relative and absolute,
rock which are not under net overburden
samples
(conEining) preesure. lJsing these data to predict
reservoir performance or eetimate reeerves can lead
to serioue errore since s1l reservoirs are under net.
overburden pressure.
Data collected from conetant rate, dyn8mic dis-
placement experiments were utilized to study the
effect of net overburden preseure on porosity and
absolute and relative permeabilities. These experi-
ments were conducted on emall, consolidated rock
samples under net overburden pressures up to 41.37
MPa (6000 pei) and room temperature. The pore
pressure was maintained atmospheric.
Examination of the data shows a decrease in poro-
sity and permeability with increase in overburtien
pressure. A correlation between porosity and over-
burden pressure and also between permeability and
overburden pressure haa been developed using linear
regression analysis. Both correlations are Found to
be logarithmic. The irreducible water saturation and
residual oil saturation increase with increased over-
burden pressure levels. While the relative perme-
ability to oil decreases with increasing overburden
pressure, a corresponding negligible decrease in
water relative permeability is observed.
INTRODUCTION
In routine core analysis, porosity, absolute and
relative permeabilities are measured on rock samples
which are not under net overburden preaaure. However,
under actual reservoir conditions, the rocks
experience a net overburden pressure which is equal
References and illustrationa at end of paper.
burden column from the reservoir depth to the sur-
and perrse- face of the earth less the pressure of the liquid in
are measured on the pores of the rock. Sometimes only the initial net
overburden pressure is considered while subsequent
increase in this pressure caused by reduction in pore
pressure upon reservoir depletion ia ignored. If rock
properties measured at zero net overburden pressure
differ from those measured at initial or intermediate
conditions, a systematic error will be introduced
into reservoir engineering calculation such as well
productivity, reeerves, and sim,:lation.
Fatt and Davis [1] were firet to obeerve a
decrease in absolute permeability of sandstone upon
increasing overburden pressure. McLatchie et al. [2]
attributed the permeability reduction to compress-
ibility of the rosk, Dobrynin [31 studied the effect
of net overburden preseure and found resulte similar
to those of Fatt and Davis. Gray et al. [4] found
that maximum permeability reduction occurred under
uniform pressure. Wilhelmi et al. [5], on the other
hand, developed a method for simultaneous measurement
of pore and elastic properties of rock under
nonuniform stress. The only study on consolidated
limestone has been presented by Marek [6] who
observed a drastic decrease in absolute permeability
accompanied by a little decrease in porosity under
overburden pressure. The decrease in permeability and
porosity was attributed to pore collapse.
Several investigatora [7-11] have studied the
effect Of varioua factors on relative permeability
such ae temperature, interracial tension, fluid
composition, and rock su:faces. However, there has
been no attempt to investigate the effect of over-
burden pressure on relative permeability. Thus, there
is a need to establiah quantitative relationships
between absolute permeability and porosity with over-
burden pressure and more importantly, to ascertain
the effect of overburden pressure on relative perme-
ability.

2 THE EFFECT OF OVERBURDEN PRESSURE ON RELATIVE PERMEABILITY
In this study, rock porosity, and absolute and
relative permeabilities at hydrostatic loading
:onditions in the range of 0.69-41.37 MPa (loo to
5000 psi) have been investigated with the aim of
identifying the effect of overburden pressure on
Lheae parameters. The pore pressure was maintained at
~tmospheric pressure in order to correlate the
applied confining pressure with the net overburden
pressure.
EXPERIMENTAL
A schematic diagram of the experimental set-up
[121 is shown in Fig. 1. The flow lines and fittings
,fere stainless steel of Rusks type. Two flow lines
#ere constructed for oil md water injection. In each
line, a micron filter was installed to prevent any
particle from plugging the core entrance. For each
exP eriment, the desired flow line was connected to
the core. Liquid flow was supplied by a constant-
rate, positive-displacement pump. Liquid flow rate
khrough the core was measured by timed weighing of
efflux. Measurements of up-st.:eam pressure and
pressure drop across the core wele accomplished by
neans of a mercury manometer and pressure gauge.
The desired overburden pressure was obtained by
using a hydraulic hand pump. Distilled water was used
as a confining fluid, with a rubber sleeve separating
it from the core sample. Since the end pluga were
nobile, both axial and radial confining loads were
simultaneously applied around the core. A micro-pLpet
~f 0.1 ml with 100 divisions was installed at the
tore outlet to measure the pore water extracted upon
increasing the overburden pressure.
Horizontal and vertical Berea sandstone cores of
3.8 cm in diameter by 7 cm in length were prepared.
The cores were fired at 504C (9+OF)for 12 hours to
remove any organic matter and to avoid swelling of
clays. Loose grains were removed by flushing the
cores with a number of pore volumes of distilled
water at high flowrate. The cores were then dried for
2 hours under vacuum at 1400C (284F) and then
allowed to cool down to room temperature over a
period of 15 hours. The selected cores were saturated
with the desired flowing liquid, i.e., either
distilled and filtered deaerated water or filtered
deaerated kerosene for more than 4 hours. The
difference in weight between 100% liquid saturation
and total dryness was used to calculate the core
porosity.
Absolute permeability measurements were performed
with water saturating the core under a range of
overburden pressures between 0.69 and 41.37 MPa (loo
to 6000 psi). Once a measurement had been made, the
core was then flvoded with kerosene at a constant
injection rate. The effluent was collected in 10 ml
graduated cylinders and the pressure drop and time at
the end of each collection were recorded. The
resultant data were used to determine the drainage
relative permeability curves employing Jones and
Roszelles technique [13]. The irreducible water
saturation and effective oil permeability were
determined when no further water was produced. The
end effect was minimized by using a Laminar
flowrate of 0.1146 cm3/s to yield a scaling factor of
~Qe
w
.
SPE 15730
4 as recommended by Rapoport and Leas [14]. Viscoait
and density were respectively meaaured by maans of
capillary viscometer and a pycnometer.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Effect of Overburden Pressure on
Absolute Permeability
The results of horizontal and vertical permf
ability measurements for two Berea sandstone core t
a function of overburden pressure are presented ~
Fig. 2. The data for both cores exhibit a reducti<
in absolute permeability with increasing overburd<
pressure. The reduction in permeability values &
41.37 MPa (6000 psi) is between 10% and 14% for tl
horizontal and vertical cores. The absolute permf
ability for the horizontal core at 689 kPa (100 ps~
is 210.1 md, while that for the vertical core ~
146.5 d. These reductions in absolute permeabilitit
with increasing overburden pressure can be attribute
to the decrease in pore sizes.
Repeated overburden pressure cycles produce
reduction of 5% in the horizontal permeability and I
in the verticsl permeability at 689 kPa (loo ps:
overburden pressure. This decrease is possibly caus{
by plastic deformation of the rock occurring duri~
the first increase in overburden pressure resultil
in permanent loss of permeability.
The trends in vertical and horizontal absolul
permeabilities observed in this Study can 1
described by a simple relationship:
b
k/ki = aP (:
where k is the permeability (red)measurement at I
overburden pressure P (psi). ki is the core perml
ability at a r(,ferenceoverburden pressure of 689 k]
(100 psi), and a and b are constants for a given rot
sample. Data from four Berea cores having differe!
vertical and horizontal permeabilities measured wi!
kerosene and water are shown in Fig. 3. The Iine/
trend observed in Fig. 3 data can be approximated 1
the following equation obtained by regressi(
analysia [151:
-0.02953
k/ki = 1.1475 P (:
It appears that regardless of the iniCil
vertical or horizontal absolute permeability, t;
reduction in permeability is a function of net eve:
burden pressure only. More tests are needed befo
Eq. 2 can be generalized to Berea sandstone.
Effect of Overburden Pressure on Porosity
Figure 4 illustrates the effect of overburd
pressure on porosity. The data show a decrease
porosity with increasing overburden pressure. T
porosity at a stress of 42.40 MPa (6150 psi) corre
ponds to 93% of the porosity value measured at atmo
pheric pressure. It is evident from Fig. 4 that mo
of the reduction in porosity takes place in t
pressure range of O - 13.79 MPa (O - 2000 ps%). T
lesser decrease in porosity at higher stress valu
is attributed to the increase in rigidity of the ro
 .
SP)?,
15730 H.S. ALI, M.A. AL-MARHOUN, S.A. ABU-KHAMSIN ANDM.S.
matrix due to compaction of sand grains at higher
stresses.
A logarithmic correlation has been developed to
relate porosity and overburden pressure in the form
Of:
$ = Pd
where $ and P denote porosity and overburden
pressure, respectively. c and d are constants for a
given rock sample. Linear regression analysia [15] is
utilized to estimate these constants based on 19
experimental data points to yield the following:
-0.01002
4 = 1.2925 P
Statistical error analysis is applied to evaluate
the accuracy of the developed relations. High val-
ues of the correlation coefficient are obtained which
clearly demonstrate the accuracy of the developed co-
rrelationa.
The main advantage of the developed correlations
ia to eliminate the need to apply high net overburden
pressures to simulate reservoir conditions in the
course of permeability and porosity measurements.
Correlations in the form of (1) and (3) can
conveniently predict the samples porosity and
permeability at high overburden pressures.
Effect of Overburden Pressure on Relative
Permeability
The irreducible water saturation obtained from the
oil flood at the end ot the drainage process
increased from an average value of 27.7% at 6.89 NPa
(1000 psi) to 31% at 41.37 MPa (6000 psi). The
irreducible water saturation versus the overburden
pressure data shown in Fig. 5 exhibits a linear
trend. This increase in irreducible water saturation
is the result of increased capillary forces due to
decreaae in pore sizes at high overburden pressures.
%e residual oil saturation obtained from water flood
..t the end of imbibition process also increases from
al average value of 71.4% at 1000 psi to 342 at 41.37
MPa (6000 psi) as shown in Fig. 5. Similarly. the
residual oil saturation versus overburden pressure
data show a linear trend. The increase in residual
oil saturation is again attributed to the increase in
capillary forces, which causes the non-wetting phase
to be trapped in larger pores.
The recorded data of pressure drop and flowrate at
the end of the drainage process are utilized to
calculate the oil effective permeability using
Darcys law. The oil effective permeability decreases
from 70.3 md at 6.89 MPa (1000 psi) to 53.8 md at
41.37 MPa (6000 psi) aa illustrated in Fig. 6.
The water effective permeability is also
calculated using Darcys law from the pressure drop
and flowrate data obtained at the end of the
imbibition process. As shown in Fig. 6, the water
effective permeability decreases from 15.07 d at
6.89 MPa (1000 psi) to 12.40 md at 41.37 MPa (6000
psi). The decrease in water effective permeability is
again attributed to increased pressure drop across
CELIK 3
the core due to smaller pore sizes with increasing
overburden pressure.
The maximum oil permeability is calculated frtm
the oil effective permeability and absolute perne-
ability measured at the same value of overburden
pressure. Maximum oil relative permeability versus
(3) overburden pressure plots, Itig.7, show a decrease in
oil relative permeability from 0.2664 at 6,89 kPa
(100 psi) to 0.2172 at 34.47 MPa (5000 psi). The
maximum water relative permeability calculated from
water effective and absolute permeabilities under the
same overburden pressure is also illustrated in Fig.
7. The maximum water relative permeability decreases
from a value of 0.0534 at 6.89 kPa (100 psi) to a
value of 0.0442 at 34.47 MPa (5000 psi).
(4)
Jones and Roszelle [13] method is employed to
calculate the water and oil relative permeabilities
based on the recorded data of pressure and volumes
produced during the displacement process. The results
for oil and water relative permeabilities versus
water saturation at three levels of overburden
pressure are plotted in Fig. 8. The data reveal a
pronounced reduction in kro with increase in over-
burden pressure compared to the negligible effect on
kW An explanation for this phenomenon is afforded
in the following manner. As the overburden pressure
is increaaed, the sand grains are brought close~
together causing a general shift in the pore throa
diameter distribution towards smaller values. For a
given Sw, this leada to redistribution of the wetting
phase (water) to occupy more pore throats, While this
should not cause any significant change in km. it
leads to more blockage of oil flow and hence reduces
kro.
CONCLUSIONS
1. Absolute permeability decreases with increasing
overburden pressure. Most of the decrease in
permeability takea place in the pressure range of
O to 20.67 MPa (3000 psi).
2. Repaated stress cycles on the same core cause a
reduction of 5% and 3X in horizontal and vertical
permeability values, respectively. This effect
is possibly attributed to plastic deformation
incurred in the rock matrix.
3. The porosity measured at 42.40 MPa drops to 93%
of its initial value measured at atmospheric
pressure. Most of the decrease in porosity takes
place in the pressure range of O to 13.79 MPa.
4. The lesser decrease in porosity and permeability
at higher stresses ia ascribed to increased rock
rigidity.
5. A correlation between permeability and overburden
pressure and alao between porosity and overburden
pressure has been developed using linear
regression analyais. Both correlations are found
to be logarithmic. It appears that reduction in
permeability is independent of the initial value.
6. The irreducible water and residual oil
saturations increase with increase in overburden
pressure.
---
337
 .

4 THE EFFECT OF OVERBURDEN PRESSURE ON RELATIVE PEBMQIBILITY SPE 15730

. While the oil relative permeability decreases as 7. Ouens, W., et al: The Effect of Rock Nettability
the overburden pressure increases, the decrease on Oil-Water Relative Permeability Relation-
in writerrelative permeability is negligible. ships, J. Pet. Tech. (July 1971) pp. 873-878.

8. Amaefule, J.O., and Han(iy,L.L.: The Effect of

NOMENCLATURE Interracial Tensions on Relative Oil-W8te~
Permeabilities of Consolidated Porous Media,
= permeability, md Sot. Pet. Eng. J. (1982) pp. 371-381.
# . overburden pressure, psi
1 . constant 9. Weinbrandt, R.: ~The Effect of Temperoturr. on
) . constant Relative Permeability, Ph.D. Dissertation,
) = porosity Stanford University (1972).
!= constant
I = constan~ 10. Batycky, J., McCaffery, F.G., Hodgina, F.K., and
Fisher, D.B: Interpreting Relative Permeability
and Nettability from Unsteady State Displacement
~CKNOWLEDGEMENT Measurements, Sot. Pet. EnE. J. (June 1981) pp.
296-308.
The authors wish to thank Lhe Department of
etroleum Engineering at the University of Petroleum 11. Sufi, A.H., Ramey, H..],,and Brigham, W.E.: Tem-
Lnd Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia for supporting perature Effects on Relative Permeabilities of
:his study. Oil-Water, paper SPE 11071 presented at 57th
Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Sept. 1982, pp. 26-
29.
REFERENCES
12. Ali, H.S.: The Effect of Overburden Pressure on
1. Fatt, 1., and Davis, D.H.: Reduction in Perme- Relative Permeability, M.S. Thesis, The
ability with Overburden Pressure, Trans., AIME University of Petroleum and Minerals, December
(1952) 195, 329. 1985.

2. McLatchie, A.S., Hemstock, R.A., snd Young, J.W.: 13. Jones, S.C.,and Roszelle, W.O.: Graphical
The Effective Compressibility of Reservoir Rock Technique for Determining Relative Permeability
and Its Effects on Permeability, Trans., AIME from Displacement Experiments, J. Pet. Tech.
(1958) pp. 386-388. (May 1978) pp. 807-817.

3. Dobrynin, V.::.:Effect of Overburden Pressure on 14. Rapoport, L.A., and Leas, W.J.: Properties of
Some Properties of Sandstone, Sot. Pet. Eng. J. Linear Water Floods, JPT (1953) pp. 139-148,
(Ott.1962) pp. 360-366. Trans., AIME, 198.

$. Gray, D., Fatc, I., and Bergamini, G.: The 15. A1-Marhoun, M.A.: Pressure-Volume-Temperature
Effect of Stress on Permeability of Sandstone Correlation for Saudi Crude Oils, paper SPE
Cores, Sot. Pet. Eng..J.(June 1963) pp. 95-100, 13718 presented at the SPE Oil Exhibition and
Trans., AIME, 2%8. Conference 1985, Bahrain, March 1985, pp. 11-1)+.

5. Wilhelmi, B., and Somerton, W.H.: Simultaneous

Measurement of Pore and Elastic Properties of
Rock Under Triaxial Stress Conditions, Sot. Pet. S1 Metric Conversion Factors
E= ~ (Sept. 1967) pp. 238-294; Tra~~
240. psi x 6.894757 E+ OO=kPa
F (F-32)/l.8 +. 273.16 = K
). Marek, B.F.: Permeability Loss in Depletion of md x 9.869 E-04= m
Reservoirs, paper SPE 8433 presented at the 54th
Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, Sept. 1979, pp. 23-36.

338
 s!% 15730

Micrdrt

raduated
Y1iivaer

Fig. I-A sshemotlc diagram of the tIpParetU5

ii
I 0 Horizortnl Permeability

O Horizontal (kerosene); ki = 271.0 md

A Horizontal (water); ki - 210.1 md
X Vertical (kero8ene) ; ki . 159.7 md
+ Vertical (water) ; k, - 146.5 d

.-
100 OVER13URDEN PRESSURE , LWi
0 moo 21+11 mm 501X) 6032

OVERBURDEN PRESSURE, P6i

Fig. 2-Horizontal and veftleel pormeablllty vu. overburden pressure. Fig. 3-Varietlcm of pemteablllty retlo with overburden preeeuro.

339
 .

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OVERBURDEN PRESSURE, P* t
0271
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Fig 4- Mwl.m2 potosiwas n furaoo. ot overtwram prcswro
OVERBURDEN PRESSURE, 0,1

Fls. 5-Erfqm of c,verb.roen pma.ra on irrcduc[brewaterand r..laual 011saturations.

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OVERBURDEN PRESSURE, Pot

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rq 6EHKI 01 ovorbwdo. press.re on .JIIand waterelhcllve pmne.b{lmes Fig. 7-E12ect 01cwwb.fden pr..%.m cmIIWXlmurn.2(1and waterrolal!vepmm.ab[llllw. w

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340

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