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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, as
Introduction
presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to When the conventional methods for the calculation of the
correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any
position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Papers presented at water saturation (Sw) profile in the reservoir are not reliable
SPE meetings are subject to publication review by Editorial Committees of the Society of
Petroleum Engineers. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper
for different reasons, a viable alternative is the calculation
for commercial purposes without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is based on capillary pressure (Pc) curves. Using the Pc curve,
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 the water saturation (Sw) in the reservoir can be calculated
acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was presented. Write Librarian, SPE, P.O.
Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836 U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435.
for any height above the free water level (FWL). By
knowing the capillary pressure in a point, Sw can be easily
calculated without the need of any standard resistivity model,
Abstract whenever FWL and the fluid density of hydrocarbon can be
Determination of water saturation (Sw) from conventional determined with certain precision.
resistivity and porosity logs has proved difficult in several gas As the capillary pressure is measured directly from cores
fields within Bolivia. To address this challenge, a method was or samples taken from the formation, normally it is difficult to
developed to determine Sw profiles based on pseudo-capillary find continuous information of Pc that allows creating a
pressure curves (Pc) derived from transversal relaxation times calculation throughout the whole formation thickness. In such
(T2 distribution) measured by nuclear magnetic resonance sense, if it is realistic to acquire the value of Pc indirectly, for
(NMR) logging tools. example by means of electrical logs, then one could virtually
Some of the Bolivian sand reservoirs, producing gas and compute a continuous Sw.
condensate with a high gas/oil ratio, are characterized by a Some authors, Volokitin1 et al., have studied the option of
lack of resistivity contrast above and below the oil-water obtaining a continuous curve of Pc from the T2 distribution of
contact. This problem is attributed to complex mineralogy, transverse relaxation times of a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
including thin shale laminations within sand bodies of variable (NMR) tool. In our case, we have experimented with the
petrophysical quality, and mostly to very fresh formation processing of the data acquired from a CMRi tool that includes
waters that average a salinity of 5000 ppm of total dissolved an application to calculate a continuous curve of Pseudo-
solids. Also, the lack of lateral extension of each reservoir Capillary Pressure (P-Pc) and the Sw, from the T2 distribution
makes cross-well correlation very difficult. of transverse relaxation times, the density difference between
The core hypothesis of this original method is to assume water and hydrocarbon enclosed in the reservoir and the FWL.
that the relation between capillary pressure and pore throat The method is essentially based on that the size of the
sizes is similar to that between T2 values and pore-size poral throat has a relation with the size of the pore itself. Then
distribution. A consistent scaling factor is used to derive a as the capillary pressure, by means of calibration, can be
pseudo-capillary pressure from an NMR T2 distribution. After derived from the size of the poral throat and likewise from the
the pseudo-pressure is calibrated with capillary pressure T2 time distribution of the CMR, we are subsequently able to
measurements from laboratory-derived core data, it is get the pore size distribution. In conclusion, from a T2 time
combined with density (difference between the produced distribution curve one can, by means of calibration, obtain a
hydrocarbon and the formation water) and free-water level Pseudo-Pc curve so that it is used in the calculation of water
(FWL) information to compute Sw along the saturation Sw with the knowledge of the free water
wellbore trajectory. level FWL.
Even so, in general terms, resistivity-based models are still
the most consistent and documented foundation in order to Statement of Theory and Basic Definitions
compute water saturation; Examples demonstrate the success NMR measurements consist of a series of manipulations of
of this new standalone method of uncovering unforeseen hydrogen protons in fluid molecules. Protons have a magnetic
hydrocarbon in place and obtaining accurate Sw as an
alternative to the standard, but dubious or inadequate,
resistivity method in Bolivia where cretaceous and i
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2 SPE 81057
Proton alignment
Hydrogen protons are aligned by application of a large
constant magnetic field, Bo. Alignment takes a few seconds
and the protons will remain aligned unless disturbed. The Precession and dephasing
latest logging tools, like the CMR, use elongated permanent When protons are tipped 90° from the Bo direction, they
magnets of about 550 gauss in the measurement region — precess in the plane perpendicular to Bo. In this respect they
about 1000 times larger than the Earth’s magnetic field. These act like gyroscopes in a gravitation field. At first all the
are applied to the formation during the entire measurement protons precess in unison. While doing so they generate a
cycle (Fig A-1). small magnetic field at the Larmor frequency which is
detected by the antenna and forms the basis of the NMR
measurements. However, the magnetic field Bo is not
perfectly homogeneous, causing the protons to precess at
slightly different frequencies. Gradually, they will lose
synchronization —they dephase— causing the antenna signal
to decay at an exponential constant rate called T2, or
transversal relaxation time (Fig A-3).
Spin tipping Figure A-3: As the protons precess about the static field, they
The next step is to tip the aligned protons by transmitting an gradually lose synchronization. This causes the magnetic field
oscillating magnetic field B1, perpendicular to the direction of produced in the transverse plane, and measured by the
Bo (Fig A-2). For effective spin tipping f = γ . Bo where “f” is antenna, to decay. Dephasing is caused by inhomogeneities in
the frequency of B1 —called Larmor frequency— and γ is a the static magnetic field and by molecular interactions.
constant called the gyromagnetic ratio of the nucleus. For
example, the Larmor frequency for hydrogen nuclei in a field Refocusing spin echoes
of 550 gauss is about 2.3 MHz. The hydrogen protons —precessing at slightly different
The angle through which nuclear spins are tipped is controlled Larmor frequencies due to inhomogeneity of Bo— can be
by the strength of transverse oscillating magnetic field B1 and refocused when a 180° pulse is transmitted. The 180° pulse
the length of time it is switched on. has the same strength as a 90° pulse, but switched on for twice
Figure A-2: Aligned protons are tipped 90° by a magnetic as long. As the protons rephase, they generate another
pulse from a transmissing antenna oscillating at the hydrogen constructive signal in the antenna —a spin echo. Of course,
proton resonance, or Larmor frequency. the spin echo quickly decays again. However, the 180° pulses
can be applied repeatedly —typically several hundred times in
a single NMR measurement. The usual procedure is to apply
180° pulses in an evenly spaced train, as close together as
possible (200 µs for the CMR tool). The entire pulse sequence,
a 90° pulse followed by a long series of 180° pulses, is called
SPE 81057 3
a CPMG sequence after its inventors, Carr, Purcell, Meiboom porosity and 204.7 mD permeability, using mercury as the
and Gill2. non-wetting fluid.
D = Pc × Vp × dSw
A = c . e (-t/T2) r dPc
D – Distribution of the size of the pore throats
Pc – Capillary pressure
Vp – Poral volume (the volume of the interconnected pores
associated with the effective porosity)
r – Radius of the pore
d – Differential operator
Figure A-4: Typical decaying spin echo amplitude plot for a
rock, a CPMG pulse sequence measurement. Each dot Distribution of the size of the pore throats
represents the amplitude of a spin echo. 100
Pc = (2σ cosθ )/ Rg
20
0
0.01 0.1 1. 10. 100. 1000.
Pc – Capillary pressure Pore Radius (microns)
σ – Surface tension Figure B-2: Same core sample as figure B-1 (22.1% porosity
θ – Contact angle and 204.7 mD permeability), where we have derived the size
Rg – Radius of the pore throat distribution of the pore throats as per the above mentioned
Figure B-1: Example of a standard laboratory capillary equation from R. P. Monicard.
pressure measurement completed on a core sample, of 22.1% Because the size of the pore throat is correlated to the pore
structure or pore size itself for rocks of inter-granular porosity
4 SPE 81057
type, it can be inferred that Pc also has a somehow direct will be mainly governed by the surface relaxation mechanism,
relation with the size of the pore, which is similar to what we and that it will be directly proportional to the pore volume to
observe for the T2 distribution of transverse relaxation times surface ratio, and hence to the pore radius4:
(Fig B-3) in NMR logs.
NMR-T2 distribution of
transverse relaxation times
T2 ∝V / S ∝ r
S and V – respective Surface and Volume of the pore
Signal amplitude (a)
increases toward the right (i.e., the T2 distribution has been Figure C-2: Laboratory experiment completed on a core-plug
laid on its side). The red curve is the integrated / summation of (depth @ 2887.9 meters) to derive the capillary pressure curve
the T2 distribution also rotated so that the capillary pressure Pc, in psi, versus saturation Sw (1 kgf/cm2 = 14.223 psi).
increases in the upward direction and the water saturation Sw
increases to the right. The red curve has units of 1/ms along Laboratory (Pc-Sw) measurement
the Pc axis until it is transformed into pressures using the 2000
data is not available or cannot be determined precisely from density between the present fluids in the reservoir and the
logs, it is impossible to obtain a calculation of Sw with some / depth of the free water level (FWL), for the estimation of an
enough degree of precision. At this point, it is important to apparent T2 cutoff named T2PC, a volume of apparent bound
quote that if a clear FWL cannot be perceived in any electrical water and the subsequent calculation of Sw, for each level
logs available (usually a resistivity measurement), we greatly (depth) above the FWL (figures D-2 & D-3 at the end):
recommend to acquire in-situ reservoir pressure points and/or
even to take representative formation fluid samples by means
Pc _ A
of a wireline dynamic formation tester tool. For our study, it T 2 PC =
was almost always possible to proceed with the water
saturation Sw computation process as the FWL information
ρ f _ diff × ( FWL − Depth ) / 2.3
was directly obtained from electrical logs and production
test’s results. T2PC – Apparent T2 cutoff in ms
Pc_A – Scaling (or calibration) factor in psi.ms
Tiab and Donaldson10 have presented an equation for the Depth and FWL (free water level) are in foot
calculation of “h”, height above the FWL in foot, based on ρf_diff – Difference of density between the present fluids in
laboratory data of Pc versus saturation and as ilustrated in the pore volume in gr/cc
figure D-1: In the previous equation the depths are in foot and you should
notice that, in fact, the scale factor Pc_A replaces the P-Pc
h = (0.102 × Pc) /( ρwater − ρhydrocarbon ) term (pseudo-capillary pressure).
Furthermore, this work attempts to encompass a new The overall processing of this set of NMR data reveals an
application / technique for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance acceptable gradient for the water saturation Sw from 2903
NMR, as standalone logs, with obvious additional added meters (FWL) and up to 2887 m, further in agreement with the
values. In figure E-1, we exhibit an interpretation based on early production information available. Also we can notice a
the method described earlier. In order to validate the results, strong gas effect on the distribution of transverse relaxation
we present both Sw curve computed from a conventional times (late T2), which affects directly the water saturation
resistivity model and the Sw curve derived from the P-Pc calculation by increasing the values of Sw-Pc (green curve in
computation. At hand, one can appraise the fairly fine track 1). It is worthily to state here the benefits and advantages
matching of the method. Henceforth, some real cases, all of of such standalone evaluation (pseudo-capillary pressure
them in clastic sediments, are presented. curve, and hence Sw, derived from continuous NMR data) for
a more complete and accurate interpretation process.
Case history 1
In these two units, from two different exploratory wells, of the Quality Control, Validation and Limitations of the
inferior Cretaceous mainly composed of sand, siltstone and Utilized Methodology
shale sequences, we are experiencing some difficulties T2 cutoff computed versus T2 cutoff used in the log
throughout a conventional petrophysical evaluation with If the T2 cutoff that was used in the field log is correct,
resistivity – porosity logs. In both cases, the salinity of the particularly if it has been calibrated with NMR laboratory
formation water does not surpass the 5,000 ppm of T.D.S. measurements on core-plugs, the T2PC computed from the
(total of dissolved solids) and, it is thought to be the major FWL upwards (always represented by a blue curve on track 5
tiresome and inconvenient for resistivity based Sw calculation. of all figures E) with the mentioned algorithm moves about an
The inferior level (figure E-2) is very sandy, clean and asymptotic value very close to the fix T2cutoff used. If at the
thick, and culminates with a diagenetic variable thickness of end / up T2PC crosses the value of the fix T2cutoff used, this
poor reservoir characteristics for a reservoir. Notice as the is indicative of a calibration issue or some other processing
early production data coincide satisfactorily with the parameters are out of tolerance.
petrophysical evaluation from NMR log.
The upper sequence is very laminated, with meager lateral Result of production tests
correlation with nearby sand bodies of irregular geometry to The results of the production tests presented in almost all
each other. The results of the application builder previously examples can be used as validation of this petrophysical
decipher and used for this case is presented in figure E-3. Sw_Pc evaluation. In details, it is interesting to remark that the
Again, production data agreed properly with the interpretation volume of producible water calculated with this standalone
even so, the complexity of this reservoir is significant as interpretation of NMR log, PhiE*Sw_Pc, is nearby zero in the
shown per the very poor contrast in resistivity readings and the zones that produce with low percentage of water.
extremely laminated condition of the interval.
Hydrocarbon effects
Case history 2 The very viscous hydrocarbons and the gas can cause
In this sandy package of the Carboniferous from a important distortions in the distribution of transverse
development well, within a deposit that produces from several relaxation times, moving the T2 towards very low or very high
intervals, the conventional calculation of Sw has not been very values, or even attenuating the amplitude of the signal.
conclusive to locate the best zones with producible Everything which affects the T2 distribution directly inducing
hydrocarbons. Hopefully, a sufficient degree of knowledge that the T2 value is not anymore proportional to the pore
was available, like the depth of FWL from neighbor wells, in volume to surface ratio, and hence to the pore radius, will
order to evaluate the reserves by means of pseudo-capillary greatly weaken the validity of this method.
pressure curve derived from NMR.
Since in the lower non-producing zone (2677/99 meters) Conclusions
where the resistivity and density-neutron logs describe the A) An alternative methodology for the calculation of
initial conditions of water saturation Sw satisfactorily, we Sw, supported by proven petrophysical foundations11, has
were able to calibrate the answer of the NMR log in this been experienced whish is worthwhile and straightforward to
interval; and then, we have extrapolated the results to a most employ in those cases where the resistivity models give
conflicting zone with no resistivity contrast (upper producing contradictory or unsatisfactory results.
interval 2638/68 meters). The results of the application for this B) Although this method works in an optimal way for
development well are presented in figure E-4. thick and continuous layers, it has also been proved to be valid
in a zone formed by individual sand-clay sequences, whenever
Case history 3 the contact water-hydrocarbons does not exist within each
Again, for this sandy package of the Carboniferous which unique permeable body.
produces gas and condensed with high GOR, the water C) The presence of gas or viscous oils can introduce
saturation calculated with the regular resistivity models is too errors in the Sw_Pc calculation, due to the effect that these
high for the lower interval (below 2900 meters) and exhibits fluids have on the distribution of transverse relaxation times.
little or no contrast in general for the whole section logged But as presented in all the above cases, by using adapted and
(see Figure E-5). customized acquisition parameters for each data set (i.e.
smaller possible inter-echo spacing and a long enough wait-
8 SPE 81057
time constant depending on T1 of the formation fluids), the determination of the surface relaxivity parameter ρ”, from
pseudo-capillary pressure application of NMR data has given Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Elsevier), Vol. 14 – No.
reliable and accurate results for Sw_Pc computation. 7/8 (1996), pages 761-767.
D) The calibration of the T2cutoff of the formation
performed on the basis of laboratory NMR measurements on 8. R. Ramamoorthy, P.J. Boult and T. Neville: “A Novel
core-plugs is a must in order to obtain a correct and precise Application Of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance And
value of saturation water Sw. Last but not least, the calibration Formation Tester Data For The Determination Of Gas
of the scale factor Pc_A to turn the T2 distribution into a Saturation In Pretty Hill Sandstone Reservoirs, Onshore
pseudo-capillary pressure curve P-Pc will grant an additional Otway Basin”, SPWLA 41st annual logging symposium
amount of exactitude to the method. Anyway, this (Dallas, June 4-7, 2000), paper J.
methodology can still be applied without having the latest
capillary pressure information, if the other processing 9. Dr. P. N. Theologou, R. D. East, Dr. A. A. Curtis, Dr. P.
parameters (i.e. density difference and FWL) are well known / J. Boult and A. M. Drake: “Effective Integration of the
determined within the area of interest. Core Analysis and Wireline Datasets - Using a New Core
Analysis Data Suite and New Software”, SPE Latin
Nomenclature notes American and Caribbean Petroleum Engineering
T2PC is just a calibration term used to partition the NMR-T2 Conference in Caracas (Venezuela, 21–23 April 1999)
distribution and derived an apparent irreducible water volume SPE-53887.
VWPc, which will provide us with the water saturation Sw.
T2PC, that varies with depth, has no physical relation with the 10. Djebbar Tiab and Erle C. Donaldson: "Theory and
conventional T2cutoff applied to split the NMR-T2 Practice of Measuring Reservoir Rock and Fluid
distribution into Bound Fluid Volume (BFV) and Free Fluid. Transport Properties", from Gulf Publishing Company
As per VWPc, called in this paper apparent irreducible water (Student Edition, September 1996).
and calculated by means of the above mention T2PC partition,
it is not a bound fluid volume at all since it also includes free 11. Benjamin D. Lowden, Matthew J. Porter and Linda S.
water depending on the values that T2PC adopts. Powrie: “T2 Relaxation Time Versus Mercury Injection
Capillary Pressure: Implications for NMR Logging and
References Resewoir Characterisation”, from SPE European
1. Yakov Volotikin, Wim J. Looyestijn, Walter F.J. Petroleum Conference held in The Hague (Netherlands,
Slijkerman and Jan P. Hofman: “A practical approach to 20-22 October 1998), SPE-50607.
obtain primary drainage capillary pressure curves from
NMR core and log data”, PETROPHYSICS Vol. 42 No. 4 Acknowledgements
(July-August 2001), pages 334-343. The authors want to thank REPSOL YPF (Bolivia) for its
permission to publish this article, and we also sincerely
2. Carr H.Y. and Purcell E.M.: “Effects of Diffusion on Free express our gratitude to the SCHLUMBERGER organization
Precession in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Experiments”, for its involvement and direct help during the elaboration of
Physical Review 94 No. 3 (1954), pages 630-638. this technical paper.
In addition, we would like to specifically acknowledge the
3. Robert P. Monicard: "Properties of Reservoir Rocks - support of Ph.D. Robert L. Kleinberg for his expertise and
Core Analysis", Publisher Technip - Institut Français du valuable inputs.
Pétrole (January 1980), pages 96-97.
4. Howard J.J., Kenyon W.E. and Straley C.: “Proton
magnetic resonance and pore-size variations in reservoir
sandstones”, in SPE annual technical conference
exhibition proceedings (1990), SPE-20600, pages 733-
742 (later published in 1993: SPE Formation Evaluation,
v. 8, no. 3, p. 194-200).
5. Olesen J-R., Liu C., Zeng W., Mao K. and Zhang Z.:
“Evaluation of viscous oil-bearing, water flooded
reservoirs”, paper T in 3rd well logging symposium of
Japan proceedings (SPWLA, Japan Chapter - 1997).
h2
Pc-core
h1
Figure D-3 (below): Estimation (graphical
representation) of the water saturation Sw
using the volume of apparent irreducible water FWL
VWPc (calculated by means of T2PC values) 0 Sw
and the total NMR porosity PhiT. 1
Fix T2
cutoff
1 h3
T2PC
h2
h1
3
-5 1 10 100 1000 10000
T2 Dist
10 SPE 81057
Irreducible Water
Free Water
Hydrocarbon
Gas
815 bopd
5007 Mscf/d
Water 1.8%
230 bopd
1396 Mscf/d
Water 1.5%
Only Water
138 bwpd
SPE 81057 11
840 bopd
2103 Mscf/d
Water 1%
160 bopd
446 Mscf/d
Water 12%
41 bopd
197 Mscf/d
Water 20%
12 SPE 81057
98 bopd
4595 Mscf/d
0 bwpd
76 bopd
4308 Mscf/d
Water 38%
46 bwpd