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PERMEABILITY BASICS
Permeability Basics
Permeability Definitions
Fracture Permeability
PERMEABILITY BASICS
Most quantitative petrophysical log analysis is aimed at defining shale
content, porosity, and water saturation. These terms define the oil or gas in
place in the reservoir at initial conditions. What we would really like to know
is: "Is the well any good?" That is, will it produce anything, and if so, how
much per day. To know this, we must determine values for permeability and
productivity.
Permeability refers to the ease with which fluids flow through any substance.
It is not sufficient to have oil or gas in a formation; the hydrocarbons must be
able to flow from the reservoir into the well bore in order to be recovered at
the surface. Absolute permeability is a physical characteristic of the rock. Permeability of a rock for oil, gas, or water
is a function of the absolute permeability and the viscosity of the fluid.
Productivity describes the flow rate of oil or gas into the well bore. These two terms are obviously related. This
Chapter explains how to determine these values from open hole log data.
Reservoir volume is a term used, with other adjectives, to describe the volume of hydrocarbon in the reservoir. It is
also called the oil in place or gas in place. The phrases, reserves or recoverable reserves, refer to the amount of
hydrocarbon in place that can actually be produced under the existing (or a proposed) recovery mechanism.
Recoverable reserves and productivity define, along with product prices and production costs, whether or not a well
will make money; that is, "Is the well any good?"
Permeability is measured by flowing fluids through the rock under known conditions. This can be done on rock
samples in the laboratory, or by flowing a well (in -situ measurement). It depends on the size and shape of the pores
and pore throats, the properties of the fluids, the pressure exerted on the fluid, and the amount of the fluid flow.
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More importantly, fluid flow from a reservoir into a wellbore is not linear but radial, so the equation becomes:
2: Q = 3.07 * H * (K / MU) * (Pr - Pb) / log(Rr/Rb)
Where:
Q = quantity of fluid (bbl/day)
H = thickness of reservoir that fluid flows through (feet)
K = permeability (Darcies)
MU = viscosity of fluid (centipoise)
Pr - Pb = pressure differential from reservoir to wellbore(psi)
Rr = radius of reservoir = length of flow path (feet)
Rb = radius of wellbore (feet)
The unit used in measuring permeability is the Darcy. Permeabilities normally encountered in reservoir rocks range
from less than one millidarcy in low porosity sandstones, to about fifty Darcies in fractured rock. In tight gas and
shale gas reservoirs, natural matrix permeability may be as low as a few microdarcies.
Although there are some general trends of increasing permeability with increasing porosity, these do not necessarily
hold for any given situation. If the sand grains are large, then the pore throat diameters are large and the permeability
is high. If the size of the sand grains is reduced by a factor of l00, the permeability is considerably smaller, but the
porosity will be the same. Smaller pores mean larger surface areas around them, and therefore more resistance to
flow (lower permeability). Various authors have proposed equations that account for these effects:
Slichner:
K = 10.2 * D^2 / CK1
Terzaghi:
K = CK2 * D^2 * ((PHIe - 0.13) / (1 - PHIe)^0.33)^2
Uren:
K = CK3 * D^2 * PHIe^3.31
Kozeny
K = CK4 * PHIe^3 / ((1 - PHIe^2) / (Sv^2)
Kozeny-Carmen K = CK5 * PHIe^2 * Rp^2 * Cpur
Where:
CK1 = 10 to 100 depending on porosity and grain packing
CK2 = constant to be determined by calibration
CK3 = constant to be determined by calibration
CK4 = 0.20
CK5 = 0.04444
Cpur = 0.216
D = average grain diameter (cm)
K = permeability (Darcy)
PHIe = porosity ((fractional)
Rp = pore throat radius (microns)
Sv = specific surface area of grains (sq cm)
Since D, Sv. and Rp are not easily measured, these are not very practical equations for use in log analysis. However,
they do resemble the form of practical equations presented later in this Chapter.
DEFINITIONS OF PERMEABILITY
Permeability measured with only one fluid in the pores is equal to the absolute permeability, because Darcy's
equation accounts for the viscosity and pressures involved in the measurement process. The measurement is often
made using air as the fluid, but brine is also used. There is a small correction, called the Klinkenberg correction, to
reduce air permeability to a liquid permeability.
Effective permeability refers to permeability when one fluid flows in the presence of a second fluid in a pore system,
for example oil flowing and irreducible water not flowing. Effective permeability is less than absolute permeability
because the presence of a second fluid reduces the size of holes available for flow of the first fluid. If no fluid flows,
the effective permeability of the rock to that fluid is zero.
Relative permeability is the ratio of effective permeability of a specific fluid to absolute permeability. Graphs of
relative permeability curves reflect the capacity of the rock to produce fluids by showing the permeability of those
fluids as a function of saturation.
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Kmax.
Kvert is then measured by flowing fluid through the vertical direction on the core. Kvert is often less than Kmax in
sandstones and shaly sandstones. It may be higher than Kmax if semi-vertical fractures exist, as in many carbonate
reservoirs.
The permeability derived from log analysis is the absolute permeability, if it is calibrated to the absolute permeability
from core data. Usually, log results are calibrated to the maximum permeability from core (Kmax). Effective
permeability can usually be derived from absolute permeability, using empirical relationships.
The irregular, narrow connections between pores are called capillaries. They can be likened to thin tubes connecting
any two points in the reservoir. Capillary pressure is the phenomenon by which water or any wetting liquid is drawn
up into a vertical capillary. The smaller the capillary, the higher the liquid rises.
Due to the variety of capillary diameters, the water saturation within a rock varies above the hydrocarbon-water
contact. The water saturation caused by capillary pressure in the hydrocarbon zone is called the irreducible water
saturation. A zone at irreducible water saturation will not produce water. A zone that is very wet AND at its irreducible
water saturation will not flow water. A zone could have such poor permeability that an apparently wet zone can occur
anywhere in an oil or gas column. This problem is solved by calling the apparently wet zone "tight", or impermeable",
or "non-pay". It is not a water zone.
Between the water and hydrocarbon zones, is a layer of rock filled with both water and oil, with the water at a
saturation higher than the irreducible saturation. It is considered the region in which both water and oil (or gas) will
flow. It is termed the transition zone. This should not be confused with the same term used to describe the invasion
of mud filtrate into the formation.
The more small capillaries there are, the higher the water saturation will be. Also the transition from irreducible water
saturation to 100% water throughout the transition zone will be longer. The fraction of water flowing with the oil (or
gas) is referred to as the water cut.
These definitions suggest that it is important to know the top depth and base of the transition zone, so that a well can
be produced from above the top of the transition zone to minimize water production. This may not be obvious from
specific values of water saturation, because the porosity is seldom constant, but it may be more apparent by
observing the porosity times water saturation product (PHIxSW) through the transition zone. Compare the illustration
on the right side of the illustration below with that on the left.
PERMEABILITY OF FRACTURES
The permeability of fractures is a function of the width of the fracture. A rough relationship for permeability versus
width (in inches) of a fracture is:
10: PHIf = 0.001 * Wf * Df * KF1
11: Kfrac = 833 * 10^11 * PHIfrac^3 / (Df^2 * KF1^2)
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