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Some applications of clay mineralogy to reservoir description

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2018

A. Hurst  and
J. S. Archer
A. Hurst
Affiliation:
Department of Reservoir Evaluation, Statoil, Forus, Postboks 300, N-4001 Stavanger, Norwa
J. S. Archer
Affiliation:
ERC Energy Resource Consultants Ltd., 15 Welbeck St., London W1M 7PF
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Abstract

Study of sandstone diagenesis provides information about the origin, texture, distribution and composition of clay minerals, which in turn is used in reservoir description. Three examples of the use of clay mineralogy in reservoir description are given. (1) Kaolinite commonly forms pore-filling cements which are pervasive in specific sandstone intervals. It is shown that water-zone kaolinization homogenizes and lowers the porosity and permeability relative to the oil zone; in a reservoir model different Ø/K relationships are defined above and below the oil-water contact. (2) An occurrence of chlorite in dish-structured horizons is shown to increase horizontal permeability and decrease formation resistivity. The sensitivity of the neutron porosity log to the chlorite cement reduces the usefulness of the log for porosity evaluation. Uncritical application of wireline logs to define reservoir parameters can give pessimistic reservoir evaluation. (3) Sand production can be related to wettability, which in turn is strongly influenced by clay mineralogy. A perforation strategy to minimize sand production may then be based on knowledge of the clay mineralogy of a reservoir.

Type
Research Article
Information
Clay Minerals , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , October 1986 , pp. 811 - 826
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1986

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