Arab J Geosci
DOI 10.1007/s12517-014-1348-4
ORIGINAL PAPER
Identification and petrophysical evaluation of thinly
bedded low-resistivity pay reservoir in the Niger Delta
A. W. Mode & O. A. Anyiam & I. K. Aghara
Received: 6 August 2013 / Accepted: 19 February 2014
# Saudi Society for Geosciences 2014
Abstract This study is on evaluation of the thinly bedded
reservoirs in the Niger Delta. These reservoirs are thin lami-
nations of sand and shale which contain hydrocarbons. The
presence of interbedded shales suppresses resistivity values
within the thin sand beds, resulting in low-resistivity log
signatures that do not meet conventional cut-offs. Advanced
high-resolution log suites are required to accurately evaluate
the reservoir properties, but in the absence of such data,
conventional log suites can be integrated to evaluate the
hydrocarbon saturation and other reservoir parameters of such
reservoirs. In this study, an approach was adopted to identify
these reservoirs using the low-resolution Thomas–Stieber clay
distribution plots and to properly quantify the hydrocarbon
saturation with enhanced post processing Techlog software.
Reservoir E3 in well K32 was delineated and identified as
low-resistivity thinly bedded interval. This reservoir was
interpreted as proximal to distal lower shoreface heterolithic
deposits, whose volume of shale cut-off could not properly
define the net sand value of the reservoir. Conventional
Archie’s saturation model also gave pessimistic water satura-
tion (Sw) values of 73 %. But the application of the Thomas–
Stieber low-resolution approach yielded a more realistic Sw of
44 %, which represents an increase of 29 % in the hydrocar-
bon saturation. From the review of the reservoir, it became
much clearer that there is substantial opportunity to increase
the hydrocarbon resource base in the Niger Delta by targeting
thinly bedded pay opportunities.
Keywords Thin beds . Reservoir evaluation . Hydrocarbon
saturation
A. W. Mode : O. A. Anyiam (*) : I. K. Aghara
Department of Geology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
e-mail: okwudiri.anyiam@unn.edu.ng
Introduction
Thinly bedded siliciclastic reservoir rocks have been associ-
ated with the low net-to-gross deltaic reservoirs of the Niger
Delta Basin. They are part of a larger group of reservoirs
referred to as low-resistivity or low-contrast pay reservoirs,
which have traditionally posed a challenge for hydrocarbon
explorationists (Davies et al. 1997). The huge hydrocarbon
accumulations of these thinly bedded reservoirs have often been
bypassed during normal interpretation. But with enhanced
analysis, they are identified as “missing” pay whose volumes
in place were wrongly estimated. Thinly laminated beds are
therefore defined as laminated sand-shale successions with
individual bed thicknesses that cannot be resolved by conven-
tional logging tools (Kittridge et al. 2009). The resistivity values
of such intervals are usually influenced by the surrounding clay
beds, which mask the true values of the hydrocarbon bearing
sand lamina, giving rise to much lower resistivity values. These
low-resistivity pay reservoirs are characterized by electrical
anisotropy that is often overlooked or interpreted to be water-
bearing, when surveyed with conventional resistivity logging
tools. Common environments of deposition of these low-
resistivity pay sands include deltaic, fluviatile, and deep marine
turbidites. One of the main causes of low-resistivity pay is the
abundance of clay minerals in sandstones.
The objectives of this study are to identify the thinly
bedded reservoirs using the low-resolution Thomas–Stieber
clay distribution plots (Thomas and Steiber 1975) and /thick-
ness of 9,000 to determine the petrophysical characteristics of
these reservoirs using enhanced post processing petrophysical
workflows (Techlog software).
Geologic setting and stratigraphy of the Niger Delta
The study area (Fig. 1) is located within the transition between
the Coastal Swamp II and the western Offshore Niger Delta.

Fig. 1 Province geologic outline map of the Niger Delta showing the study area (Modified from Tuttle et al. 1999)
The Tertiary Niger Delta covers an area of about 75,000 km2
and is composed of an overall regressive clastic sequence
which reaches a maximum thickness of 9,000 to 12,000 m
(Weber and Daukoru 1975; Evamy et al. 1978).
Sedimentation in the basin started in the late Paleocene–
Eocene, when sediments began to build out beyond the
troughs between the basement horst blocks at the northern
flank of the present delta area and the open sea. The structural
configuration and the stratigraphy of the Niger Delta are
controlled by the interplay between rates of sediment supply
and subsidence rate (Evamy et al. 1978; Doust and Omatsola
1990). Eustatic sea-level changes and climatic variations in-
fluence the sedimentation rates while the flexure (tectonics) of
the basement, differential loading, and settlement on the un-
stable shale may have controlled the subsidence rate.
In the Niger Delta, three depositional settings indicate that
deposition occurred during several regressive/transgressive ep-
isodes in overall progradational setting. These depositional
settings can be subdivided lithogically into an upper series of
massive sands and gravels (Benin Formation), deposited under
continental conditions (Avbovbo 1978; Evamy et al. 1978).This
upper sandy unit grades downward through a transitional series
Arab J Geosci
composed mainly of sand but with some shale, into an alterna-
tion of sandstone and shale (Agbada Formation), deposited
under paralic conditions (Fig. 2). Most structural traps observed
in the Niger Delta developed during syn-sedimentary deforma-
tion of the Agbada paralic sequence (Evamy et al. 1978). The
primary seal rock is the interbedded shale within the Formation.
This study focuses on the Agbada stratigraphic unit. Its facies
has been classified into three main genetic units on the basis of
reservoir geometry, flow principles, and petrophysical charac-
ter: (1) Channel deposits, comprising tidal/distributary channel
sands, (2) Shoreface sands (upper and lower) with predomi-
nantly lower shoreface units, and (3) Heterolithic sands com-
prising mainly marine transgressive sands and lower shoreface
units (Fig. 3).
The Akata Formation is the basal sedimentary unit estimat-
ed to be 21,000 feet thick in the central part of the clastic wedge
(Doust and Omatsola 1990). It is characterized by dark gray
shales and silts, with rare streaks of sand of probable turbidite
flow origin (Doust and Omatsola 1990). The Akata shales are
typically undercompacted and overpressured. Hence, they
form diapiric structures that include shale swells and ridges,
which often intrude into the overlying Agbada Formation.
Arab J Geosci

Fig. 2 Stratigraphy of the Niger Delta and variable density seismic display of the main stratigraphic units in the outer and thrust belt and the main
reflectors (Lawrence et al 2002)

Materials and methods essentially shale characteristics having a positive neutron-

density log separation, spiky gamma ray, and suppressed
In this study, the presence of thinly bedded reservoirs was resistivity (Henderson et al. 2010). Reservoirs E1, E3, and
suspected from conventional log response as zones with E5 in wells K36, K32, and K13, respectively, were analyzed
 Arab J Geosci

Fig. 3 Typical facies types of the Niger Delta showing defined log motifs a Blocky channel unit, b Coarsening upward shoreface unit, and c Sand-shale
intercalations of the heterolithic unit (Nwosu 2001)

Fig. 4 Log response of the thinly bedded sand in well K32 and the corresponding laminated sand and shale intercalation for the core photograph (depth
7,300–7,325 feet). All logging tools are unable to resolve individual bed properties and a resultant averaging occurs
Arab J Geosci

Table 1 Average reservoir parameters of some representative reservoirs

Well Zones Facies type Gross Net N/G (volume Av_Vsh (volume Av_Por (volume Av_Shc Fluid type
(mss) (mss) per volume) per volume) per volume) (percent)

K 08 F3 Upper Shoreface 65.99 62.94 0.95 0.23 0.29 88 Oil

K 36 C1 Channel sands 18.17 16.37 0.90 0.21 0.32 71 Oil
K 32 E3 Heterolithic sands 24.38 12.80 0.53 0.59 0.20 27 Gas

N/G net to gross, Av_Vsh average volume of shale, Av_Por average porosity, Av_Shc average hydrocarbon saturation

for the presence of thinly bedded sands. But only reservoir E3
in well K32 was suspected to be low-resistivity pay (LowRep)
interval, which has been bypassed without recognition (Fig. 4,
Table 1).
This interval was then subjected to petrophysical evaluation
using the low-resistivity software (LowRep) called Techlog.
The main inputs of the module were gamma ray (GR) log, bulk
density, neutron, and resistivity logs. Also, the horizontal and
vertical resistivities from a multi-component induction tool as
well as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data were applied
in the module. It employs a Thomas–Stieber low-resolution
approach; a cross-plot technique that was developed to esti-
mate net to gross (N / G) and sand porosity of the sand
lamination in laminated sand/shale successions with bed thick-
nesses below standard log resolution. The cross-plot of bulk
density versus neutron porosity of the E3000 reservoir (well
K32) was done in order to select the end points of the different
clay types (Fig. 6a). The structural and dispersed shale points
are calculated from these end points. These end points were
then used to determine the volume of laminated clay, and the

Fig. 5 Log plot over the E3 reservoir showing water saturation in track 6 of Well K32
 Arab J Geosci

Table 2 Core analysis and petrophysical properties results of the E3 reservoir in well K32

Depth Core porosity Φ Core Log porosity Φ Archie water Hydrocarbon LowRep water Hydrocar bon Water saturation
(feet) (volume per permeability (volume per saturation Sw saturation saturation Sw saturation difference
volume) K (mD) volume) (volume per equivalent (volume (volume per equivalent (volume (volume per
volume) per volume) volume) per volume) volume)

7,300 0.25 272.76 0.30 0.60 0.40 0.09 0.91 0.51

7,305 0.22 70.65 0.20 0.61 0.39 0.40 0.60 0.21
7,310 0.20 61.15 0.25 0.60 0.40 0.40 0.60 0.20
7,315 0.25 203.33 0.20 0.70 0.30 0.50 0.50 0.20
7,320 0.18 36.33 0.20 0.80 0.20 0.50 0.50 0.30
7,325 0.10 6.08 0.25 0.60 0.40 0.40 0.60 0.20
7,330 0.26 640.01 0.20 0.60 0.40 0.20 0.80 0.20
7,335 0.13 36.33 0.15 0.85 0.15 0.65 0.35 0.20
7,340 0.14 15.06 0.18 0.90 0.10 0.70 0.30 0.20
7,345 0.13 18.10 0.19 0.90 0.10 0.50 0.50 0.40
7,350 0.25 300.02 0.25 0.60 0.40 0.09 0.91 0.51
7,355 0.24 232.05 0.20 0.75 0.25 0.50 0.50 0.25
7,360 0.22 98.90 0.20 0.80 0.20 0.56 0.44 0.24
7,365 0.20 50.40 0.21 0.90 0.10 0.70 0.30 0.20
Average 0.19 (19 %) 145.80 0.20 (20 %) 0.73 (73 %) 0.27 (27 %) 0.44 (44 %) 0.66 (66 %) 0.29 (29 %)

true porosity in the sand laminae. The equations for determin-
ing the true sand porosity from the Thomas–Stieber plot in the
dispersed triangle are shown below:
V lam ¼ ðΦt −Φsd þ V sh ½1−Φsh ŠÞ=ð1−Φsd ÞV dp ¼ V sh −V lam ð1Þ
Φt d ¼ ðΦt −V lam V sh Þ=ð1−V lam Þ ð2Þ
where Vlam = volume of laminated clay, Φt = total porosity,
ΦSd = clean sand porosity, ΦSh = shale porosity, Vsh = volume
of shale, and Vdp = Volume of dispersed clays.

Fig. 6 a Standard Thomas–Stieber template. b Thomas–Stieber plot for the E3 Reservoir of Well K32. Comparing with the standard template reveals
laminated high net/gross sands. The sand lamina, however, contains some dispersed clays
Arab J Geosci
The fluids saturation in the sand laminae was determined
by taking the vertical resistivity (Rv) and horizontal resistivity
(Rh) of the sand beds into consideration. The Rv and Rh were
then used to calculate water saturation using the triaxial resis-
tivity tool (Rose et al. 2010). The module utilizes the input
logs to perform a forward model on the log responses and by
iterative inversion adjusts the formation parameters until a
satisfactory match to the input logs is obtained. The output
consists of laminated shale fraction, bulk volume porosity, and
most importantly, the sand lamination porosity and water
saturation. Additionally, the conventional Archie’s relation
was used to calculate for the water saturation of the E3
reservoir in order to compare the result with that obtained
from the LowRep relation. The Archie’s equation is given as:
S w ðArchieÞ ¼ ½aRw =Rt Φm Š1=n ð3Þ
Fig. 7 Layout showing the
corrections in petrophysical
properties by the LowRep model
of reservoir E3000 in well 32
where Sw = water saturation (fractional), Rw = formation water
resistivity, Φ = porosity (fractional), Rt = true resistivity, n =
saturation exponent = 1.8, m = cementation factor = 1.8, a =
Archie exponent = 0.62.
Results and discussion
The results from the core data description show that the E3000
reservoir is made up of stacked heterolithic sands (Fig. 4),
which are mainly of marine transgressive and lower shoreface
units. They are low-energy sands that usually truncate the
shoreface deposits. These sands are poorly sorted, with mul-
tiple shale laminae, and are characterized by intense bioturba-
tion, resulting in generally poor reservoir quality. The abun-
dance of multiple shale laminae within the sand interval gave
 Arab J Geosci

rise to the low-resistivity, low-contrast characteristics associ-
ated with the thinly bedded E3000 reservoir of well K32
(Fig. 4). To clearly understand the clay content nature of this
reservoir, the Thomas–Stieber plot was placed side by side
with standard Thomas–Stieber triangle (Fig. 6) to show the
degree of cluster of the different clay/shale forms in the
reservoir. The plot shows that the reservoir contains a cluster
of mainly laminated and dispersed clay. The effective porosity
of reservoirs is severely reduced by dispersed clay, whereas
laminated clays reduce effective porosity proportionally with
increase in clay volume. A close inspection of the reconstruc-
tion shows that most of the input and reconstructed logs are
almost overlay of each other. This shows that the end points
selected for the evaluation are proper sand and shale values.
The computed Archie water saturation gave a very high value
of 73 % (Fig. 5), while the LowRep (Thomas–Stieber) based
estimation gave a moderate water saturation value of 44 % for
the thinly bedded interval of the E3000 reservoir complex in
well K32 (Fig. 8, Table 2). Additionally, a conspicuous dis-
similarity as high as 29 % was recorded between the Archie’s
relations estimated water saturation and the clay-effect
corrected water saturation values (Thomas–Stieber) for the
reservoir E3000 (Table 2). This strongly confirms that the
Archie’s relation that is commonly used for estimating water
saturation overestimates results for shaly-sand reservoirs. The
overestimation is not unconnected to the bound water usually
associated with the clay minerals in sand reservoirs.
Relatively, low values for the true resistivity in E3000
reservoir known to be saturated with reasonable quantity of
gas (Figs. 4 and 5; Table 1) suggest that the zone is a low-

Fig. 8 Layout showing the water saturation models for the E3000 reservoir (well K32) in the last track. The red curve shows the conventional Archie’s
water saturation while the black curve shows the LowRep Archie’s saturation model
Arab J Geosci
resistivity pay interval. This effect was observed to be more
severe in reservoirs identified to have dominance of dispersed
clays as the clay will mask the true hydrocarbon resistivity;
thus giving false indication of the fluids present in the reser-
voirs. Intervals with dominance of laminated clays and rela-
tively higher clay volumes also exhibit this character.
The clay laminations observed in the E3000 reservoir
resulted in the low net-to-gross thickness (Table 1); hence,
few intervals that are free from shale intercalations have
relatively high net-to-gross thicknesses. The clay laminas
identified between otherwise clean reservoir sands serve as
vertical permeability barriers, creating compartmentalized res-
ervoir interval in a gross sand-shale succession. The relatively
low permeability values obtained from core analysis also
confirmed the heterolithic nature of the E3 reservoir. The
permeability values tend to increase with increase in porosity.
For instance, at the depths of 7,330 and 7,300 feet, high core
porosities of 26 and 25 % gave core permeability values of
640.1 and 272.76 millidarcies (mD), respectively (Table 2).
On the other hand, a low core porosity of 14 % gave a
corresponding low core permeability of 15.06 mD. The results
of the core-and-log porosities’ analysis show a distinct simi-
larity with average values of 19 and 20 %, respectively
(Table 2).
In the LowRep analysis and interpretation chart for the
E3000 reservoir (Fig. 7), track three shows the estimated
volume of clay/shale in the reservoir which are almost in
laminar form and consistent with the Thomas–Stieber plot
result (Fig. 6b). Track four is the bulk hydrocarbon saturation
with the saturation of the sand laminae. This track shows the
correction on the saturation when the effect of the laminated
shales has been considered. The next track is the equivalent
hydrocarbon column which is consistent with the hydrocarbon
saturation. The total porosity (sand plus shale fractions) and
sand porosity are about the same (Fig. 7, track 6). The inco-
herence is quite low in the sand or sandy zone and can give an
indication of the total net sand in the reservoir interval. The
recomputed properties were used to generate a model that
shows the average water and equivalent hydrocarbon satura-
tions (Fig. 8, Table 2). It can be seen that LowRep analysis
gives a more optimistic result and indicates that the low-
resistivity interval in the E3000 reservoir contains hydrocar-
bon, though still at low saturation. Its hydrocarbon saturation
(Sh) in the gas leg is 66 %, a 27 % increase from the conven-
tional Archie’s equation.
Conclusions
This study has shown that conventional wireline logs can be
used with core analysis to determine the clay heterogeneity
patterns as well as its effects in the reservoir quality. It has also
confirmed that the conventional use of the Archie’s equation
for estimating fluid’s saturation and effective porosity values
in shaly sands overestimates these parameters. The results
obtained the LowRep analysis has shown that the corrective
measures adopted are relatively adequate to account for the
clay heterogeneity effects in dirty sand reservoirs. It is there-
fore imperative that distribution patterns of clay forms be done
before taking measures to correct for the effect posed by these
clay forms on estimated petrophysical parameters. This is
important because the different clay form patterns affect
petrophysical properties differently. From the study, it is clear
that there is substantial opportunity to increase the hydrocar-
bon resource base in the Niger Delta by targeting these thinly
bedded pay opportunities.
Acknowledgments The authors are grateful to Shell Petroleum Devel-
opment Company (SPDC), especially the leadership team of the corpo-
rate petroleum engineering discipline (CPE) for the permission to publish
this work. This study benefitted immensely from the contributions of Dr.
Oden Ezimah and Petrophysics Discipline Team of SPDC Nigeria.
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