Ali Darwesh

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• This chapter will present the origins of pore pressure and principles of its determination.

• Toward

• 1. Better understand lithological columns

• 2. Reduce potential hole problems before producing a final well plan.

• 3. Design safe mud weights to overcome fracturing the formation and prevent well kicks.

• 4. Designing and selection of casing weights/grades. 5. Cementing design,

• 6. kick control, 7. Selection of wellhead and Xmas trees and

• 8. Rig rating.

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2.0 DEFINITIONS
• All formations penetrated during the drilling of a well contain
pressure which may vary in magnitude depending on depth, location
and other parameters.

• In order to understand the nature, extent and origin of formation

pressures, it is necessary to define and explain basic wellbore
pressure concepts.

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2.1 HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE

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• When planning or drilling a well it is often more convenient to refer to
hydrostatic pressures in terms of a pressure gradient. (psi/ft), and
relative to a fixed datum, such as seabed, MSL or ground level

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• The resulting (pressure gradient) allows direct comparison of pore,
fracture and overburden pressures with mud weights and Equivalent
Circulating Density (ECD).

• When pressure gradients are used to express magnitudes of wellbore

pressure, it is usual to record these as Equivalent Mud Weight (EMW) in
ppg.

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 Example 1.1: Hydrostatic Pressure

Solution

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2.2 POROSITY & PERMEABILITY
• Porosity is the total pore (void) space in a rock

• Permeability is the rock media ability of fluid flow through it.

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2.3 OVERBURDEN PRESSURE
• It is defined as the pressure exerted by the total weight of overlying
formations above the point of interest.

• The total weight is the combined weight of both the formation solids
(rock matrix) and formation fluids in the pore space.

• The density of the combined weight is referred to as the bulk density

ρb.

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• In each area, the overburden gradient is not constant with depth due to

variations in formation density and the degree of compaction

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 2.4 GENERATION OF OVERBURDEN VS. DEPTH GRAPH

• It needs for a well plan and the analysis of pore and fracture pressures.

• Figure 1.1 a shows a plot of bulk density vs. depth, which is generated from
wireline logs.

• This figure can then be used to generate an overburden gradient vs. depth
plot by merely applying Equation (1.4) at selected depths, as shown in Figure
1.1 b.

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Example 1.2: Overburden Gradient Calculations

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 2.5 EFFECTS OF WATER DEPTH ON OVERBURDEN GRADIENT

• In offshore operations, the depth of the sea (length of the water column)
determines how much the overburden gradient is reduced.

• The reduction in overburden gradient is due to water being less dense than rock
and for a given height; the hydrostatic head caused by water is less than that caused
by any rock.

• Hence, offshore wells will have lower overburden gradient near the surface.

• In onshore wells, the near surface overburden gradient is influenced mainly by the
uncompacted surface sediments.
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Example 1.3: Overburden Gradient Calculations For Offshore Wells

• Determine the overburden gradient at various depths for the

following offshore well:

RKB=rotary kelly bushing

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 2.6 MATRIX STRESS
• Matrix stress is defined as the stress under which the rock material is
confined in a particular position in the earth’s crust.

• The matrix stress acts in all directions and is usually represented as a triaxial
stress, using the Greek symbol , pronounced Sigma (further details are given
in Chapter 2.

• The overburden load is supported at any depth by the vertical component of

the rock matrix stress ( ) and the pore pressure.

• This relationship is expressed as:

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• The above simple expression is used in many mathematical models to
quantify the magnitudes of pore pressure using data from various
drilling or petrophysical sources.

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• It is defined as the pressure acting on the fluids in the pore spaces of
the rock.
• Depending on the magnitude of pore pressure, it can be either
normal, abnormal or subnormal.
• A definition of each follows.

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 3.1 NORMAL PORE PRESSURE
• It is equal to the HP of a column of formation fluid extending from the surface to
the subsurface formation being considered
• In other words, if the formation was opened up and allowed to fill a column
whose length is equal to the depth of the formation then the pressure at the
bottom of the column will be equal to the formation pressure and the pressure at
surface is equal to zero.
• The magnitude of normal pore pressure varies with the concentration of dissolved
salts, type of fluid, gases present and temperature gradient.
• For example, as the concentration of dissolved salts increases the magnitude of
normal pore pressure increases
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 3.2 ABNORMAL PORE PRESSURE
• Defined as any pore pressure that is greater than the hydrostatic pressure of
the formation water occupying the pore space.

• Abnormal pressure is sometimes called overpressure or geopressure.

• Abnormal pressure can be thought of as being made up of a normal

hydrostatic component plus an extra amount of pressure.

• This excess pressure is the reason why surface control equipment (e.g. BOPs)
are required when drilling oil and gas wells.
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• The cause of abnormal pore pressure is attributed to a combination of
various geological, geochemical, geothermal and mechanical changes.

• However, for any abnormal pressure to develop there must be an

interruption to or disturbance of the normal compaction and de-watering
process as will be outlined later in this chapter.

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 3.3 SUBNORMAL PORE PRESSURE

• Subnormal pore pressure is defined as any formation pressure that is less

than the corresponding fluid HP at a given depth.

• Subnormal pressures may have natural causes related to the stratigraphic,

tectonic and geochemical history of an area, or may have been caused
artificially by the production of reservoir fluids.

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Abnormal pore pressure is developed as a result of or combination of
geological, geochemical, geophysical and mechanical process.
These causes may be summarised under:
• Depositional Effects
• Diagenetic Processes
• Tectonic Effects
• Structural Causes; and
• Thermodynamic Effects
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 4.1 DEPOSITIONAL EFFECTS
4.1.1 UNDERCOMPACTION OF SHALES
• Normal compaction of sediments occurs as follows:

• 1. The volume of a sediment is reduced as the grains are squeezed together due to the weight of the
overlying sediments.

• 2. The weight of the overlying sediments causes a reorganization of the grains of the volume of sediments
below and the expulsion of intergranular fluid.

• 3. The porosity of the volume sediment is reduced.

• 4. The degree of compaction is controlled by original porosity, the amount of pore fluid and shape and degree
of sorting of rock grains.

• 5. Normal compaction usually leaves the pore fluid in the sediment at hydrostatic or normal pressure.

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• Under compaction of sediments is the process whereby abnormal pore pressure is
developed as a result of a disruption of the balance between rate of sedimentation of
clays and the rate of expulsion of the pore fluids as the clays compact with burial.

• This disruption can result from:

• • an increase in the rate of sedimentation

• • reduction in the rate of fluid expulsion caused by

• (i) a decrease in permeability due to solids blocking the passages or

• (ii) the deposition of a permeability barrier such as limestone or evaporite stringers.

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• When disruption to the normal compaction process occurs, three things happen:

• 1. the same volume of pore fluid remains in the rock

• 2. porosity of the rock is maintained at the new depth and fluids can not escape and
compaction of the rock is prevented

• 3. the fluid begins to support the increasing weight of the overburden and
consequently its pressure increases, and further compaction is inhibited

• It should be noted that most pressure detection techniques are based on establishing a
normal clay compaction trend and any deviation from this normal trend is an
indication of overpressure or less frequently under pressure.

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 4.1.2 DEPOSITION OF EVAPORITES

• Halite is an evaporitic rock formed from the evaporation of sea waters; its
thickness varies from a few feet to thousands of feet.

• Halite is totally impermeable to fluids and behaves like a sponge (highly

viscous) absorbing the overburden stress from above and then exerting equal
stresses in all three directions.

• As we shall see in Chapter 5, this stress system requires casing set across salt
section to have a very high collapse strength.

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• When salt is deposited, the pore fluids in the underlying formations
cannot escape and therefore become trapped and abnormally
pressured.

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Salt Diaparism
• Diapirs often occur both at continental margins and in foreland basins.

• They are the result of upward flow of underground low-density and high-

plasticity materials (such as rock salt, gypsum, mudstone and magma)

under conditions of differential pressure or tectonic stress.

• Salt has no porosity and no permeability and therefore can be a perfect

seal.
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The creation of the salt dome can lead to abnormal pressure
development in surrounding formations in two ways:

1. • Firstly, the movement of the salt creates additional tectonic

stresses within the overlying sediments whilst at the same time
providing a lateral seal limiting pore water expulsion.

• These tectonic stresses usually create folding and faulting in

the surrounding zones.
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• Secondly the salt may encapsulate rafters of overlying
formations (usually limestones and dolomites) as it flows
upwards, trapping pressures within the rafters.

• In this instance the salt prohibits further de-watering of the

rafter and abnormal pressure will develop.

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4.1.3 DIAGENETIC PROCESSES
• With increasing pressure and temperature, sediments undergo a
process of chemical and physical changes collectively known as
diagenesis.

• Diagenetic processes include the formation of new minerals,

recrystallisation and lithification.

• Diagenesis may result in volume changes and water generation which if

occurring in a seabed environment may lead to both abnormal or sub-
normal pore pressure.
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4.1.4 TECTONIC EFFECTS

• Tectonic activity can result in

the development of
abnormal pore pressure as a
result of a variety of
mechanisms including:
folding, faulting, uplift and
salt diaparism.
• Salt diaparism was discussed
earlier.

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 4.2 STRUCTURAL CAUSES
4.2.1 RESERVOIR STRUCTURE

• Abnormal pore pressure can exist in both horizontal and non-horizontal

reservoir structures which contain pore fluids of differing densities i.e.
water, oil and gas.

• Examples of structures in which this may occur are lenticular reservoirs,

dipping reservoirs and anticlinal reservoirs.

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4.2.2 PIEZOMETRIC FLUID LEVEL
• Aquifer systems can exhibit abnormal pore pressure dependent upon the
structure of the aquifer and the relative elevation of the wellsite to the
water table elevation.
• Abnormal pore pressure will be experienced if the water table in the
aquifer is higher than the wellsite elevation.
• Conversely subnormal pressures may be experienced if the elevation of the
wellsite is greater than the elevation of the water table in the aquifer.
• The influence of piezometrics is most noticeable in onshore wells in arid
areas and in near shore wells affected by the sea and flowing rivers.

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4.3 THERMODYNAMIC PROCESSES

• Thermodynamic processes may be considered as additional

contributory factors in most of the causes of abnormal pore pressures
discussed earlier.

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 repeat formation tester

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