Pnge - 5

Petroleum Reservoir Engineering-I (PNGE-311)
Week-5:
Reservoir Rock Properties
Week-5
Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

What do we mean by Reservoir Rock Properties?
Reservoir rock properties are the fundamental properties that makes a rock a
reservoir rock which means a kind of rock formation storage for Petroleum or
Natural Gas.
A reservoir rock or best an oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface hydrocarbon

pool contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Crude oil or natural
gas, are trapped in the reservoir by underlying, less permeable rock
formations called a Seal or a Cap Rock.
A reservoir rock is different from the source rock which is a rock from which
hydrocarbon is being formed or generated while a reservoir rock is a
subsurface rock or storage for migrated hydrocarbons from the source rock.
Week-5: Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

- Reservoir Rock Properties Petroleum Reservoir Engineering-I (PNGE 311)
Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering Department, Cyprus International University
Week-5
Reservoir Rock Properties
There are quite a number of properties required for a rock to be
considered a Reservoir rock but the two principal properties are:
• Porosity
• Permeability
Other properties which are also very important to keep a
reservoir rock maintaining it functions as a pool holding
hydrocarbon are:
• Fluid Saturation
• Isothermal Compressibility
• Formation or Fluid Resistivity
• Capillary Pressure
• Surface and Interfacial Tension
• Wettability

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Some simple definitions
• Porosity: pores space within the rock.
• Permeability: transmissivity of the fluid within the rock.
• Fluid saturation: gross fluid distribution within the rock.
• Compressibility: the volume change due to pressure
change.
• Formation resistivity: electric current conductivity of the
rock and its contain fluids.

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Porosity:
This is the fraction or percentage of void or empty space in a rock or in any
material. The volume of the pore space. For a rock to be porous, it must have a
certain percentage of voids and pores. The total volume of pores whether
connected or not.
It is the ability of a rock to hold fluids in the pores. It is expressed as a
percentage by volume of the total rock and can range from very small porosities
(a few%) to very high (more than 40% in some chalks). Pores can be of several
types, especially in carbonate rocks. It is mostly calculated as thus;
*"+,-. "/ !"#.$ (*1 )

!"#"$%&' ø = ×100%
3"&4+ *"+,-. (*5 )
Porosity: measures the void spaces in material or rock, which can be expressed as
the fraction of the volume of the voids to the total volume of rock, and its
measures in percentage.

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ø
!"#"$%&'
*"+,-. "/ !"#.$ (*1 )
= ×100%
3"&4+ *"+,-. (*5 )
Consider this cube as your reservoir rock and Other data:

there are four pore spheres inside your rock. Calculate π = pi = 3.14
the porosity. V of sphere = 4/3 πr³
One side of the cube (a) is 4 inches V of cube = a³
Radius of sphere (r) is 1 inch

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Types of Porosity
v Primary porosity: formed during deposition of minerals or rocks. (aka: original
porosity)
Original Porosity: This is a primary formation of porosity, it is developed through
the deposition of rock materials, e.g. porosity between granular in sandstone.
v Secondary porosity: develop after the deposition of the rocks, such as fracture
pores. (aka: induced porosity)
Induced Porosity: This is a secondary formation of porosity, it is developed by some
geological process acting upon the deposited rock materials. e.g; Fractures, or vugs
cavity which usually occur in limestone (chemical reaction b/w CaCO3 and MgCl2).
• Rocks with original porosity are more uniform in their characteristics than those
rocks in which a large part of the porosity is induced.

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Porosity measurement
Porosity can be measured directly from the cores, geological well logs, or by siesmic
data.
Porosity determination technique :
I. Buoyance technique (effective) Φ= (vb-vma)/vb
II. Gas expansion method (effective)
III.Pycnometer method (total) Φ= (vb-vg)/vb
vg= weight of sample in air/ sand grain density.

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Classification of porosity
q Total porosity
q Effective porosity
q Ineffective porosity
• Total Porosity: In this case, the complete volume of the rock

is considered and the percentage of all pores are considered
whether they are connected or not.
• Effective Porosity: In this case the percentage of the pores

are considered but not all pores just the ones connected to
each other. This from is important for Petroleum Engineers.

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Factors that govern and affect Porosity
Porosity is being affected with it magnitude determined by a series of factors which are:
Grain Size/Grain Sorting: This depends on the size and arrangement of the grains or
better, rock particles. If small particles of silt or clay are mixed with larger sand
grains, it fills the pore and reduced effective porosity.
Degree of Cementation or Consolidation: During lithification, the highly cemented

sandstones have low porosities whereas the soft, unconsolidated rocks have high
porosities.
Amount of Compaction: Porosity decreases with increasing depth, it decreases with

depth under the compaction of overlaying sediments.
Methods of Packing: If grains are loosely packed, rocks will have higher porosities
comparing to the case that grains are tightly packed.

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Factors affect porosity
• Grain texture/ sorting: porosity decreases if small
particles of silt mixed with larger sand grains.
• Degree of cementation or consolidation:
uncosolidated rocks have high porosities.
• Amount of compaction: highly compacted yields low
porosity.
• Method of packing: rocks will have higher porosities
if the grain are loosely packed, comparing to the
rocks which are tighty packed.

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Permeability
u The capacity of a reservoir rock to transport fluids through

a system of Interconnected pores.
u The permeability is a 3 by 3 tensor. Flow direction matters
(for anisotropic reservoirs).
u The standard unit for permeability is the Darcy (d) or,
more commonly, the millidarcy (md).

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Permeability
• The ability of the reservoir rock to transmitt
fluid throug an interconnected pores.

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permeability

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Darcy’s Law
u The fundamental relationship given by Henry is
the basis for permeability determination.
u Darcy's law originates from the interpretation of
the results of the flow of water through an
experimental apparatus
u In this experiment, water was allowed to flow
downward through the sand pack contained in an
iron cylinder. Manometers located at the input
and output ends measured fluid pressures, which
were then related to flow rates to obtain the
following fundamental Darcy's law:

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Darcy’s Equation tells us…
1) If there is no potential gradient over a distance, flow will not occur
2) If there is a potential gradient, flow will occur from high potential

towards low potential
3) The greater the potential gradient, the greater the discharge rate
4) The discharge rate of fluid will often be different – through different

formation materials, or even through the same material in a different
direction - even if the same potential gradient exists in both cases.

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Following are the various factors that affect the
permeability:
1. Grain size.
2. Void ratio.
3. Particle shape.
4. Soil structure and fabric.
5. Pore fluid properties.
6. Adsorbed water (in clay).
7. Soil stratification.
8. Saturation degree.
9. Impurities and foreign matter.
10. Pore size distribution and flow path tortuosity.

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Absolute, Effective, Relative Permeability
u When the medium is saturated with one fluid, permeability measured
is absolute permeability and it does note depend on the nature of
the saturating fluid.
u When the rock pore spaces contain more than one fluid, then the
permeability to a particular fluid is called the effective permeability.
u Relative permeability is defined as the ratio of the effective
permeability to a fluid at a given saturation to the permeability to that
fluid at 100% saturation (absolute).
Kro = Ko / K
Krw = Kw / K
Krg = Kg / K
Kro, Krw and Krg are always less than 1.

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Permeability of Combination Layers
There are three simple permeability-averaging techniques that are commonly used
to determine an appropriate average permeability to represent an equivalent
homogeneous system. These are:
1. Weighted-average permeability
2. Harmonic-average permeability
3. Geometric-average permeability

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Fluid Saturation:
This can be considered as the fraction or percentage of the pore volume
occupied by a particular fluid in a reservoir rock and the fluid could be
either oil, gas or water.
$"%&'( ") *+% $"%&'( ") /01 $"%&'( ") 304(-

!" = !. = !2 =
,"-( $"%&'( ,"-( $"%&'( ,"-( $"%&'(
!" + !. + !2 = 1.0

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Fluid saturation
• Fluid saturation: refers to the fraction of the pore
volume occupied by a particular fluid to the volume of
a pores.
fluid content are: oil, gas and water.
So= vol.oil/vp ,
sg= vol.gas/vp ,
sw= vol.water/vp.
so+sg +sw = 1

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Classification of Fluid Saturations:
Critical Oil Saturation, Soc
For oil phase to flow, the saturation of the oil must exceed this value.
Residual Oil Saturation, Sor
During the displacement by water or gas injection, the remaining oil
left is this value.
Critical Gas Saturation, Sgc
As the pr declines below BPP, gas evolves.
The gas phase remains immobile until its saturation exceeds this value.
Critical Water Saturation, Swc
i.e. connate water saturation, irreducible water saturation.
The maximum water saturation at which water phase will remain
immobile.
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Formation or Fluid Resistivity:
This can be considered as the fraction or percentage of the pore volume occupied by a
particular fluid in a reservoir rock and the fluid could be either oil, gas or water.
$"%&'( ") *+% $"%&'( ") /01 $"%&'( ") 304(-

!" = ,"-( $"%&'(
!. = ,"-( $"%&'(
!2 = ,"-( $"%&'(
The resistivity of the fluid of a rock formation represents the value of the resistivity of
the water, oil or gas (uncontaminated by the drilling mud) which saturates the
porous formation.
7,
56 =
72/./"
56 = 59:;<=>9? 7@A>A=>B>=C 5<D=9:

7, = 7@A>A=>B>=C 9E F9:9GA 79DH !<;IJ@
72/./" = 7@A>A=>B>=C 9E K:>?@ 9: 9>J 9: L<A

Week-5
Formation resistivity
• Formation resistivity F is the ratio of the
r:
resistivity of a porous medium to resistivity of

brine
F R /R
r= p w
• A meterial with high resistivity means it has got

high resistance and will resist the flow of
electrons.

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Formation or Fluid Resistivity Formula:
Aside from the Formation Resistivity Factor (Fr) formula in the previous slide there are
two other formula derived by Archie and Humble respectively.
Knowing that Formation Resistivity Factor (Fr) is related to the fraction of void spaces in
the rock which is porosity and that this factor is also affected by the nature of
interconnection between pore spaces. i.e. the cementation and sorting of grains. Therefore
Archie and Humble came up with:
Archie’s Formula:
1
!" =
∅&
'ℎ)*) + ,- .ℎ) /)+)0.1.,20 31/.2* 4,33)*)0/) 32* 4,33)*)0. *2/5- 104 ,.- 6)0)*1778
.15)0 1- 2
Humble’s Formula:
0.62
!" =
∅=.>?

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Compressibility
• Compressibility: can be defined as the fraction
change in volume of the rock material with a
unit change in pressur.
c =(1/v )(дv / дp)
r r r
Types:
• Rock matrix compressibility.
• Rock bulk compressibility.
• Pore compressibility.

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Isothermal Compressibility:
Reservoirs subjected to overburden pressure caused by the weight of the
overlying formations. This is pressure rise and volume reduction due to the
weight of the overlying formations or sediments.
Overburden pressure gradient is typically: 1.0 psi/ft
Net Overburden Pressure (NOB) =
External stress (overburden pressure) - Internal stress (pore/reservoir
pressure)
Reservoir pressure gradient is typically: 0.5 psi/ft
Fluid production reduces the pore/reservoir pressure, hence NOB
increases. This will cause:
- Reduction of the bulk volume
- Expansion of the sand grains within the pore spaces
- Reduction in porosity
on the order of 5% for a 1000 psi change in internal pressure

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Capillary Pressure:
This is the coexistence of two or more immiscible fluids within
the voids of a porous medium, such as a reservoir rock. It gives
rise to capillary forces. As interfacial tension exists on the
boundary between two immiscible fluids in a pore space, the
interface is curved and there is a pressure difference across the
interface.
The pressure difference is termed the capillary pressure and
can be expressed as:
PC = Po - Pw
where:
Po is the oil pressure (non-wetting phase)
Pw is the brine pressure (wetting phase)

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Surface and Interfacial Tension:
Surface tension is the property of the liquid in contact with gas phase (usually air).
Interfacial tension, on the other hand, is the property between any two substances. It
could be liquid-liquid, liquid-solid or solid-air.
Surface and interfacial tension are usually presented by the symbol σ and it is
measured by force per unit length. Its SI unit is millinewton per meter (mN/m)
which is equivalent to often used cgs unit, dynes per centimeter (dynes/cm).
Surface and interfacial tension of fluids result from molecular properties occurring at
the surface or at the interface of two phases. Surface tension is the tendency of a
liquid to expose a minimum free surface.
Surface tension may be defined as the contractile tendency of a liquid surface
exposed to gases.
The interfacial tension is a similar tendency which exists when two immiscible
liquids are in contact.
They are sometimes considered essentially the same though cause Interfacial tension is the energy cost per unit
area associated with creating an interface between two things .e.g. Oil-water interface has a high interfacial
energy and water-soap interface is much lower. So when one of the things is air (or a gas), interfacial tension is
called surface tension.
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Wettability:
This is the tendency of a fluid to spread or adhere to a solid surface in the presence of
another immiscible fluid. Angles made by the fluid with the surface with which it is in
contact is called "the contact angle".
Depending on the type of fluid in contact with a solid surface, a reservoir could be; wet or
damp. Because of the appeal the wetting phase tends to occupy the smaller pores of the
rock and the non-wetting phase occupies the most channels.
A good knowledge of the wettability of reservoir rocks is essential in determining the
appropriate drive mechanism for a reservoir. This is an important control over the
recovery amount.
Wet hydrocarbon systems retard the mobility of hydrocarbons while wet water systems
promote hydrocarbon mobility.

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Questions.
a.A good reservoir rock is said to be enough
porous and permeable ?
b.Porosity is the ability of the rock to contain fluid
?
c.Permeability of a rock does not depends on a
fluid viscosity ?
d.Porosity increased as increased in depth of a
mineral or rocks?

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Answer
a)True
b)True
c)False
d)False

Week-5
THANK YOU
Next week: Midterm
Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

+90 532 798 85 50
+44 781 839 25 67
oyardimci@ciu.edu.tr

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Petroleum Reservoir Engineering-I (PNGE-311)

Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

A reservoir rock or best an oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface hydrocarbon

Week-5: Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

Week-5: Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

Week-5: Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

*"+,-. "/ !"#.$ (*1 )

Week-5: Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

Consider this cube as your reservoir rock and Other data:

Week-5: Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

Week-5: Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

Week-5: Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

• Total Porosity: In this case, the complete volume of the rock

• Effective Porosity: In this case the percentage of the pores

Week-5: Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

Degree of Cementation or Consolidation: During lithification, the highly cemented

Amount of Compaction: Porosity decreases with increasing depth, it decreases with

Week-5: Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

Week-5: Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

u The capacity of a reservoir rock to transport fluids through

Week-5: Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

Week-5: Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

Week-5: Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

Week-5: Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

2) If there is a potential gradient, flow will occur from high potential

4) The discharge rate of fluid will often be different – through different

Week-5: Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

Week-5: Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

Week-5: Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

Week-5: Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

$"%&'( ") *+% $"%&'( ") /01 $"%&'( ") 304(-

Week-5: Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

Week-5: Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

$"%&'( ") *+% $"%&'( ") /01 $"%&'( ") 304(-

56 = 59:;<=>9? 7@A>A=>B>=C 5<D=9:

Week-5: Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

resistivity of a porous medium to resistivity of

• A meterial with high resistivity means it has got

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Dr. Okan YARDIMCI

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"+,-. "/ !"#.$ (1 )