Permeability and acoustic velocity controlling factors determined from x-ray tomography images of carbonate rocks
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Carbonate reservoir rocks exhibit a great variability in texture that directly impacts petrophysical parameters. Many exhibit bi- and multimodal pore networks, with pores ranging from less than 1 μm to several millimeters in diameter. Furthermore, many pore systems are too large to be captured by routine core analysis, and well logs average total porosity over different volumes. Consequently, prediction of carbonate properties from seismic data and log interpretation is still a challenge. In particular, amplitude versus offset classification systems developed for clastic rocks, which are dominated by connected, intergranular, unimodal pore networks, are not applicable to carbonate rocks.
Pore geometrical parameters derived from digital image analysis (DIA) of thin sections were recently used to improve the coefficient of determination of velocity and permeability versus porosity. Although this substantially improved the coefficient of determination, no spatial information of the pore space was considered, because DIA parameters were obtained from two-dimensional analyses. Here, we propose a methodology to link local and global pore-space parameters, obtained from three-dimensional (3-D) images, to experimental physical properties of carbonate rocks to improve P-wave velocity and permeability predictions. Results show that applying a combination of porosity, microporosity, and 3-D geometrical parameters to P-wave velocity significantly improves the adjusted coefficient of determination from 0.490 to 0.962. A substantial improvement is also observed in permeability prediction (from 0.668 to 0.948). Both results can be interpreted to reflect a pore geometrical control and pore size control on P-wave velocity and permeability.
Pore geometrical parameters derived from digital image analysis (DIA) of thin sections were recently used to improve the coefficient of determination of velocity and permeability versus porosity. Although this substantially improved the coefficient of determination, no spatial information of the pore space was considered, because DIA parameters were obtained from two-dimensional analyses. Here, we propose a methodology to link local and global pore-space parameters, obtained from three-dimensional (3-D) images, to experimental physical properties of carbonate rocks to improve P-wave velocity and permeability predictions. Results show that applying a combination of porosity, microporosity, and 3-D geometrical parameters to P-wave velocity significantly improves the adjusted coefficient of determination from 0.490 to 0.962. A substantial improvement is also observed in permeability prediction (from 0.668 to 0.948). Both results can be interpreted to reflect a pore geometrical control and pore size control on P-wave velocity and permeability.
Date Issued
2016-08-31
Date Acceptance
2016-02-25
Citation
AAPG Bulletin, 2016, 100 (8), pp.1289-1309
ISSN
0149-1423
Publisher
American Association of Petroleum Geologists
Start Page
1289
End Page
1309
Journal / Book Title
AAPG Bulletin
Volume
100
Issue
8
Copyright Statement
© 2016 The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved. Gold Open Access. This paper is published under the terms of the CC-BY license.
License URL
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Geology
SEISMIC-WAVES
2-PHASE MEDIA
PORE SYSTEMS
POROSITY
MODEL
ATTENUATION
PREDICTION
PRESSURE
Energy
0403 Geology
0914 Resources Engineering And Extractive Metallurgy
Publication Status
Published