SPE 136805

Pore-Type Determination From Core Data Using a New Polar-Transformation

Function from Hydraulic Flow Units
Rodolfo Soto B. /SPE, Digitoil, Duarry Arteaga, Cintia Martin, Freddy Rodriguez / SPE,PDVSA Western Division
Copyright 2010, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Latin American and Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference in Lima, Peru, 13 December 2010.
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
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Abstract
A new sigmoidal function from polar transformation enables more accurate identification of pore types in fractured/vuggy
reservoirs. The function is based on a polar transformation that separates the pore systems into two regionsmatrix systems
and fracture/vug systemson the basis of hydraulic properties, reservoir quality index (RQI), flow-zone index (FZI), and
normalized porosity. The polar transformation exhibits a hyperbolic distribution for intergranular/intercrystalline pore sample
types at the point where they deviate from the trend so that we can identify pore types more accurately. Our new function has
been validated from image log data from wells of Lagomar and/or Lagomedio fields and core data from different fields around
the world, and we are certain that it will be of great help to the geoscientist when doing a reservoir characterization.
Introduction
A great number of reservoir systems are made up of different lithologies and pore types. The pore types could be matrix,
fractures and vugs or a combination of these. For example, Nelson (2001) defined four types of reservoirs to characterize
matrix and fracture systems:
Type 1 reservoirs, where fractures provide all of the storage capacity and permeability. This type of reservoir includes
the unconventional fractured granite basement reservoirs of the Cuu Long basin in offshore Southern Vietnam and the
Amal reservoir in Libya.
Type 2 naturally fractured reservoirs, where the matrix has negligible permeability but contains most if not all the
hydrocarbons. This type of reservoir includes the shale gas reservoirs in the United States, which contain up to 780 Tcf
of gas (Franz. and Jochen, 2005); the volcaniclastic reservoir in Cupen Mahuida field, Neuqun, Argentina (Zubiri and
Silvestro, 2007), and Agha Jari in Iran. In these reservoirs, natural fractures provide permeability and the matrix
provides storage of most of the hydrocarbons.
Type 3 reservoirs, where the matrix already has good primary permeability. The fractures add to the reservoir
permeability and can result in considerably high flow rates. Oil is trapped in both the matrix and fractures. Examples of
Type 3 reservois are the giant Kirkut field in Iraq, Ghawar field of Saudi Arabia, Gachsaran in Iran, Dukhan in Qatar,
and the big Cusiana field of Colombia. These reservoirs are some of the most prolific producers.
Type 4 reservoirs, where the fractures are filled with minerals. Fractures provide no additional porosity or permeability
but create a significant reservoir.
The definition of these four types of reservoirs, based on matrix and fracture systems, does not cover all the pore systems
present in the real world, and in general, one of the potential problems when more than one pore type is present in a reservoir
is related to nonreconigtion of one of the them on plug samples and reservoirs.
Determining the kind of pore types in core and log data is not easy. Consequently, petrophysicists and geologists developing
petrophysical models often erroneously apply the methodologies and equations designed for intergranular/intercrystalline
reservoir systems to complex systems (intergranular/ intercrystalline, fracture, and/or vug pore type). However, if we have a
complex pore type system, the cementation exponent, m, is not constant but variable; and changes in the cementation exponent
value can greatly affect water saturation calculated by the Archie equation, affecting the original oil in place (OOIP), the
reserves, and the evaluation of potential pay zones. Often, the difference between economic and noneconomic production

SPE 136805

depends on the time the presence of fractures is detected in the life of the field. In general, for reservoir types where storage
and permeability are presented in the matrix and fractures, virtually all potential problems are related to nonreconigtion of the
fracture system.
Several investigators have attempted to solve this problem by developing methods from core analysis (Kamath et al., 1990
Hopkins, et al., 1991; Ning and Holditch, 1993), well logging using a series of crossplots (Asquith 1995; Soto-B. et al. 2010),
pressure transient analysis, and 3D seismic data. Each of those methods has certain advantages, limitations, applicability and
reliability.
This paper discusses a new methodology to recognize the presence of more than one pore type from permeability and porosity
core data.
Hydraulic Flow Unit Classification Using Reservoir Quality Index (RQI) and Flow Zone Index (FZI)
The first step in this methodology is to apply the concepts of reservoir quality index (RQI) and flow unit indicator (FZI) to
classify core data in hydraulic flow units (HFU) according to Amaefule et al. (1993). This concept lets us average the rock
properties with minimal error. In this case, the RQI and FZI parameters are calculated using the following relationships:
k
RQI matrix = 0 .0314 * core
core

z = (core /(1 core) .

FZI = RQI

. .................................................................................(1)

............................................................................... ........................(2)

................................................................................................................(3)
z

log(RQI) = log(FZI) + log( Z ) ...............................................................................................(3a)

Therefore, a plot of RQI versus z on log-log scale will delineate the flow units with FZI constant for each unit. However,
these equations were developed assuming a matrix system where the porosity and permeability are intergranular/
intercrystalline, which means they may not be sufficient for more complex formations.
Polar Arm and Angle
The second step is to validate whether the hydraulic flow units belong to more than one pore system. We found that a good
way to identify the pore type of the core data is to make a transformation of FZI and z called the polar arm, r:
r = z *

(FZI

+1

)] . ......................................................................................................(4)

and calculate the polar angle as:

polar = ATAN(FZI) . ............................................................................................................(5)

If we plot the polar arm vs. polar angle (Fig. 1), we can see that polar transformation exhibits a hyperbolic distribution for
intergranular/intercrystalline pore samples. On that plot we have used core data from reservoirs in different parts of the world:
Venezuela, the USA, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Those core data sets also include some fractured/vuggy data sets known from lab
data. It is easy to see that fractured/vuggy pore samples deviate from the hyperbolic trend and let us identify pore types more
accurately. We have developed a sigmoidal function that separates the plot into two regions:

polar region = A+B/ {1+ exp[-(r-C )/D ]} . ............................................................................................ (6)

where A = -3.5916207; B = 5.06265818; C = -0.72243226; D = 0.371324681.

SPE 136805

Above the sigmoidal function, the data fall into the fracture or vuggy system, and below that region, they belong to the
intergranular/intercrytalline system. If RQI, z, and FZI are calculated using a spreadsheet, it is easy to also calculate Eqs. 4, 5,
and 6 and compare the values from Eqs. 5 and 6: if the value calculated from Eq. 5 is less than or equal to the value calculated
from Eq. 6, the core data are intergranular, but if not the core data pore type could be fractured or vuggy. We also validated
this sigmoidal function with image log data from the data set of the Lagomar and Lagomedio fields in the Cretaceous
formation at Lake of Maracaibo in Venezuela.

Sigmoidal Function to Differenciate Pore Type

Systems
1.8

Fracture/Vuggs
polar angle, ATAN(FZI)

1.6
1.4

Intercrystalline

1.2

USA RESERVOIR
ARAB RESERVOIR

IRAK RESERVOIR

0.8

CRETACEOUS LAKE- ALL PORETYPE

MODEL_SIGMOIDAL

0.6

SVS-225_DATE FRACTURE DESCRIPCIN

0.4

SVS-225_DATE INTERGRANULAR
DESCRIPCION
VLA-1562_DATE LOG IMAGEN VUGGY

0.2

VLA-1562_DATE LOG IMAGEN FRACTURE

VLA-1562_DATE LOG IMAGEN
INTERGRANULAR

0
0

0.5

1.5

2.5

Polar Arm, r,z*(FZI

+1)

3.5

1/2

Fig. 1Sigmoidal function diferentiates pore type systems from core data using polar transformation of FZI and z.

Flow Properties Determination for Fracture Pore Systems

According to Tiab et al. (1993), for a naturally fractured or vuggy reservoir system, permeability is given as a function of total
porosity, specific surface area, and m as follows:

k=

t2 m +1 . .........................................................................................................(7)
1
S gv2 FS (1 t ) 2

Therefore, following the hydraulic flow units concept, Ohen et al. (2001) defined RQI for fractured systems as
FRQI = 0.0314

t2 m-1

, . ......................................................................................................(8)

and therefore the relationship between RQI and FZI defined in Eq. 3 for a fractured system is as follows:

log(FRQI) = log(FRZI) + log( Z ) . ....................................................................................(9)

And using the same concept of hydraulic units, HU, for a matrix pore system, a plot of FRQI versus z on a log-log scale will
delineate the flow units (Soto B. et al. 1993, 2001).

SPE 136805

Determination of Hydraulic Flow Units in a Complex Pore System:

Cretaceous Formation at Maracaibo Lake
The cretaceous formation at Maracaibo Lake contains carbonate reservoirs with a variety of pore types (see Soto-B. et al.
2010) such as intergranular/intercrystalline, vugs and fractures. To determine the hydraulic flow units, we used core
permeability and porosity from Wells VLA-711, VLA-978, VLA-1562, and UD-791 from Lagomar field and Well SVS-225
from Lagomedio field. Some of that data was reported from the core laboratory as fractured and vuggy and was validated with
image logs (see Fig. 2).
To verify the reported data and recognize the presence of various pore types from the other lab, we applied Eqs. 1 through 6
and put the results into Fig. 1. Then, to determine the hydraulic flow units, we applied the procedure explained by Soto B. et
al. )(using the Eqs.1 through 3 for intercrystalline pore systems and Eqs. 8 and 9 for fracture systems. We found 11 hydraulic
flow units that represent all of the pore system types: five hydraulic units for intercrystalline systems, five for fractures, and
one for vugs (Fig. 3).

15822

15846

Example
PHIvuggy
and
PHIfracture
matching
image
well VLA1562
Ejemplo
FMAPON
APON FM,
Cotejo
PHIfracture
y PHIvuggy
con Registro
de log
Imagen
FMIofVLA-1562

Fig. 2Fracture and vuggy pore types from cores compared with the formation microimaging (FMI) log in the VLA-1562 well.

Hydraulic

Flow Units: all Pore Type Systems

Cretaceus, Maracaibo Lake

100.000

Fracture Flow Units

10.000

3
4
1.000

RQI

Vug Flow Units

11
6

Intercrystalline Flow Units

7
8
9
10

0.100

0.010

0.001
0.001

HU1_F

0.010

HU2_F

HU3_F

HU4_F

HU5_F

HU6_Interc

HU7_Interc

0.100

HU8_Interc

1.000

HU9_Interc

HU10_interc

HU11_VUG

Fig.3The hydraulic flow units appear clearly in the pore complex system for Cretaceous Formation at Lake of Maracaibo.

Table 1 shows the ranges or limits of FZI and RQI for fractures and intergranular pore and rock types. From this rock typing
discrimination, we were able to determine a complex permeability model using fuzzy logic to predict the permeability for all

SPE 136805

of the pore-type systems in these reservoirs.

Table 1Ranges of FZI and RQI for Fracture and Intergranular Pore and Rock Type

Characterization of Rock Typing

Cretaceous Formation
Range of Values of FZI and RQI

PORE TYPE

ROCK TYPE

FZI>259

124<FZI<=259

24<FZI<=124

11<FZI<=24

0.3<RQI<=1

0<FZI<=11

0<RQI<=0.3

0.49<FZI<=0.597

0.0079<RQI<=0.0086

0.308<FZI<=0.49

0.0069<RQI<=0.0079

10

Fracture system

FZI>0.77
0.597<FZI<=0.77

0<FZI<=0.308

RQI>10

3<RQI<=10
1<RQI<=3

RQI>0.0093
0.0086<RQI<=0.0093

0<RQI<=0.0069

Intergranular system

Conclusion
We have found that a plot of the the polar arm, r, against the polar angle, polar, exhibits a hyperbolic distribution for
intergranular/intercrystalline pore samples, so that fractured/vuggy pore samples deviate from the trend and let us identify pore
types more accurately. The polar angle, polar, comes from the polar-transformation of the flow zone index, FZI, and z.
A new sigmoidal function from that polar-transformation separates the pore systems into two regions: matrix systems and
fracture/vug systems. This new methodology enabled us to discriminate the presence of more than one pore type from
permeability and porosity core data. When this occurs, the hydraulic flow units are calculated more accurately and reduce the
uncertainty in developing confident permeability and water saturation models or any other implication in the development of
petrophysical models.
Nomenclature
ATAN = arctangent
m = cementation exponent
e = effective porosity
core = core porosity
t = total porosity
K = permeability
Kcore = core permeability
Sgv = grain specific surface area
Fs = pore throat shape factor
FRQI = reservoir quality index for fractured rock system.
FRZI = flow zone index for fractured rock system.
FZI = flow zone index for intercrystalline rock system.
r = polar arm
RQImatrix = reservoir quality index for intercrystalline rock system.
polar = polar angle

SPE 136805

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