Capítulo III

Yacimientos Naturalmente
Fracturados Vugulares
 Outcrop of fractured-vuggy medium. This kind of medium, such as carbonate reservoir, J.Y. Zhao-Q. Huang: Fractured Vuggy Carbonate
underground karst aquifer, etc., exist extensively in nature. A fracture is the smallest Reservoir Simulation, Springer Geophysics, 2017

geologic structure, almost existing in all the stratums. Lucia defined vugs as a sort of caves whose pore spaces are larger than
intergranular pore which are formed because of dissolution occurring in carbonate & sulfate. Vugs can be connecting with

fractures in stratum as in Fig. 3.1b, f. Fractured-vuggy medium has complicated internal structure, including multi-scale spatial vugs,
whose volumes range from millimeter scale to meter scale. Meanwhile a large number of logging, core, & outcrop materials indicate
that fractures & vugs can be filled by calcite, dolomite, etc.,
 Introducción
Durante el proceso de disolución se formaron vúgulos en los carbonatos. Estos
vúgulos pueden estar aislados ó conectados entre sí. La conexión entre vúgulos
puede darse a través de halos de alta porosidad que los rodean. Así se tienen en
algunos casos medios porosos vugulares con diferentes % de porosidad en
matriz, halos porosos, y vúgulos.

M. Díaz V. R. Cazar G.: Geoestadística Aplicada, Ejemplo de Simulación, 2004, IMP

Fig. 1- BTP-KS, T-1 well, core 1,interval: Cretaceous rock is mainly a breccia, which is made Martínez-Ibarra, R.: “Servicios Técnicos Especializados
para la Caracterización de Procesos Diagenéticos y
3202-3207 m, recovered length 1.45 m. up of fragments of mudstone-wackestone & Distribución de Facies en los Campos de Aceite Pesado
packstone, with secondary ϕ in fractures & del Proyecto Ayatsil Tekel”, Entregable Técnico 7.
dissolution cavities. T-1
well drilled with a
Cretaceous package of
580 m, of which 150 m
belong to breccia in the
upper Cretaceous,
130 m are rocks of KM
& 300 m from KI.
Dolomitized breccias
with vuggy ϕ were
deposited on top of KS.
Presence of vugs is
common in most cores cut in the breccia. Fig. 1 presents the core 1 of T-1 well,
demonstrating the above. In the diagenetic facies BTPKS B, ϕ evolves by
dissolution to vuggy ϕ.
It also presents
remnant ϕ associated
with fractures, which is
preserved when the
fracture is partially
cemented. It is also
important to ϕ in
fractures widened by
dissolution & ϕ
associated to
intersection of fractures, Fig. 2—Diagenetic facies BTPKS B.
which can generate
vugs. Also, it presents
intercrystalline ϕ
restricted to dissolution
halos around vugs
impregnated with oil as
shown in Fig. 2.
In the BTPKS-C facies,
the diagenetic
characteristics are
penetrating
R.Y. Shang, et.al.: Fracture Pattern and Associated Aperture Distribution: Example from The Foothills, Western Canada, SPWLA 46 Annual Logging Symposium, June 26-29, 2005 .

Network properties of a 2D natural pattern, mapped from the surface of a wellbore, are investigated by
using borehole images. Electrical images are essentially conductivity map of borehole wall within the
flushed zone. Electrical images can be transformed into a porosity map by using the classic Archie
saturation eqn in flushed zone. By statistically examining the distribution of ϕ over a short interval (1.2
in), it is possible to separate ϕm fraction from that of
fracture and vugs.

From the analysis of the images we can extract either conductive or resistive features from the data. Comprehensive processing is
performed to precisely contour the edges of each feature and to determine the degree to which these features are interconnected.
Fracture/vug connectivity/ permeability index can be calculated. This technique has been used in a number of wells and results
correlate with production data.
 Stokes–Brinkman eqs on a Multiscale Mixed Finite El with Darcy model
Method

A. Gulbransen, et.al: A Multiscale Mixed Finite-element Method For Vuggy and Naturally-fractured Reservoirs, 21 Nordic Seminar on Computational Mechanics,
2008

Case 1 considers inclusion of several circular vugs in a homogeneous porous medium represented on a 90 × 90 grid. Fig 1 shows
MsMFE soln computed on a coarse 3 × 3 grid, compared with a reference solution obtained by solving the Stokes–Brinkman eqs on
fine grid. MsMFE soln resolves global flow pattern correctly & that details around vugs are

well captured. Case 2 considers a combination of vugs & fractures that connect some of the vugs & provide long-range correlation in

reservoir. Fig 2 shows MsMFE soln compared with fine-scale reference soln. Also in this case, MsMFE method is able to accurately
J. Y. Zhao-Q. Huang: Fractured Vuggy Carbonate Reservoir Simulation, Springer Geophysics, 2017 Fig. 6.20 Schematic of three sample models
Fracture-vugs
model shown
in Fig. 6.20 is
constructed.
The model is
calculated by
MsMFEM
(Multi-Scale
Mixed Finite
Element
Method) &
FEM,
respectively.
The sample is
25 mX25 m. A
pressure
gradient of 1.0
MPa/m along
x-direction is
Fig. 6.21 Pressure and velocity distributions. created by
a FEM, b MsMFEM imposing
pressure on
the left & right Fig. 6.22 Pressure distribution for
vertical fine-scale solution and MsMFEM
boundary. No
flow at top &
bottom sides of
the domain. k
is 10 −6 m2.
Aperture of
fractures = 10
cm. Pressure distributions
along x-direction on y = 12
m is shown in Fig. 6.22.
Numerical results have
shown that the results
from MsMFEM are in
close agreement with fine-
scale solutions.
NF karst reservoirs presents multiple challenges for numerical simulations of
various fluid flow problems. Such reservoirs are characterized by the presence
of fractures, vugs & caves at multiple scales, as shown in Fig. 1.

The media can be described, at each individual scale, as an

ensemble of porous media with well defined properties (ϕ, k), & a free flow region
where the fluid (oil, water, gas) meets no resistance from the surrounding rock

P. Popov, et.al.: Multiscale Modeling & Simulations of Flows in Naturally Fractured Karst Reservoirs, Communications in Computational
Physics, 2009.
Background permeability field is homogeneous with k = 1mD. The fine-scale solution is shown in Fig. 4. It can
be seen that, velocity inside the vugs several times bigger than in the matrix & connected nearby vugs tend to
create flow channels. Moreover, the velocity profile in elongated vugs resembles that of a Poiseuille flow with
the maximum velocity in the center of the vug.

P. Popov, et.al.: Multiscale Modeling & Simulations of Flows in Naturally Fractured Karst Reservoirs, Communications in
Computational Physics, 2009.
Z. Kang, Y.-S. Wu, J. Li, Y.
Wu, J. Zhang, G. Wang,
Modeling Multiphase Flow
in Naturally Fractured
Vuggy Petroleum
Reservoirs, Society of
Petroleum Engineers,
2006. doi:
10.2118/102356-MS.

Diagrama
esquemático
modificado de un
sistema fracturado
vugular
Influencia de Características de Redes de Fracturas
y Vúgulos, y Matriz en Capacidad de
Almacenamiento y en Productividad de Pozos

Red densa de Red poco densa de

fracturas conectadas fracturas / red no
conectada
Alta capacidad de Alta capacidad de Vúgulos
Red de almacenamiento y almacenamiento y Aislados,
vúgulos pozos altamente pozos con mediana buena ϕm y
Conectados productivos producción km

Vúgulos Mediana capacidad de Mediana capacidad de Vúgulos

Aislados-sin almacenamiento y almacenamiento y pozos Aislados-sin,
vugs, buena pozos altamente con mediana producción buena ϕm , km
ϕm,km productivos
Sin vúgulos, Baja capacidad de Baja capacidad de Sin vúgulos,
baja ϕm y km almacenamiento y pozos almacenamiento y pozos baja ϕm y km
con alta –mediana con poca producción
producción
 Caves were grouped into seven tectonic units according to their location
in the structural-tectonic map (Fig. 1). With minor deviation in the left-
and side of the plot, cave lengths follow power law distribution (linear
line in log-log plot), characteristic for fractal behaviour. The median
values of lengths (Tab. 1) are quite similar, except
for the group of Adriatic foreland, & have the value
around 23 m. Fractal dimensions enable more
appealing insight into the cave length properties
than classical statistical approach using the median
or other statistics, & they vary among the tectonic
units (Tab. 1). All results exhibit a very high value of
Rˆ2 . Note that the values of D & R 2 in the table are
valid only for the linear part, not for the complete
curve. The lowest values can be found in the
tectonic units of Periadriatic igneous rocks & Internal
Dinarides, & the highest in the unit of External
Dinarides & also in Southern Alps. The number of
analyzed caves (N=9) in the Adriatic foreland is too
small to comment reliably, & deviations of the curve
Timotej
Fig. 1:Verbovšek: Fractal analysis
Structural-tectonic settingofofthe distribution
the caves of cave lengths in Slovenia, Acta can be also seen in the plot (Fig. 2), so the D could
Carsologica 36/3, 369-377, Postojna 2007 not be calculated.

Fig. 2: Log-log distribution plot for the number of caves (N)

longer than a specific length (L) in diferent tectonic settings
 Fig. 4: Log-log distribution plot for the number of caves
(N) longer than a specific length (L) in diferent
hydrogeological settings
Timotej Verbovšek: Fractal analysis of the distribution of cave lengths in Slovenia, Acta
Carsologica 36/3, 369-377, Postojna 2007
Similar behaviour of cave length
distribution can be observed in the plot
(Fig. 4) for the diferent hydrogeological
units (Fig. 3). The highest values (Tab. 2)
are found in aquifers with karstic and
fracture porosity and those with fracture
porosity (D=1.06) and lowest in the aquifers
and beds with intergranular porosity
(D=0.87, D=0.86). Deviations occur only for
the group “Beds wit low porosity”, as D is
greater than expected, about 1.08. This
curve does not show such a linear trend as
the others, and the number of the data is
much smaller
Fig. 3: Hydrogeological setting of the
caves
 Timotej Verbovšek: Fractal analysis of the distribution of cave Caves were grouped into 3 classes (±150m, ±250m &
lengths in Slovenia, Acta Carsologica 36/3, 369-377, Postojna ±500m), whether they fell into the 300m, 500m or 1000m
2007 wide belt around the fault or thrust front (Fig. 5), as shown
on the structural-tectonic map. Similar behaviour of
general cave length distribution as for the tectonic &
hydrogeological units can be observed in the plot for the 3
groups, as lengths follow a linear fit line in the log-log
plots. Median values are similar, approx 23 m. As for the
tectonic units, units with higher D contain longer caves,
which is reasonable for those caves with fractal dimension
>1 compared to those with D <1. Nevertheless, a gap of
number of caves occurs in the right- hand side of all 3
plots (Fig. 6), for example at L = 3000m (log L = 3.5) for
the ±150m distance group. This indicates that the number
of caves long about 3000m is much lower than in case
where all the caves are considered regardless of distance
to the faults. The influence of the tectonic structures is
greater when caves are closer to structures, as the gap is
more noticeable for the ±150m group & slowly disappears
Fig. 5: Settings of the caves towards the ±500m group.
according to distance to
the major faults and thrust
fronts

Fig. 6: Log-log distribution plot for

the number of caves (N) longer than
a specific length (L) in three groups
of distance to the major tectonic
structures
Medio fracturado vugular
produciendo bitumen
Registros (Densidad-Neutrón)-CMR y FMI se puede obtener
porosidad vugular, C1065D
Porosidad Vugular(BTPKS) Porosidad Vugular (KM)

0.14
0.14
Porosidad Vugular

0.12

Porosidad Vugular
0.12
0.1 0.1
0.08 0.08
0.06 0.06
0.04 0.04
0.02
0.02
0
0
2000 2050 2100 2150 2200 2250
2200 2220 2240 2260 2280 2300 2320
Profundidad Profundidad

Porosidad Vugular (KI) Porosidad Vugular (JST)

0.14 0.14

Porosidad Vugular
Porosida Vugular

0.12 0.12
0.1 0.1
0.08 0.08
0.06 0.06
0.04 0.04
0.02 0.02
0 0
2250 2300 2350 2400 2450 2500 2550 2450 2500 2550 2600 2650 2700 2750
Profundidad Profundidad

Porosidad Vugular(JSK)

0.14

0.12
Porosidad Vugular

0.1

0.08

0.06 Análisis de
Porosidad Vugular
0.04

0.02

0
2650 2700 2750 2800 2850
Profundidad
2900 2950 3000
por intervalo 16
 Distribución de la porosidad de Marzouk 1995

10000.00
Winland plot
Vúgulos Conectados 30

1000.00
Macro porosity 10

5 Facies 1
100.00 Facies 2
3
Facies 3
Facies 4
Permeability

Facies 5
10.00 Meso porosidad 1 Facies 6
Pore Throat =0.03
0.5 Pore Throat =0.1
Pore Throat =0.3
0.3
1.00 Pore Throat =1
Pore Throat =3
Pore Throat =10
0.1 Pore Throat =30
0.10 Pore throat = 5 um
Pore throat = 0.5 um
Micro porosidad Vúgulos aislados 0.03

0.01

0.00
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0 40.0

Porosity
 Yacimientos Fracturados
Vugulares
Histogramas Porosidad
Secundaria
(BTPKS-KM-KI-JST)
BTP-KS

BTP-KS
KM

KM
KI

KI
JST

18
 Variación de “m” y “n” en núcleos por unidades

Análisis de Núcleos en Cretácico y Jurásico

3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
KM

KM

KM

KI

KI

K
BT S

BT S

BT S

BT S
S

T
JS

JS

JS

JS

JS

JS
PK

PK

PK

PK

PK
BT

"m" de Núcleo "n" de Núcleo

19
 Importante:
“m” variable por unidad
"m"variable vs PHI Secundaria
(vúgulos + fracturas)

0.12
0.1
PHI Secundaria

0.08
0.06
0.04 KI
0.02 JSK
0
1.5 2 2.5 3
"m"

20
Correlación con PLT, ejemplo JSK, Golfo de
Campeche

Aporte solo
por
porosidad
vugular

Aporte por
porosidad
vugular +
fracturas

Densidad
fractura
Fracturas
de esta
zona no
presentan
aporte
Aporte
ppalmente
por
porosidad
vugular
21
 Importancia de la caracterización de yacimientos

Means Field, Permian Basin,

West Texas.
Fig 5 . Posibles zonas no barridas se
encuentran intercaladas por zonas
delgadas ladronas arriba del contacto
agua-aceite. Estas zonas de 1-ft de
espesor son zonas con vúgulos
interconectados.

Porosity partitioning and

permeability quantification in
vuggy carbonates , Duffy
Russell* and Jonas Gournay ,
ExxonMobil; Chunming Xu* and
Pete Richter , Schlumberger
World Oil, Octubre, 2007

22