Integrated Carbonate Characterization

This course will review the controls on carbonate reservoir heterogeneity

from the pore architecture scale to the geometrical attributes at reservoir-
scale and how these parameters can be incorporated and integrated into
the development reservoir models for carbonates
Reservoir Characterization Requirements
Environment of
3D Seismic Deposition

• Structure
• Faults, subseismic features
• Stratigraphy
•Vertical/areal distribution of
Well Logs net and non-net reservoir
• Gas-Oil and Oil-Water contacts
• Hydrocarbon saturation/distribution
• Pressure
• Porosity, porosity distribution Sequence
Stratigraphy
• Permeability, permeability
Cores distribution (Kh, Kv)
• Aquifer size and connectivity

... geologic interpretations provide quantifiable, deterministic

representations of geoscience concepts
2
 Integrated Carbonate Reservoir Characterization

Part 1: The Basics and Definition

– Carbonate Depositional System (Texture, Facies, EOD, and sequence
Stratigraphy) – During Deposition
– Carbonate diageneis ( Early/late diagenesis, Karstification, Fracture) – After
Deposition

Part 2: Tools and Analysis

– Petrophysical/wireline logs Tools
– Geophysical Tools: seismic Interpretation; seismic attribute analysis

Part 3: How we apply on Reservoir characterization

– Relationship of primary depositional facies, sequence stratigraphic
framework, and diagenetic history to pore architecture and reservoir quality
– Carbonate Rock Types
– Integrated Carbonate Reservoir Exercise :The Examples and Real Life Case
Study
PART 1
The Basics and Definition
– Carbonate Depositional System:
• Controlling Factors
• Texture / Classification
• Facies & EOD
• Carbonate Sequence Stratigraphy
• Carbonate Pore types

– Carbonate diageneis:
• Early/late diagenesis, Dolomitization, Karstification, Fracture
Siliciclastics and Evaporites in Carbonate Settings

rise
Relative
Sea
Level
fall

Carbonates Siliciclastics
Sediment
Supply

Shelf Shelf
Exposed Flooded

10
Carbonate Texture Classification
Dunham’s (1962) Classification

Higher Energy Level

Cement is treated as open space
 Dunham’s (1962) Classification

Component organically bound during

>10% grains >2mm deposition
Added to Grain Organisms
Matrix- Organisms acted
Dunham’s by supported
Supported as baffles
Organisms
Encrusted/bound
built a rigid
(>2mm) framework
Embry and
Klovan, 1971 Floatstone Rudstone Bafflestone Bindstone Framestone

18
 Zonation of Carbonate Facies Tracts
• Carbonate facies generally accumulate in linear belts
parallel to depositional strike Climate
Prevailing Winds

• Major facies belts include: Clastic

Influx
Sea-Level

– Tidal Flats Changes

– Platform interior/lagoon
– Platform margin
Oceanic
– Slope Circulation
Patterns

– Basin Tectonic Subsidence

• Facies in each environment characterized by distinct

association of texture, sedimentary structures, and
composition reflective of the physical and chemical
environment
• Facies analysis develops criteria to distinguish these
environments
22
Carbonate Facies & EOD’s

Lagoon • Reservoir
Quality

Tidal Flat
Beach

Slope/Basin

Reef Margin
Grainstone Margin
Carbonate Sediment Supply and Dispersal
Low Intermediate High
Sedimentation Sedimentation Sedimentation

50m Planktonics
Terrestrial 1’s to 100’s km

Platform Margin Intermediate to

Low Sedimentation
Slope

Basin
Low
Subsidence
Moderate High
Subsidence Subsidence

Allochthonous
Mud Boundstone Debris
Mudstone to
& & &
Grainstone
Evaporites Grainstone Pelagic Mud

24
Carbonate Sequence Stratigraphy
Cyclicity in Shallow-Water Carbonates
Walther’s Law (1893-94)
Land Sea

Vertical Reflects Lateral !

31
 Correlation of chronostratigraphic surfaces vs. lithofacies/porosity
Why
zonePractice
boundaries Sequence Stratigraphy ?

Better prediction of lithofacies/porosity/permeability continuity

Method for placing Reservoir Units into a Time Stratigraphic Framework
Better prediction of play element distribution (reservoir, trap, seal,
source), bypassed
Depositional payKms)
Dip (10’s zones, and step-out potential
Depositional Dip (10’s Kms)

Chronostratigraphic Lithostratigraphic

Grain-Rich Porous Rock Mud-Rich Non-Porous Rock

...provides improved predictions of reservoir and seal

distribution, by-passed pay zones, and step-out potential

33
Carbonate Porosity
Pore Types in Carbonate Rocks
PRIMARY

Intergranular Intragranular Microporosity

SECONDARY

Vuggy Moldic

1 mm
Intercrystalline Fracture

45
Carbonate Porosity
IMPACT ON RESERVOIR QUALITY...
10000000
SAME POROSITY,
LOWER PERM
1000000

=
100000
SAME VOLUME,
LOWER RATES
10000

1000

100

10

0.1
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Carbonate Diagenesis
 Diagenesis includes all biological, chemical and physical changes to a
sediment between deposition and metamorphism
6 Major Types of Diagenesis:
1. Boring and Micritization
2. Cementation
3. Dissolution
3b. Karst
4. Dolomitization
5. Stabilization
Neomorphism and Recrystallization The thin section in the above photo demonstrates multiple styles of
diagensis:
6. Compaction - Microbial micritization has altered skeletal fragments
Mechanical and Chemical - Cementation has filled in pore spaces
6b. Fracturing - Dissolution has removed material from the center of ooids
- Compaction has resulted in fracturing of skeletal grains

- Determining the relative order of events is called a paragenesis

study and is covered only briefly in this coarse
Diagenetic processes occur in six distinct hydro-geologic settings
(hydrozones), which can be grouped into three major diagenetic realms

Moore, 2001

Major Diagenetic Realms:

1. Epikarst to deep Marine,
karst depending Meteoric,
on duration of exposureBurial
at the sequence boundary.
2. Solution enhanced fractures parallel to windward shelf margin related to margin collapse.
3. Preservation of intergranular porosity in vadose zone, permeability reduced, vertical conductivity may b
 Marine diagenesis is associated with early diagenesis in which sediments
undergo changes due to interactions with marine pore fluids

 Typically short RT
 Flushing rates dependent on currents and sedimentation rates
Marine Vadose
 CO2 degassing (temp. and turbulence) (beach)
 Limited pore fluid chemistry (marine waters relatively stable)
 Active phreatic, stagnant phreatic/evaporative, vadose
 Micritization, boring, cementation (arag., HMC, LMC),
recryst./neomorph

+ Modified From Langmuir (1997)

ACD : Aragonite Compensation Depth

solubility

aragonite is more soluble than calcite and therefore has

a shallower compensation depth than calcite
The ACD ranges from a few hundred meters to 2-3
kilometers below the sea surface depending on location (i.e.
temperature and pressure)

CCD : Calcite Compensation Depth

the CCD ranges from 3.5 km (Pacific) to 5 km (Atlantic)
surface seawater is supersaturated with respect to
calcite
-
temperature
Meteoric diagenesis occurs at or near the earth’s surface when carbonates
are exposed to relatively young atmospheric (or mixed) pore fluids

 Low P and T regime

 High circulation rates
 Variable RT
 Exposure caused by drop in SL, or buildup to SL
 Vadose (above water table)
 Phreatic (below water table)
 Interpretation complicated by:
– initial mineralogy
– water chemistry
– climate
– duration of exposure
– flora and fauna
 Mixing zone

Scholle and Ulmer-Scholle (2003)

Burial diagenesis occurs below the zone of near-surface water
circulation when carbonates interact with hotter formation fluids

 Often long RT (106-108 years)

 High T and P regime enhanced diagenesis
 Low water circulation rates slow diagenesis
 Highly variable pore fluid chemistry
 Empirical evidence suggest burial plays major role in porosity reduction

Scholle and Ulmer-Scholle (2003)

Scholle and Ulmer-Scholle (2003)

2. Cementation is a process that requires pore fluids to be supersaturated
with respect to the cement phase and a hydrologic pumping mechanism
MENISCUS Ca2+ + CO3 + H2O CaCO3 + H2O
~ Vadose
Diagenetic Environments
• Meteoric Vadose ***
• Meteoric Phreatic *****
• Mixing Zone **
• Marine ***
INTERPARTICLE SPAR
• Evaporative ****
~ Phreatic • Burial/Hydrothermal ***

Reservoir Quality
• Reduces porosity & permeability
• Early cementation may resist
ISOPACHOUS RIM compaction and preserve RQ
~ Marine • Cemented carbonates are more prone
to fracturing

Reservoir Examples
• All carbonate reservoirs are
cemented to some degree
COARSE EQUANT
• Excessive cementation may result in
~ Burial formation of a cap rock

0.9 mm

Cement reduces porosity and permeability

3. Dissolution is a process that occurs when pore fluids are undersaturated
with respect to the host rock mineralogy

CaCO3 + H2O Ca2+ CO3 + H2O

Diagenetic Environments
FABRIC SELECTIVE • Meteoric Vadose *****
• Meteoric Phreatic *****
• Mixing Zone *****
0.5 mm
• Marine ***
• Evaporative *
• Burial/Hydrothermal **

Reservoir Quality
FABRIC SELECTIVE • Always enhances porosity, but*
• Permeability critically dependent on
mold / vug connectivity (pore type)
0.64 mm

Reservoir Examples
• Fabric Selective (Moldic): Smackover,
Jurassic, Louisiana
• Non Fabric Selective: Tengiz,
NON FABRIC SELECTIVE Carboniferous, Kazakhstan

*Remember conservation of mass!

Dissolution creates secondary porosity

 Platform morphology and climate drive hydrogeology, which has a major
impact on the distribution of diagenetic features

Controls the spatial distribution and magnitude of diagenetic overprint

ISOLATED

• Freshwater Lens
Platform Width
Permeability
Climate

Moore, 2001

ikarst to deep karst depending on duration of exposure at the sequence boundary.

lution enhanced fractures parallel to windward shelf margin related to margin collapse.
eservation of intergranular porosity in vadose zone, permeability reduced, vertical conductivity may be enhanced
ong windward shelf margin by fractures. web.mala.bc.ca Por: 29% Por: 15.2%
ick meteoric lens floating on marine water. Slow water flux toward platform margin with little lateral transport of Perm: 3.83mD
Perm: 111mD
aCO3. Moldic to vuggy porosity along water table with cements precipitated in adjacent pores. There is degradation
permeability and little gain or loss in porosity. No diagenetic/porosity gradients. Phreatic caves at the water table .
ajor secondary porosity development and minor dolomitization in the mixing zone. Burdigalian Chattian 1
ajor coastal flank cavern porosity.
rvasive marine-water dolomitization of shelf margin driven by hydrodynamics of the mixing zone.
agonite dissolution, calcite precipitation below aragonite lysocline. Net loss in porosity. Marine water influx into
atform driven by mixing zone hydrodynamics and geothermal convection.
4. Dolomitization is a diagenetic process that converts limestone (calcite or
aragonite) to dolostone through a chemical process of calcium carbonate
dissolution and dolomite precipitation

REPLACEMENT Mg2+ + 2CaCO3 + H2O MgCa(CO3)2 + Ca2+ + H2O

Dolomite forming on
dissolving calcite Diagenetic Environments
• Meteoric Vadose *
• Meteoric Phreatic *
• Mixing Zone ****
• Marine **
REPLACEMENT • Evaporative *****
Fabric Destructive • Burial/Hydrothermal ***

Reservoir Quality
• Permeability enhancement depends on
crystal size of precursor (and style)
REPLACEMENT • Significant enhancement in initially
Fabric Preserving muddy facies
• “Over dolomitization” (i.e. dolomite
cement) reduces permeability
• Resistive to compaction cf. LS
• Prone to fracturing

OVER DOLOMITIZATION Reservoir Examples

Complete Cementation • Ghawar, Jurassic, Saudi Arabia
• Leduc, Devonian, Western Canada

Dolomite may increase or decrease RQ

 Dolomite Porosity, what you’ve heard is probably not correct

However, dolomitization
requires flow of large
amounts of fluid
through limestone,
which requires an open
system
– Natural waters
containing
carbonate flow
through the
system and thus
result in the
formation of
replacement and
pore-filling
(cement) dolomite

Lucia (2007)
The key points are:

• Diagenesis affects EVERY carbonate reservoir and

is a bigger factor in determining RQ than in
siliciclastic reservoirs
• Different diagenetic processes occur in different
hydrologic settings
• The three main diagenetic regimes are marine,
meteoric, burial
• Diagenetic processes are mineral-water reactions
• The importance of diagenesis is how it impacted the
initial reservoir properties
Miocene carbonate reservoirs of SE Asia

Modified after Sun and Esteban (1994)

 PART 2

Part 2: Tools and Analysis

– Petrophysical Tools
– Geophysical Tools
Seismic Response of carbonate
 PART 3

Part 3: The Details and How it Applied

– Relationship of primary depositional facies, sequence stratigraphic
framework, and diagenetic history to pore architecture and reservoir
quality
– Carbonate Rock Types
– Integrated Carbonate Reservoir Exercise: The Examples and Real Life
Case Study
Reservoir Characterization (Static)

88
The Volumetric Equation is the Basis of our
Static Descriptive Efforts

hydrocarbon volume = GRV x N/G x Ø x Shc x 1/FVF x RF x CF

GRV = Gross Rock Volume (reservoir-bearing rock volume above hydrocarbon contact)

N/G = Net/Gross ratio (fraction of GRV that is reservoir facies  net rock volume, NRV)

Ø = porosity (fraction of NRV that is pore space  net pore volume, NPV)

Shc = hydrocarbon saturation (fraction of NPV filled with hydrocarbon  net hc pore volume, NHPV)

FVF = formation volume factor (relative volume of hydrocarbons at reservoir versus surface conditions)
1/FVF = • shrinkage factor for oil
• expansion factor for gas

RF = recovery factor (fraction of NHPV that can be produced to surface)

CF = conversion factor
89
Reservoir Characterization Requirements
Environment of
3D Seismic Deposition

• Structure
• Faults, subseismic features
• Stratigraphy
•Vertical/areal distribution of
Well Logs net and non-net reservoir
• Gas-Oil and Oil-Water contacts
• Hydrocarbon saturation/distribution
• Pressure
• Porosity, porosity distribution Sequence
Stratigraphy
• Permeability, permeability
Cores distribution (Kh, Kv)
• Aquifer size and connectivity

... geologic interpretations provide quantifiable, deterministic

representations of geoscience concepts
90
Typical Tools Used by Geoscientists in Static
Reservoir Characterization
Tools Information Provided

Well Logging Tools Structure, Stratigraphy, Hydrocarbon content,

Reservoir quality, Source potential

Seismic Data Structure, Stratigraphy, Hydrocarbon content,

Reservoir quality

Core and Cuttings Stratigraphy, Reservoir quality, Hydrocarbon content,

Source potential

Outcrop Stratigraphy, Reservoir quality, Source potential

91
Core Data:
• Sidewall Core Conventional Core (Plugs)

• Conventional Core
Montoya Well Log and
Cuttings Summary

DAT-3
marker

Why obtain Core data?

Core data can define:
– Geologic facies, Porosity permeability relationships, Sequence stratigraphic
relationships, Presence of fractures / karst, “Ground Truth” between well logs and the
92
rocks, “High End” information through SCAL
Reservoir Quality:
Types of Reservoir Porosity…“The details do matter”

Intergranular Intragranular

Primary Porosities may be the

same, but how it is
distributed determines
permeability and makes
the difference regarding
producibility. The dynamic
implications to the
reservoir are found in the
pore throats.

Secondary

Solution (Moldic) Fracture Intercrystalline 93

Reservoir Quality: Pore Types and Diagenesis
Controls
Fine Grained Coarse Grained
Well Sorted Well Sorted

High Porosity High Porosity High

Low Permeability Permeability
Poorly Sorted

Low Porosity
Low Permeability
94
 Interpretation of Reservoir Continuity is Difficult

•Reservoir continuity:
• Affects volumetric sweep
efficiency
• Dictates the optimal well spacing
• Can be hard to assess

•Waterflood / CO2 flood response can be a key

indicator of how much reservoir has been
contacted by wells. Empirical recovery factor
assessment may indicate inaccurate OOIP
assessment or poor sweep efficiency

96
ExxonMobil Proprietary
Sequence Stratigraphy: Chronostratigraphic vs.
Lithostratigraphic Correlation Styles

If you don’t have the correct framework to work from, the effort is doomed
(or is hampered significantly) 97
 Example: Properties by
Hierarchical Association
A A’
Zone
Domain
Conditioning
EOD
Tidal channel/bar
Channel margin Domain
Mixed Flat Conditioning
Mud Flat

DepoFacies Rock
Sandstone
Type
Shaley Sandstone
SS and Shale Conditioning
Mudstone
Total Porosity

Reservoir
Quality
Permeability
Basic Modeling Input
Import all appropriate data into common application (e.g.,Petrel)
SURFACE & FAULT GRIDS WELL CORRELATIONS LOG DATA

CONDITIONING DATA DIMENSIONAL/ANALOG DATA

2D 3D AZIMUTH

CORE DATA ENGINERING DATA FRACTURE

OVERVIEW/0102/AMG