1

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Reservoir pressure:
Reservoir rocks are subjected to external and internal stresses.
The external stresses are due to the weight of the overlying materials and
confinement due to the surrounding rocks.
!nternal stress is due to the fluids they contain.
Pmax,

z
Pmin,

x
Pint,
y
Reservoir pressure:
The vertical stress gradient is generally assumed to be
approximately 1.0 psifft (0.023 NPafm) and to increase with depth.
!f the bulk density of the rock column is considered to be variable,
then the vertical stress due to the weight of the overlying rocks can
be evaluated as the integration of the rock bulk density from the
surface to the reservoir.
!t is given by:

z b
z
z z gdz ( ) ( ) =

0
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2
Reservoir pressure:
The rock confinement is achieved by means of two horizontal
stresses (ox and oy) exerted on the reservoir material due to the
surrounding rocks.
One assumption to determine the horizontal stresses is that they are
induced as a result of the vertical stress:
The magnitude of the horizontal stresses as a function of the
vertical stress is:

x y z
= =
1
Poisson's ratio
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Reservoir pressure:
Pore pressure or fluid pressure (P) is simply the weight of the fluid
column, which can be determined by assuming a pressure gradient
of 0.+3 psifft for a column of fresh water. For water with salinity of
100,000 ppm of dissolved salts, the gradient is 0.+63 psifft and
0.515 psifft for water with salinity of 250,000 ppm of dissolved salts.
Pmax,

z
Pmin,

x
Pint,
y
P
p
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3
Reservoir pressure:
Pore pressure reduces the normal components of the stress,
because the fluid has normal pressure acting in all direction,
opposing the pressure exerted by overburden layers.
The effective overburden pressure is:
Pmax,

z
Pmin,

x
Pint,
y
P
p
P
eff
=
Biot factor
As production from the reservoir continue, pore pressure decreases causing the
effective reservoir stress (overburden pressure) to increase.
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Stress conditions:
Uniaxial (o
x
=o
y
=0, o
z
>>0)
Hydrostatic stress states is the most commonly laboratory stress
states for testing core samples.
!n hydrostatic state the pressure acting
on a rock sample is equal in all direction
x=y=z
x
z
y
z
y
x
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k- at overburden:
Conventional porosity and permeability measurements are usually
made at ambient conditions.
However, in the reservoir the rocks are subjected to both
pressure and temperature.
When cores are brought up from the well bottom, all the external
forces acting on them are eliminated and the rock matrix is
allowed to expand in all directions.
This will cause the shape of the pores for storage of fluids and
pore throats for fluid flow to expand. This expansion can produce
an increase of 30 or higher in the permeability of the rock.
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k- at overburden:
Consequently, number of rock samples are usually used to measure
their porosity and their permeability at elevated overburden
pressurefstress for developing empirical correlations necessary for
correcting the permeability of the rest of rock samples for the effect
of overburden pressure.
Group of samples with low, medium and high porosity and
permeability or number of samples from each hydraulic unit are
usually used
k

RQ!
z
HU1
HU3
HU2
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k- at overburden:
Neasurements of porosity and permeability can be made
simultaneously with the rock sample confined in high pressure core
holder at a series of confining pressure values.
To overburden pressure
source
Hydrostatic coreholder
Rubber sleeve
Dry
core
sample
To helium porosimeter
To permeameter
downstream end
To permeameter
upstream end
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k- at overburden:
0.9392 0.9380 5.870 9.74 45.349 4.415 6000
0.9444 0.9431 5.902 9.79 45.375 4.442 5000
0.9508 0.9495 5.943 9.86 45.409 4.475 4000
0.9591 0.9575 5.994 9.94 45.450 4.517 3000
0.9700 0.9678 6.062 10.05 45.505 4.571 2000
0.9846 0.9815 6.153 10.19 45.577 4.643 1000
0.9937 0.9900 6.211 10.28 45.622 4.688 500
1.0000 0.9958 6.250 10.34 45.652 4.719 200
1.0000 10.38 45.674 4.741 0
K/Kbase Phi/
Phibase
Perm.
md
Poro.
%
Bulk
volume
Pore
volume
Effective
overburde
n pressure
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k- at overburden:
0.80
0.85
0.90
0.95
1.00
0 2000 4000 6000 8000
Net overburden pressure, psi
R
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

r
e
d
u
c
t
i
o
n

i
n

p
o
r
o
s
i
t
y
0.80
0.85
0.90
0.95
1.00
R
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

r
e
d
u
c
t
i
o
n

i
n

p
e
r
m
e
a
b
i
l
i
t
y
porosity permeability
0.80
0.85
0.90
0.95
1.00
0 2000 4000 6000 8000
Net overburden pressure, psi
R
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

r
e
d
u
c
t
i
o
n

i
n

p
o
r
o
s
i
t
y
0.80
0.85
0.90
0.95
1.00
R
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

r
e
d
u
c
t
i
o
n

i
n

p
e
r
m
e
a
b
i
l
i
t
y
porosity permeability
Porosity: 11.73%, Permeability: 2.87 md
Porosity: 11.26%, Permeability: 34.5 md
0.80
0.85
0.90
0.95
1.00
0 2000 4000 6000 8000
Net overburden pressure, psi
R
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

r
e
d
u
c
t
i
o
n

i
n

p
o
r
o
s
i
t
y
0.80
0.85
0.90
0.95
1.00
R
e
l
a
t
i
v
e

r
e
d
u
c
t
i
o
n

i
n

p
e
r
m
e
a
b
i
l
i
t
y
porosity permeability
Porosity: 15.13%, Permeability: 272 md
Relative reduction in permeability is
higher in low permeability rocks
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Pore volume compressibility:
!t is a measure of the reduction in pore volume by the change in
overburden pressure relative to the original pore volume.
To overburden pressure
source
Graduated tube
Hydrostatic coreholder
Rubber sleeve
100 liquid saturated
rock sample
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Pore volume compressibility:
!t is a measure of the reduction in pore volume by the change in
overburden pressure relative to the original pore volume.
dP
dv
v
C
p
p
pH
1
=
pH pu
C C

+
=

1
1
3
1
6.0
6.2
6.+
6.6
6.8
7.0
7.2
7.+
0 2000 +000 6000 8000
Ne t overburden pres s ure , ps i
P
o
r
e

v
o
l
u
m
e
,

c
c
d P
d v p
s l o p e =
Petrophysics Petrophysics
Pore volume compressibility:
4.77E-06 7.70E-06 0.3 8.7 69.616 6.056 1.216 7000
7.04E-06 1.14E-05 0.3 8.9 69.766 6.206 1.066 4000
1.47E-05 2.38E-05 0.3 9.2 69.978 6.418 0.854 2000
2.57E-05 4.15E-05 0.3 9.5 70.208 6.648 0.624 1000
3.08E-05 4.97E-05 0.3 9.8 70.433 6.873 0.399 400
0.3 10.3 70.832 7.272 0 0
Uniaxial
pore volume
compressibility
psi
-1
Hydrostatic
pore volume
compressibility
psi
-1
Poissons ratio

Porosity
%
Bulk
volume
cc
Pore
volume
cc
Water
expelled
cc
Hydrostatic
Pressure
psi
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Pore volume compressibility:
0.E+00
1.E-05
2.E-05
3.E-05
+.E-05
5.E-05
6.E-05
0 2000 +000 6000 8000
Net overburden pressure, psi
P
o
r
e

v
o
l
u
m
e

c
o
m
p
r
e
s
s
i
b
i
l
t
y
,

p
s
i
1
Hydrostatic
Uniaxial
Pore volume compressibility as a function of the net overburden pressure
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Pore volume compressibility:
The method of estimating the Oil Initially In Place {OIIP) from the
pressure decline data in an undersaturated reservoir above the bubble
point is:
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p g g w w o o t
o
t
e
oi
o
e
C S C S C S C C
S
C
C
B
B
P C
Np
N
+ + + =
=

= ,
N Oil Initially In Place, stb
Np Cumulative oil production for pressure decline , stb
pressure decline from the initial reservoir pressure Pi to P,
=Pi-P
Boi Formation volume factor at initial pressure Pi, bbl/stb
Bo Formation volume factor at pressure P, bbl/stb
Ce Effective compressibility of the reservoir, psi
-1
Co, Cw, Cg oil, water and gas compressibilities , psi-1
So, Sw, Sg oil, water and gas saturation
Cp Pore volume compressibility, , psi-1
9
Pore volume compressibility:
Pore volume compressibility can be determined from rock mechanics test
data:
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( )( ) ( )

b
p
b
C
C
E E
C
=

+
+
+
= ,
1 2
2
2 1 1
3
3
E Elastic modulus, psi
poisson's ratio
Pore volume compressibility:
Pore volume compressibility can be determined from full wave sonic log
inerpretation:
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( )
( )( )
b
s
b
C V V
E

=
+

=
2 2
,
2 1 1
1
E Elastic modulus, psi
Vc compressional wave velocity
Vs shear wave velocity
b Bulk density
Shear modulus
10
Determination of rock mechanical properties from well logs:
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1
1 5 . 0
2
2

=
c
s
c
s
t
t
t
t

Poissons ratio ( )
Shear modulus (G)
2
10
10 34 . 1
s
b
t
G

=

Youngs modulus (E)
( ) = 1 2G E
Determination of rock mechanical properties from well logs:
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Bulk modulus (Kb)

=
2 2
10
3
4 1
10 34 . 1
s c
b b
t t
K
Bulk compressibility (Cb)
b
b
K
C
1
=