Conventional and Special Core Analysis

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Petrophysical Core Analyses
Prof. Dr. Bassem S. Nabawy

National Research Centre
Prof. Bassem S. Nabawy 1

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The wrapped section

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Depth Matching
Coring Analysis
* Routine core analysis (rcal).
Porosity, permeability, saturation, lithology, grain density.
* Special core analysis (scal).

Relative permeability, water sensitivity, capillary pressure
acoustic velocity, electric resistivity, thermal conductivity.

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Types of Routine Core Analysis
1- Conventional core analysis:

Used in analysis for homogeneous sand
and selected carbonates.
2- Full diameter core analysis:

For heterogeneous reservoir including
carbonates and those with secondary
porosity.
3- Sidewall core analysis:

For relatively homogeneous, poorly
consolidated sands.
Advantages of core Analysis:

 Porosity, Permeability, Capillary Pressure and Fluid
Saturation can in turn assist in:
 Determine net pay and reserves estimate.
 Assessing fluid and rock type.
 Understanding well / reservoir performance.
 Estimate probable fluid production.
 Establishing contacts between reservoir fluids and various rock

units.
 Estimating reserves and initial production.

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Advantages of core Analysis

 Defining the limits of the field.
 Establishing stratigraphic correlation with wire line logs.
 Interpreting and calibrating wire-line logs.
 Designing drilling and well completion programs.
 Selecting intervals for testing, that aid in the interpretation of

pressure transient analysis.
 Creating a reservoir engineering management strategies.
Hydrocarbons Cleaning &

Soxhlet Apparatus
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Routine Core Analyses
Porosity & Density Permeability

“The percentage of pore spaces in “The ability of the porous
the total volume of the rock”
rocks to transmit fluids
“The weight of the unit volume under certain pressure
of the rock” gradient”
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Basic Porosity Types

 Fabric Selective:
 Interparticle: void space between particles
 Intraparticle: void space inside particles
 Intercrystal: void space between crystals
 Moldic: porosity due to selective removal of a former fossil/grain
 Fenestral: „bird‟s-eye‟ pores usually associated with algal mats
 Shelter: sheltering effect of large particles prevent infilling the pores by finer particles
 Growth-framework: due to the inplace growth of a carbonate rock framework
 Not Fabric Selective:
 Fracture: due to tectonic shocks and different pressures
 Channel: dissolution enlarged fracture, due to dissolution
 Vug: irregular-shaped pores, due to dissolution
 Cavern: irregular-shaped human-size caves, due to dissolution
 Fabric or Not Fabric Selective:
 Breccia: due to brecciation
 Boring: making or enlarging a hole as a cylindrical hole by boring or digging away
 Burrow: irregular vugs surrounding casts of burrows or roots
 Shrinkage: An irregular pore formed in muddy sediment by shrinkage.
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Effect of various factors enhancing or reducing the

effective porosity.
Reducing factors Enhancing factors

Swelling clay minerals Sphericity & Roundness
Dissolution and Leaching out

Metamorphism
Weathering & Fracturing
Packing and compaction
Dolomitization (?)
Cementation
Grain sorting & orientation
Silicification Volume changes
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Porosity Controls
Dissolution and leaching out
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Porosity Controls
Fracturing
Diagenetic History

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Fissures (Fractures)
 Fissures are caused when a rigid rock is strained beyond its
elastic limit - it cracks.
 The forces causing it to break are in a constant direction,
hence all the fissures are also aligned.
 Fissures are an important source of permeability in low
porosity carbonate reservoirs.
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Vugs
 Vugs are defined as non-connected pore space.

 They do not contribute to the producible fluid total.
 Vugs are caused by the dissolution of soluble material such as
shell fragments after the rock has been formed.
 They usually have irregular shapes.

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Porosity Controls
Dolomitization
Nabawy, 2013, J Arabian Geosciences, vol. 6 (2), pp. 359-

373
Porosity Controls
Cementation
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Porosity Controls
Cementation
Porosity Controls
Swelling Clay distribution
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Porosity Controls
Sorting and Packing
 Porosity depends on grain packing,

not grain size
 Rocks with different grain sizes can

have the same percentage porosity
but different permeability.
Pore-Space Classification
 Classification of Porosity:
 1. Total Porosity
 is the ratio of the total pore volume to bulk volume regardless the
continuity of the pores.
 2. Effective Porosity
 is the ratio of interconnected pore volume to the bulk volume.
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Pore-Space Classification
Total Pore Spaces

 Total porosity, t (%) = * 100
Bulk Volume
 Effective porosity, e = Interconnected Pore Spaces

Bulk Volume
Vb = Vp + Vg
Porosity
Effective, isolated and total porosity
Total, effective, isolated, permeable and

dead end pore space
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Total and Effective Porosity
 Very clean sandstones : t = e
 Poorly to moderately well -cemented intergranular

materials: t  e
 Highly cemented materials and most carbonates:

e < t
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Porosity
 1.Bulk Volume
In all porosity methods a bulk core sample volume
has to be determined and this may be carried out by:
 Displacement of liquid (Archimedes mercury immersion
apparatus).
Vb = (Saturated Wt – Immersed Wt) / density of immersed fluid
Archimedes mercury immersion

28 apparatus Volumetric mercury displacement pump

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Porosity
 2. Grain Volume (Boyle's law porosimeter)
 Involves the compression of a gas into the pore space or the
expansion of gas from the pores of a prepared Sample.
 The gas (usually Helium) is admitted into a pre-calibrated
reference cell of known volume “Vr” at a reference pressure “P1”.
 The reference cell gas is then vented into a connected chamber
with a volume “Vc” containing a core sample with grain volume
“Vg”.
 This venting results in a lower equilibrium pressure “P2”, from
which the grain volume is calculated:
Vr . P1 = (Vc-Vg) . P2 Vg = Vc – (Vr.P1 / P2)
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Porosity
From gas source
Shut off valve
Reference
chamber
Vr Pressure
transducer
vent 3 way valve
sample
sample
chamber
Vg
Vc
Boyle's law porosimeter
Helium Pycnometer

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Porosity
 3. Pore Volume
 Simply, the pore volume is calculated by subtracting the Grain
Volume “Vg” from the Bulk Volume “Vb”.
 Vp = Vb – Vg
There are other ways to measure the pore volume which can be
summarized as follows:
 3.1. Summation of fluids
 This method involves the independent determination of oil, gas
and pure water volumes of a fresh core sample.
 The oil (650°) and water(120°) can be obtained by retort.
 The gas can be obtained by mercury injection (700 psi).
 The pore volume is determined by summing the three
independent volumes.
Porosity
Oven retort
Oven retort
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Porosity
 3.2. Washburn Porosimeter
 Involves the vacuum extraction and collection of the gas
contained in the pores of a prepared sample.
 The method measures pore volume.
 3.3. Liquid Re-saturation

 The pores of a prepared sample are filled with a liquid of a
known density.
 The increase in weight of the sample divided by the fluid
density is a measure of the pore volume.
Porosity
 4. Total Porosity
 Total porosity is determined by this method as compared with

effective porosity.
 The sample is reduced to grain size after the dry weight and bulk
volume are determined.
 Grain volume is determined and subtracted from the bulk volume

to yield the total pore volume.
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Permeability
1. Single Phase System (absolute permeability)
“It is the ability of the porous media to transmit a single fluid through its
interconnected pores”.
2. Multi phase system
2.1 Effective permeability
“it is the conductivity of each phase at a specific saturation”; when a
second or third phase is present, the obtained permeability of each phase at
a specific saturation is called effective permeability, hence, depends upon
the fluid ratio and its distribution within the pore spaces. Fluid distribution
in turn depends upon the saturation history and wettability of the rock.
2.2 Relative permeability
“it is the ability of the rock to transmit a fluid when there are two or three
phases within the pore spaces”
effective Permeability
Relative Permeability =
specific Permeability

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Is there another method to measure the permeability?
Absolute permeability
1. CORES Effective permeability
Relative permeability
2. TESTING Effective permeability
3. LOGS Absolute permeability
Darcy’s Law
Darcy experimented and developed an empirical relationship for the flow
of fluid through a packed sand , known as Darcy’s low:
k = permeability, millidarcies Ak (p )

q
q = flow rate, cm3/sec
L
µ = fluid viscosity, cp
L = system length, cm A
q q
A = system cross sectional area, cm2 µ
p2 p1
∆p = differential pressure (p1-p2), atm.
L
One darcy is defined as:
“the ability of the porous rock to transmit fluid of one centipoise viscosity () at
a rate (q) of 1 cm3/s through a cross sectional area (A) of 1cm2 when the
pressure gradient (P / L) is 1 atm/cm”

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Darcy’s Law
The assumptions behind this equation are:
• Homogeneous rock
• Non reactive media or rock
• 100% saturation with single phase homogeneous fluid
• Newtonian fluid
• Laminar flow A
q q
• Steady state µ
p2 p1
• Constant temperature L
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Effect of various factors enhancing or reducing the

permeability.
Reduing factors Enhancing factors

Swelling clay minerals Porosity percent and type
Metamorphism Roundness & sphericity

Dissolution & Leaching out
Packing and compaction
Weathering & Fracturing
Cementation
Dolomitization (?)
Silicification
Grain sorting & orientation
Complexity of pore throats
Tortuosity of channels Volume changes
Irreducible Water Saturation Channel diameter

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Clay Minerals in Sandstone Reservoirs

Authigenic Kaolinite
Secondary Electron Micrograph
Significant Permeability
Reduction
High Irreducible Water

Saturation
Migration of Fines
Problem
Carter Sandstone
North Blowhorn Creek Oil Unit
Black Warrior Basin,
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Alabama, USA (Photograph by R.L. Kugler)
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Porosity-permeability cross plot
Coarsely Crystalline
carbonates
Permeability
Porosity
Generalized permeability-porosity cross plots,

common trends are noted according to rock type
Porosity-Permeability Relationships
Permeability can be estimated from porosity, resistivity, Sw and hydrocarbon
density data. However, Sw must equal Swirr, the irreducible water
saturation.
There are two simple formulas for medium gravity oil and dry gas (i.e.
hydrocarbon density is taken into consideration).
4.4
* Timur Equation (1968): K  0.136*
(S wirr ) 2
2
 3 
* For medium gravity oil: K   250   Wyllie and Rose (1950)
 S wirr 
2
 3 
K   79  
* For Dry Gas:
 S wirr  Wyllie and Rose (1950)

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Gas Permeameter
0.01 md : 17,000 md 0.01 md : 17,000 md
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Klinkenberg Effect
Klinkenberg (1941) stated that permeability to gas is relatively higher than
that to water. He attributed this phenomenon to a slip flow between the gas
molecules and the solid walls. The error introduced is significant for values less
than 1 md.
where:
kg is the apparent permeability calculated from gas flow tests; md,
kL is the true absolute permeability measured from liquid flow tests; md,
̅P is the mean flow pressure of the gas in the flow system; atm, and
b is the Klinkenberg’s factor for a given gas in a particular porous medium.
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The objective of coring and core analysis is to reduce uncertainty in

reservoir evaluation by providing data representative of the reservoir at
in situ conditions.
Core analysis forms a base for the calibration and verification of log
analysis in the evaluation of petrophysical parameters for the static and
dynamic description of reservoirs.
The proof of a log analysis is the degree to which the porosity matches
core analysis porosity.
The easiest way to check this is to plot the core analysis porosity on
top of the log analysis on the same depth plot.
If the core is off depth to the log porosity, shift the core depths
appropriately and re-display the results.
If the comparison is poor, there are three choices.
Advanced Carbonate Reservoirs Characterization & Scal Analysis - Bassem S. Nabawy 23.08.2017 52

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 Choice 1: Adjust shale, matrix, and fluid parameters in the log analysis model
until a better match is achieved. This may take several attempts and may
require choosing a different mathematical model or mineral assemblage.
 Choice 2: Cross-plot core porosity vs log analysis porosity, and find a
regression line that corrects the log result to the core, in the form:
 corr = a * e + b
 The regression should be the reduced major axis (RMA) method (not a simple
least squares regression.
 Choice 3: Perform the regression on a single input log curve instead of on 
e, or separately on several curves. Pick the regression with the least standard
deviation or highest R-squared.

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Permeability
2. Multi Phase System
2.1 Effective Permeability
“It is the permeability to a particular fluid , i.e. oil, gas, or water (ko, kg,
or kw) in the presence of another phase”.
0 ≤ k o, k g, k w ≤ k
Where:
k = absolute permeability
ko = oil effective permeability
kw = water effective permeability
oil
kg = gas effective permeability
capillary wall water
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Permeability
2.2 Relative Permeability
“It is the fractional ratio of the effective permeability of certain phase to
the absolute permeability”.
Kro = ko/k,
krw = kw/k, 0 ≤ kro, krg, krw ≤ 1
krg = kg/k
Where:
k = absolute permeability
kro = oil relative permeability
krw = water relative permeability
krg = gas relative permeability
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kA(p)
qo  k
o L ro
kA(p)
qw  k
 w L rw
kA(p )  k ro k rw 
qt  qo  qw  .  
L  o  w 
A(p )  ko k w  A(p )
qt  .   .M o  M w 
L  o  w  L
Where:
Mo = oil mobility
Mw = water mobility
ko = effective permeability to oil = kro*k
kw = effective permeability to water = krw*k

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Permeability
Laboratory measurement of end points
1. Clean the core; evacuate all fluids.
2. Saturate with water; then Sw = 1 and Krw = K and absolute permeability
can be measured.
3. Inject oil , (non-wetting, drainage) until no further Water is produced,
water saturation now = Swirr, at this point Ko could be measured .
4. Now inject water (wetting, imbibition) until no further oil is produced,
oil saturation is equal to Soirr (the equilibrium point), at this point Kw
could be measured .
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Hysteresis effect Relative Permeability
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Effect of Wettability
for Increasing Sw

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Factors Affecting Relative Permeability

 Fluid saturations
 Geometry of the pore spaces and pore size distribution
 Wettability
 Fluid saturation history (i.e., imbibition or drainage)
Characteristics of Relative Permeability

 Relative permeability is unique for different rocks and fluids
 Relative permeability affects the flow characteristics of reservoir
fluids.
 Relative permeability affects the recovery efficiency of oil and/or
gas.
Wettability
Wettability:
“it is the tendency of one fluid to spread on or adhere to a
solid surface in the presence of other immiscible fluids”.
Wettability refers to interaction between fluid and solid
phases.
 Interfacial (boundary) tension:

“it is the energy per unit area (force per unit distance) at
the surface between phases”.
 Commonly expressed in dynes/cm.

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Wettability
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Nature of Wettability
SEM micrograph of water wetting of SEM micrograph of oil wetting

an illite rich quartz sandstone reservoir nature of a clay illite materials.
rock.

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Petrophysical Studies
- 1.0
- 0.8
- 0.6
- 0.3
0.0
0.3
0.6
0.8
1.0
Wettability Concepts
Spreading of the W phase upon Formation of a drop of W phase on

the solid surface (the contact the solid surface. The contact angle
angle of W–NW–solid interface is of W–NW–solid interface has non-
zero) creates a thin film which zero value θ. Thin films are not
stable, and thus, W phase within the
establishes connectivity of all W
pore space will only be connected
phase within the pore space. via macroscopic volumes of the W
phase.
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Water-wet Reservoir Rock

 Reservoir rock is water-wet if water preferentially wets the
rock surfaces
 The rock is water-wet under the following conditions:
 ws > os
 AT < 0 (i.e., the adhesion tension is negative)
 0 <  < 90
If  is close to 0, the rock is considered to be “strongly water-

wet”
Water-wet Reservoir Rock

 Water will occupy the smallest pores.
 Water will wet the circumference of most larger pores.
 In pores having high oil saturation, oil rests on a water film.
 If a water-wet rock saturated with oil is placed in water, it will imbibe water
into the smallest pores, displacing oil.

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Water-Wet Rock
ow Oil
 Water
os ws os
Solid
0 <  < 90
Adhesive tension between water and the rock surface exceeds

that between oil and the rock surface.
Oil-wet Reservoir Rock

 Reservoir rock is oil-wet if oil preferentially wets the rock surfaces.
 The rock is oil-wet under the following conditions:
 os > ws
 AT > 0 (i.e., the adhesion tension is positive).
 90 <  < 180
If  is close to 180, the rock is considered to be “strongly oil-wet”

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Oil-wet Reservoir Rock

 Oil will occupy the smallest pores.
 Oil will wet the circumference of most larger pores.
 In pores having high water saturation, water rests on an oil film.
 If an oil-wet rock saturated with water is placed in oil, it will imbibe oil
into the smallest pores, displacing water.
Oil-Wet Rock
ow
Water
Oil

os ws os Solid
90 < < 180
The adhesion tension between water and the rock surface is less than
that between oil and the rock surface.

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WATER-WET OIL-WET
Air
OIL Oil OIL


 WATER  WATER
 < 90
WATER WATER  > 90
SOLID (ROCK) SOLID (ROCK)
FREE WATER
OIL
GRAIN GRAIN
OIL
RIM
BOUND WATER FREE WATER
One of possible ways of

entrapment of NW phase. In
configuration I, both pores containing
NW phase are connected to the
reservoir of NW. An imbibition event
occurs in the upper pore containing
NW phase, with the meniscus
advancing from the pore, containing
W phase, at the right. The arrows in
configuration I show the paths taken
by the W and NW phase during this
event. A consequence of this event is
that NW phase in the central pore
becomes trapped, configuration II.
This is the situation for most of the
residual NW saturation.

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Interfacial Contact Angles, Various Organic Liquid

In Contact With Silica And Calcite
WATER
SILICA SURFACE
WATER
CALCITE SURFACE
From Amyx Bass and Whiting, 1960; modified from Benner and Bartel, 1941
n = 30 silicate and 25 carbonates n = 161 ls., dol.
From Tiab and Donaldson, 1996 CONTACT ANGLE: Triber et al. CONTACT ANGLE:
-Water-wet = 0 – 75 degrees -Water-wet = 0 – 80 degrees
-Intermediate-wet = 75 – 105 degrees -Intermediate-wet = 80 – 100 degrees
-Oil-wet = 105 – 180 degrees -Oil-wet = 100 – 180 degrees

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* Wettability Is Affected By:

 Composition of pore-lining minerals
 Composition of the fluids
 Saturation history
* Wettability Affects:
 Capillary Pressure.
 Irreducible water saturation.
 Residual oil and water saturations.
 Relative permeability.
 Electrical properties.
* Implications of Wettability:
 Oil moves easier in water-wet rocks than oil-wet rocks.
 Wettability affects the shape of the relative permeability curves.
Wettability
• Almost all reservoirs are initially water wet because of the natural
sedimentological mechanism involving in aqueous processes.
• When rock is water wet, water tends to occupy the smaller pores and
contact most of the rock surface.
• The opposite is true in oil wet rocks, the rock is preferentially in contact
with oil and fills the small pores.
• When rock has no strong preference for either oil or water the rock is said
to be neutral or intermediate wettability.
• The early saturation history for a petroleum reservoir may include:
• Connate water fills the void spaces in a reservoir during sedimentation and
trap development.
• Oil accumulates, water is expulsed from larger pores and retained in smaller
pores by capillary forces.
• Water is retained as a thin film on pore surfaces overlain by oil.

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Wettability Classification:
 Strongly oil- or water-wetting
 Neutral wettability
- No preferential wettability to either water or oil in the pores.
 Fractional wettability
- Reservoir that has local areas are strongly oil-wet, whereas most of
the reservoir is strongly water-wet.
- Occurs where reservoir rock have variable mineral composition and surface
chemistry.
 Mixed wettability
- Smaller pores are water-wet and filled with water, whereas larger
pores are oil-wet and filled with oil.
- Occurs where oil with polar organic compounds invades a water-wet rock
saturated with brine.
* Wettability
* Core Wettability Can Be Altered By:
1- Invasion of coring fluids and filtrates during coring.
2- Asphaltene and/or wax precipitation by change in reservoir pressure
and temperature.
3- Improper well site handling and preservation procedures (drying and
oxidation must be avoid).
* Laboratory Measurement Techniques

1- Contact angle
2- Amott
3- U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM)
4- Combined Amott/USBM

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1- Contact angle
If a liquid wets a surface, it tends to spread and cover
that surface.
Observed on a microscopic scale, the edge of the
liquid has a characteristic shape.
A knife edge shape indicates wetting, while a beaded
edge shape indicates nonwetting.
The measurements are generally made on a polished
surface that simulates the reservoir material. For
sandstones, glass slides or polished quartz are often
used. Polished marble is usually chosen to simulate a
carbonate reservoir.
An adaptation of the technique uses a drop of liquid
confined between two surfaces.
Contact angle measurements can be precise, but even
for ideal systems, measurements can show significant
variation.
2- Amott Technique
Wettability measurements by the Amott method give a guide to the relative oil or brine
wetting tendencies of reservoir rocks.
The Amott method involves four basic measurements.
(i) The amount of water or brine spontaneously imbibed, AB.
(ii) The amount of water or brine forcibly imbibed, BC.
(iii) The amount of oil spontaneously imbibed, CD.
(iv) The amount of oil forcibly imbibed, DA.
Water wetting index (AB/AC) …. oil wetting index by (CD/CA)

Amott Index = water wetting index – oil wetting index

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2- USBM Technique
This method is very similar to the Amott method, but measures the work required to do
the imbibitions. It is usually done by centrifuge, and the wettability index W is calculated
from the areas under the capillary pressure curves A1 and A2:
Wettability Index = Log A1/ A2
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Special Core Analyses

Electrical Resistivity
The electric resistivity of rocks is “a measure of its resistance to the passage of
electric current”; it is expressed in units of ohm-m.
A cube of rock material of sides measuring 1 m, with a resistance 1 ohm.,
would have a resistivity R = 1 ohm-m between opposite faces.
R=rA/L
Where; R: is the resistivity of the sample, ohm-m.;
r : is the resistance of the sample, ohm;
A : is the cross-sectional area, m2; and
L : is the length of the sample, m.
Resistance: depends on the material and the geometry

Resistivity: independent of the geometry
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Effect of various factors reducing or enhancing the

electric resistivity.
Reducing factors Enhancing factors

Swelling clay minerals Complexity of pore throats
Salinity and type of Tortuosity of channels

interstitial water Ambient conditions
Dissolution Packing and compaction
Wettability Dolomitization
Channel diameter Silicification
Porosity percent, type Cementation

Weathering, Fracturing Mineralogic composition
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- The resistivity of porous rocks is controlled mainly by:
1) the pore phase (its volume, geometry and distribution),and
2) the resistivity of saline solution within the pore spaces.
* Apparent Electric Resistivity (RO)
“It is the resistivity of the porous rock fully saturated with saline”
* True Electric Resistivity (Rt)
“It is the resistivity of the porous rock partially saturated with
saline at the irreducible water saturation”.
* Irreducible Water Saturation (Swirr)
“It is ratio of the water
retained inside the pore spaces”.

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The Archie Equation
Tortuosity Factor and Formation Water Resistivity

Cementation Exponent
a . Rw
Sw = n m
F Rt
Saturation Exponent
Porosity Uninvaded Zone Resistivity
The Archie Equation
a R
F= = m
Rw F
F.R w = R 

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The Archie Equation
R n F .R w
Sw = n =
Rt Rt
The Archie Equation
Tortuosity Factor and Formation Water Resistivity

Cementation Exponent
a . Rw
Sw = n m
F Rt
Saturation Exponent
Porosity Uninvaded Zone Resistivity

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In fact, the resistivity „RO‟ of saturated porous sedimentary rocks is
mainly of electrolytic origin, because resistivity of the solid matrix is much
larger than that of the saline solution „Rf‟.
* Apparent Formation Resistivity Factor
It is “the ratio of the resistivity of completely brine-saturated rock „Ro‟

to that of the saturation brine, Rw”. The apparent formation resistivity factor
„Fa‟ has been defined by many workers (e.g. Archie 1942; Amyx et al. 1960;
Serra 1984) using the following equation:
95
Electrical Resistivity of Saline

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Formation Electrical Resistivity

* Formation Resistivity Factor
A large number of measurements have demonstrated that the
formation resistivity factor ‘F’ of clean rocks is related to the connected
porosity (Archie 1942; Serra 1984) as follows
where, ‘a’ is the lithology factor (0.6–2.0), ‘m’ is the cementation

exponent (1.0–3.0) and ø is the porosity (0.0–1.0).
The variation of ‘a’ and ‘m’ and attributed them to: 1) degree of
cementation, 2) pore geometry and tortuosity, (3) type of clay minerals and
distribution, 4) presence of conductive solids, 5) compaction and packing, 6)
thermal expansion of the rock

Where the value of m cannot be determined, some equations can be sued to
determine ‘m’. The most famous one is the Humble formula which can be sued to
estimate the formation factor.
It was developed by Winsauer, et al. (1952) known as “Humble Eq.”
This equation was developed frequently through the study of a large number of
sandstone samples. It has the effect of approximating the Archie equation with m =
1.5 for high porosity unconsolidated sandstone samples and approximating m = 2
for low porosity well consolidate sandstone samples.
Carothers (1968) analyzed 793 sandstone sample points. Generalized another

equation can be used to calculate ‘a’ and ‘m’ as follows.

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Tixier (1979) tried to introduce another simplified equation using same
data and changed ‘a’ and ‘m’ to be as follows.
Shell Oil Company generalized the former equation keeping for low
porosity (9 %) not fractured carbonate rocks keeping ‘a’ equals 1, and
processing ‘m’ as a variable value as follow.

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Picket Plot for “n”
1.0
a * Rw Ro
SWn  
 m * Rt Rt
Ro/Rt in (ohmm)
Ro
0.1
n log SW  log( )
Rt
Ro
log( )  n log SW  b
Rt 0.01
n = Slope
1.0 0.1 0.01

Water Saturation in (Deci)
Picket Plot for saturation exponent
Formation factor vs. porosity illustrating variation in slope “m”

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Effect of Intercept (a)
Porosity (), Fraction
Formation factor vs. porosity illustrating variation in intercept “a”
Resistivity Index vs. Water Saturation For

Range of Measured Saturation Exponents

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Tortuosity of Channels
“It is the ratio between the tortoise (actual) length, La, and the length of the
straight line between the two ends of the channel, L”.
T = La/L
Tortuosity is sometimes defined as:

T = (La/L)² (Amyx et al., 1960)
Electric tortuosity of channels is an electric derivative of the electric resistivity of
the studied rocks. It can be determined as “the arithmetic square root of the
product of the effective porosity and the formation resistivity factor”.
T² = (F.)
The Electric tortuosity is an attributer of:
1) Tortuosity of channels; 2) the brine concentration;
3) the effective porosity; 4) the clay content, type and distribution;
5) the pore throats and the channel geometry; and to some extent to
6) the mineralogic composition of the studied rocks.
Tortuosity and Pore Channel Diameter

11/16/2019
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Conventional and Special Core Analysis

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11/16/2019

Petrophysical Core Analyses

Prof. Dr. Bassem S. Nabawy

Prof. Bassem S. Nabawy 1

The wrapped section

Prof. Bassem S. Nabawy 2

* Special core analysis (scal).

Prof. Bassem S. Nabawy 3

Types of Routine Core Analysis

1- Conventional core analysis:

2- Full diameter core analysis:

3- Sidewall core analysis:

Advantages of core Analysis:

 Determine net pay and reserves estimate.

 Assessing fluid and rock type.

 Understanding well / reservoir performance.

 Estimate probable fluid production.

 Establishing contacts between reservoir fluids and various rock

 Estimating reserves and initial production.

Prof. Bassem S. Nabawy 4

Advantages of core Analysis

 Establishing stratigraphic correlation with wire line logs.

 Interpreting and calibrating wire-line logs.

 Designing drilling and well completion programs.

 Selecting intervals for testing, that aid in the interpretation of

 Creating a reservoir engineering management strategies.

Hydrocarbons Cleaning &

Prof. Bassem S. Nabawy 5

Routine Core Analyses

Porosity & Density Permeability

Prof. Bassem S. Nabawy 6

Basic Porosity Types

Effect of various factors enhancing or reducing the

Reducing factors Enhancing factors

Dissolution and Leaching out

Prof. Bassem S. Nabawy 7

Prof. Bassem S. Nabawy 8

 Vugs are defined as non-connected pore space.

Prof. Bassem S. Nabawy 9

Nabawy, 2013, J Arabian Geosciences, vol. 6 (2), pp. 359-

Prof. Bassem S. Nabawy 10

Prof. Bassem S. Nabawy 11

 Porosity depends on grain packing,

 Rocks with different grain sizes can

Prof. Bassem S. Nabawy 12

Total Pore Spaces

 Effective porosity, e = Interconnected Pore Spaces

Effective, isolated and total porosity

Total, effective, isolated, permeable and

Prof. Bassem S. Nabawy 13

Total and Effective Porosity

 Very clean sandstones : t = e

 Poorly to moderately well -cemented intergranular

 Highly cemented materials and most carbonates:

Archimedes mercury immersion

Prof. Bassem S. Nabawy 14

Shut off valve

vent 3 way valve